Open Up and Let It All Out (The Red Door Reviews)

[blue]

the "songfight money bin" is JB's tears on the linoleum of his tiny kitchen floor. so, you know, don't go too hard on him.

[HansGruber]

the vibrato sounds just a little tense for my liking. I think I'd prefer the full electric treatment to the 'unplugged' version. This sucker would really rock with a bass, drums, and a little more anger (but keep it cool, like the Pretenders) What is that ringing overtone behind your choruses? Do you hear it? It sounds like a cymbal buzzing, but there aren't any drums...

Yes yes and yes! I would love to hear this full-band version, but I live in an apartment, and lack the knowledge / plugins to approximate a "fake band" as yet...perhaps in the future?

I think the buzzing/ringing overtone is a catastrophic combination of an EQing mistake, a bad choice in reverb, and some godawful phasing of the buzz inherent in my system. ("Yes yes! Now we see the buzz inherent in the system!")

I dunno where that vibrato is coming from... I didn't used to do that. I do have to turn off the heat when I record, which doesn't help th-th-th-things.

--Em

Hey, impressive nonetheless. I feel the apt. pain; I'm in 480 sq ft w/ac, fridge, noisy laptop, chattering wife, and thin walls. What sort of sytem you got? PM me the specs, mebbe I can help you out.

Also - Bourbon is a good plug-in for smoothing out vibrato, tremolo, and tremors in general. I recommend Maker's Mark. It does take a lot of processing power, though, and you may notice an increase in latency.

It's tough for me to listen to my song, because so much of me wishes that I had more time recording/mixing this. It was one of those weeks where I spent my days in bed with the flu hoping my voice would come back so I could record this crazy song idea. It never really came back, but I got well enough it recorded and submitted minutes before the due time...

Holy Crap! I lay in bed all week too, but I'm not sick. If that's your flu voice, I may have to kill you.

[anti-m]

the "songfight money bin" is JB's tears on the linoleum of his tiny kitchen floor. so, you know, don't go too hard on him.

Yeah, I was just teasing... In all seriousness I'm floored by the hugeness of the collective pro-bono effort here. Y'all need to get yerselves some interns!

(Oh my god! Your bono is sooooo huge!)

[jb]

I hear that all the time.

btw, hydrangea is the offical flower of East Atlanta.

btww, that Melvin song is just killer.

[blue]

I hear that all the time.

from your interns?

[melvin]

btww, that Melvin song is just killer.

Thanks a lot, JB! I wasn't too confident in this entry, so your comment is extra appreciated. I'm really impressed with TMK this week. How do you figure out guitar parts like that?!

[beatlebrent]

The story telling is clever, although I’m still not sure why the first mention of RED in the song didn’t set off alarm bells for him. (Am I the only one who gets hung up on stupid details like this? I’m autistic)

Having a best friend who's colorblind, I also at first thought that being colorblind meant not being able to distinguish differences in color. But soon learned that if by chance every door in the song was light blue, but hers was red, then the singer would be able to see the difference in color. It is kind of like how on a black and white T.V. things have different hues and such, but more similar too a color TV with everything blue or red shifted. (i.e. My colorblind friend would often lose his neon orange dart gun in the equally neon orange grass, but could always find his green helmet since it stood out so well.) But you're very right. I should have stuck with the simplistic views the bulk of the non-colorblind world has on the colorblind, rather then kept things accurate and having our lead character "wishing for a miracle find" in hopes that the other doors would be a color not similar to red in the colorblind world. I have failed you. I must die. Or listen to the Rone Rivendale song again. Either way, my fortune cookie says I must suffer.

[rone rivendale]

I have to say I'm a little surprised at the reviews I've gotten so far. I really thought I had done a better job with this than my past entries except maybe Brimming With Tears which is still my fav one.

Melvin: You probably didn't mean to compliment me, but I take your review as one anyway. It invoked a memory, a feeling, and whether it's positive or negitive I feel that means that my song had some sort of power with at least one person.

Hans: Thank you for taking the time to write out a whole paragraph this time. I'll take a hundred words critisizing my song any day over "pfft". I have the feeling I could get a grammy and you'd still dislike me though

Well, I can honestly say I had fun with this song. I had a kewl idea to do a song about a game show in the vein of Let's Make a Deal. I don't think it's poetry this time. The person who said it was more beat poetry like my other songs I don't think you listened to the song very well. I basically sang in the words where I wasn't doing the host and contestant voices.

