Bernie knows what I'm talking about (Lost Weekend reviews)

[Lunkhead]

Review thread must be created before the fight can go up, so, here it is. If you've got better ideas for the thread title I'd be happy to edit it.

[glennny]

May Pang's glory.

[glennny]

Strong stuff from everyone! Especially enjoying the Nick and Ross tracks!
Who is Gwazi? Where the Hell have they been? They are awesome! Do we know members of Qwazi as anyone else?
Gwazi!!!

[Caravan Ray]

May Pang's glory.

Beatles nerd

[mrbeany]

The Armageddon Machines

This may be my favorite. From the backing track that sounds vaguely of a grinding machine to working only for the weekend to have the weekend disappear. Nicely done. Vote.

Berkeley Social Scene

Very nice. Vote.

Gwazi

It seemed reasonably well done, but it didn't really grab me. I mean, sure you can play instruments, but I'm not entirely sure what is being sung about, and I didn't hear anything that made me want to listen to it again. I thought maybe I had missed something, so I listened to it again... but, no. Sorry.

heine

I liked the song overall. It seemed a little light in terms of what was going on in the lyrics, like maybe it needs another verse, but it compensated for that by having interesting music. Vote.

inflatable vegetables

I really like it. I can't quite tell if it is supposed to be a reference to something in particular or if it is supposed to be a composite or something new. Vote.

Jerkatorium

When it started, I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but then it just kept getting better. This is great. Definitely a vote.

JRS2

The "lost weekend" bit felt tacked on at the end of a misogynistic rant.
No vote.

Mr. Beany's Bitty Band

I have to say, this is the most listenable song I have yet to submit to SongFight! I did this song as a part of FAWM, and it is a part of an album I'm working on. Abstractly, it's an art album about copyright... in the guise of hymn filk. The premise is a lonely space traveler thinks about what might be in store for the colony ship when they get there, but due to copyright restrictions only music made before 1926 is available on-board. So, he combines the two.

Nick Soma

This is really fun, but I'm not sure I get the references. I imagine a black cat bone is a charm for good luck. "[...] when the spider's coming back?" What's that about? Vote.

Ross Durand

This is all kinds of awesome. Definitely voting.

toby roktot

I have a personal bias against love songs, but I liked the almost supernatural component to the story. I think I'll vote.

[iVeg]

The Armageddon Machines I like how you took J$ tag "This is what we do...", and made it into a chorus. I prefered his melody. Good job on the mechanistic backing track!

Berkeley Social Scene Really liked the guitars and most vocals, esp the chorus! I couldn't understand the vocals on the prechorus or bridge. The different parts were fighting each other. Voice seemed to be panning? It was cool.

Gwazi great energy! Vocals were maybe too far back in the mix? Enjoyed the guitars!

heine Enjoyed the chorus! Seemed to be timing glitch between the bass and guitar in early parts? Maybe vocals a little hotter in verses? Liked the slidy "coming home" guitar part.

inflatable vegetables Mine. Weird how changing the angle of the ipad makes such a difference in vocal tone.

Jerkatorium Really liked intro, solo, Outro. You also used the "lost and weakened" line. Enjoyed harmonies.

JRS2 well produced rap, some really nice sounds, and they worked together. Lyrics just got to be too much.

Mr. Beany's Bitty Band I love the idea, and esp the verse about the polar bear. Very TMBG influence in lyrics. Piano was well done, but the song had too many verses, not enough variation. Also some vocals were accented where they shouldn't have been, etc. but i already told you that

Nick Soma like that percussion. Very much like prechorus, both vocals, harmonies, and bass part. Didn't like the bridge part as much. Overall my favorite song this week.

Ross Durand Nice guitar, really enjoyed harmonica, "sometimes I wish" w vocal harmonies.

toby roktot your lost weekend on a deserted road ended up much better than my lost weekend on a deserted road

@Mr Beany: Thanks for review. This is just me making up a story.

[Lunkhead]

iVeg: You're using your iPad's built-in mic to record your vocals? Have you considered getting an external mic like any of these?

http://www.sweetwater.com/c1060--iPad_i ... s/low2high

$40 could make a pretty substantial to the recording quality of your vocals, and consequently your songs overall. The music all sounds pretty good and the mixes are mostly decent, although, sounds like you could use some/more EQ and compression on your vocals.

Not to single you out, just trying to be helpful. Same goes for anybody using a built-in mic on their phone/tablet/laptop/desktop.

[ken]

This should probably go in the Help and How To thread, but if you can muster up a few more dollars, it is probably really worthwhile to get the Focusrite iTrack solo and be able to use whatever mic you want, plus guitar input!

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Focusrite-i ... 2606610.gc

[iVeg]

For Stay in Your Lane, FAWM, and Lost Weekend I used the built in mic. Mainly this is due to my work schedule. Before that, I was using an SM58 thru a mixer to a PC, then running noise removal, compression, and adding any effects I needed. And it still sounded lo fi.
I think the real solution is going to be investing in a good condenser mic, and an interface... But right now Pretty much everything else is higher priority.

