Mar 17, 2009 03:46 pm Sounds great, vocals could come up a tad from what I can tell. The snare seems a bit loud to me, but that could be due to the vox being a bit quiet.
First New Recording in Three Years!
Posted on Mar 17, 2009 03:12 pm
guitar_jim
Czar of Cheese
Member Since: Jun 09, 2004
I'm honestly having to re-learn everything!
My buddy sent me a YouTube video of a old 70's power pop song called "Rock N Roll Girl" by The Beat. It is indeed infectious pop, and I can't get it out of my head. So...I decided to get back on the recording horse and do a version of my own.
I have no monitors, per se, just cheap computer speakers and even cheaper headphones. I got it to where it sounds about the same in both of them, but that's about it.
I'm interested in feedback...guitars, vocal, mix, EQ...anything you hear that I might tweak to make it sound better.
I feel like I'm starting all over again!
(The song is the first listing in the Music section of my profile: "Rock N Roll Girl")
www.homerecordingconnecti...sic&id=1347
Thanks!
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Mar 17, 2009 03:46 pm Sounds great, vocals could come up a tad from what I can tell. The snare seems a bit loud to me, but that could be due to the vox being a bit quiet.
Mar 17, 2009 07:23 pm Geez Jim, Paul Collins and the Beat. The Power Pop days. That and Hangin on the Telephone were staples back then. Almost bordered on punk.
Did you ever get to see them live? Killer shows, and the songs were played even faster.
I'm gonna have to listen with a better ear later or tomorrow. But I liked the way you did the tune for sure. I would like to hear the screamin guitar on the left a bit louder, but that might just be me and it might get to be too much if it is any louder.
I did notice that the drums were extremely heavy on the right side. The snare is almost hard right so I'm thinking that is why Tripps was freaked on the snare.
I liked the harmonies for sure, you nailed that for sure and it sounds great. I remember ripping that tune out in the day and shredding my voice trying to sing it like he did live, which was much more scream and punkish.
Memories for sure.
I'll listen with a better ear again though, I promise.
Mar 17, 2009 08:11 pm i liked it.
your voice has John Lennon edge to it.
Mar 18, 2009 12:16 am Yeah man, this is well performed. With the mix, first off I'm listening on some consumer grade pc speakers with a lil sub. To me, the whole mix has a light reverby feeling to it, so that it doesn't have the presence that I'm expecting. Aside from that though, all the parts sound mixed together well. Good job.
Mar 18, 2009 10:11 am Excellent job Jim. Your voice sounds different on this one, less country flavor, more rock sounding. I like the mix, on the distortion guitar I think it's loud enough bu coul maybe use just a very slight boost in the upper mid-range. Vocals could come up just a bit, but I only really noticed that at the beginning after that they seemed just right. Good to hear you doing some music/recording again, look forward to more. :)
Dan
Mar 18, 2009 02:07 pm Oh, great Keeper Of The Twang... what is a ShankOpotamus ??? : )
No way to listen here at work, but I'll definately get to this one this evening.
Mar 18, 2009 02:41 pm Is that you singing Jim? You sound so...young! Hehe, that' didn't come out as strongly complimentary as I meant.
Sounds great on my consumer Sennheiser headphones (eh-150, not the pro-audio HD-240 I have at home). Very smooth mids and highs. I mean like super-smooth. I want the mids in my songs to sound like this. What's your signal chain and post-production process? (I'm not going to call it mastering...the walls have ears!)
I'd like to hear the kick drum more, and more of the bass guitar's higher frequencies. These headphones generally give a good representation of the lower frequencies, so I'd figure I shoulda been able to hear the thud and boom of the kick and the pluck of the bass.
The mix sounds great. Everything is playing nicely with each other, nothing I could notice that's out of place or too loud/soft. I guess I agree with Coolo that there's a certain presence missing from the mix, but I can't put my finger on it. I guess just put a hard limiter on it and crank it all the way up so its consistently at -.02 dB. I kid, I kid, don't do that. :D I've been listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Take Them On, On Your Own all day, which is like a field general in the loudness wars.
