Reworked and would appreciate Critique

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Stubee
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Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by Stubee » Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:33 pm

https://soundcloud.com/stu-thaler/whisk ... e-table-20


Thanks to some awesome Taxi members who gave me great feedback on this tune
I think I was able to make improve this song. I'm sure that there is more that I can do
so If there is anyone out there who can critique this blues song I would really appreciate it.
Please be brutally honest. I never get offended with honest feedback. I am a rookie here at Taxi
and my goal is to improve my song writing ability and production skills.

Thank you,
Stu

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:52 pm

It sounds like a cleaner mix than the previous time, so I think there is a definite improvement in the production.

I'm still getting a sense of things being out of time though, I think it's the guitar which is out to the drums bass. Not sure what's happened there whether it's a latency issue during recording or something else ?

Also I would generally expect better instrument sounds, the guitar tone is pretty nondescript and the drums and bass sound rather generic so the whole thing is a bit flaccid.

You could easily throw something like EZbass & EzDrummer at this and it would instantly improve matters IMHO.

Mark

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by Stubee » Fri Jul 16, 2021 5:04 pm

Thank you Cosmic dolphin!! I dropped the LogicPro drummer and went with Steven Slate.
Is EzDrummer better? If so, I will purchase it. I was using a click track so it might be latency
but I'll check. I used a Les Paul guitar and a Epiphone Beatle bass but I plugged them in directly.
Do you recommend using mics on amps instead? I didn't quantize the bass and the 2 Rhythm guitars
to the drums. Maybe I should try that first.

I am sooo grateful for your help!!

Thank you,
Stu

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by gitanosoy » Fri Jul 16, 2021 9:04 pm

Yeah..the drums is not in time or some hits are off beat on the cymbals as if it was added later. Hard to pin point. Maybe change the guitar riff once in a while with a few alternate notes or bends , the sound of the guitar, it is kind of BLAH and a bit lifeless.

You don't have to mic an amp to get a good sound , if you have Logic there are lots of guitar plugins and amp choices.



Good luck.

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by Stubee » Fri Jul 16, 2021 11:08 pm

Thanks for the feed back gitanosoy. I think you are right. I'll unquantize everything and
go through each instrument to see what is going on. I thin that maybe quantizing might
be part of the problem.

Thanks,
Stu

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by Paulie » Sat Jul 17, 2021 10:02 am

Fun song, nice attitude. :) I'm not feeling the drums though, it sounds like the ride cymbal part is being played by a cymbal crown sample, which is normally used for accents, not playing time. Switch that to an actual ride and I think it will help. The drum hitting on two and four sounds like a kick to me, which is a little unusual, normally that's where the snare hits.

As far as quantizing goes, it is very hard to pull off in a swing/shuffle feel, unless you apply the same swing percentage ratio to the drums as well as the bass. Logic offers multiple swing quantize options, and you can also adjust the strength percentage. One thing to look for is whether you are quantizing 8th notes or 16th notes. Shoot for 8th notes, or 8th note triplets in a shuffle at this tempo.

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by Stubee » Sat Jul 17, 2021 5:10 pm

Thank you Paulie. I'll try to make those changes. The drums are the hardest part for me. I play guitar, bass and sing so my drum skills need to
get better. I just noticed a little pitchiness in the vocal during the choruses. I'll rerecord that too. I was using the Logic Pro drummer but now
I switched to Steven Slate drums. Either way my skill set is not great at it so I have to try to keep it simple.


Much appreciated,
Stu

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by Stubee » Sun Jul 18, 2021 5:02 pm

https://soundcloud.com/stu-thaler/whisk ... e-table-20

The link above is the updated track with all of the the recommended changes that all of you great people
have helped me with.. Unless anyone has any more recommendation, or any of you feel that I still haven't gotten this
close to "broadcast ready". I guess my next step is to send it through the Taxi review process. I'll wait a few days to
see if you have any more suggestions before doing that though.

Thank you , Stu

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by irthlingz » Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:47 pm

Hi Stu - I like the track, but to my ear the vocal styling is more Frank Sinatra crooner than blues. I think a more raw and dirty vocal style would probably fit the subject matter better.

JM2C

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Re: Reworked and would appreciate Critique

Post by nicotina » Mon Jul 19, 2021 6:28 pm

Stu,

Your changes improved it, but I don't think it's ready yet.

The shuffle sounds better before the vocal come in. I would work on the vocal. It's very monotone and the melody is right on the beat. You might not have the vocal range to vary the notes you are singing more. If that's the case, you CAN still vary the rhythms you are singing. Listen to limited range rock vocalists like Mark Knopfler, or some of the traditional blues singers. They work with varying rhythms because they can only sing a few notes. There are probably a hundred ways you can phrase "whiskey bottle on the table". Could be "Whiskey bottle.......on the tay-BAL, Eyeeee was lying on the floor". Most blues/R & B vocalists sing a little behind the beat. They call it "in the pocket". By studying rhythms, you could learn to make your singing more authentic to the style, which values distinctiveness and invention.

Just my two cents. I'm no blues singer, but I've played with a few...

Vince

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