My CD published on "Garageband"...

… also recorded entirely on nTrack.

Here you can find my CD, published on “Garageband”… Like Tarmadio it was also recorded entirely on nTrack.

These three have deep personal significance and are my personal favorites:
“Shannon”
“Silver Wings” and
"Only One Wish"

Have a listen and enjoy! -steale


The rest of the CD can be found here:
GarageBand
Also on CNET.

No comments huh?! I guess they must really suck! ???

Hey no-ones sayin’ they suck. This area has been pretty dead for a while regardless of what genre of music you post.
I used to do alot of critigein’ in here, till a couple of guys got pissy over simple coments like, “bring the vocal up”. Now I just listen, and keep my thoughts to myself, that way no-one has to cry!
:D

Anyway, I’ll take a listen later in the studio, and let you know, since you seem intersted in feedback.

jerm

It’s like Jeremy says. I listened to your stuff & though it’s alittle popy for me, the production seems very good. I liked Silver Wings the best.

Mike

Thanx! Everybody seems to like Silver Wings the best. It’s about a friend of mine who crashed his plane trying to impress a girl. There’s just something very ironic about that, know what I mean?! ???

Yeah I kinda like pop … I guess it’s short for “popular” … go figure. =)

-steale

Great songs…very well written.

My first impression was how well performed it was….everything is in time and in key…that is the biggest thing you can accomplish to sound professional. I like how you used the whole sound spectrum…there is a lot going on in each side of my headphones. I think this is one of the best sounding n-Track recordings I heard on this forum…I can tell you put a lot of time into mixing…and I like all the little ‘sound’ things going on….like in “Silver Wings” there is this little acoustic lick that emerges out of nowhere after you say “…the lives you touched will never be the same”. Funny, your electric tone isn’t something I would use, yet it sounds perfect for these songs. I’m having a hard time hearing the bottom end in “Silver Wings”…but at the same time, I like how the bass cuts through the mix in “Shannon”.

Whether you did or didn’t, these tunes don’t sound like you recorded it in your basement….which is a sound I look for when I listen to tunes recorded with home-recording software.

I am truly impressed….you’ve covered all basses…err…bases with songwriting, production…general music ability. I’d say you’ve pushed n-Track to its limits. I agree…I like “Silver Wings” the best.

Keep up the great work….

Mike

I listened to Silver Wings, and Shannon. You asked for it so here it goes, my opinions, take them or leave them (just don’t go to my site and hurry back to post negative comments about my music after you read this…tee hee)
I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but at least these two songs sound like they would make good country/crossover songs to me. There’s alot of poppy soundin’ country out right now, maybe that’s why it occured to me–don’t know.
Your vocal stylin’ in Silver Wings reminds me melodicaly of John Cougars early stuff, with the lyrical simularity to Jim Carol (basketball diaries). I like both.
As far as Beads comment that you stretched the limits of Ntrack, uhhh one post wonder, so consider the source.
Ntrack is only limited to the quality of your mics, guitars, processors ect. So how anyone can take it to the limit, not shure. I’ve been lurkin’ at this site for 4 years now and have heard many professional recordings (check the Ntrack music area, it’s different than this one) And I’d have to say you’ve definitly done a good job, but there are people in here who have taken it further.
As far as Mikes comment that it’s too poppy for his taste, it ain’t that different than his songs, though he sounds alot more like the Beatles than anything else (hello, pop-giants!)
All that aside, you sound Ok to me. Definitly hear some commercial country potential, or possibly movie soundtrack.
As far as the two songs I listened to competing in an oversaturated pop market of today, along side guy’s like Usher, Destiny’s Child, Avril Lavigne, Ricky Martin, hard to say.
All these guys have teams of song writers, producers ect. Your just one guy with a dream, that’s admirable, but pop is a tough feild to break into unless you go on American Idol or something. Most labels are more intersted in creating a pop-team (Nsynce) or taking the lead singer out of a punk band (Billy Idol) and making him a solo success.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to break into the pop market, but timing is everthing. You have to have the right song released at the right time (usually when there’s nothing simular out, and people are getting tired of the current hits.)
I’d say work on a little more variety in your songs IE like some edgier harder stuff, some simpler piano/vocal type stuff.
You have to remember it doesn’t always matter how produced you make a song, the Labels producer is going to want to re-write and arrange things. Just capture the escence of what your trying to convey in it’s simplest form.
Then take all these different styles and shop them around to labels.
They will be able to decide which styles to promote and when.

If any of my words have upset you I apologize, as I said, just my opinions, take them or leave them.
Good luck,








:cool:

jerm

Jeremy…just so you know (and I can’t believe I’m wasting my time typing this), my band has been part of this community for three or four years and have posted all our songs here over that time…fully complete songs at that. We’ve even been through three or more board crashes. So what if I’ve only posted once since the last crash…is that supposed to make my opinion mean any less? Apparently I struck a nerve with my remarks about playing in time and key.

