I gotta pocket fulla quarters (At the Arcade)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Albatross
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I gotta pocket fulla quarters (At the Arcade)

Post by Albatross »

Bonus Nerd Points if you get the reference.
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Post by Mostess »

I had that album. It inspired my entry. I stopped keeping track of my nerd points a long time ago, though, so someone else can have mine.
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Post by EmbersOfAutumn »

Songs Posted Today. Had a chance to hear about 75% of all of them (all of some of them) Amazing job all. Reviews Monday or Tuesday.
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You always keep your friends close to your heart,
cause they'll help you if you're falling down..."
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Post by blue »

Booty submitted late and did not make the cut. :( Here is our tune.

http://www.bootyrocks.com/music/songfig ... io_ata.mp3
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Post by EmbersOfAutumn »

At The Arcade Review

First of all, through an initial listening, I must say this was a good fight. Usually, I’ll notice (when I’m reviewing at least) that it’s 50/50 at best, but I think that the majority of them were pretty good. So rather than being crotchety, satiristic, and opinionated, (ok, rather than being crotchety—I’m still the other two) I’m going to try to highlight good things. [Update: Tried, but i still couldn't help it. I don't mean total offense--I just have fun making fun of stuff] And rather than a point scale, I’ll give a short couple of sentences for my thoughts, and some ‘imaginative’ point scales.

Adam Adamant
A medium-tempo electronica song. The Casio-based instruments have that ‘ting’ sound to them that one associates with an arcade, so the feel one gets is arcade-like. The disembodied voice at the end is slightly distracting, but I see how it was to play counterpoint to the main vocals.

-Attention Keeping on First Listen – 7 of 10
-Song Length vs. Genre – 8 of 10
-Sleep-Inducing Ambience – 6 of 10
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Calliope

Baker
Techno/electronica. A lot of this genre really should be expected given the topic of the song title. Again, the feel that’s given is that of a video game. I feel as if I should be leveling-up my RPG characters on an SNES-based game. A tad long, I feel.

-Time into track before I got bored – 2:35 (It would be great as background/incidental music, but not for a SongFight.)
-Phaser Blasts: Enough to rival all of the Star Wars movies.
-Time at which point I contemplated going to next song – 4:20 (I stayed the whole song)
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Dance Dance Revolution

Bleep Blop Blork
Psychedelic Mario kind of feel, with duck hunt sounds in the background. Vocals a little too heavily distorted, even for the type of song this is. It’s a little too repetitive too—needs a hook or a breakdown somewhere.

-Psychosis Level – 8 of 10
-Celebrity Who Came Up With Band Name – Adam Sandler
-Replay Value – 2 of 10
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Demo button on Casio with three year old pressing buttons.

The Capitalist Youth
Is that a banjo? I like the sound of it. Arcade, NY. Nice. The note on the Lyric Archive helped out with that. This song has a very feel-good feel to it, with a nice build up on the percussion. There are very few songs I actually get to say this to, but I feel the song was actually too short.

-Best Line of Life Advice – “If there's a light at the end of the tunnel but you don't fit through; Keep cutting parts off until you do”
-Creativity on song – 9 of 10
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – VH1

Chonny
The Munsters go to the arcade, it sounds like, at least for the intro. It clears up a little with the start of verse 1. Vocals could have been cleaned up just a tad on the mixing (as if I’m one to talk…). After hearing the song, the genre I would put it in would be 70’s rock.

-Points scored at Pinball during song – 9,400
-Percentage of lyrics I could decipher – 75%
-Best Teasing Nickname I could come up with – “Dick Chonny”
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Closing Credits of a 80’s movie about video games

Embers of Autumn
This one was me. Vocals were very rough, mainly because I waited until the last minute to record them, which, unfortunately, was first thing in the morning. EQ isn’t my strongest skill either. I’ve got more I could talk about the song, but I’d rather not bore everyone with the details. (However, you will notice the lyrics are slightly different from the lyrics archive and this song—last minute changes)

-Approx. Time Spent On Song Total – 8 hours
-Reference (to get a point) – The Ataris – “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, B, A, Start”
-Favorite Line – “Dumb Button Masher, I never had a chance”
-Games Referenced – 7
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – On my computer

FAWMit
Nice opening lick. Likewise on the bridge. Somebody answered my reference question in the song! (Though most likely unintentionally, but still) Seems to be FAWMit gets the points.

