Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Client No. 9 Reviews)

[tonetripper]

Ya, the new mic would help, but my feeling is that you may need to get yourself some kind of cheap, good sound card and a mic. This ofcourse would be assuming the platform you are using. If it's a PC computer, chances are that the sound card that comes with your computer may be inhibiting you in the recording process and/or the mixing one (well definitely in the mixing one). Get a sound card and you'll probably beat that. I'm pretty sure Audition would prefer one for output. There are lots of usb type ones for relatively cheap. Anyway there are plenty of sites on line that address these technical issues and even consulting the Help and How To section of the Songfight board will help you in these regards. I don't know your total setup, and if you are seeking advice on it, I'd be more than willing to discuss via PMs about what you could do to make it better for you. If you want that kind of info.

It was pretty funny at points though.
Were the drums recorded live through that Gmic?

[TheCapitalistYouth]

Thanks for the reviews, everyone who did them. I'm going to post mine eventually.

The Capitalist Youth - I love the hand-clapping with the accordion. Very cool. The kitchen jam vibe is very, very cool. I'm not sure of the connection with the title. I've read over the lyrics many times and have not been able to make the connection. The banjo emulating the vocal line is just perfect for the vibe as is the xylophone. It's a great song. I think it could be called something else, but really what's in a name? Isn't it the concept that counts?

Thanks. Those percussion sounds took me a long time. I kept on trying to figure out how to bulk them up. The claps coincide with a cabasa and magazine ripping. The "kick" sound is like 5 different things being pounded on plus a tambourine to imply sort of ground shaking rattling.

I'm surprised you didn't make a connection with Client No. 9 though... It's essentially told from Spitzer's perspective. He should know better because he's made a career of being moral. It's about the illusion of control, and our inability to predict our own actions. A concrete allusion would be "first you're campaigning against immorality, then you're paying for women regularly."

I'm going with the alternate title "The State Governor's Lament." Not because the song isn't related to Spitzer, it's just "Client No 9" is imbued with too much Jay Leno-ism.

Capitalist Youth: This is fine and whatnot. A section of it could possibly be on the tender closing-thoughts moment of Scrubs when JD discovers something about himself. Very TV-friendly. There's nothing really wrong with this, but I don't want to listen to this again.

It's hard to know what to make of this, since I don't know what section you're referring to. If you're talking about the last section, "It's a magical time" is ironic, and really the music itself is ironic.

[erik]

Capitalist Youth: This is fine and whatnot. A section of it could possibly be on the tender closing-thoughts moment of Scrubs when JD discovers something about himself. Very TV-friendly. There's nothing really wrong with this, but I don't want to listen to this again.

It's hard to know what to make of this, since I don't know what section you're referring to. If you're talking about the last section, "It's a magical time" is ironic, and really the music itself is ironic.

I just meant that part of this song, any part of this song, would sound fine on Scrubs.

[tonetripper]

I'm surprised you didn't make a connection with Client No. 9 though... It's essentially told from Spitzer's perspective. He should know better because he's made a career of being moral. It's about the illusion of control, and our inability to predict our own actions. A concrete allusion would be "first you're campaigning against immorality, then you're paying for women regularly."

I'm going with the alternate title "The State Governor's Lament." Not because the song isn't related to Spitzer, it's just "Client No 9" is imbued with too much Jay Leno-ism.

I'm assuming that you are speaking of Eliot Spitzer. First off I wouldn't have known of the reference as I'm Canadian, and by virtue, I'm not too familiar with American politics, and I'm still unsure of how he and all you stated above relates to the title. The second title definitely seems more fitting. Would it be that he is the Client No 9 from seeing some prostitutes? I'm confused.

[TheCapitalistYouth]

Aah, I'm sorry. Eliot Spitzer was referred to as "Client No. 9" in government papers that were released a few days before the title was posted on SF. They alleged that he paid several thousand dollars for a high end prostitute, and besides that had been shuffling money transfers to try to keep it under the radar. It was all over the news and talk shows, so I think it's safe to assume that's what inspired that title for SF. Spitzer was pretty well known for fighting corruption, and before he was governor he was the NY attorney general, and he brought charges against a lot of big corporations and well known people. He was referred to in the press as a crusader, and there had even been talk about a possible presidential run in the future, so it was a pretty big upset when all this came out.