Sorry it took me a few days before listening. You're always so prompt to listen to my stuff, I feel like you deserve a speedy listen in return! You, OldDog, Tripps and Noize are always so good about listening and commenting.
Mar 18, 2009 07:07 pm Jim?
You out there?
Anyway, second listen tonight and I gotta agree. I would as well like to here more definition to the bass and the kick. I think they are getting a bit lost in the mix with the crunch guitar. But don't mess with the guitar as that sounds stellar here.
And as for OD commenting on you sounding a bit more rockin. While I agree completely, Ray was in here rockin with me and of course he knows the tune and its power pop roots and made the statement that it sounded a little country like instead of punkish.
Needless to say I burst out laughing so hard I almost cried. I played him one of your more countryish tunes and he understood completely. But he did say you gotta pump it up a bit faster. That him being a smart *** not me.
I like it as it has your personal touch.
Mar 18, 2009 11:24 pm Hey thanks for the listens and the suggestions. I'm out of town for a few days, but I'll be anxious to get back and tinker with it a little bit. I'll post the results.
Tadpui: On a side note, I'm in KC as I write this (Olathe, actually) Staying at my sister's while two of my sons and I play a little spring break golf. Hope the weather holds. It was warmer in Wisconsin yesterday than it was today in Kansas. Go figure...
Mar 19, 2009 01:03 am Ha! Fun song! Is that an 'acoustic' guitar I hear in there? Nothing to say that hasn't been said better already. I don't miss the kick so much though... very smooth overall mix.
Three years is too long man!
Mar 19, 2009 11:00 am Oh really you're in KC? I've been wanting to get out and play a round as well. There are a billion courses around the Olathe area so you should be in good shape. I'm kinda on the other side of town, north of the river near Platte Woods, Gladstone and Parkville.
If you want an easier course to play, Hodge Park is a good, wide-open public course near Liberty. Right next door is Shoal Creek, a luxury golf course ($$$!!!). Or if you like more of a challenge, check out the 2 courses at Paradise Pointe at Smithville Lake (prolly a 35 minute drive from Olathe). Beautiful courses, although the goose poop has really piled up over the winter (I played there about 2 weeks ago). I love those courses though. Then there's Tiffany Greens, right next door to where I work. its a semi-private course, really beautiful and challenging. The senior pros play there every once in a while. Another good public course is Shiloh Springs up in Platte City, or even Claycrest in Liberty. So if you're looking to get out of Olathe and head north, there are lots of courses up here. Good luck!
I think its supposed to be in the lower 60s with a slight threat of rain over the next couple of days, then a better chance of rain heading into the weekend. It was over 80 here on Tuesday. Now 60 feels cold!
Mar 19, 2009 04:24 pm Hell, its 38 here and I wore shorts and sandal's today.
Mar 19, 2009 04:46 pm Played golf today at St. Andrew's in Overland Park. I shot an 82, which is pretty good for me. 62 degrees and sunny...shorts and t-shirts for me and the boys.
We played Hodge Park last year at spring break. We liked it, and may go back there on Saturday before we head for home.
Thanks again for all of the kind remarks and suggestions about "Rock N Roll Girl". I tried a few things on it that I had never done before, most noticeably was that I double-tracked the lead vocal trough two different microphones. I really like how that turned out. Yeah, Hue, that's an acoustic guitar you hear. It was recorded with an SM 58 and and SM 57 in the X-Y configuration at the 14th fret. I was trying to add some brightness to the mix. The drums, as you can tell, are just fake GarageBand drums (the actual MIDI drum information was generated by Band-in-a-Box. The electric guitars were recorded through the Pod 2.0 (had to be quiet!)
It was a lot of fun recording again...I have a few original songs in need of recording, hopefully I'll get to them soon!
Mar 27, 2009 03:29 pm Really enjoyed this! Great sound you're getting. I do like the sound of the Pod.
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