-% of times the word ‘Today’ followed the song title in song – 100%
-Bonus Point for Reference – 1
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – 80’s Rock Station

Gaytsar
Ha,ha,ha,ha Wipeout… oh wait. It…sounds like someone next door cut himself shaving there. And then got on his pet donkey, who proceeded to cut ITself shaving. Music work is fine, I just… am having a hard time with the vocals.

-Donkeys Injured in the production of this song – 3
-Tarzans Injured in the production of this song – 2
-Microphones defiled in the production of this song – at least 3
-Percentage of lyrics I could decipher – 0%
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Greg’s Budget Discount Metal Bands.

Hostess Mostess
Story Time –
I started SongFight last June for “We Were Not Meant To Be” (never finished, didn’t submit). At that time, I surfed about a year’s worth of archives. One artist that I’ve enjoyed was Hostess here, who, unless I missed somewhere, hasn’t submitted since I’ve been participating. I was VERY excited to see this song. [/storytime]

Was the wait worth it?

Yes. Love the song, electronica/80’s feel. I’ve heard this song about 6 times or so coming to these reviews, even tried it on Audiosurf (Thread on this game found under Monkey Business). Great Job on the music, vocals (primary and background), and lyrics.

-Separate Video Game References – 15
-Video Game References I get – 13
-Favorite Game mentioned – Joust. Boy the memories there.
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Radio, Movie Credits

Jimmy Jet and his TV Set

Jimmy-Sings-The-Blues. It’s a nice little song. Lacks the panache needed for a winner, but it’s a good job done.

-Time I started to drift a little – 2:55 (sorry, got distracted by something)
-Food I feel like eating after that song – Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (cause I got the blues)
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Outside of a Café or Bistro somewhere in Louisiana

Killer Whales
Ya know, I was taking the song seriously until the chorus, when I realized… this isn’t supposed to be a serious song. I am slightly offended by this song, as I wasn’t the slimmest kid, and I liked hanging out the arcade… (Just kidding about being offended, it could’ve been my anthem as a kid.) Nice guitar solo.

-Line that made me do a double take – “Fat kid, Fat kid at the arcade”
-Number of separate fat jokes/comments in song – 6
-Suggestion for another line (on second or third time) “He’s got his eye on those pies” (instead of ‘that prize’)
-Time song should have ended – Around 3:15 - 3:30
-Place where one would NOT expect to hear the song – Weight Watchers commercial

Lord Of Oats
Just took a break from the music, coming back with a nice little rhythm here. Sounds like you and me were on the same track with some of our “arcade” impressions. Yours just came across more garage-band-ish. Nice little lick on the bridge. This song has a “montage-in-some-80’s-movie-where-kids-are-at-an-arcade” feel. Chorus kinda is distracting—almost less rehearsed.

-Place where one would expect to hear the song – An 80’s movie where kids are at an arcade

Pathetic Wannabees
Recorded on a 45, it sounds like. I expect the phrase “Crack That Whip” to have shown up somewhere in this song. And is that a cowbell I hear?

-Percentage of lyrics I could decipher – 60%
-Transcription of choruses by me:
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and Sun-dried Boots”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and so do some dudes”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth /Your suits are leisure and your rings got mood (this, I take it, is accurate)”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth /Your dog is a wormer, and hot pants are cool”
-"Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/The Dry Lift is Raining But we're all out of groove."
-"Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and sometimes they're moo (?)"
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Concert headlined by a B-52’s cover band

PiGPEN
Catchy intro. Music = Good. Vocals are soft on the mix though.

-Total time holding the word “it” (?) during the song – 13 sec.
-Total time holding the word “continue” during the song – 19 sec.
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Greg’s Budget Discount Alternative Bands

Renwick
Good song in general. Sounds like the distortion is cracking a little on the rhythm—little EQ down on the highs (I think that’s how that works). I like the sound of the intro/chorus coming out into the verses. I had the volume down, because of being at work, I really like the music and can understand the lyrics, but because of it being turned down, couldn’t get every sentence. I’ll have to hear this one again when I get home.