I just meant that part of this song, any part of this song, would sound fine on Scrubs.

Oh. Well I've never seen scrubs, but I took it to be a bad thing since you said it could be a "tender closing thoughts moment." (And because you said you didn't want to listen to it again)

[Spud]

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/03/wh ... numbe.html

[tonetripper]

Thank you for clarifying that for me. I feel a little ashamed for not know about him being referred to as Client 9 or very much about him at all. Hahahaha.... very clever Capitalist Youth. It definitely sheds much more light on where you were going with the tune.

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand: "Dame" should be "skirt". "Killed" should be "hurt". This is pretty cool. I want a nervous pause in the place between the shifts in tempo. "Boyfriend" should be "lover". This song makes me want to drink more, and also dance. It remind me a bit of "Date Rape" by Sublime, but not enough to make me not like it in its own right. I like this song.

Thanks for the lyric suggestions. This is the type of fine-tuning that I always think of the week after the song has been submitted.

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand - Well you certainly nailed that pulp fiction ol' gumshoe genre in terms of the title with this piece of songwriting. That horn line is great but I feel as though the whole song is somewhat borrowed and certainly not original. Sort of like a song written for jazz composition class to show your knowledge of the era of music. I Love the lyrics, especially how you've married them with the music in creating the picture for the title. Very clever. Almost enough to vote for it, but something bothers me about this song. First off I hear this song with a sort of "Frank" or "Dean" voice. Something in a lower register to really sell that gumshoe narrative. Secondly I don't buy that he'd send her in first. I think he'd go in first to impress the dame and get shot at. Maybe he dodges the bullet and the other guy dies after killing the dame and that starts the whole shebang off for him on his detective quest. Sort of loses me at that point. Still, excellently written and recorded for SF. I'd love to know what's real and what's midi and if real how you recorded. Techniques et al. Excellent job Steve.

Thanks for the very thorough and thoughtful review.

As far as what's real vs. MIDI: Saxophone, trumpet, and trombone are all real. The piano is a pretty good soundfont of a Steinway that I played in real time via a MIDI keyboard. The drums are Jamstix2, the bass is a very average acoustic bass patch from a Roland soft synth that came with my SONAR. I would normally record a real bass but I ran out of time.

For recording I do absolutely nothing fancy. I have a Studio Projects B1 condenser mic that I use to record all instruments and vox. For the unmuted trumpets I stand about 5 feet away from the mic because the SPL from the horn will overpower the mic if I play closer. For trombone I am about 3 ft back. For sax and muted trumpet about 1 foot. I use Ozone on the master bus very judiciously just to add a little ambiance and to boost the overall level just a little bit.

[The Weakest Suit]

since pi was such a small fight, i listened to this fight a bunch of times too.
my favorite was ross durand, and he's who i just voted for.
great job.

[TheCapitalistYouth]

I keep on mentioning that vocals are out of tune, so I wanted to say that I'm sympathetic to everyone who can make an excellent song but finds vocals difficult. I know that improving singing can be much harder than improving playing. I just bring it up because for me, bad vocals are the easiest way to detract from a song. I enjoy a lot of styles of music, but something being out of tune is one of the few (kind of) objective measures in music. So I hope no one feels like I'm beating a dead horse.

Burritos In Space: 2/5
Starts well. The out of tune guitar that comes in ruins the momentum. And then there's really nothing else. It has a decent vibe, but it never goes anywhere. Which is too bad, because what's there is produced well. Also, I feel no connection between this and "Client No. 9."

Ross Durand: 3/5
Sounds fairly well recorded. The lead guitar after the first verse you sing sounds kind of like it's inside a box. It's not necessarily a bad sound, but it doesn't seem to fit with what you're doing. The vocals / bgvs get a little dicey about halfway in. The "now serving - number 9" parts in particular seem off. It's a decent song. Stylistically I'm not that into it.