Steale, I’ve been listening to songs for a long time on this board. Yes, there are some who really make great use of the software…my point is that you are up there with them, and my intent was to encourage the talent you have displayed. There will always be those whose insecurity will try to take the wind out of your sails…don’t let it get to you. Forget about trying to be John Mellencamp and all that…it’s all irrelevent…you have a sound and it sounds like you…that’s all you need…stick with it. You posted a great set of songs and production. You are totally on the right track…and I’m glad you are taking the time mixing and performing it the way we all should be. I like that you set the bar at a certain level…my band and I look forward to the challenge of matching your performance… :laugh:

I really like all of the songs but in general the vocal sound a bit muffled to me. I am not sure it is the reverb or the EQ. I would prefer that they cut through the mix a bit more and be more clear. I don’t know if this can be done by reducing the reverb or by increasing the treble in the vocals.

Just my perception. Thanks for posting.

Keith

Quote (Bead @ Nov. 27 2004,21:04)
Jeremy...just so you know (and I can't believe I'm wasting my time typing this), my band has been part of this community for three or four years and have posted all our songs here over that time....fully complete songs at that. We've even been through three or more board crashes. So what if I've only posted once since the last crash...is that supposed to make my opinion mean any less? Apparently I struck a nerve with my remarks about playing in time and key.

This is the typical reaction I mentioned in my first post, and the reason I (and many others) don't give advice anymore.


No-ones trying to take any wind out of your sails here steale.
I just gave you my thoughts and any relevance you may find is up to you, not one disgruntled poster.
Your gonna get good opinions and bad ones, alot of it depends on a persons taste in music, some based on actual recording knowledge.
I think even bad reviews can help you get better, but that's just me.
This used to be a great place too get both, until a couple of sour grapes ruined it for the rest.
I hope you don't take my post as hard as bead has, 'cause I only wish to encourage, and give freindly advice.



:D
As far as Mikes comment that it's too poppy for his taste, it ain't that different than his songs, though he sounds alot more like the Beatles than anything else (hello, pop-giants!)

Hey Jerm - I'll take that as a compliment, but seriously, my songs are pop at all. They may be well produced but there not that popular. I have others that are much more pop than the stuff you've heard :D

You guys freakin’ ROCK! Jeremy - I found nothing discouraging what-so-ever in your post. In fact you encourage me more than you know! You see, the genres you refered to were the exact genre’s I was aiming for. I never hinted as to which I was genre’s I was trying to fill yet you hit the nail on the head! In other words, what you counted as being less than favorable is more encouraging than you know. Thank you very, very much!

Mike - Your words are very inspiring to me. Every single one of us know that song writting is a vulnerable thing. We expose our intermost thoughts and feelings to the harshest of criticism. One harsh word weighs heavier than a thousand kind ones. You had nothing to gain by giving me a favorable review so you words count heavily!

Keith - the vocals ARE a tiny bit muffled, (using reverb). Whether I did that because of lack of confidence in my vocal abilities or because it just “felt” right, I’m not really sure but it just sorta seemed right for the song. (we all know how hard it is to be objective with our own work.) =)

All you guys have given me much insperation! These are the first reviews that had nothing to gain or lose by what you’ve written. Therefore I count them as being of greater value than any other reviews I’ve had. (And I’ve had a bunch!)

I’ll continue to upload songs and I will take your feedback seriously. I hope none of you ever feel hesitant to give less-than-favorable feedback. Trust me, you can’t possibly be as hard on me as I am. =/

Let me know if you want feed back from me. Just know that I will be very honest.

Thanks again guys! I really like this forum!!!

Rock on,
-steale

I listen to Silver Wings, the first 30 seconds are superb, with excellent recording technique and originality. Then the song seems to change to strumming D, A and E chords in a typical 1970s rock style. Not that there’s any thing wrong with 1970s rock style, a lot of people love it, but personally I liked the originality of the beginning 30 secs.

A very high quality performance/recording.

Guy

Actually, the song was originally only the “70’s sounding” part. It bored me to tears! I was looking to really push nTrack and experiment with a lot of new techniques, I wanted a “engineering showcase” so to speak, so that’s how the rest of it came into being.

But thanks … I put a huge amount of work into it and learned alot!

-steale

Hi, Steale.
I listened to “Only One Wish.” I didn’t think I was going to like it, as the way it started out sounded like it wasn’t the style of music that I like, but I’m glad I listened to the whole thing … I really like it, and I like that it’s different than what we normally hear.

scriglet1

Thanks for the feedback. It’s scary when you expose your intermost thoughts and feeings to the public. Responses like yours give me so much encouragement. More than you know.

thanks again! :)
-steale