-Band who could cover this really nice – Pearl Jam
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Alternative Rock station

Sankyu Ruckystar
Nice choice of instruments. Sounds really nice together. Again, as mentioned earlier, rare that I say this, but it could have been a tad longer, given the slower tempo of the song. Again, can’t pick up all of the lyrics, but it’s a nice little piece.

-Sleep-Inducing Ambience – 7 of 10.
-SFX to wake up listeners – 1:22
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – on a Video Aquarium scene.

Sherman Way
I think this was mentioned in the pre-fight thread, but… this sounds like the same song as the Killer Whales. So… um, just refer up there to my comments for this one.

Soundscape Rebellion
Another case of the volume mixing a little low, at least for the female vocals.

-Percent of female singer’s lyrics I could decipher – 0% (due to echo)
-Percent of male singer’s lyrics I could decipher – 10% “Four Foot Taller”; “High Score”, “Back of my Mind” and, I think, “Fishsticks”
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Greg’s Budget Discount Club Mixes

Steve Durand
Now, THIS sounds like music from an RPG (See Baker). Actually, as the song goes on more, it has more of a Lounge Jazz singer feel to it. So pass the martinis, we’re heading to the arcade. Music’s good, but I don’t follow the lyrics.

-Concept that artist confused an arcade with – Casino
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Cruise Ship

V For Victory
Very moving intro, grunge-punk feel--especially when you sing. However, might I suggest that you take an ipecac next time that you make that noise? It’s much more effective, you’ll find. Music is fine though.

-Times “Generation Genocide” is said – 20
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – ‘Punkorama’ album


Good Fight all.
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Post by Paco Del Stinko »

The Booty song is really good, but the Booty recording is really, really good. Delicious.

Pathetic Wannabees is also excellent, and got even better when I saw that it was playing in mono. Play it on an old car radio, you know, with the one speaker on the dash, and do a dance on your hood (bonnet).
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Post by Spud »

EmbersOfAutumn wrote: -“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and Sun-dried Boots”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and so do some dudes”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth /Your suits are leisure and your rings got mood (this, I take it, is accurate)”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth /Your dog is a wormer, and hot pants are cool”
-"Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/The Dry Lift is Raining But we're all out of groove."
-"Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and sometimes they're moo (?)"
Since that's Mad Dog "singing", I'm gonna give it a shot. I can usually interpret.

Bottoms all get Bells, Tops got tubes/Girls all wear makeup and some got Boobs
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/Girls all wear makeup and so do some dudes
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/Your suit's in leisure and your ring's got mood
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/You jog in a warmup, and hot pants are cool
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/The Dry Look is reigning, but we're all out of crude
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/Girls all wear makeup and some stuff their boobs!
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Post by EmbersOfAutumn »

Spud wrote:
EmbersOfAutumn wrote: -“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and Sun-dried Boots”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and so do some dudes”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth /Your suits are leisure and your rings got mood (this, I take it, is accurate)”;
-“Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth /Your dog is a wormer, and hot pants are cool”
-"Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/The Dry Lift is Raining But we're all out of groove."
-"Bottoms all got Pills, Muskrat Tooth/Girls all wear makeup and sometimes they're moo (?)"
Since that's Mad Dog "singing", I'm gonna give it a shot. I can usually interpret.

Bottoms all get Bells, Tops got tubes/Girls all wear makeup and some got Boobs
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/Girls all wear makeup and so do some dudes
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/Your suit's in leisure and your ring's got mood
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/You jog in a warmup, and hot pants are cool
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/The Dry Look is reigning, but we're all out of crude
Bottoms all got Bells, Tops got tubes/Girls all wear makeup and some stuff their boobs!
That sounds a lot more accurate--thanks.

As I mentioned, I had the volume at a low-medium level, so i couldn't clearly hear everything... and i was being half-serious with all of my reviews. I'm an ass.
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Post by blue »

Paco Del Stinko wrote:The Booty song is really good, but the Booty recording is really, really good. Delicious.
thanks for loving us more than spud does, Paco!
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Post by Steve Durand »

EmbersOfAutumn wrote: At The Arcade Review


-Concept that artist confused an arcade with – Casino
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Cruise Ship
No, not confused. I just didn't want to be another among the numerous songs about video games so I intentionally went somewhere else. The idea is that The Arcade is the name of an exclusive casino that caters to the rich and powerful.