[Lunkhead]

You should be able to get a decent sound using a 58. Are you interested in posting your whole signal chain and setup to a "help and how to" thread? I bet folks here could provide some specific suggestions for improvements if you want. Your music in your last couple entries sounds good, so your vocals could probably sound at least as good.

[ken]

Ain't nothing wrong with an SM58. I would invest in an audio interface instead of a condenser mic.

[Ross]

Whole I love my studio projects condenser mic, it would be nothing without my decent interface.

I trust Ken, he has given me multitudes of good recording advice these ten years.

[iVeg]

There is NO signal path right now. Everything I did in February is 100% iPad mini with no interface. When I finish recording and rough mixing it on the ipad, I email it to my work computer, and remotely "master" it. End of process

I like the 58. It's a solid mic, as is the 57. Right now the interface and condenser mic are only on my dream list. I'll get interface first, at your suggestion. Until then, the world will just have to suffer

[Jerkatorium]

Nick Soma: Not fond of the 'Escape Club' setting on the drum machine, but I love the lyrics and vocals. The "I was lost in the traces" and "I was left in the palace" harmonies/verses are fantastic. I listened to the song a lot, and I will continue to listen to it.

inflatable vegetables: I'm a fan. Wonderful job on the melody.

Ross Durand: I thought all of the submissions this week would sound exactly like this one. Glad somebody did it.

Toby Roktot: Great voice. Not a fan of the genre.

Armageddon Machines: It's different, and it has a lot of charm, but I couldn't get excited about it - maybe because of the spoken lyrics? Nothing to hum along with? It's not bad, but it's not great.

Mr. Beany's Bitty Band: Do you know what isn't awesome about this track? Nothing. I love every little Bitty bit of it. Listening to this track led me to check out Mr. Beany's Bitty Band's YouTube channel, and I am definitely going to keep my eyes and ears open for the concept album he mentioned in the Lyric Archive.

Gwazi: Remember back in the 80's when you'd be watching MTV or Nightflight or whatever and some rock video would come on with a bunch of beautiful people hanging around a pool while some uptempo song blasted and you'd think to yourself 'I haven't heard/seen this one before, I wonder what song this video is for', and then a couple seconds later you'd realize it was a beer commercial?

JRS2: Well produced and well performed and well put together. Powerful, disturbing, angry, passionate. Great song, and I never want to hear it again.

heine: An odd mix of 60's feel (with the instrumentation, the choruses, tambourine, and of course that reverb) with Bauhaus verses. It works, great job.

Berkeley Social Scene: Good head-bobbing music. Charming and laid back. The verses seem to falter now and then, but all is forgiven when that catchy chorus kicks in. I want to listen to it again, right now.

Jerkatorium: I was particularly happy with the instrumental tracks for this one, but then of course I had to ruin it by adding vocals. When I listen to it now, all I hear is popping Ps and out-of-tune bits. I swear I'm going to find a regular collaborator one of these days and never get this mouth near a microphone again (though my tendency to procrastinate and my compose-as-you-go M.O. might make that nearly impossible).

[Heine]

Here are my Lost Weekend reviews/impressions.

The Armageddon Machines - This one left me a bit clueless. Even though it's done well … it won't grab me. Just when I thought I caught a glimpse of Human League or Gary Numan it's about to vanish.

Berkeley Social Scene - Nice Weezer feeling (don't know why but the chorus reminds me a bit of Buddy Holly). Something fine to hum along.

Gwazi - Powerful, driving, great vocals!

heine - Mine. Vaguely about that Lennon/Pang situation. Writing, recording, submitting was done in one go. A bit sloppy, but I didn't want to give myself a chance to work too long on it. My first attempt to clone some 60's sound.

inflatable vegetables - Some 80's influences. I really like your song writing.

Jerkatorium - Is there a harpsichord hidden in the chorus? Why hidden? "99 bottles of beer" are very catchy (in each way )

JRS2 - There's a fine backing track. What really got me are the backing vox and the chorusing. Great.

Mr. Beany's Bitty Band - Musically to me a gospel hymn from last century. That's really something different.

Nick Soma - A very fine piece of music. A very cool vocal arrangement.

Ross Durand - A deliverer of quality songs. Simple but dynamic. Thumbs up.

toby roktot - Simply beautiful and touching. This one needs nothing more. My favorite one this time.

[mrbeany]

Mr. Beany's Bitty Band: Do you know what isn't awesome about this track? Nothing. I love every little Bitty bit of it. Listening to this track led me to check out Mr. Beany's Bitty Band's YouTube channel, and I am definitely going to keep my eyes and ears open for the concept album he mentioned in the Lyric Archive.

That was the best review I've had to date.

Somehow, hearing someone complain about YouTube videos of SongFighters just being photo slideshows may have resulted in my first attempt at a musical. I'll be working on it in March as part of "Camp NaNoWriMo". Like my original concept album idea, it'll be released Creative Commons Attribution.

The fallback is a simple concept album with sheet music. I might do both, but I suspect the musical will result in some improvements on the existing verses and won't result in too much spoken dialog.

One way or the other, it'll be released before 50/90. I'll be working on material for three new albums during 50/90.

[saunter]

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