The lustre passes muster (Jewel of India reviews)

[fluffy]

I thought of writing a song about the number 0 but I couldn't come up with anything. Oh well.

[Caravan Ray]

I got halfway through writing a song that featured bad rhyming of types of curry (vindaloo, korma, balti etc...) with Indian cricketers (Sachin Tandulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Bishen Bedi etc...)

Thankfully I got bored halfway through -so you won't be subjected to it (though surely, Chicken Vindaloo is the real "Jewel of India").

Any way - Culture Club did it so much better:

...korma, korma, korma, korma, korma chameleon....

[AJOwens]

I wrote a song about seamen going through a passage. . .

[longfellowstreet]

Dan The Man Band - Kiss quote! Damn that wants a vote.

[floatingman]

Dan The Man Band - Kiss quote! Damn that wants a vote

Oh Really? Which song? It was purely unintentional.

[longfellowstreet]

1:20 to 1:30 or so is totally the end of Detroit Rock City.

[floatingman]

1:20 to 1:30 or so is totally the end of Detroit Rock City.

Oh yeah the solo is totally Detroit Rock City, except no harmony part.

[Mike Lamb]

I couldn't help but think of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1NoOOoaNw

Fortunately it didn't factor into our track.

[Mike Lamb]

LML: Do you have a track that we can hear? The one you submitted is so quiet, I can barely hear it even with everything maxed out.

EDIT: This is one of my favorite tracks of this fight, but holy crap, I have the volume on my 100W amp at max to barely hear it!

[jeff robertson]

LML: Do you have a track that we can hear? The one you submitted is so quiet, I can barely hear it even with everything maxed out.

EDIT: This is one of my favorite tracks of this fight, but holy crap, I have the volume on my 100W amp at max to barely hear it!

Import it into your DAW and turn the faders all the way up. It is a good song.

[LML]

Yeah I had problems with it being WAY too loud and maxing out my speakers when I bounced it from Logic. It was my first time messing with Logic, so I wasn't too familiar with getting the sound right. I have headphones and crappy lap top speakers so I wasn't too sure just how loud it was going to be, so I probably made it too quiet so it wasn't totally maxing out like it was before. Sorry. Glad you like the song though.

[fluffy]

I can help with Logic issues.

The most important thing is to look at your signal level in the 'output 1-2' section. Also notice the little headroom indicator, which shows the peak signal for an entire play-through. What I like to do is play through the whole song, then add an adaptive limiter which pulls the peak signal down to around -3dB and then raises it back up with a bit of extra; for example, if your peak level was 2.5, set the limiter's input scale to -5.5, and its output gain to 4.0 or so.

Also, when you bounce to disk, make sure to check the 'normalize' button.

[fluffy]

I will get around to reviewing the fight later, but:

The Orange Collective: Imagine the following scene: a suburban home in Orange, CA, where a bunch of independent musicians have gathered for a barbecue. There are dozens of instruments on-hand, and they go in and out of use. They receive a title from on high. One of the musicians starts playing a haunting chord progression on a sparkly-purple 12-string electric guitar, and it immediately resonates with everyone. A mandolin, acoustic bass, and cello come into play; a dulcimer soon follows. Ideas for song premises start to pop out. The musician on the guitar does a brilliant job of writing lyrics, a haunting ode to an intoxicating drink. Ideas bounce back and forth, chord progressions develop, and the song seems to coalesce like the nucleation of a crystal in a super-saturated solution.

They begin to record. There is some uncertainty, but they try to go through the whole song.

They are suddenly interrupted by the interaction of a dog and a small child.

This puts everyone in the right mindset to record the whole thing.

The raw tracks are taken back to Woodland, CA, and then distributed to all the players, some of whom embellish and rerecord their performances, or add additional things not feasible during the original live take, recovering the amazing feeling of the original event in the process.

That is how you do a collab.

[Seamus.]

I'm going to cry.

But yeah, that's exactly what happened.

[Spintown]

http://spintown79.blogspot.com/2010/05/song-fight-review-jewel-of-india.html

1. Dan The Man Band - I didn't like the echo or whatever it is you did to the last word in each verse. I think the vocals could have been stronger, but overall very enjoyable.

2. King Arthur - I enjoyed the story & performance. I think another mix is needed, and some of the lyrics didn't sound natural. Still one of the best this round.

3. Torrentz - I only disliked 1 thing about this track, and unfortunately it's a constant in the track. I don't know what it is, but during the break in the song it starts up again at 2:26. That sound just made my skin crawl...sorry.

4. Longfellow Street - Enjoyed the relaxing music & the vocals were pretty good. I don't know if it was the story or lyrics, but it didn't hold my interest. Maybe it was just too relaxing? Either way it's very pretty background music, but not something I'd listen to repeatedly.

The Orange Collective - Story didn't grab me, but everything else was enjoyable. Solid.

[Steve Durand]

Rating Scale
5 -Great. I would force people to listen to it
4-Really good. Gets a vote
3-Good but not quite doing it for me
2-Fair. Flawed or Not my kind of thing
1-Bad
0-Waste of time

Torrentz: 4
I don’t really like rap but this is so well put together that I have to give it a vote.

