Seafoam Summer wipes out on coral

[2lane]

Here's what #79 thinks:

The drumming feels somewhat inhibited. Rather than ignite the performance the drummer feels like he or she is simply along for the ride. Mix would benefit from a more audible bass drum

In fairness to me, http://forums.taxi.com/topic127873.html
no one who listened even said the slightest thing about the drums, other than they might be EQ'd to bright. All thought the drums were pretty good.
Everyone seemed to have more problems with the guitars more than anything, and the screener cuts the drums down? Well, maybe he hated the guitars to, but didn't have the time or space in the box to tell me so.
Oh well.....a bunch of time and work razed in a matter of minutes, just gotta love that....party on!!!

Congrats to those who'll get the forwards as always

Cheers,
Steve

[uncbilly]

Hey 2Lane - I have to side with the reviewer on this one. I think you nailed the guitars and bass. Right tones, right licks, aesthetic spot on.
But the drums are too...good. Not sloppy enough. They sound like they're played by a disciplined pro. I think this piece will be a shoe-in if you make the drums sound like they were being played by a 16yo who just learned the beat and is driving his mother crazy with it.

It's easily fixable. Get a snare and hihat, (acoustic OR electronic) set them up and play along with the track by HAND, keeping the hihat splashy. Make sure you use a natural sounding snare with some buzz,rattle, etc. in it. Also, make sure the ride cymbal sound is a total "Ringo wash." You don't have to do anything with the rest of the kit. When the snare/hat are right nobody's going to even care about the kick, they'll be too busy listening to the awesome guitars.

Other than the drum thing, this track is great! it'll only take about an hour to fix this and I think you'll get it placed. Don't be discouraged, you're so close

[2lane]

Thanks Billy, for taking the time to listen and post.
Food for thought no doubt!
Something tells me though, that if it wasn't the drums, it would have been one or two of a 100 other things. The screener just didn't care for the song. If it had have been that close, they probably would have told me,...no?
Some other guys did some real good surf tunes. Some of them should make it, at least I hope so!
BTW...that drum track was done by hand! Abby Road 60's drum samples, but the midi performance was done in real time. No one's ever accused me being TOO good of a drummer before lol!
Thanks again

Steve

[uncbilly]

Something tells me though, that if it wasn't the drums, it would have been one or two of a 100 other things.

Ugh, I hate when that happens.

BTW...that drum track was done by hand! Abby Road 60's drum samples, but the midi performance was done in real time.

Holy crap! And here i am telling you how to set up a snare and hat. Wait a minute, did you say MIDI?

i know it sounds tweaky ( and admittedly, I am tweaky) but you might be hitting the limit of MIDI's resolution here. In truth, MIDI is not placing those beats exactly where you're playing them. We're talking milliseconds here. But humans can perceive that, whether they (the reviewers) are capable of describing it or not. It just sounds "stilted" or "stiff" sometimes, even when you don't quantize.

Not to throw more work on your plate, but - It would be an interesting experiment , If you have a real snare and hat around, to set up a mic and throw down the snare and hat live acoustically, and then compare the live acoustic track to the MIDI track. hell, with drum chops like yours it'd take 10 minutes to do the whole experiment. Might be worth it.
Just a thought.

[HectorRContreras]

Dear Steve, I remember that I really loved and appreciated the Drums and the Guitars in : "Seafoam Summer"

http://forums.taxi.com/topic127873.html

[2lane]

Thanks Catherine and Billy!
Just trying to move on now
BTW Catherine, I do know you liked the song from before. Did you see I put the same link in at my first post on this thread? Thanks for the kind words, then and now
Do appreciate the looksee you two gave....thanks!

Steve

[rdance]

steve, when i go to your taxi page it says no songs uploaded.

[2lane]

Hey Richard, it was there, just had it off public....turned it back on. I figured the thread had pretty much ran it's course.
If you want to listen again, you know I'd value your interest in it, but if you're pushed for time, it's cool if you don't get back to it.
You know, I can accept that the drums held it back....I get that! One man's "too sizzly" hihat, is another's "well defined hihat", it's the way it goes. And, maybe they sound fake, outta time, too tight, not mixed optimally....but!
inhibited!!?? "Just along for the ride!!?? If you had seen me flailing on my old Octopads making that beat, you wouldn't use "inhibited" as a description! All the guitar parts grew outta that beat....how could it be "just along for the ride"?
I know everyone may be saying right now....well, all those things would be a reason to not forward...true!! Put my point would be that, no one else felt that way but the screener. Just a bit harder to swallow like that!
So, I'm just writing other things and moving on. Hoping for better luck in the future and working harder on things is all I can do.
Like I told Billy....the screener just wasn't feelin' the song. Might have figured that if they didn't feel it, the Library wouldn't either, so why pass it on.
Actually, now that I think about it, the screener maybe did me a favour? Wouldn't be good to make an introduction on a 75 or 80% song....if it's even that high?
BTW, if you ever get back to your roots here in Florida, would love to trade some riffs with ya.....I'll even buy the bevs!
Also, great trip you had, and the Taxi TV show was cool!
Cheers,
Steve

[rdance]

very nice job on the hand-tapped drums! sounds like a real player...

i did not get into reading everyone else's comments and just listened fresh. man, it's a great live sounding track in the 60's california surfer style, and the only issues for me are regarding mix.

the gits need a more full-bodied fender amp tone. try pushing 150hz and 900hz with like a 4q. right now they sound too thin and thus the drums, tho' cool, are dominating the track. and push the bass guitar a db or two at about 100hz and bring the level up.

nice work!

[2lane]

Thanks Crawdaddy! I suppose the fact that not many who listened before will even touch it with a Hazmat suit on now.... speaks volumes
Maybe the screener was actually saying the mix sounded inhibited...don't know?
I'll let it hibernate on the old HD for now. If another listing comes up again, I'll have a fresh perspective on it. Not sure what I could do to fix it now
though. No midi loop is going to line up with the guits now, and I don't even know where I'd start on a new beat for it!
It's a bummer though, cause this is how I've done it on all the things I've written in the last year or more. I see rough
seas ahead maybe?
Thanks for your time Craw...means much!

Steve