Re: sonofgearfight #2 "Access Denied"
Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2021 7:37 pm
Hanky Code
Upbeat intro! Robot voice is a little boomy, probably could shave a bit of low end off of that. It's a little hard to tell what the lyrics are, but I can tell there are some. You might mix a little of the original signal in with the vocoded version. They're a little clearer around the time we get to the hook. Vocal melody in the chorus is great. Guitar solo exiting the choruses is a nice little touch. I like the funky guitar strumming sprinkled throughout but it could be louder.
IRC USM
Guitars are maybe a little too loud, and they unbalance the mix to the right channel. Love the tone of the bass guitar. The "but my access is denied" line doesn't have much impact. Got me bobbing my head with this track at times, but the guitar mixed too hot in the right channel is killing my enjoyment of the rest of the song, which is pretty catchy.
Ken
Love the sound of everything in here, the portamento synth especially sounds fun and happy. Some of your scansion is off, like on the line "staying cur-RENT each season". The portamento synth kinda wears on me after hearing it for so much of the song, it feels a bit overly bright halfway through. This song wins most likely to be sung in the shower. Some of the lines in the bridge get kinda soft when you go for the low notes, you might try putting a little more breath support behind those notes. I like the harmony in the last prechorus/chorus.
owl
Guitar tone is a bit dark and some of the notes get kind of lost. It might benefit from a pass through an amp sim to give it a little more bite and compress it a bit. Love the Quantum Leap reference. The song- and lyric-writing on this song are really good and I like the way the vocal parts interweave with one another.
phlub
More experiments in microtonal tuning! Cool cool. I remember when my friends in high school were Wiccan. Some temporarily, others still are! Some of the phrases of this incantation, that I can't remember the name of, work better as lyrics than others. Cool use of the stereo field, cool feedbacky effects in the outro. I feel like you've mumbled the lyrics a little bit in some parts of this one, it's hard to make them out. Some very cool rhythmic stuff happening around 1:47. This is a really ambitious song. I think your fiddle playing may be a little out of tune in places like around 2:13, though it's hard to tell if it's that or my Western-music sensibilities. It took me a few listens, but I decided I think this is cool as fuck, and I think it may be my favorite song of the bunch. Song ends kind of suddenly. Might work better if you gave a little time for the reverb trail to finish out on the drums before the song cuts, or if you faded out.
Pigfarmer Jr
I like the bassline. The lyrics start out grabbing my interest! Some of the phrases feel a little rushed or slowed, like the "she always says" in "she always says access denied", and "she'll answer" in "she'll answer every time". This has kind of a spy groove to it, I'm digging it. The rhythm guitar seems too far in the background. Could maybe use a bit more crunch, or a few more dB, to make it more audible in the mix.
Vom Vorton
Starts out with a bit of a 50s doo-wop feel to it. Mixing feels a little dark especially in certain bits, like the descending guitar arpeggio starting around :44. "I have friends inside my phone" is a good line. Can't find much to criticize about the song, well done!
Upbeat intro! Robot voice is a little boomy, probably could shave a bit of low end off of that. It's a little hard to tell what the lyrics are, but I can tell there are some. You might mix a little of the original signal in with the vocoded version. They're a little clearer around the time we get to the hook. Vocal melody in the chorus is great. Guitar solo exiting the choruses is a nice little touch. I like the funky guitar strumming sprinkled throughout but it could be louder.
IRC USM
Guitars are maybe a little too loud, and they unbalance the mix to the right channel. Love the tone of the bass guitar. The "but my access is denied" line doesn't have much impact. Got me bobbing my head with this track at times, but the guitar mixed too hot in the right channel is killing my enjoyment of the rest of the song, which is pretty catchy.
Ken
Love the sound of everything in here, the portamento synth especially sounds fun and happy. Some of your scansion is off, like on the line "staying cur-RENT each season". The portamento synth kinda wears on me after hearing it for so much of the song, it feels a bit overly bright halfway through. This song wins most likely to be sung in the shower. Some of the lines in the bridge get kinda soft when you go for the low notes, you might try putting a little more breath support behind those notes. I like the harmony in the last prechorus/chorus.
owl
Guitar tone is a bit dark and some of the notes get kind of lost. It might benefit from a pass through an amp sim to give it a little more bite and compress it a bit. Love the Quantum Leap reference. The song- and lyric-writing on this song are really good and I like the way the vocal parts interweave with one another.
phlub
More experiments in microtonal tuning! Cool cool. I remember when my friends in high school were Wiccan. Some temporarily, others still are! Some of the phrases of this incantation, that I can't remember the name of, work better as lyrics than others. Cool use of the stereo field, cool feedbacky effects in the outro. I feel like you've mumbled the lyrics a little bit in some parts of this one, it's hard to make them out. Some very cool rhythmic stuff happening around 1:47. This is a really ambitious song. I think your fiddle playing may be a little out of tune in places like around 2:13, though it's hard to tell if it's that or my Western-music sensibilities. It took me a few listens, but I decided I think this is cool as fuck, and I think it may be my favorite song of the bunch. Song ends kind of suddenly. Might work better if you gave a little time for the reverb trail to finish out on the drums before the song cuts, or if you faded out.
Pigfarmer Jr
I like the bassline. The lyrics start out grabbing my interest! Some of the phrases feel a little rushed or slowed, like the "she always says" in "she always says access denied", and "she'll answer" in "she'll answer every time". This has kind of a spy groove to it, I'm digging it. The rhythm guitar seems too far in the background. Could maybe use a bit more crunch, or a few more dB, to make it more audible in the mix.
Vom Vorton
Starts out with a bit of a 50s doo-wop feel to it. Mixing feels a little dark especially in certain bits, like the descending guitar arpeggio starting around :44. "I have friends inside my phone" is a good line. Can't find much to criticize about the song, well done!