I'm listening to the songs right now for the 1st time. I'll review tomorrow or Thursday (maybe).

[WeaselSlayer]

Beat poetry?

[beatlebrent]

Rone,

Honestly, yours is the track I've listened to the most and played for the most people. I could certainly tell you were doing more then beat poetry. I don't know if the singing was right on pitch with the background music, but really I think in this case it doesn't matter. I think delivery is the key here. I think it's a great comedy song and reminds me of something I'd hear on Dr. Demento. I don't know if that's your intentions though, and so I worry sometimes if my compliments might be more insulting then I meant them to be. Really, when I first heard this song I laughed so hard I drooled on my keyboard. And that takes alot to get me to drool. The "Lennie Small (of mice and men)" impersonation at the beginning was classic. "def...definitely" I can't say I think the song rocks the best, but like I said at the start, I've played your track for more people then any other track. And we all enjoy the experience.

[Andy Balham]

Anti-M
Nice Spartan opening to the fight. The dynamic changes are done very well with the basic instrumentation and I like the fact you didn’t feel the need to pad the song out as others have done in the past.

Brent Seavers
I like this a lot. Despite the logical issues raised earlier and the Cockney rebel harmonies, it works for me. Nice guitar solo too. I look forward to hearing more from you fellow.

Count Awesome
Bonus points for all the devil references. Any blues/country song should at least have one mention of our great Dark Lord. Whilst Mr Gruber may not care for lyrical derivation, I like the homage to Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. Most enjoyable and a contender.

Edge of LA with Buxtahoota
The slide at the start is very reminiscent of something I can’t quite put my finger on. I’m enjoying the rock aspects of this. The drums sound somewhat programmed. Have you considered using acoustic drum loops? It might really add to the band feel. Contender.

Luke & Ryan
I find this rather charming. To my surprise it does weather repeat listenings. I have a sneaking suspicion it very well may become a contender…

Melvin
A very well crafted piece of pop. Leaves me cold emotionally, but there is a lot I admire in this.

The Morsel Choir
I would agree with the earlier review that suggested that this could be whittled down to a much more sharp number. As it is, there are many good things gong for it. Just not enough variety in there to justify its length. There’s promise there though.

Of Science & Numbers
Zero points for melodic originality of course, but many points for lots of other things. I like the little guitar breaks and I want to hear more of them.

Raised by Wolves
Really nice mood evoked by this. Kind of 80’s, kind of Vienna in a way. A most pleasant listen and an admirably crafted piece. Another contender.

Rone Rivendale
Musically this doesn’t give me much, but it has its quirky charms and doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Those Meddling Kids
I like the dynamic changes in this and there is quite a bit of other originality in there too. The split vocals are a nice touch. Very pretty, but not quite a contender for me.

As for the final vote, hmm...

[rone rivendale]

Thanks Brent, I'm glad someone enjoyed it.

And yes, this song was supposed to be funny and light hearted. It's the only song I've done so far on songfight that wasn't written to be deep and meaningful. I guess it worked.

and btw Egg, please refrain in the future from insulting me in private message. I don't appreciate it. If you want to flame me, do so in public and let other people see how you are. Thank you.

[Mogosagatai]

You know Rone, the man's only trying to help. And as I recall, he <i>did</i> insult you in pubic, and only pm'd you to make sure you got the point. He did this because your past responses to ascerbic reviews have indicated that you didn't get the point. If I were you, I'd take a hint from one of the most oft-insulted characters on Songfight (Egg, that is).

[rone rivendale]

You fault me for looking at the bright side of critical reviews? lol

Well sorry if I'm not getting down on myself about it. Of course I'll always try to do better with each song. I'm not going to cry about it if I get a bunch of bad reviews though. *shrugs* And besides that, some of the reviews aren't telling me I suck. So read those too. Thanks.

Edit: And trust me, I don't mind critical reviews. But don't private message me just to insult me. Do it in front of everyone. That's all I asked.

[WeaselSlayer]

You suck, Rone Rivendale.

[furrypedro]

How do you figure out guitar parts like that?!

I dunno man, I just happens

[jb]

and btw Egg, please refrain in the future from insulting me in private message. I don't appreciate it. If you want to flame me, do so in public and let other people see how you are. Thank you.

Uh, as part of the public, I'd like to ask people NOT to flame each other on the message board, and to work out their differences privately.

