Here is the live studio version of "Loose Ends" with some overdubbing of rough vocals and some ebowed guitar at the end. I think this song has a lot of potential. I think I'll start the album out with it and I like "Loose Ends" as an album title as well.
What do you guys/gals think, what do you hear? Feedback welcome.
Wow, great song. Your voice kind of reminds me of Neil Young. I'm a guitar player myself and this song has just the right feel!
Thanks Cumol, I appreciate you listening and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks fuffle. The players are: bgood79 on lead guitar/backup vox, Ben Kessler on keys, Dan Piccolo on drums and Matt Matchiarolo on bass. It was recorded live at first at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor with Geoff Michael engineering, then we did some overdubbing. -Most of it is still the live takes though. I'm glad you dig it.
Thanks, this was recorded live at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor with a brilliant fella named Geoff Michael engineering. Then, I overdub stuff in my home studio using Pro-Tools and basically an Audio Technica 40-40. Most of the stuff you hear me post to Hubski over the years has been recorded solely by me in my home studio using that mic. I have very limited gear and not the best engineering chops. I'm of the somewhat hurried philosophy of "capture sound quickly" and "pay someone qualified" to mix it. -Before kleinbl00 internet slaps me, I do take my time with some basic mic checks and levels before recording but beyond that the heavy lifting will be left to whomever mixes the stuff. You know, guys like kb who get paid the big bucks to make my crappy home recording actually sound like something that could be on the radio.
I like that all the pieces (the vocals, the drums, the guitar, bass and keyboard line) are so steady in a forward-driving (if relaxed) kind of way. I like the feeling it creates, but I wonder how it might sound with more changes in dynamic. The song begins very quietly and all the parts that come in are pretty quiet too, until by the end the song has built pretty substantially in kind of a sneaky way. I think that's pretty cool, but I listened to the song a few times and if I hadn't (or been able to see a visualization of the sound), I don't know that I would have noticed and I do think it's something worth drawing attention to. Good stuff, man.
Yeah, the build is subtle, I kind of like it that way in the context of the rest of the songs, which will have a lot of more noticeable changes/builds. Thanks for listening, I'll be posting more of these songs in the coming days/weeks to give those interested an idea of where the songs are at now as opposed to where they are after I take a scalpel to them and re-record things. That said, I will definitely consider ways to add to the build in this one. I'm excited to jump back in to working on something I plan to make in to a large "project" and not just one off goofy tunes.
Love the sound you're trying to create here. I get a major Broken Social Scene vibe. My only constructive feedback would be that I think you could hit a more powerful pitch when you say "Loose Ends". Not sure if that makes sense.
<tangent> Has anyone here had the pleasure of seeing Broken Social Scene live? I was lucky enough to see them on their last real tour before they split off this last time and starting doing their own things. It was among the coolest shows I've seen, even though I wasn't all that familiar with their stuff at the time. Now, they're one of my favorite bands. </tangent>
Thanks for the badge! I think I understand your feedback, I will be re-cutting the vocal track for this for sure. I recorded them a long while back and I'm much more confident in my "high" range when singing now. We are about to move... again, and one thing I'm looking forward to is the studio space I'll be using in the new home. I plan on actually finishing this album instead of putzing around on new songs that will never see the light of day. Thanks for the feedback Cadell, it's much appreciated.
That's a really good call, I will definitely experiment with that. I may even play around with harmonies but my guess is a lower octave vocal and a higher one too... if I can pull that off.
Here's your advice: If you're seriously considering making music, that means you've been listening to music for a long, long time. This means your musical palate has been refined light years ahead of your musical chops. In other words, everything you make will sound like shit to you. It took you a while to really experience music to the point where you wanted to make your own. It will take you just as long to make music that you will experience the way you want. The best thing to do is MAKE MUSIC. You don't need to share it. You don't need to find fans. You don't even need to like it. Just crank through. Make ten songs that you have no intention of ever playing for anyone. Then make another. Then by the time you've been at it, making hours of music no one will ever hear, you might find that you've created something you're proud of. Congratulations. You're a musician. "The difference between an amateur photographer and a professional photographer is the professional throws most of his shots away." - Not Walt Whitman
I'm now considering locking myself in my bedroom this weekend and doing just that. I agree with you; the experience of writing shitty music will surely set me up for some eventual success. The biggest thing I've felt the need to do is share my music, but I now realize it's not necessary. I just need to create music instead.
The trick is in not sharing before you're ready. Ask someone to listen to your first demo and you forever associate that first demo in their head with you. End up making something orders of magnitude better, and you will always be "first demo delta" in their heads.