King Arthur: 3
A solid song but the story doesn’t really grab me. The fake drums and instruments come off as pretty mechanical. Your singing is good.

Slapdash: 3

Longfellow Street: 4
Very nice. Maybe a little long.

Dan the Man Band: 3

James Owens: 3
I like the lyrical approach that you took. You could have sunk the voice into the mix a bit.

Stucco Lobster Breadbox: 2
I always cringe a little bit when I hit the play button on your songs. This one was not so bad as some.

LML: 3
This is a good song. Too bad it was so quiet. I think you should have cut the second verse short a little bit. The chord progression got a little monotonous by the time you got to the second chorus.

The Orange Collective: 4
Nice lyrical take. I dig the mandolin solos.

Flvvxvm Florvm: 2
Just not my thing. What’s with the cover?

Young Stroke: 2
Don’t care for rap or the lyrics

[bdog5778]

Because I can...

...and because it's a great song.

Fixed with Waves L3 Ultramaximizer along with a few other goodies. Still, there's only so much polishing of the turd that I can do here (referring to the mix, not the song).

Could you play this along with a click track? It starts at 88 bpm and then devolves into a trainwreck. It really is quite good and I'd love to add percussion, clean/delayed guitars, SOMETHING. Or, at the very least, make a better-sounding mix for you. Recording the guitar and vox on two separate tracks would naturally be preferable.

Just offering my services.

VOTE.

[LML]

I didn't play with a click track actually. No excuses, but it was a one shot done at around 3 in the morning. So obviously, laziness had it's way with me. I could re record it later with a click track and put separate tracks. Like I said, I was having problems with logic at the time, but just pm me and I'll send you the tracks maybe in the next couple of days. My birthday's tomorrow, it'd be a nice present for someone to remix my song.

[king_arthur]

I wrote some review-like notes during first listen; since we're getting so few reviews, here's what I wrote...

Dan the Man Band

The melody at the start sounds like it's trying to be in a
major key despite the bluesy/minor key feel of the music
behind it. Good lead guitar work.

Flvxxm Florvm

Not entirely to my taste... nice lead guitar work, I like the
"House of the Rising Sun" changeup at 2:22. Until the singing
starts, anyway... liked the interesting turns in your lyric.
This one would've gone with the cover art I submitted...

James Owens

Interesting use of sustain to give that "India" feel at
the start... nice restrained use of the synth sitar sound.
I haven't listened to a fight in a while, so I'm not
familiar with your voice, but this feels like it would have
sounded better in a higher key.

King Arthur (me)

Well, I made another King Arthur song... sorry, this is
what I do...

LML

Chord pattern verges on becoming too repetitive... just
breaking it up by playing the same pattern three times then
something else would make it more interesting, especially
since it's just the one instrument... apart from the volume
deficiency, why does the song end at 3:22 but the track goes
on to 4:18?

Longfellow Street

Ah, that's what a sitar is supposed to sound like Very
nice vocals. I like the odd time sig, too, makes it interesting.
Every time I thought it stayed in 6 all the way through I'd
hear a couple extra beats. Or lose count or something. Very
nice. Keeper and vote.

The Orange Collective

Good song, like the singing, like the lyric. The change from
the slightly distorted solo instrument at the start to the
band coming in seemed a little abrupt, might've worked better
if the sound of that instrument could have carried on into
the song instead of sounding like it got muted for half a
bar there... the chord progression felt like it was getting
a little repetetive at points, that 6m,5, run down. Might
want to make a point of cutting off the buzz in the background
at the end of the song when the music ends. Keeper and vote.

Slapdash

I personally would've liked this better if it stuck more to
notes that work together, had less, umm, out of key experience.
That rhythmic thing at the start doesn't feel too repetitive
because you mix it up with other interesting stuff, you keep
doing different things along with it. I like the way that
little riff serves as the rhythm instrument in the song.

Steve Durand

Interesting lyric, I do like "story" songs. Musically, I
wish there was more dynamic variation, it just kinda goes to
one level and stays there. And I wish things in general were
more in tune... interesting the way the music speeds up at
the end fade out, I'd like to hear that as an "instrumental
break" thing and then come back to one more chorus as an
ending...

Stucco Lobster Break

Another one that would've worked with my cover art... umm,
in the face of the other entries in the fight, kind of
underwhelming...

Torrentz

Love the harmony vocals... good fun story line... there's
a spot in the drum pattern where it's silent for a couple
beats, I sorta wish it had carried through... maybe that
bongo-ish sound needed to be mixed a bit higher. Keeper
and vote.

Young Stroke aka Young Muscle

Work on your mic technique... some distortion can work,
but the breath noises aren't pleasant. The difference
for me between this one and Torrentz is that Torrentz
tells and interesting story and this one seems like it's
just about "I'm the best rapper." Well, not exactly that,
but...

[AJOwens]

An odd fight, strangely uninspiring to reviewers. I seem to be feeling cranky today. It shows.