If you think Egg's an ass for insulting you, Rone, fine, but he's not an ass for calling you a dick (or whatever he said) to your face rather than in public where there's a social buffer.

Basically, if you feel the need to insult somebody, go ahead, but *I* would personally prefer NOT TO HAVE TO SEE IT. And I can enforce this preference, you know.

JB

[shoehorn(TC)]

Hey all, Shoehorn here… part of the Morsel Choir. I wanted to thank everyone for the fine feedback on our first songfight submission. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while but never found the time to pull the trigger. I don’t want to come off sounding like I’m defending our song with this post. I have been recording and playing music out live for over ten years and know full well songs are what they are and you can’t make anyone like anything they don’t like (I wish this same theory applied to major label music). Funny thing is that my partner in crime said our song was way too long… we wrote it in ten minutes and I did the vocal and acoustic with the drum machine in two takes about a half hour later singing into a 58 (while rocking) with the full intention of overdubbing not only the lead vox but adding as much harmony vox as possible… well we all know that didn’t happen… : ) By the time we added a few “essentialsâ€

[ofscienceandnumbers]

I like the little guitar breaks and I want to hear more of them.

You know, at first those were going to be 3rd and 4th horn parts but I got a little lazy and decided it would be easier to do it on guitar. That's the first time I've ever done guitar bends like those. I think they came out really cheesy and 80s-tacular, but I still like them. Whenever I play the song for people, those parts always seem to get a chuckle. I'll see what I can do about throwing more of those in on future songs.

Thanks.

[beatlebrent]

Anti-m: I didn’t know it was possible to fall deeply in love so many times in a single lifetime, but your song graces me with the ability to do such a thing. The simplistic mix, the light harmony, the killer vocals. I’m back in the 3rd grade with my first crush all over again. Great song.

Brent Seavers: The mix is harsh… like a hammer made of treble keeps hitting my ears over and over again on each beat. Next time, get over your flu and spend more time taking music pills instead of cold pills. Sheesh!

Count Awesome: I’m never going near a red door ever again, because there’s a red door to the devils room! I never knew! You song will save my soul one day. Some hot chick will be all “hey baby, you wanna come with me to the other side of this red doorâ€

[WeaselSlayer]

Raised by Wolves - Would have been very experimental in the 80s, but now it sounds like a bit of an Eno rip-off. Not a half-bad Eno rip-off though.

Of Science and Numbers - I've also ripped off this Elvis song for songfight. How rare. Hello arena ska? This is well-produced but it also gives me a fucking headache.

Those Meddling Kids - This is much less engaging than your other work so far. I mean, still well done and all the interlacing guitar work and fancy trickery are there and I enjoy it, but it lacks the punch and originality that the other work of yours has.

Anti-M - This just sounds so dramatic to me, too theatrical for the tone of the rest of the song. Like, cabaret folk, and it doesn't sit with me.

Luke (me) and Ryan (he) - We wrote a children's song, and Ryan is hilarious. Also this was done with an ocean between us which I think is pretty rad. Because it sounds like we are talking! Tee hee!

Brent Seavers - This made me think of the Rentals right off the bat. It's got a playful pop thing to it that's fun and nice, but not altogether exciting. Nice doo-wop backup singers. This is some nice homage-work, but I'd like to hear something that goes in a new direction while still paying heed to those who went before you.

Edge of LA with Buxtahoota - Pretty cut-and-dry pop punk 1234 1234 hey hey now.

Melvin - Whoah what happened. This is like way cheesier than usual. The lyrics and the song are just, like, too simple.

Count Awesome - Jabba and his pet?

Masters of Grip - Predictably nice. I know where it's taking me, but I don't totally mind being there. Except for the vocals and keyboard. Now it bugs me.

Morsel Choir - I wanted this to be Pavement. It mega isn't. Maw. But there's still kind of a cool thing going on here, it's just so shallow sounding. It sounds kind of lazy, lethargic.

Rone Rivendale - I think your music is awful and I don't understand why anyone thinks this is funny. I thought your heart-felt moving beat poetry was funnier than this.

[ofscienceandnumbers]

Of Science and Numbers: Concerning Elvis, don’t worry man. I’ve done it too. Every song writer does it a little or a lot at some point. And you know what… oh well. It’s never intentional. The song rocks though. Mix wise, and everything. If you changed just a couple notes to make it not Elvis-ish, you’d have a radio friendly hit. And I’d buy the album.

That's really great to hear. Thanks, man.