Thanks for the review!
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Post by blue »

ADAM: You need to SING, dude. There are numerous threads in the help forums discussing how to sound like a zombie. Your tunes are good, and I always get sucked in until the singing starts.

If you're gonna sing like a zombie, don't mix it like you're Frank Sinatra. Pull it down in the mix, EQ the bass out of it.. aim for papery. Double it.. do something so it isn't detracting from the tune.

BAKER: THE Baker? Back-in-the-day Baker? This is terrible.

BAX: Die.

BLEEP: Die.

BOOTY: Vocals sound like poo. :x

CAPITALIST YOUTH: Very nice tune. Probable winner.

CHONNY: Nice. Mix is terrible, but parts of the song are great. Why IS that guitar so loud?

EMBERS: Just not very compelling. You need more vocal takes, dude. Get those mweeerp bits out of there.

FAWMTARD: This defines phoning it in for FAWM.

GAYSTAR: This is kind of funny. You did try to play the drums, soooo.

MOSTESS: This, sadly, sounds like a commercial.

JIMMY JET VS TV SET: At four minutes, it could use a dynamic. Didn't you get bored recording this?

KILLER WALTS: Niiiiiice tune. Giving the banjo a run for the win here. Oooooh boy I am not a fan of the gimmicky chorus. That went downhill in a hurry. :(

LOATS: Hah. This is not bad. It's like a Cow Exchange Training Tune. 4:18?

more later.

[edit - it is later]

PATHETIC: Of all the people in the world to front two bands, no one would have guessed Mad Dog. :lol:

PIGGY: This is interesting. Kinda Peaches meets the first Faith No More album.. It certainly is a listenable little tune with some attitude. I dig it.

RENWICK: HELMET.

SANKYU: Mojo? RxW?

SHERMAN: Yes. Nice job. Aaaaaand down we go with the second freaky, song-ruining barbershop chorus of the fight. Shameful. 4:22?

SOUNDSCAPE: Well, it is a song. It is kind of a cute little song, but it's not drawing me in much. The gestapo vox seem like the wrong way to go there.

STEVED: Sweet horns. Good vibe.

VFORMETAL: This had better have vocals. Would any drummer really pound the splash on the 1 during the verse there? HAH, great vox. I mean, terrible, but, funny. You alllllmost sound like Lemmy. Work on sounding like Lemmy.
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Post by adamadamant »

blue wrote:ADAM: You need to SING, dude. There are numerous threads in the help forums discussing how to sound like a zombie. Your tunes are good, and I always get sucked in until the singing starts.

If you're gonna sing like a zombie, don't mix it like you're Frank Sinatra. Pull it down in the mix, EQ the bass out of it.. aim for papery. Double it.. do something so it isn't detracting from the tune.
Thanks for the input, tbh I have always been of the mindset that I can't sing and that's just something I and everyone else will have to put up with. I've experimented a bit with effects on my vocals but I always think it sounds a cheesy so I usually try my best to leave it. I went back to the track though and recorded a second set of vocals, eq'd with less bass, plus some echo. It does sound a bit cheesy but it definitely takes the edge off the song, not perfect but an improvement. If anyone wants, have a listen here.
Last edited by adamadamant on Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by EmbersOfAutumn »

Steve Durand wrote:
EmbersOfAutumn wrote: At The Arcade Review


-Concept that artist confused an arcade with – Casino
-Place where one would expect to hear the song – Cruise Ship
No, not confused. I just didn't want to be another among the numerous songs about video games so I intentionally went somewhere else. The idea is that The Arcade is the name of an exclusive casino that caters to the rich and powerful.
I missed that. Sorry. Enjoyed the song very much though.
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Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Blue wrote:CAPITALIST YOUTH: Very nice tune. Probable winner
That sums it up about right.
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Post by ssrebellion »

so, blue, i'm a little intrigued by your use of the word 'gestapo' in describing my vocals.
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Post by melvin »

Capitalist Youth - you win! Amazing tune.
hi!
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Post by jb »

Yeah man, I'm diggin' the youth song.

