only negative evaluation for new music

[bcastagna]

It was very successful for waddo, with regards to comments, so I had to ask for feedback the mixing and publication of my first serious recording (live):

Thanks to EVERYONE, especially those going out of their way posting increasingly helpful and relevant information to the forum!

Thanks,
-bc

http://www.linite.com/bootlegs/sjb/20050203/sjb20050203d3-02-September_Song.mp3

[aaronlyon]

My $0.02: Love the live ambiance. How many tracks do you have to work with? Is the vocal on a separate track? Could use some compression, esp. on harsh consonants (3KHz?). Bass and drums are great; keys and guitar need to be panned aside a bit to open up the center.

Cheers,

-aaron

[Timeline]

I look at things from more of a production standpoint and these are strictly my opinion so hwo cares really.

I feel it's too long and repetitive.

It cry's for a conga feel, tabletop percussion treatment.

Vocal & keys are so dry it's stark. Needs some quality ambience like a 480L or live delay chamber. Not allot but some.

The bass is not very punchy and quite washy to me. I would plug in an OTB foot stomper processor and ad a bit of fuzz to like 1 & 3 of the feel up to the choruses.

The Guitar performance is cool but also needs a treatment to sound like a finished song.

I like the open drum groove. My favourite part of the kit sound is the hat. The rest sounds average and not too present.

I would cut it around 4-min max. with fade.

My 1c

[billf]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brandon Castagna:
It was very successful for waddo, with regards to comments, so I had to ask for feedback the mixing and publication of my first serious recording (live):

Thanks to EVERYONE, especially those going out of their way posting increasingly helpful and relevant information to the forum!

Thanks,
-bc

http://www.linite.com/bootlegs/sjb/20050203/sjb20050203d3-02-September_Song.mp3[/QUO TE]

Like the drums and bass, although the bass could use a bit more punch. Drums and bass are tight, but before the vox start, the keys parts struck me as wobbly.

Guitar is good.

Overall it needs some ambience, too much sounds dry.

Vocals okay, but I could not understand the lyrics in most places. I'm not sure if that is intentional.

[chrispick]

Alright. Tough love.

Mixing:

Needs to be stereo-spaced more. If it's to sound "Live with a capital 'L,'" put me in the virtual live space more. This will also help define the parts better too.

Compress the vocals. I don't mind that I can't understand the lyrics here and there. I do mind that his vocal seems to teeter on the edge of dB abyss in the middle of a line though.

Additional ambience would be nice, but avoid the reverb trap. Take Timeline's advice and think "natural room" delays.

Kick drum sounds like it might be pitched a little too high. Not sure though. Feels midrangy to me though (and there's a lot of midrange going on in this arrangement).

Compositionally:

Way too long and hardly evolves. Songs that fall somewhere in the "jam song" genre still need to build toward something.

Individual are playing their parts dynamically, but the "band as a unit" doesn't play dynamically together. This makes the repetitions of the song more tedious to this listener. It all "blands" together.

As example: U2 isn't a band known for its chops or musical virtuosity. They play simple parts. But they get a lot of mileage out of playing dynamically together. Your band is a different beast genre-wise, granted, but could still benefit a lot by integrating some band dynamics. Without it, the song lacks emotion. Try crescendos and decrescendos. Try dropping instrumentation here and there (like a verse with only bass and drum during the first few bars). Search out the "emotional shape" of the song.

Define the vocal melody more. Suffers a little from "American Idol" disease (the desire to turn every vocal line into a run or lick). There's some skillful singing going on for sure, but there needs to be more confidence placed in the song. That is, if the melody is strong, you don't need a lot of vocal gymnastics to make the song communicate.

Simplify the drumming. Especially the cymbal work. I never feel like it's supporting the vocal. Save the chops for when they'll have the most impact in the song. If the singer's going to sing soulfully, give him room to do it.

Long guitar solos are boring. And the occasional color note sounds -- odd.

Like I said. Tough love. Take in good spirits; it's how it's intended.

[bcastagna]

I appreciate all the helpful responses posted and wanted to again say thanks for your time and well thought comments!

[Releaux]

Brandon,

Some quick thoughts - I didn't read the thread, so apologies if any of this has been said before.

ARRANGEMENT
Intro is way too long, even for non-radio tracks. If you're going to have a long intro, it needs to go somewhere or do something. This would be ok at a concert... maybe... as an encore where you've already got everybody pumped up.

The guitar solos are somewhat repetitive, and go on way too long. Unless you're doing a festival jam, I'd recommend sticking to half-verse length.

The song doesn't seem to build at all. Also, I would have like to have heard the ending jam progression, especially the closing riff, at some point earlier in the song. Let that be a motif that ties everything together.

PERFORMANCE
Vocals were clean. I'd watch your "singer tricks" - a little goes a long way. Also, be very careful with your "slide to a higher falsetto note" trick... you did it a lot and every time made me think of Bono and U2's "Mysterious Ways." Probably not what you wanted me to be thinking about while you were singing.

Keyboards (specifically, the ePiano parts) seem weak, especially at the beginning. Sounds like the keyboardist is a sit-in and only learned the song at sound check.

Guitar was good - I'd like fewer and shorter solos, but the playing was certainly competent.

Bass was fine

Drums were good and felt nice and live, but there seemed to be a lot of "HEY! LOOK AT ME!" playing going on at inappropriate times. Every now and then the hats would take over the song.

PRODUCTION
Seemed very mono. It could definitely deal with some harder panning on some instruments. Don't let stuff compete with the vocal in the same aural space.

The bass needs some punch.

I lost the kick every now and then.

Keyboard effect at the beginning almost sounded like you'd used a tremolo but forgot to enable one side of the stereo channel... it would just disappear every now and then. I'm not sure if this was due to effects or playing.

The whole track needs something to unify it and put it in the same space. Using a "small club" type impulse in Altiverb would probably do the trick.

Good work - I enjoyed listening!

[maintiger]

nice infectious groove! kinda long but its good- for the long version its good but i would also make a 4 min version as well. someone mentioned percussion, tablas or something like that? but I like the drums as they are - percussion might clash with the genre. Love the hat! The bass might be just a tad weak as a couple of people have mentioned already- perhaps compress a bit more to get more punch- also eq a little more to get a 'bassier' sound- the bass playing is great though and it works well with the drums- don't change that!

[Twinner]

Um....wow. Is there a song in there?