No Horse Town: 3/5
This song could use bass. It's a bit too grating for my taste, but it is pretty interesting. It could also use a better mix. The chorus is actually pretty catchy.

The Epitaphs: 2/5
Not a song? Pleasant enough since it didn't last very long.

Eddie Lance: 3/5
At first this reminded me of Wesley Willis, like you could actually be a mentally unbalanced person writing a song. Pretty good sounding recording. Your voice sounds a little like zoolander in parts, which I think contributed to the comedy being a little too knowing, wink wink, kind of thing.

Mr. Chesterfield: 2/5
Out of tune vocals. Recording isn't very good, vocals are muffled and guitar has undesirable direct in sound. Bass is out of tune. I do like the synth that sounds kind of a like a violin. I would get into this vibe, but the vocals just ruin it for me. Like other people said, the grit is good, but it's out of tune.

Enter It In The Art Show: 4/5
I like the piano and general feel. The clipping clicks are really distracting. I like some of the vocal touches, like "How's my favorite client... I mean patient..." The mix could stand to be better. Overall I'm pretty into this song.

Second Banana: 2/5
The vocals are too loud. And are out of tune. Song might be pretty good otherwise.

Tonetripper and Boltoph: 4/5
This is really professional sounding. I like the little guitar licks between lines. Good lead and harmony vocals. The only suggestion I have is the bass seemed a touch loud to me. Also, not just returning the favor, but I wasn't totally clear on how the lyrics and Client No. 9 go together. I'm curious, how did you go about collaborating? I like this song.

Heywood and the Jablomes: 3/5
This has a good feel when it starts, and it's recorded well. I think it would be better without the telephone effect on the vocals, and I think the vocals should be louder. I'm not that into the chord progression for the chorus, or whatever it is when you first change chord progressions. It's kind of cool when the heavier guitar part comes in later (actually it kind of reminded me of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" which isn't good or bad). I think overall I wasn't that into the vocal melody, but this is a decent song.

The Pathetic Wannabees: 2/5
I'm guessing it's a part of your appeal, but I can't get behind the vocals. It's not just that they're out of tune, they're also completely off time. I like the music, and it sounds like you guys have a lot of fun, but it's just not enjoyable to me.

Drew Styles & the Blue Velvet Band: 2/5
I think the chorus on your guitar and the reverb you're using make this sound dated. If you like the way the song sounds, more power to you, but personally I'm not a fan. The vocals are fairly out of tune. On the other hand, are you an AV guy? Because that's what I'm doing.

Steve Durand: 4/5
Good horns. Piano sounds nice. I think your vocals are better on this than last week, although you still sound kind of... I don't know, nervous, restrained? Like people were saying, I couldn't buy a tough ex-cop detective telling the girl to go first. But I could buy your singing voice telling someone to go first. It actually seems kind of Woody Allen-esque. I could see that angle played up somehow if you decided to work on the song in the future. I like the tempo change. I'm not familiar with jamstix2, but the drums came out sounding pretty good. Erik suggested that "killed" should be "hurt." I think it would work much better if "killed" was replaced with "shot." Then you have a really nice parallel structure: "got it right / shot tonight."

Jumbotron: 2/5
Everything sounds really good except the vocals. Not my thing stylistically, but it sounds good.

Renwick: 3/5
I like the drum sounds, particularly the kick. I'm into that room sound. Vocals out of tune. All the guitar tones work really well.

[tonetripper]

Tonetripper and Boltoph: 4/5
This is really professional sounding. I like the little guitar licks between lines. Good lead and harmony vocals. The only suggestion I have is the bass seemed a touch loud to me. Also, not just returning the favor, but I wasn't totally clear on how the lyrics and Client No. 9 go together. I'm curious, how did you go about collaborating? I like this song.

Thanks for the review.