Hostess-- for future reference, the vocals in this recording are too far forward. I know the lyrics are paramount, but it's like a karaoke mix. Drop the volume like 3db or so. A little delay wouldn't kill you either. ;)
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Post by fretnoize »

Lots of entries! Some good submissions!
Here we go, in the order given to me:

V for Victory
Lots of energy, cool. Vocals i think could use some compression, um and maybe some more balls behind it i guess. Some times it seems like you're just at talking level, the song wants you to put more energy into it...

Sankyu Ruckystar
Nice melody and cool production... i like the lo-fi vocals. Good job.

Adam Adamant
You have a great idea here I think. Vocals seem a little loud... but I'm on laptop speakers at the moment so I'm missing some low end.

GayTsar
Cool music, I wish I could understand the vocals a little cuz it seems fun... okay after listening for a while i can pick it out a little better... seems like it was about to end twice... cool noise solo...

The Booty Chesterfield Trio
Cool groove, though I'd like more variety in the vocal melody, personal preference I guess. Good recording.

PiGPEN
I like the idea behind the song, and I like your vocal performance, mostly. I mean I get it, but in a few spots it could have been tidied up a bit. Louder drums, please.

chonny
Cool begining riffs! doesn't seem to go into the song right smoothly though... Some cool production ideas, but the tune seems kind of muddy in general. I guess I'd like to see better transitions between the sections, but it's over all a good idea...

The Capitalist Youth
Wow dude, you gotta stop hanging with religious chicks (wasn't your other song about that too?). Great song though good melody and harmonies. To the point. Good job, again! Listening again. Is this just you, or others involved?

Embers Of Autumn
Vocal compression? Mouse clicks!! in all serious though, A for effort. Louder drums please. Vocals are off a lot, but that stuff is hard for some of us, I'm in the same boat. I can tell you gave it a good try though.

Sherman Way
Okay starting out good. Tight recording/production. Solid direction. Oh. Chorus (or is that the verse?) makes it into a funny song, when it starts out as a cool song. Cool guitar solo.

The Killer Whales
Is this a cover? it sounds familiar.

Bleep Blop Blork
Um, I'm actually surprised the hasn't been more like this so far. Vocals are so hard to hear. Some of the weird stuff I hear on songfight can be interesting. But I don't think this is, sorry.

Bax
What kind of asshole would use a vocoder through each verse of a song? Um, yeah.... so this is me. Aside from the vocoder(it was software), I used all 80s synths to make this. TX81Z on drums and lead synth! ESQ-M on synth bass! DX7 on string pad! Sadly the DW-8000 wasn't invited. Eh, I don't think you guys really care about that stuff anyway :) I've since continued working on the song, tightened up the vocals and mixed things a little better. So if for some reason you like the song enough to want to keep it, here's the finished version http://www.fretnoize.com/songfight/AtTheArcade.mp3

Jimmy Jet and his TV Set
Great song... Great recording too... love the "it's easy" section... good job, this might get my vote...

Steve Durand
What instruments can't you play? As usual you do a great song, I always look forward to your entries. The recording this time seems a little cluttered or something.

Renwick
Drums are a bit quiet... Not a big fan of the low guitar... never been too much of a fan of grunge anyway, some though... seems put together okay, but it just doesn't suck me in, sorry. Maybe it could be a little more dynamic?

Lord of Oats
Sounds promising so far. Wow, things changed at the chorus... like you got evil for a minute, hehe. I think the chorus would work better with out the evil voice... Just my opinion though...

Hostess Mostess
Cool song. It'd be cool if the drums sounded a little less general midi like or something... something just doesn't feel quite right with them... it's okay though, can't blame someone for the gear they have. Maybe a suggestion would be to program the drums on seperate midi tracks routed to the same channel, and then record each set of sounds on separate audio tracks, kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, etc.... that way you'd have a little more mixing control with them... just a suggestion.

The Pathetic Wannabees
Wow, for some reason the Dr. Demento show just popped into my head. Totally sounds like something I would have recorded off his radio show as a kid... complete with tape hiss and distortion. If that was your intention, then good job :) Ding was too loud, hurt my ears :(

Baker
Not that big of a fan of the ending... Cool melody, fitting song for the title as an intrumental. Over all a descent job, should have ended before the ending though.

