Guitar, bass, synth, vocals + ultrabeat "Just Another D

[erfmufn]

Here's a new one from me.. still coming to grips with Ultrabeat.. this song is more "pop" that I usually do but has that band kind of feel for something written in my den.

 

 

http://www.dylan.dragnet.com.au/forums/justanotherday.jpg

 

 

http://www.dylan.dragnet.com.au/JustAnotherDayDylanODonnell.mp3

 

Production feedback welcome.

[David Nahmani]

I love it! Really cool, laid back vibe. I'm a little distracted by the position of the snare (i usually pan my snares pretty much center or dead center) but then again I'm listening on headphones right now. The drums sound good .. . which kit did you use? Yeah that snare distracts me a little, maybe it's a tad too loud or something? Or maybe the kick could be louder. Somehow the kick/snare balance doesn't sound realistic.

 

But I really dig the song and the vibe of the production.

[erfmufn]

Excellent! Thanks for the advice.. I think you are right about centering the drums, I'll do that for sure. Might drop the snare a touch in the process as it should make it a smidge louder doing so.

 

I used the soul kit while sequencing, but tweaked the kick and snare a lot, then copied the lot to the rock kit, more kick / snare tweaking but thats the louder kick. So both of them are in the arrangement.

 

Also had to drag the "anchor" in the UB sample window on the tamborine to make it sound natural at the end (ie, on the beat) its funny it wasn't set that way to start.. its like the tamborine trigger starts 1/3 into the sample that UB loads.

 

Many thanks for the advice and feedback its much appreciated!

 

UPDATED : MP3 bounce reloaded with drums centered.

[Mattbrown]

Kool tune..original, flowing music with great vocals and melodies, just think the snare could be brought down in the mix a little to give the rest of the tune some space.

 

Look forward to hearing some more in the future.

[David Nahmani]

Yeah.. the snare is still distracting me. Center it and turn it down already!!!

 

I would also experiment with very subtle delay or reverb on the vocals to integrate them better with the mix. They sound "outside" of the mix.

 

But boy do I like that simple song.. did you write it? Sing it?

[xs4is]

I just plain dig it. I could totally see this being back ground music for a car trip scene in a movie or TV show.

 

X

[Waterboy]

I like this tune. It has a kewl vibe to it. You did those drums w/ UltraBeat? they sound pretty good - especially with this type of tune. I am glad that I listened to it.

Thanks for sharing with us!

[erfmufn]

Thankyou so much for all your feedback I'm so glad to hear other people like the sound of the song!

 

David, I've dropped the snare and the UB instrument, track and the aux'es i'm chaining the kick and snare to are now all dead center. Dropped snare low enough to still have a nice attack and decay but not be too in your face. I also upped the silver verb mix on the vocals are you suggested and you are so right.. they sound heaps better now! Thanks a lot.. this is the stuff I'm trying to get right and it really helps to hear from other objective listeners.

 

I did write the song, but in not in the "sit down and write a song" kind of way I used to do. This was literally written in Logic .. Its simple "Jack Johnson" style four chord loop that I used as the starting point, then wrote the lead lick, bass + UB then some lyrics which I'm singing. There was another verse but decided less was more and axed it in the mix down so the song starts quickly with no build up. Its an interesting way to write a song I've started doing recently but knowing the production side of things it is now clear to me as an amazingly powerful way of approaching music. I would like to do more complex music in future and have some other more virtuosic guitar songs kicking around.. but while I learn production I think the "pop" simplicity is good to get under my belt first. I can't tell you how much these forums inspire me.

 

UPDATED :

 

http://www.dylan.dragnet.com.au/JustAnotherDayDylanODonnell.mp3

[David Nahmani]

Maybe I'm dreaming? I still hear the snare on the right. Are you sure it's not panned in Ultrabeat's mixer? Still more centered now and less distracting.

 

That silver verb on the vocals is a little boxy. I would keep it at the original setting you had and try a space designer.

 

Now I find some of the guitars a little too sharp - a friend of mine found a perfect term for the sound I'm looking for: comforting. That guitar sounds aggressive and now attracts all the attention away from the vocals. It needs to sound more comforting. A little more warm. Probably just some careful EQ dip in the high-mids.

 

It's getting closer and closer!

[Bluespro123]

I like it. How do you get the ultrabeat drums to sound that way? They sound more like a real drummer than my ultrabeat.

 

I remember The Beatles comenting about "A Day in the Life" that they got ideas for lyrics right out of the newspaper! Everybody was trying to figure out the deeper meanings...

 

Good job.

 

Bluespro

[erfmufn]

Thanks man.. I also appreciate Dave's help mixing this one down which really put the spit and polish on it!

 

I hear what you are saying about drums, its hard to get UB sounding like an organic, natural drum sound but my approach was like this :

 

1. use multichannel UB

2. sequence basic beat (kick, snare, then hats and tambourine in my case)

3. route each drum onto its own aux for individual treatment

4. tweak internal UB drum settings for the right "tone" (pitch / decay)

5. add space designer insert for snare and tweak

6. spend time eq'ing kick.. i agonize over this step sometimes over several days.

7. use compression / limiting as required.

8. i used a rock kit, but copied the whole lot onto soul kit and they play back at the same time, this have the drums the exact sound I needed. the soul kit is slightly louder.

9. tweak tweak tweak. I listen to "pop" songs I hear that I know have sequenced drums but sound kind of believable and try to emulate that.

 

 

hope this helps!

 

ps.. actually recorded a film clip for this track the other night.. just for fun. film is not my bag (baby) but if anything halfway decent comes out I'll post here. I felt like a right tool lip syncing and pretending to play .. but there you go!

 

pps... I love the beatles "a day in the life"! I guess the theme of my track is really about how generic news is these days. Its like the news is the same every day.. everything in the chorus, in that order. (war -> weather -> sport -> fluff)

[Bluespro123]

erf,

 

Yes, that is how I have my ultrabeat(and EXS24) routed for drums. I guess I just need to tweek some more. I also think I will try to use space designer (I've tried all the reverbs and can't really tell which is best).

 

I can't believe I'm talking to someone in Australia about how to get drum sounds.

My wife thinks I'm crazy...I hope I figure this out before my hearing is gone (53 years old).

 

Thanks for the tips. This forum is great.

 

Bluespro

[erfmufn]

no worries bluespro! I really dig these forums like you do. Would love to hear your stuff if you feel like sharing. I learnt guitar mostly with 12 bar blues! At least they are my "roots" where other musicians might cite other genres (eg classical, hip hop etc). Space Designer is really nice.. it goes beyond simple reverb to add texture to the "room" and thus, the sound. Australia's music scene is pretty well "western" and US dominates the music charts here.. which I choose to mostly ignore hehe but we also have a good history of pub rock, and lots of rootsey acoustic music is popular with all Australia's successful musicians right now.

 

take care!