Well I have to say I didn't delve into any particular topic when I wrote the lyrics to the song. What seemed to come out of the music, that Boltoph sent me initially, was, really, about some guy waiting for his turn to be called and the contemplation that was going on whilst he was waiting. Kind of about the girl in many respects. Especially in the dreamier music (pre-chorus) leading up to the chorus. The chorus was the opposite energy to the verse and pre-chorus. Finally the line moves, by the chorus, and it feels closer to getting to that destination and then back to contemplating about his life or what have you when we come out of it. But it was all really a metaphor for trying to patch things up with the girl and how the line is symbolic in exercising patience and finding the right way to be in the end.

It's a little difficult to be too concise on the direction of the lyrics, as they really are meant to be interpreted. I find it hard to write the words after the music and it was no easy feat for me to find the congruity to the direction of the music in terms of the lyrics. I digress. In my opinion it's up to the listener to make those connections so in the end you or anyone can sum up where you think it all heads. At least that was my intention with this piece of lyric. It is SF after all.

As far as the collabing goes, Boltoph and I have been doing on line collabs since coming here to Songfight. We generally email mp3s and the like and then work on our parts on our own and then send back rough mix mp3s with the added parts (more for assessing). In this case it started with the music basically written by Boltoph and then I added the bass. Then he redid the guitars and sent me the mp3 mix again. Then I proceeded to work on the vocals.

We obviously tweak our parts throughout the process and this kind of back and forth throughout the week. All the final parts are then submitted in .wav format and uploaded to my server that I email the link to Boltoph (we decide early on in the process who has the reigns for the mix). He then in turn lines it all up (it should line up if everything snaps to grid in whatever software you use or you use the count in clicks at the head of each wave file) and does the final mix. I offer some mixing advice throughout the process, but Boltoph is pretty good so there wasn't much debate. It usually happens after we've already submitted most times. Heh. He did some remixing for me to master on my end after submitting, but I haven't gotten round to doing it as of yet. We do this more for us.

Thanks for asking. I'm sure there is some info in the Help and How To section of the SF board where other songfighters have worked with each other in various capacities. Most work with mp3s, which generally is fine if they are high res mp3s, but we, of Gert, tend to want to use the purest form of wave file or aiff so then we use the server to upload and download which does add time to the process but in the end each part has a purer form when converting to the final mp3. I think the mp3 conversion is where the bass builds. Seems to be an issue with converting. The master wave sounds less in the bass department, so I agree with you about this area of the mix. It's an mp3 thing. In the famous words of Blue "Bass is like hot mustard" (at least I think he said that in one review), if you use too much it can ruin the sandwich (I paraphrased that part of it). It was close in this mix, but I'm a bass player firstly, and at louder volumes it kind of rattles the nuts, so I like the loudness of it. It could come down a C-hair though after listening to it from reading your review. At low levels it certainly takes over.

Online collabing is fun, but it does take a certain degree of planning and discussing. Either through chatting over gmail or emails sent back and forth, it takes a certain dedication to the end result to make it all work. We finished this one in 4 days. It doesn't always work though, but at least you remove the whole dynamic of everyone having an opinion on the songwriting process with this kind of collaborating. What you send your part off, it either gets ditched or the other party sucks it up and lives with the part. Kind of nice in a way to remove those band politics of writing in the same room. Kind of a "Suck IT!" mentality in many respects. I'm glad you liked the song.

[HeuristicsInc]

Agree with TT, use WAVs for collab. For space considerations you can compress the files with lossless compression format RAR (cf WinRAR) - it compresses binary data better than ZIP.
-bill

[tonetripper]

Totally Bill. I forgot to mention that part. If it's a single wave transferring up through the FTP then I don't compress via .zip or .rar, but if there are multiple waves I'm uploading I'll compress them. There are a variety of programs in either platform that will do this and you shouldn't have to pay for them.

[mkilly]

Except for me, my monkey and that Spitzer dude.

Everyone else can have reviews for the low low price of $1,000/hr.

His love violated civil policy.

[No Horse Town]

Congratulations, Mr. Durand! A well-deserved win.

And: wow, I got 7 votes? Thanks!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Congrats Steve

[saunter]

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