Soundscape Rebellion
Less filtering on the male voice, please. I think people have a tendency to overdo that effect on their own voice, maybe since they're used to hearing their own voice? I'm not sure. Kinda weird ending, did you run out of time? Kind of a cool awkward song though. Like the female vox, work well in the background too.

FAWMit
I see you share my sentiments about cheat codes :) Fun nerd rock. Watch those bends on your guitar solo :) How'd you do with fawm, get your songs done?



VOTE:
Sankyu Ruckystar, arigatou gozaimasu!

Runner-ups:
Jimmy Jet and his TV Set
Steve Durand
Capitalist Youth
-Fretnoize
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Song Fight band name: Bax
ssrebellion
A New Player
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 7:19 pm
Location: Lowell, MA
Contact:

Post by ssrebellion »

the filtering on the male vocals was a result of the microphone I used. the recording was intended as a demo, but I found the bad quality somewhat endearing.
Jerry
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Posts: 51
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:18 pm
Submitting as: chonny
Location: Toronto

Post by Jerry »

Thanks for the reviews for my song (chonny). I always seem to get comments about poor production and I can't for the life of me figure out how to improve it. I'm working with a two year old D1600mkII, for what it's worth. The mix will often (not always-I find myself running out of time and have to mix down in an hour or so before the deadline) sound decent on my monitors and headphones. Then I'll play it on my brother's cheap CD player and there are no mids! Then on my buddy's computer, there are mids but no bottom end! How to mix for all formats? Some of you guys get incredibly clear mixes. That's the dream...Are my ears rendered impotent after years of punk and hard rock?
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Mostess
Panama
Posts: 799
Joined: Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:49 am
Instruments: Vocal, guitar, keyboard, clarinet
Recording Method: Ardour 5, JACK, Ubuntu
Submitting as: Hostess Mostess
Pronouns: He/him
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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Post by Mostess »

Jerry wrote:The mix will often (not always-I find myself running out of time and have to mix down in an hour or so before the deadline) sound decent on my monitors and headphones. Then I'll play it on my brother's cheap CD player and there are no mids! Then on my buddy's computer, there are mids but no bottom end! How to mix for all formats? Some of you guys get incredibly clear mixes. That's the dream...
Over time, you'll get better. There are some good help and how to threads on this board about mixing techniques. (Here's the most recent) Deshead has some especially good ideas on easy tricks to check your mixes. You're right that mixing fast makes it hard, and there's little time to play your mix in the car and on your computer speakers and on your brother's CD player and then go back to remix and try it all again.
"We don’t write songs about our own largely dull lives. We mostly rely on the time-tested gimmick of making shit up."
-John Linnell
fretnoize
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:14 pm
Location: Kanazawa, Japan

Post by fretnoize »

Jerry wrote:Thanks for the reviews for my song (chonny). I always seem to get comments about poor production and I can't for the life of me figure out how to improve it. I'm working with a two year old D1600mkII, for what it's worth. The mix will often (not always-I find myself running out of time and have to mix down in an hour or so before the deadline) sound decent on my monitors and headphones. Then I'll play it on my brother's cheap CD player and there are no mids! Then on my buddy's computer, there are mids but no bottom end! How to mix for all formats? Some of you guys get incredibly clear mixes. That's the dream...Are my ears rendered impotent after years of punk and hard rock?
Not that I'm ever super pleased with my mixes but I'll try to offer some advice.

I'm not sure of your setup or recording process, so I'm just going to mention some basic things. Although you probably already know this.

- I think familiarity is very important. If this recording device is the only thing you have hooked up to your monitors, this might be a large part of the problem already. If you can set it up to listen to music and stuff through your monitors I recommend that as well. That way you have a comparative starting point. I have a few things running into a mixer that goes into my monitors. So when I listen to music, surf the web, or watch movies (on the computer) it comes through these monitors. Also with the headphones, even though I have a decent pair of sony headphones made for recording, I still make sure I listen to things through the headphones I actually USE, meaning the ones I use with my ipod and computers. Also listen through my laptop speakers since I know those well also.
-Fretnoize
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Song Fight band name: Bax
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