Still more OP's

:slight_smile:

Hereā€™s another we used to do 25 years ago - I canā€™t play the 16ht notes or 32 or 64 or whatever they were, so pretend that the hihat is going dakadakadakadakadakadaka where it should be - and no one gets credit for identifying the huge guitar clam - but I only had a couple of hours, and soā€¦

ā€œSliding Off My Pillowā€ also found in a better version on the fine LP Crusinā€™ Ann Arbor II:

http://www.soundclick.com/bandsā€¦t=music

I hear this and it has a radio-ready appeal to me, really takes me back to being 14 by the pool in the summer, chewing bubble gum, watching the older girls and listening to AM hits. I mean that in a good way, those were good memories,

real clean recording, good mix, smooth sound. :agree:
Tad out of sync, not so tight,
just toward the end,
I think before the last chorus, but no complaints.
I recognized an oyster but no clams.

Yes - itā€™s a song from when we were young enough to write about ā€œgirls.ā€ Wouldnā€™t do that now.

Thanks for the listen!

Love your vocals again Tom - makes me want to sing along. Nice job for a quickie. Did you abandon your JamStix ?

Well, Iā€™m sort of playing with the recorderman 2 mic technique, so, no, not abandoned the JS, since in the end it make for better drums, at least as long as Iā€™m the drummer, just messing around.

I will say this: the 2 mic method doesnā€™t work well in a small space where the mics have to be pretty close to the drums; the snare especially gets buried. Iā€™m going to slap on a snare mic and then time-align it visually with the two other mics to see what happens.

I always loved singing that one live. :agree:

As I recall my placement of snare/hat mic - I was taught to come up from under the hat and adjust the aim of the mic - sm57 - toward the snare as needed depending on the player and the snare. Back in the one inch 8 track days when I was ā€˜that kid that hangs out here all the timeā€™, we rarely used more than 3 mics for drums. You can catch hat snare and a little beater action from one mic - kick mic, and one overhead. That was the minimum for an ā€˜acceptableā€™ sound. Oh, and the kick mic was a 10 inch ā€˜wooferā€™.

Ha - I made a woofer mic a couple of years ago - big boom - really really big boom. I also made a mic out of an EV 664 body and a 2.5 inch speaker from a transistor radio, which sounded sort of cool on guitar adn really crappy on snare. I have an Audix d6 which gets a lot of the same sound as the woofer mic but also lots of the hit. In the end, it really doesnā€™t matter, since I am still recording in a basement, adn it all sounds like that. But it was fun!

So, what do you think of doing the recorderman 2 mic thing and adding just a snare mic? On ā€œWhole Wide Worldā€ when I used the 2 mic method I thought the kick came through pretty well, with a bit of a narrowish eq boost in both of the mics around 100 hz or so, but in all of the cases the cymbals washed out the snare. Iā€™m going for simplicity here, b/c I donā€™t really get much time to write or play or record, so the more ā€œautomaticā€ I can make it, the better. Also still looking for folks locally who want to play a bit, and that will help.

Thatā€™s a good idea Tom - youā€™re right the cymbals pretty much washing out any snare definition. Just an upper or lower snare mic might get you set and also add some hat, or not, depending on what the tune and feel calls for. Having things set up where you can just turn on and play is the only way to go. While weā€™re on the subject - would you detail how you record for us? Drums first? Scratch guitar/vocal? For as little time as you have you are one highly productive dude. Iā€™d like to know how you do it.

I would think the way to go for you - sound wise - might be two triggers and one overhead. But then youā€™d loose a lot of ambiance. Hard to say.

Tom this is good job on the tune, very catchy hook also.


I think I remember something about the snare mic from last year I believe?
Didnā€™t everyone flame you over that one, including myself?

Yaz

Ya, Yaz, you did indeed say it. :) But, you know, I am a stubborn as a mule, and almost as smart! Back then the problem was my mixing, however. Im learning to hear it properly, and now it is a technique problem, I think. I did a couple with decent snare mixes, didnā€™t I?

Poppa, if I know the song and arrangement already, I generally get a click track, play a guitar to it, maybe a couple, usually in 1 or 2 takes because I have no time and know that I can only play it so well anyway, add drums either by step programming kick and snare and overdubbing cymbals, or by playing kick and snare on my midi keyboard and overdubbing cymbals, or by actually playing the drums; then just add other stuff on top.

If I am writing something, I either have an idea for the arrangement and some lyrics and melody worked out (I usually work on that stuff in my head while I am driving around or at work or whatever) and then the process is the same, or I have no clue. IN that case I just sit down and play stuff to a click track and build up an arrangement as quickly as I can, take it into the car and sing along until some melody or lyrics or whatever come out. Thatā€™s the most common way it happens, in fact. I think itā€™s backwards. I think the melody and words and stuff are supposed to come first, but REM always wrote this way, as do others, so I guess itā€™s OK.

I have the amps and preamps and drums all set up already, e.g., the presonus Eureka is almost always just for bass DI, and the mic stands are all in place, so that I just have to pull the mics out and plug them in. I also mostly ignore the settings on things and let what happens happen, just making sure the gain structure is not too far off. Sometimes thatā€™s a good thing. Mostly itā€™s not. But I really just want to get some crappy recordings done to share with friends. IF I can acheive an early Guided By Voices level, then Iā€™m happy.

Funny thing is, when Iā€™ve really worked on stuff I lack the technical chops and it all sounds lame. But if I just bash it out it occasionally has something good in it, and at least it has the charm of lo-fi. One thing is certain; I cannot write songs that are sophisticated in any way, as most of you folks do. I could never write songs like SpreaderCraigā€™s, or JEDTā€™s, or yours, or the rest of you who do things that have a degree of complexity. Just ABABCAB stuff.

Iā€™m rather proud that you asked, Poppa. Thanks. :D

Thanks Tom - You have a great way of getting it done. I spend weeks at times on what I call pregnant ideas. Then I go into perfectionist mood when recording, and usually can a lot of stuff because I just canā€™t get into wavs what I hear in my head.

Your approach to writing is where Iā€™ve been headed for the last few years. Iā€™ve turned into a ā€˜themeā€™ writer basically. If I can get the theme down and listen to it for a while the lyric may come - may not.

I appreciate your fillinā€™ us in. Everything you do has your trademark feel and sound. Keep ā€˜em cominā€™ā€¦

Now Tom, you know I pick at ya fer fun.

The snare thingy from last year was a mixing preference (as is how much reverb, fxā€™s one uses.) it didnā€™t suck.
Your stuff as Poppa mentioned has your stamp on it, and I applaud you for it.

Stubborn as a mule is my middle name so canā€™t fault you there bud! :)

Thatā€™s why they call me a
JackYaz

Nah. it was not a mixing preference. It sucked. :agree: