Nur Ein V: Round 4

[Ross]

I'll clarify what I meant when I said the songs were all basically strong.

First of all, I should probably have said "I think these are all basically strong" - it was only meant to be my opinion and not represent some broader truth, so I take no umbrage with FBF's alternative view here. What I DIDN'T mean is that I thought they were all great. But they all had a decent sensible structure, all had some reasonable incorporation of the challenge, reasonable performances, lyrics, chords, melody. etc..... They all had all the pieces in place. So without some of those issues to weed out the songs, I felt more was about the details and style.

Anyway, I thought they were all listenable, I guess that's what I'm saying - we all know we've heard plenty of unlistenable stuff in the songfight universe.

[frankie big face]

Steve's sax was awesome...

See, this is kind of what I'm talking about. No disrespect to Steve or you, but the sax wasn't awesome. It didn't really fit the song very well, it wasn't always in tune, the solo didn't seem to fit the chord progression...etc. etc. It's not awesome just because it's a sax in the same way fluffy's cello wasn't aweomse just because it's a cello. I sometimes think people feel they're really bringing something special to their songs by adding a new color, but it's only special if it's played well and if not, it's a distraction. For me, the sax was a major distraction.

[frankie big face]

Anyway, I thought they were all listenable, I guess that's what I'm saying - we all know we've heard plenty of unlistenable stuff in the songfight universe.

I knew what you meant and I wasn't trying to contradict you necessarily, just share my view. I've already had a competitor ask me for feedback so maybe I'll put up some reviews after all.

I'm looking to be blown away by someone. I know you only have five days, but I've heard songs written and recorded in less time that left me speechless because they were that good (I loved Reist's '97 last week, for example). And this week, I didn't hear anything that even came close to awesome. Even Milo (who I think is probably the best songwriter in the crowd) seemed to phone it in this week. Boop Boop is always interesting, but this seemed like something he wrote fast or he never really found the right idea. I've been there--see my "Spider to the Fly" last year or even "Hit Record" and of course "Sleep Tight." None of those songs were very good and there was somebody around to kick my butt that week. It's just rare to see the whole field struggle in the same week. Maybe that means everyone will be SUPER-AWESOME this week.

[Caravan Ray]

Sid, even though you're gone, you're not gonna stop giving me shit, are you? It's been surprisingly motivational.

You have learned much Grasshopper. You must make the rest of this journey alone.

[MintyHandy]

[bows solemnly, picks up rucksack, turns away and strides resolutely onward into the deeper forest]

[phetal]

Well it was fun! I totally understand and accept this elimination. Certainly not defeat! Great songs guys, I'll be paying attention, and probably reviewing (that's cool right?)

[Lunkhead]

Here's an alternate universe version of the BSS song this week. Tuesday night after we got the title and challenge Ken and Martin and I wrote and recorded a bunch of possible song parts. The song we submitted was based mostly on two double-time feel parts, whic wound up being the verse of the song we submitted. We actually had a whole bunch of parts with a completely different, non-double-time feel, and I used those to make this version. It's different music, slightly different lyrics, and some scratch vocals I threw in and autotuned, though the bridge is basically the same as our submitted version.

http://people.geneticmail.com/sam/bss/n ... ersion.mp3

[Generic]

Here's an alternate universe version of the BSS song this week. Tuesday night after we got the title and challenge Ken and Martin and I wrote and recorded a bunch of possible song parts. The song we submitted was based mostly on two double-time feel parts, whic wound up being the verse of the song we submitted. We actually had a whole bunch of parts with a completely different, non-double-time feel, and I used those to make this version. It's different music, slightly different lyrics, and some scratch vocals I threw in and autotuned, though the bridge is basically the same as our submitted version.

http://people.geneticmail.com/sam/bss/n ... ersion.mp3

Wow, huge improvement. However, it doesn't even sound remotely like the same song, except for the bridge.

[Generic]

I don't normally do this, but just to show how off-target your own biases can put you sometimes, here's how I anticipated the rankings to come out:

1. Boop Boop
2. Milo Dunderville
3. Minty Handy
4. Jon Eric
5. Chris Cogott
[unranked, but hereabouts]: Therman
6. BLT
7. Sid
8. BSS
9. Who Fly

Give or take a few. I thought maybe I'd put myself one rank too high, or maybe BSS and Sid might have switched, but man, except for the bottom slot, I was WAY off.

Anyways, on repeated listens to my own song, I realized that I mixed the harmony way too loud, and the sample way too low. Sorry, Frank. Too bad it was inaudible; if more people had heard it, I can't help but think that it might have been considered one of the better integrations in this fight.

C'est la vie, and I live to fight another day, however narrowly.

Jon Eric - your stuff often has a slightly frantic feeling to it. It seems like it’s just part of what you do, but I wish you could back off the top of the beat just a little and let the song settle in. This song is an example of that. Your voice is just a little outside at some points, here. This song just kinda goes past me, some nice lines, but nothing pulling me in, and it just rushed past. The music box part with the sample is nice.

Ross, thanks for the review. I'm wondering if you can elaborate a little more, though, on your advice to "Back off the top of the beat." What does that mean, practically, in terms of the mix and performance?

[Generic]

Jon, all I do for the acoustic is throw a condenser mic between the 12th fret and the soundhole. Then depending on the song, I'll record it again and split left and right. Not a hard split. I'll high pass to get rid of the rumbly lows and brighten up the high end in the eq, put on a very little amount of compression and that's it. I'm sure everybody does it different. I think Ross has a way better sound than me though. Care to give up your secret Ross?

Nope. That's pretty much how you do it. Well done.

I do something similar, but I feel like my acoustic doesn't even come close to matching the clearness and crispness that you get every time. Maybe it has something to do with the quality of your instrument, the precision of your playing, and the arrangement you put it in.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

I sometimes think people feel they're really bringing something special to their songs by adding a new color, but it's only special if it's played well and if not, it's a distraction.

I should print this out and tack it to the wall. Good advice, yo.

[Ross]

Jon, all I do for the acoustic is throw a condenser mic between the 12th fret and the soundhole. Then depending on the song, I'll record it again and split left and right. Not a hard split. I'll high pass to get rid of the rumbly lows and brighten up the high end in the eq, put on a very little amount of compression and that's it. I'm sure everybody does it different. I think Ross has a way better sound than me though. Care to give up your secret Ross?

Pretty much the same, I usually point my mic where the neck meets the body. My guess is most of the variation comes from othe variation in guitar, mic, strings, room, etc..

[frankie big face]

I sometimes think people feel they're really bringing something special to their songs by adding a new color, but it's only special if it's played well and if not, it's a distraction.

I should print this out and tack it to the wall. Good advice, yo.

Cool! I'm glad you saw the positive in my comments, which I think could have been interpreted as mostly negative.

Along those same lines, people would do well to play to their strengths in a competition like this (something Reist/Therman does consistently well and BSS didn't this week). For BLT, strengths include excessive amounts of rock, not jazz licks. Which is not to say don't experiment, but pick your spots and don't force something that doesn't seem to fit.

[frankie big face]

Here's an alternate universe version of the BSS song this week. Tuesday night after we got the title and challenge Ken and Martin and I wrote and recorded a bunch of possible song parts. The song we submitted was based mostly on two double-time feel parts, whic wound up being the verse of the song we submitted. We actually had a whole bunch of parts with a completely different, non-double-time feel, and I used those to make this version. It's different music, slightly different lyrics, and some scratch vocals I threw in and autotuned, though the bridge is basically the same as our submitted version.

http://people.geneticmail.com/sam/bss/n ... ersion.mp3

I think this version fits the lyric better, but it would have been interesting to see if the other version would have been more to my liking with a different singer. Probably Ken.

[Billy's Little Trip]

@ Frank. It is actually good advice for a competition like this. I really don't have the time to experiment and it shows.

[MintyHandy]

Along those same lines, people would do well to play to their strengths in a competition like this...

I will take this to heart, as soon as I develop some strengths.