Easy (Thus Do All)

This is a demo (sans vocals) I'd like everyone's honest opinion on before I go an upload the finished thing. Guitars/piano/bass/drums.

Recorded in a tiny box room - I guess I'm a bit shy re: posting the full thing yet due to not being confident re: voice/lyrics - this is the first time I've posted anything original in a public forum, sure let me know what y'all think, I suppose.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by kersplunk (10 comments total)

wow, that sounds fantastic
posted by god particle at 9:28 PM on September 25, 2007

This is great; I want to hear the vocals!
posted by rhapsodie at 10:23 PM on September 25, 2007

First of all, nice!

Here are some things I would suggest doing to enhance it. Play around with different drum sounds, especially the snare and toms. You can try playing with EQing the drums in different ways. Also, I think there can be a little bit more with cymbals.

Add some color to the bass. You can do this with EQ, tone knobs, and even effects, like chorus or distortion. Adding just a tiny bit of chorus or distortion (or whatever) on the bass will give it character. Make it so that it's not attention-grabbing. It should be very subtle.

The piano sounds like it was recorded from about 40 feet away! You should get the mic(s) much closer.

Play with the mix (levels) of each instrument a lot. The drums and guitar are too loud, and the piano and bass are too soft. When you think you have a good enough mix (set your own acceptable quality standard as high as practically possible), then listen to the recording at many different volume levels -- from bother the neighbors loud to barely audible, but not in order -- both with and without headphones, and tweak the individual levels of each instrument.

The guitars are great! Looking forward to the vocals!
posted by strangeguitars at 11:51 PM on September 25, 2007

Seconding everything strangeguitars said!! Only other thing I'd add is to mute the mic'd guitar track for the half a second at the very beginning and end as you're picking up sounds of you moving the guitar etc rather than getting a nice clean start and fade-out.
posted by TwoWordReview at 3:34 PM on September 26, 2007

This kicks ass! Please upload the finished thing!
posted by snsranch at 5:45 PM on September 26, 2007

Sounds good. Sounds like... a drum machine. Sometimes that's all you got, and that's fine. It is what it is. Guitar/bass sound is immaculate (direct?), you say it's from a small room, I certainly can't hear it. I almost can't believe that, with musicianship/production of this caliber, you're still shy about vocals, but... without them it's just generic accompaniment. Lay down some words, let's hear it.
posted by erikgrande at 8:50 PM on September 26, 2007

Well it's obviously competent at least, which actually makes it harder to find anything interesting about it. One thing does strike me: the rhythmic verve. I like what the drums are doing during the distorted guitar section -they don't follow the usual pattern. And the handclaps. You must be a good dancer.
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 9:00 AM on September 27, 2007

I like it. It has a good beat. I give it an 8.5.
posted by RussHy at 6:38 AM on October 2, 2007

Have you heard the Dixie Chicks some Wide Open Spaces? The into of your song is similar enough to the Dixie Chicks's song that you might want to rethink how your song starts.
posted by mexican at 1:53 AM on October 5, 2007

Can't wait to hear the finished piece! In the meantime, thanks for the instrumental. I do love me some instrumentals.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:26 AM on October 22, 2007