canadian rock
ok, there were not tracked in ntrack 
that’s the first hit against it, but i’d like some feedback if possible since i’m in the group and have some ideas of what I would like changed (more ears the better though). As a warning it’s got 80’s rock flavour to it for those who may be offended 
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If the server slows down let me know, the lead singer is paying for that bandwidth, but I have a bunch more of my own on a server, but i’d like to see what that can do first. Sorry about the state of the website, it’s only half done… feedback on that would be good too. Oh it’s from frames #### so if you are using lynx or somthing you may not want to check it out. Complain and i’ll post direct links to the mp3’s.
All critisism is great at this point I’m up for any type of feedback.
thanks.
Stiff Proposition
I listened to stiff proposition.
I thought the overall mix was good.
Compostition proved enough to keep my interest throughout.
It’s definitly eighties. I’d compare it to Judas Preist “StainedGlass”–one of my fav’s BTW.
The only part that seemed a little off for me, was the falseto.
The rest of the singing’ sounded good.
Like the amps on the front page too, nice raw touch.
jerm
man this can’t be jermy. Since there are quite a few posts currently with him signed in.
Anyhow, don’t like falsetto, check.
What else can be improved, changed or left out entirely?
Yeah it’s me, but I signed out before i saw the new music posted, just lazy i guess.
I’ll give it a couple of listens in the studio, can’t hear everythin’ on this computer.
I’ll PM you later with additional thought…don’t want to disclose too much in this public forum.
jerm
listened to “covenant of action”:
i can totally hear the sound you’re going for. i think falsetto’s and “ahhhhs” really fit it… personally i think they need to sound more “dreamy” or something… maybe experiment with a reverb, chorus, echo… or maybe a few more harmony layers? something else on those… i LOVE the vocal effect in the breakdown at 1:50… how’d you do that!?? 
it’s like an echo but it sounds different somehow… i’ve heard that effect before.
peformance wise, i think drums are lacking the most (just a few sloppy parts in there). bass, guitar, and vocal performances were really good.
loved the guitar riffage in “welcome to my life”. vocals in “corruption” kind of annoyed me, but the guitar solo in that track really made up for it… this song was quite a bit different than the others.
I like it. Um, the only thing that I didn’t care for where the vocals. There are some parts, especially in covenant of action, where the upper range of the lead singer comes out weak sounding. I can hear what you’re going for, but the vocals come out “soft” like its not his usual ranger and is holding back to make sure the notes are in tune. One example of this is on the second song where he says, “welcome to my life.” The word “life” just doesn’t come out like I’d like. Thats my personal opinion though. The guitar solo kicks ass in the same song. I’d add some more revern and delay though… thats my $.02.
I was driving around later in the day and Boston came on the radio, and I realized that that’s what I’d like to hear from your lead: When Brad Delp goes up for the high notes, it still sounds just as (if not more) powerful as the rest of the song. Hope that helps
Great, thanks for the feedback. These are just demos and all are going to be re-recorded, it was definitely a learning process.
Dimmer, the drums were the worst on covenant from you post? I thought welcome to my life was OK (some goofs in corruption).
If I give my opinions maybe you guys/gals can see if you agree:
good:
-For the most part the arrangements of the songs are fine
-sound of the instruments is decent
-I love the guitar solo in covenant (the others as well but that’s my fave and I love the guitar sound in that one, btw not all the solos are the same guy)
bad:
-in corruption the “white rap” is dated, I personally don’t like it (only a few can pull off singsong rap, Del the funky homosapien and q-tip come to mind), if it could be re-written to be sung the song would benefit
-I don’t like the hard panning of the cymbals
-In corruption the bass drum is so gated that on double hits the second is louder (noticed this on a few different subs)
-some of the vocals are not so strong as stated (beyond his range?) and not all of the harmonies are tight.
-some of the lyrics are off (“I puts my trust…” “we all have illicit boundaries…”)
-I dislike the “now now now now”
what i was trying to get across is that in that one song (covenant), of all the performances on different instruments, the drums are the thing holding you back, if anything… i didn’t really compare drum performances between each of the songs.
thanks for the feedback dimmer. So nothing glaringly wrong, we are heading in the right direction. Iirc the last track recorded was Welcome, so I assume that is the sound we are heading for.
I’ve learned quite a bit in the process. I think the songs are only 18-22 track, but getting a balance is not so easy. Every band member has their own opinion of how it should sound, and so does the friend sitting behind the board.
As long as we’re all having fun though 
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Thanks again.
you still haven’t told me how you got the vocal effect i asked about!
i’ve had quite a few experiences where i was recording my own band and the rest of the guys want to be the engineer too. “man, i’d sure like to hear more me”, etc etc…
i usually find the best thing to do is get all the tracking done first and tell them not to worry about “mix” during that process. when it comes time to mix… i try to get it the best i can, the way i like it… THEN show the band. it’s important to listen to all of their feedback, but think about how their comments affect the “big picture”, rather than trying to appease everyone and make every little adjustement they suggest (which i have learned from the hard way).
| Quote (dimmer77 @ Mar. 07 2005,19:23) |
| you still haven't told me how you got the vocal effect i asked about! |
Sorry. I'll have to ask.. I wasn't involved in that (last time I was in the "studio" it was a ping pong reverb). I think it may have been a combination of cut and paste and offboard effects (midiverb ii or something there are a couple older units on the rack).
The machine is a vs2480 (don't think it has any of the extra addon cards), however the guy doing sound just started making his own daw and I have a basic setup with a 4 bus mixer and delta44 card, the lead singer owns the board but rarely touches it although every band member has been responsible for doing punch-ins and the likes at some point.
The VS isn't the best for wav editing, however its interface is very nice to work with, feels very natural to use, and I am always impressed by the faders (like a little kid with a player piano). The simple functions are very easy to use (however the complex ones are not, and even the newest manual suffers from poor translation). The routing is pretty darn cool too (kind of like reason but without the eye candy). I think I personally prefer a daw, but for someone not computer litterate that doesn't want or need all the choices involved with a computer something like that is a good option.
Man, I'm good at going off topic. I'll ask what effect that was and how it was done, Jon would love to share I'm sure (and be happy that someone liked it).