Different Tune - Song for Review

rentadrummer · Post by **rentadrummer** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:03 am

The song is called Different Tune. It was written by a good friend of mine, Dick Eastman, and while it might not be a style many of you regularly listen to, in my opinion it's another example of his excellent song writing.

We did this song, as we do all of our recording, by long distance collaboration. The drums were played by yours truly and recorded in Digital Performer. I also did all the drum mixing on this version, and made a few minor adjustments in the level of some of the other tracks, again using DP.

It's still a work in progress, as is everything I do. I realize there's always room for improvement, so any suggestions, including find a new career, will be considered.

http://www.rentadrummer.com/DTMix3207.mp3

Phil O · Post by **Phil O** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:09 am

I think the drums sound great! What reverb are you using?

Phil

rentadrummer · Post by **rentadrummer** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:45 am

Phil O wrote:I think the drums sound great! What reverb are you using?

Phil

Thanks. Much appreciated.

I'm using the very expensive and state-of-the-art Apple Matrix reverb.

Seriously. Last year I received a DP project from a friend of mine, and he wanted to make sure I'd have all the plugins he used when I opened it. He preferred the Apple reverb over the stock reverbs in DP, and I thought it sounded very good on his tracks. I decided to save his settings as a good place to start and I've been satisfied with the results on the tracks I've recorded. The only other reverb I own is Wizooverb2, which is still sitting in the unopened box because I didn't want to install it while I was in the middle of a few projects.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 6:37 am

I like the old-school values here.

Mature story-telling.
Sophisticated "adult pop" arrangement.
Colour. Subtelty. Imagination.

Reminds me of Steely Dan, and that can't be a bad thing.
In short, I like.

Nice job, rentadrummer.

rentadrummer · Post by **rentadrummer** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:57 am

monkey man wrote:I like the old-school values here.

Mature story-telling.
Sophisticated "adult pop" arrangement.
Colour. Subtelty. Imagination.

Reminds me of Steely Dan, and that can't be a bad thing.
In short, I like.

Nice job, rentadrummer.

Thanks for listening. I know downloading a big file isn't the easiest thing for you to do.

The first time I heard the song, I thought the exact same thing - Steely Dan. As you said, there could be worse comparisons.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:39 am

rentanempathy wrote:Thanks for listening. I know downloading a big file isn't the easiest thing for you to do.

Wow. Thank you, drummer-boy!

rentahitortwo wrote:The first time I heard the song, I thought the exact same thing - Steely Dan. As you said, there could be worse comparisons.

Yeah. Fine job.
Give Dick a banana and add it to my tab.

It's cool that you're able to beat the skins to something worthwhile, "online collaborative partners" being what they sometimes are...

rentadrummer · Post by **rentadrummer** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:46 am

monkeybananabuyer wrote:
Give Dick a banana and add it to my tab.

It's cool that you're able to beat the skins to something worthwhile, "online collaborative partners" being what they sometimes are...

I've been lucky to work with some very talented musicians, all via long distance. I've recorded about 25 songs with Dick Eastman over the past few years, and I'm also collaborating with a great guitarist and songwriter, who I met though this forum. The best thing is that no one is ever late for rehearsal, and you get to choose your own toppings for the pizza.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:46 am

hire-a-whacker wrote:I've been lucky to work with some very talented musicians, all via long distance. I've recorded about 25 songs with Dick Eastman over the past few years, and I'm also collaborating with a great guitarist and songwriter, who I met though this forum.

Fantastic. I'm glad for you.
It's good to see you don't take it for granted either.

rent-a-stix-man wrote:The best thing is that no one is ever late for rehearsal, and you get to choose your own toppings for the pizza.

You can eat it anytime you want, too.

Thanks again for posting the piece and not a link to U-Toob, MyCrappySpace or some other site that completely hogs my 2k stream.

Keep it up, RaD.
Nicky

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:44 am

Yo, Ron! Still playing those V-Drums? Nice relaxing tune, and nice mix. My only "helpful" comment would be the toms seem just a tad too loud compared to the rest of the kit... they seem to be the loudest instrument on my little Fostex 6301s. Keep up the good work.

rentadrummer · Post by **rentadrummer** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 12:54 pm

Jim wrote:Yo, Ron! Still playing those V-Drums? Nice relaxing tune, and nice mix. My only "helpful" comment would be the toms seem just a tad too loud compared to the rest of the kit... they seem to be the loudest instrument on my little Fostex 6301s. Keep up the good work.

Jim:

Thanks for listening. If you just heard the track, this is actually a slightly revised version from the one I originally posted (same link) where I already lowered the toms because I thought they were too loud in the first version. I don't notice the volume issue as much through my studio monitors as I do when listening through smaller speakers, and the conversion to mp3 doesn't help. I'm still learning and appreciate the feedback.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:57 am

rentadrummer wrote:...If you just heard the track, this is actually a slightly revised version from the one I originally posted (same link) where I already lowered the toms because I thought they were too loud in the first version. I don't notice the volume issue as much through my studio monitors as I do when listening through smaller speakers, and the conversion to mp3 doesn't help. I'm still learning and appreciate the feedback.

Re-downloading the tune in light of this.

Thanks, RaD.
MM

rentadrummer · Post by **rentadrummer** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 7:19 am

monkey man wrote:Re-downloading the tune in light of this.

Thanks, RaD.
MM

No, thank you.

Unless you saved the original version and can compare the two, I doubt you'll notice much difference. I made a few other minor tweaks as well, and think that overall this mix is better, at least until the next one, and the next one, and the next one.....

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 7:48 am

rentadrummer wrote:
monkey man wrote:Re-downloading the tune in light of this.
Thanks, RaD.
MM
No, thank you.
Unless you saved the original version and can compare the two, I doubt you'll notice much difference. I made a few other minor tweaks as well, and think that overall this mix is better, at least until the next one, and the next one, and the next one.....

Keep droppin' 'em and I'll keep downloading them, mate.
Of course I've still got the previous version; I told you it was class, man!
I'm not in the habit of trashing class.
It's in iTunes, to be replaced by this one.

Thanks again, RaD.
Nicky