Good advice imo. I have a friend, we'll call him jonaswildman that recorded over 700 songs/parts over the years (a guy I've known off and on since I was born essentially) and I had never even known he was recording. Then one day we reconnected and he shared me some of his songs. -Holy shit! The songs were/are amazing. Like you say, he is "first demo Jonas" instead of "umm, yeah with some practice and time you could be good jonas." Eventually, it is nice to have one or two people that you trust and that actually cares to listen to your music. For me, it's been my wife over the years and a friend named Tim. My wife is brutally honest and Tim is incredibly supportive. -A nice combination. Good luck delta. Just keep at it.
So I went home yesterday and recorded for an hour. I found it's very, very hard to achieve something worth keeping. My time yesterday didn't lower my confidence at all, I'm just more determined to improve. I'm glad I found the motivation to try.
Hey Delta, as thenewgreen mentioned I have a fair amount of songs/ song parts recorded and have been at it for 17 years or so. I think a passion for music is a good start towards creating it. When I was 15 I got an acoustic (strings were really high and it hurt to play) and every day I would sit and try to play Cure, Smashing Pumpkins and 70's tunes. Five years later I got a four track, a snare and a basic vocal mic, that I still use for my drums. Like thenewgreen, I would just experiment with my equipment, I would use my voice to make cymbal sounds, I would hit allen renches together to get hi pitch sounds and I would also use my acoustic as a drum. I was so excited to record and I was so obsessed with music that I recorded everday. I would write originals that sounded like the bands I was into. Writing in the style of your heroes will only make you better and soon you will find your own sound. For me that took 10 years. Within my first years of recording though I shared my stuff only with my parents and brother and no one else. My recordings were mine and I was happy to be the only one who heard them. I created music to fulfill and satisfy my own mind and I think thats a good way to approach it. Get good at your instrument/ instruments, experiment with your recording equipment, mimic a style/ styles , find your sound and share! For me, this journey with creating and recording music has taken 17 years, from the time I got my four track recorder until the time I first shared my music with someone outside my family. Record music to amuse yourself and not to share and I really do feel you will find your sound! Stick with it and I hope to one day hear your music!
Keep at it. 90% of achievement is just showing up. I just 100% made that number up, but you get the point. When I first started recording I experimented a ton with home made sounds like, ripping paper and then looping it and claps, snaps, using the back of my guitar for a drum etc. I was way more experimental back when I had no idea what I was doing. There can be more freedom sometimes in not knowing what to do. Enjoy!
I'm not much of an engineer so the "how to" questions in regards to recording are best left to professionals like kleinbl00. (sorry for the multiple thread shout-outs kb). But I do know a lot about the process of recording from a creative standpoint and my biggest suggestion is to do it... a lot. Ever since I was a kid using two tape decks to overdub I've been voraciously recording songs. I've gotten to the point where I can sit down and within two hours have a pretty fully formed song recorded. -Not that they sound that great but still, not everyone can crank out music that quickly. I can do it because I have been for so long. So, my advice is to experiment, to explore all the capabilities of what you have. Especially if you have time. What I wouldn't give for more time to make music. Also, never forget that the greatest instrument on earth is the human voice. Not just for signing either. You can do so much with your voice. have fun, and post your songs. Also, feel free to ask any more questions/suggestions.
Wow, thanks for the great advice. I've never attempted recording before, so it's bound to be a bit rough. I've been inspired by listening to Zach Condon and the recordings he created at the age of fifteen. He's the reason I want to record; he and I have the same vocal range and I'm very comfortable singing his music.
You found a house and everything? Hope you aren't just moving again for the sake of moving... might become habit-forming. Anyway, I absolutely love the central riff and the slow fade-in but the vocals could have more of a presence. Good call steve on adding a female vocalist -- can your wife sing? No? Time to start training the daughter?
My wife does sing, but I've grown comfortable enough with my super high vocals to do it myself. Truth is, she's not the easiest to work with ;-) I'll have my daughter start violin lessons this summer, I'm pretty psyched about it.You found a house and everything? Hope you aren't just moving again for the sake of moving... might become habit-forming.
-Habit forming? You apparently have never moved a family before. There's no way I'm moving again for at least 5 years. That said, I could see myself growing old in this new home. It's really ideal for us.
Yes, that's what I meant! I felt like you could go a little higher. But I loved the song, and genuinely anticipate the next The New Green album. Great work :-)I'm much more confident in my "high" range when singing now.
Thanks, I appreciate it and I'll gladly comply... or at least attempt to.