First recording of my new Band...

[Low_fidelity2100]

So we finally got a demo together, and I figured I'd share it here with you guys. Hopefully not to many people hate the **** out of it. haha.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=671442&content=music

EDIT: Uploaded a Better mixed version, done with the help of a friend of mine...It sounds alot better, and is shorter than the first version.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=671442&songID=9410147

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

The intro is really long BTW, to build tension for when the next part comes along...so give it a minute before deciding it sucks, haha.

[super rad stuff]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

sounds good man, like a heavier, modern version of the cure. the drums could be louder though, same with the vocals. otherwise pretty cool

[sosomething]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

Get those fuzz guitars down lower in the mix. WAAAY lower. They're completely, absolutely obliterating your mix to itty bitty smithereens.

Aside from that, this is catchy and cool in exactly the way Super Rad Items describes above.

Seething with attitude.

Turn those fuzz guitars down though.

But... seething. Thumbs up.

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

Get those fuzz guitars down lower in the mix. WAAAY lower. They're completely, absolutely obliterating your mix to itty bitty smithereens.

Aside from that, this is catchy and cool in exactly the way Super Rad Items describes above.

Seething with attitude.

Turn those fuzz guitars down though.

But... seething. Thumbs up.

It's not really so much a problem with the guitars being so loud, but the whole production job just isn't good at all really.
Lacks a lot of punch and clarity, except for the guitars which are just too bright in the distorted parts.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

So much to like but...

Here is what I think in terms of having appeal, I'll skip the production critique because as was said it needs work.

You have a great starting guitar part though it takes too long to develop into something that holds the listener, the vocals remind me of early Bowie a good thing. The distorted guitar part that comes next is cool too but there's no vocal? The guitar alone doesn't hold my interest. The chromatic tag to get back to the first guitar part just doesn't work imo, I would think about that one. It could also stand to be 4:00 not 7:00 plus.

I think you have three good ideas, the first guitar part, the vocal in the verse and the heavy guitar part but no song. It's all about keeping the listener engaged which isn't happening. These are just my opinions and I hope you can gain something from them.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

I can dig it. I can picture it in a movie adapted from a graphic novel, in a montage where the good guys are training / preparing for battle with the bad guys.

[sosomething]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

It's not really so much a problem with the guitars being so loud, but the whole production job just isn't good at all really.
Lacks a lot of punch and clarity, except for the guitars which are just too bright in the distorted parts.

Well, I might have been trying to offer more constructive criticism than to just say "not good at all, really." But to each his own...

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

sounds good man, like a heavier, modern version of the cure. the drums could be louder though, same with the vocals. otherwise pretty cool

Thanks! A Heavier Modern Version of the cure is a huge compliment to me. I agree the guitars sorta drown everything else out at points. Vocals are definitely too quiet. I always mix vocals lower than everyone thinks I should. I find my voice to be sorta weird (which it is), so I just sub consciously do it I think. Plus, I know what I'm saying, so its no problem for me to hear it. haha. I really need someone outside the band to do the mixes.

Get those fuzz guitars down lower in the mix. WAAAY lower. They're completely, absolutely obliterating your mix to itty bitty smithereens.

Aside from that, this is catchy and cool in exactly the way Super Rad Items describes above.

Seething with attitude.

Turn those fuzz guitars down though.

But... seething. Thumbs up.

Yeah, the guitars are definitely way too loud (or everything else to quiet depending how ya look at it, haha). I'm gonna have to fix that, haha. Thanks for the advice.

It's not really so much a problem with the guitars being so loud, but the whole production job just isn't good at all really.
Lacks a lot of punch and clarity, except for the guitars which are just too bright in the distorted parts.

Yeah, the Production is not good. I really need someone outside the band to do the mixing/mastering. I'm not too great at that stuff.

So much to like but...

Here is what I think in terms of having appeal, I'll skip the production critique because as was said it needs work.

You have a great starting guitar part though it takes too long to develop into something that holds the listener, the vocals remind me of early Bowie a good thing. The distorted guitar part that comes next is cool too but there's no vocal? The guitar alone doesn't hold my interest. The chromatic tag to get back to the first guitar part just doesn't work imo, I would think about that one. It could also stand to be 4:00 not 7:00 plus.

