Seeking your feedback on three songs please

[mcanty]

If you have the time, your feedback on my latest three is much appreciated!!!Here is song #1. It's called "Living For Me". Would like your feedback on the song, and would also like to know what genre you feel it is most appropriate for:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... ream=1Here is song #2. It is called "Don't Be Afraid". It was chosen for the "What the Bleep Just Happened?" listing and I would like your opinions as well as the appropriate genre:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... ream=1Here is song #3. It's a hard rock song called "I'm Comin' Home" and I just wrote it because I like this kind of music. What do you think???http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... 8&stream=1

[mojobone]

Could be hot AC or contemporary christian. Are you shopping for an artist deal? The production is superb, the songs, excellent.

[mcanty]

I appreciate the kind words. I am mostly interested in licensing my songs and placing with artists

[carlosgomez]

I like the third one the best. All of your tunes have excellent production but my fave is the third. Is this a pro recording or is this your shop?

[mojobone]

Throw a fiddle or pedal steel on there, it could also work for contemporary country. (meaning mainly the first two)

[rnrmachine]

Hi mcanty,I listened to all 3 songs and your voice is cool, sounds well matched with whatever mic you are using... the music quality is very clean and VERY analog sounding. Curious what you are using if ya don't mind telling me.The mix on all them is great and I would be proud of those recordings if they were mine so don't get me wrong here. The production like 70's 80's christian music for lack of a better description coming to mind. VERY usable in a number of situations I would think."Living For Me" strikes me as a softer rock-ish song you might find on a 80's band album... such as "Counting Crows" or maybe Firehouse.. might be a different band I am thinking of..?? Another band did that song that seemed everyone played at their wedding as "their song" hehehe I can't remember who did that one either... Maybe it was Firehouse /sigh Sorry I can't remember better."Don't Be Afraid" The harmonies take it a bit away from your other 2 songs and move it to a country-ish/christian sounding recording."I'm Coming Home" def sounds like a bit more hard rock-ish then "Living For Me" but wouldn't fit in the catagory I consider hard rock. Strikes me more as classic rock but still has that "Christian 70's 80's" sound to it... production wise... on that last song man.. I would bring the guitar out and let it SLAM people on those changes a bit more. The instruments just seem a bit too softly "even keeled" throughout the whole thing. You're voice (assuming you're singing) is the only thing that seems KICKING IT OUT in the recording. I know that is not the case, I can hear the other instruments playing cool parts that I wouldn't change at all. MY ENTIRE problem with these are the production. It is done in an "older" more "classic" style. When it first comes in it hits me with "Godzilla"I would bring that snare out a bit more... shouldn't it be even with the vocal or a bit below BUT the next prominent thing in the mix in rock songs?? let it set more of the tone of the song. I'd get the guitar up front more, mainly for the chorus. If needed take the bass back a smidge to make room. The prominent things to me are your voice and the bass... VERY classic christian style recording. AT least this is on MY speakers... so might be me and you are fine.Another way of saying it is.. it sounds like you got good recording levels on all the instruments put in sweet FX and left it there... Also, It sounds like you're singing "featuring" a bass guitar in the recordings. EVERYTHING sounds great, played great.. talent galore. I can't stress how good I think you are and have done on these, I just feel they are lacking the last lil bit to top em off.I do NOT think I am a better musician or anything either, just giving my honest opinion as a listener.BTW I listened to these recordings through E-mu PM5 speakers.. just fyi.RobI was so into your last song that I recorded it into sonar as it played and then did a smidge of mastering, for lack of anything else I could do, that would take it more in the direction I would like to see it go. I will delete it from my site very shortly.. I certainly hope that it is ok with you. If not, I am sorry for over stepping any bounds. Obviously this was streamed/recorded so the quality at best is streamed. I hope you hear the differences cause they are a bit mild.Link to your song on my Taxi space.. will delete as soon as I see a response from you, or a week or so if no response here.http://www.taximusic.com:8888/r/rnrmach ... 33.mp3.m3u

[mcanty]

Jun 18, 2008, 6:05pm, carlosgomez wrote:I like the third one the best. All of your tunes have excellent production but my fave is the third. Is this a pro recording or is this your shop? Thank you! I record in a studio in Elizabethton, TN called Note-orious Sound. I am friends with the owner, who was a member of a band in the 80's called The Pedestrians - received major label offers but rejected them all, lol. Here is a description of the setup:I use a Foxtex D-2424 to track on. Running through a Soundcraft Ghost English console (32 channel). Demeter tube pre-amps for mic and line signals.When tracks are all recorded I bounce them to a Mac G-4 or G-5 computer for mixing via either Pro Tools or Digital Performer for automated mix-down.I then master on Pro Tools on another Macintosh computer. I track vocals through Neumann, AKG, Sennheiser , Audio Technica, EV & Shure microphones.

[mcanty]

Jun 18, 2008, 6:26pm, mojobone wrote:Throw a fiddle or pedal steel on there, it could also work for contemporary country. (meaning mainly the first two)My original vision for "Don't Be Afraid" (song #2) was a fiddle solo rather than a piano solo. I didn't want it to be overly country and I like the feel the piano gives the song. Good feedback, I really appreciate it.

[mcanty]

Jun 19, 2008, 2:00am, rnrmachine wrote:Hi mcanty,I listened to all 3 songs and your voice is cool, sounds well matched with whatever mic you are using... the music quality is very clean and VERY analog sounding. Curious what you are using if ya don't mind telling me.The mix on all them is great and I would be proud of those recordings if they were mine so don't get me wrong here. The production like 70's 80's christian music for lack of a better description coming to mind. VERY usable in a number of situations I would think."Living For Me" strikes me as a softer rock-ish song you might find on a 80's band album... such as "Counting Crows" or maybe Firehouse.. might be a different band I am thinking of..?? Another band did that song that seemed everyone played at their wedding as "their song" hehehe I can't remember who did that one either... Maybe it was Firehouse /sigh Sorry I can't remember better."Don't Be Afraid" The harmonies take it a bit away from your other 2 songs and move it to a country-ish/christian sounding recording."I'm Coming Home" def sounds like a bit more hard rock-ish then "Living For Me" but wouldn't fit in the catagory I consider hard rock. Strikes me more as classic rock but still has that "Christian 70's 80's" sound to it... production wise... on that last song man.. I would bring the guitar out and let it SLAM people on those changes a bit more. The instruments just seem a bit too softly "even keeled" throughout the whole thing. You're voice (assuming you're singing) is the only thing that seems KICKING IT OUT in the recording. I know that is not the case, I can hear the other instruments playing cool parts that I wouldn't change at all. MY ENTIRE problem with these are the production. It is done in an "older" more "classic" style. When it first comes in it hits me with "Godzilla"I would bring that snare out a bit more... shouldn't it be even with the vocal or a bit below BUT the next prominent thing in the mix in rock songs?? let it set more of the tone of the song. I'd get the guitar up front more, mainly for the chorus. If needed take the bass back a smidge to make room. The prominent things to me are your voice and the bass... VERY classic christian style recording. AT least this is on MY speakers... so might be me and you are fine.Another way of saying it is.. it sounds like you got good recording levels on all the instruments put in sweet FX and left it there... Also, It sounds like you're singing "featuring" a bass guitar in the recordings. EVERYTHING sounds great, played great.. talent galore. I can't stress how good I think you are and have done on these, I just feel they are lacking the last lil bit to top em off.I do NOT think I am a better musician or anything either, just giving my honest opinion as a listener.BTW I listened to these recordings through E-mu PM5 speakers.. just fyi.RobI was so into your last song that I recorded it into sonar as it played and then did a smidge of mastering, for lack of anything else I could do, that would take it more in the direction I would like to see it go. I will delete it from my site very shortly.. I certainly hope that it is ok with you. If not, I am sorry for over stepping any bounds. Obviously this was streamed/recorded so the quality at best is streamed. I hope you hear the differences cause they are a bit mild.Link to your song on my Taxi space.. will delete as soon as I see a response from you, or a week or so if no response here.http://www.taximusic.com:8888/r/rnrmach ... mp3.m3uHey thanks for the incredible feedback. Check the post above for the recording setup that I use. Yes, I do all of my own vocals and I use AKG gold plated mic. I tried the legendary Neumann but my voice just sounded dull and lifeless with it. Production is my main concern as well, so I agree with your comments. First of all let me say that I am not a fad chaser or a trend chaser, and I tend to like classic production rather than modern rock production. I am 32 years old, but I have never been able to enjoy modern rock at all for some reason. But I do realize that its not about what I like, I need to be more inline with what the music supervisors are after and that means I will probably have to budge on my reluctance to chase the trends. The engineer at the studio that I use is very big on keeping recordings as simple as possible. We are good friends and we butt heads on production. But I do agree with you on almost every point. I think it is awesome that you took the time to master the song, I love what you have done with it. I like the EQ more on your version. What exactly did you do?

[mcanty]

I am always intrigued by the way others classify my songs. I always consider them "rock" but I guess that may not be at all accurate anymore, and probably not sufficient. Does anybody else have trouble classifying their music?