Dan the Man Band - When you posted the lyrics, I was concerned, but the music puts them in context. A good energetic performance in the general region of Spinal Tap or The Darkness. The echo on the final word of each verse is a classic touch. I have my doubts whether "Jewel of India" is the best place to pin this genre, because it leaves you no opportunity to wax dramatic about elf-lords. Still, another well-done spoof.

Flxxvm Florvm - This plods a bit, and the bass sounds a bit farty at times, but in the right live atmosphere it could go down well. Great lead work. A clean, delicate cover of House on the guitars, but the vocal in this part kind of says "castrato." By 4:00 it's too long.

James Owens - I envisioned the singer in a tavern or pub and attempted to process the vocal for a small room, but even if it had worked it would have been a mistake. I should have gone for a sea-air feel. The drone and melody were intended to play up similarities between Celtic and Indian melodies, but most of the Indian melodies I can conjure come from Beatles albums, so the ploy probably wasn't very effective. The lyrics weren't researched and would probably make a historian groan repeatedly.

King Arthur - This is the most original piece in the fight, and my favourite. It has a quiet poignancy that reminds me a little of Randy Newman. The musical changes are novel, the arrangement is imaginative and well-balanced, and the vocal performance has a lot of character. Definitely a vote.

LML - I was able to crank this enough to appreciate it. As a solo-performer act, it might need something richer on the guitar, but as a song it carries a fine tension and interest. The singing also is very good, with a gritty urgency. If I have a quibble, it would be as an accent snob: the pronunciation of "can't" made me think of Jean Hagen's delivery as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain. My bad for watching too many old movies.

Longfellow Street - I seldom suffer from genre bias, but here I have to be careful: the kind of music I think of as "Celtic" has nothing to do with crystals, and this whole Lord-of-the-Dance thing gets up my nose. However, this is a cool drone, well-mixed, sung in a way that reminds me of Loreena McKennitt. I thought I detected some uncertainty in the harmonies when the melody moved from a Dm to a C position, because the Indian instruments didn't seem to want to go there. However, I did immensely enjoy their full, relaxed sound. The lyrics don't always scan well to the melody, and the song is a bit long for what it does. Also I have genre bias.

The Orange Collective - I could not shake thoughts of the Kinks while listening to this, specifically Arthur and even more specifically Sunny Afternoon, but in the end the resemblances are passing -- there is much original work here. I like the texture, the singing, and the overall atmosphere.

Slapdash - Eccentric, somewhat non-melodic arrangement. I'm all for experimentation, but not sure this is a completely successful experiment. In the words of a famous cartoon, "Parts of it are excellent," notably the singing, the quotidian yet mysterious lyrics, the tentative, exploratory phrasing. What put me off was a certain Harpo effect coming out of the accompaniment.

Steve Durand - I came pretty close to sampling Revolver, too -- I wanted the seagulls in Tomorrow Never Knows, but I couldn't get at them successfully. (By the way, that particular track is an amazing recording.) You did a nice job incorporating the drone, and that reed thing you're playing fits the Indian mood nicely. It reminds me of a "fluzaphone", which is what you get when you remove the mouthpiece of a flute and play down the tube trumpet-style. The lyrics have possibilities, but you I don't think you knocked yourself out, and your slightly stilted, conversational delivery does not elevate their flat narrative. The whole thing has a quirky, unreflective sort of charm.

Stucco Lobster Breadbox - Another wry ditty, set to music I'll mislabel "ironic" as I toss off my review with equal insouciance.

Torrentz - The second-best entry in this fight. Excellent music for the purpose. I especially like that flute, waving cheerfully from the top of an elephant or something. Each verse has its own style and character, but I like some better than others. The restaurant soundtrack is a nice touch. Probably my other vote.

Young Stroke aka Young Muscle - I feel genre bias coming on again! -- not for the music, which is perfectly good and interesting within the context of rap loops, but for the preposterously self-aggrandizing lyrics, which must speak to another generation, I guess. It must be difficult to bring them off convincingly; perhaps that's the art of it. But genre-deaf though I am, I'm not sure you did manage to bring them off. "It's the Stroke" has the same cadence as an insistent "C'mon, let's go" spoken to people who are possibly ignoring you. Not to be completely unkind, it's a well-conceived song of its type, and the music is solid.

[AJOwens]

. . .I haven't listened to a fight in a while, so I'm not
familiar with your voice, but this feels like it would have
sounded better in a higher key.

When I composed it (on a woodland bike path as I commuted to and from work), I was starting on G, but when I went to record, I found that the synthesized accordion from my Yamaha Portatone didn't sound convincing in that range. I wanted to drop it to D, but that was uncomfortably low for my voice, so I settled for F. I am a baritone though. E above middle C is the best I can do on a good day.

. . .You could have sunk the voice into the mix a bit.

The recording was muddy, and I was concerned that the words would be hard to make out. I applied some EQ, but I also kept the vocals well up there. Engineering non-MIDI inputs is something I hope to get a lot better at. (MIDI-generated sounds seem to take care of themselves -- touch wood.)

[Enter It In The Art Show]

LML - I've always been intrigued by your style, but this song has got to be the most well crafted of all of the ones I've heard. Excellent songwriting; I even downloaded it. Greatness!