I think you have three good ideas, the first guitar part, the vocal in the verse and the heavy guitar part but no song. It's all about keeping the listener engaged which isn't happening. These are just my opinions and I hope you can gain something from them.

Yeah, I agree the first guitar part is a bit long, as is the whole song really. I think this makes a better live song (we start our set with it), and the long beginning is sorta meant to build tension, so that when the other stuff comes in it makes a bigger impact.
Doing the Demo was mostly done to get everyone stoked about the band, and hopefully reignite the interest of our synth player (who is now no longer with the band, before even hearing the demo). Not really meant to be a single or anything, haha.
I also agree about going back to the first guitar part, after the first loud part...I was actually thinking of chopping the whole second verse out completely. It just sorta drags on with it in there. Plus its definitely just too long all together.
It could also really use someone other than me doing the mixing and "mastering", haha. The mix is definitely not too good, haha. Plus I don't really have the right tools to do it right. Recording stuff I'm good, mixing I just don't have money for good programs to use. Or the know how to use them properly.
I feel like I have a weird voice (which I do) so I always tend to mix vocals too low, guitars too high. Plus I'm mixing on ****ty pc speakers, and recording/mixing on whatever free programs I can get ahold of. So the whole mix suffers cause of that. No matter how I get stuff sounding while mixing, I always know its gonna sound completely different on almost anything else, So I try my best to compensate for that during mixing, and I tend to not compensate the right ways, haha.
I appreciate your critique, I've heard your stuffs (on myspace), and its great...so I know you know what your talking about. So seriously, thanks for the critique.

So, the Beginning drags on too long, Should I just remove the guitar stuff Before the drums and Vocals start (takes about 40 seconds off)? I should probably remove the second verse, But should I keep the Vocals from the First or second verse (just transposed onto the first verse section)? Thanks for all the Advice/Criticism guys, I really appreciate it.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

So, the Beginning drags on too long,

It's all about keeping the listener interested. If you've gone more than 8 measures without changing something up that's too long. By changing things up I don't mean chord changes but arrangement ideas, add a new part, take something out, drop a kick drum out of the last measure of a phrase, what ever it takes to keep the listener engaged.

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

It's all about keeping the listener interested. If you've gone more than 8 measures without changing something up that's too long. By changing things up I don't mean chord changes but arrangement ideas, add a new part, take something out, drop a kick drum out of the last measure of a phrase, what ever it takes to keep the listener engaged.

Oh, I knew what you meant, and I agree completely. Everyone else thats listened to the song (prior to posting here) wasn't really saying anything negative, other than the vocals being to low. So I wanted to get unbiased opinions from other musicians. I mean personally, its my song, but in listening to it, I found myself getting distracted...so to me that says theres something amiss.
You've pretty much said all the same things I was thinking myself...theres just certain sections that are just not all that interesting. I think at its current arrangement its a good live song, a good song to start a set with...But recorded some stuff definitely needs to change (I'm cutting stuff up right now actually, haha). So I really do appreciate the advice/critique.

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

Ok, I uploaded an shortened/"better" version to sound click...Hopefully its actually "better" haha...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=671442&songID=9408146

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

I can dig it. I can picture it in a movie adapted from a graphic novel, in a montage where the good guys are training / preparing for battle with the bad guys.

Kool! Its always kool to know what someone else gets out of something I wrote. And I try to have a very theatrical sense when making music. I always like to ask myself when writing/recording "If my life was a movie, what scene would this song be in?" Then try and fit the feel/atmosphere of the song to whatever that is.

Well, I might have been trying to offer more constructive criticism than to just say "not good at all, really." But to each his own...

Eh, all criticism is "constructive" in a way...even if its not necessarily encouraging. So its kool whatever he thinks doesn't make me feel bad, its nice to hear any opinion I can. Though It would suck if they were all bad! haha. Thanks for your positive/encouraging comments though.

[DankStar]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

neat - I like it when it kicks in at 1:25. dig the indie vibe.

[Wattage]

Re: First recording of my new Band...

idk I like it

lo-fi which I thought was your thing anyway