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jq
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
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Kizzume
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Joined: 31 Dec 1969
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Location: Tacoma, WA USA
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 Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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This album is very raw and unprocessed: A little too raw and unprocessed for my taste--GENERALLY. There are a couple almost gems in there. On songs with harmonies, some of the harmonies are a little pitchy. In general it seems like it was put together very quickly and on substandard equipment. For some people this may be a bonus, as there are a lot of people out there looking for more raw recordings, it makes them feel like they're getting to know the person better. I'm a big fan of really well-managed recordings--I don't like things to sound totally synthetic either though--I don't like voice pitch correction but I like there to be a relatively high standard in production values: This album is the antithesis of that.
However, having said that, there are some good songs on there:
Swinging Pendulum is probably the strangest one on the album. Many of the instruments sound like cheap (bottom of the line) keyboards from the 90's, but it really such a strange song that the origination of the instruments make no difference.
The most redeeming songs on the album, for me, are "Choice" and "Euphoria". Euphoria really took me by surprise--it's a radical departure from the rest of the album, I really really like it.
Overall, I'd put it just a notch below okay, which puts it at a 2.0 out of 5 for me.
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jq
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for a fairly detailed reply, Kizzume. I am not offended. I don't have the chance right now though to give a full reply.
I will agree right away though that my microphone is a real problem. It is not a nice microphone at all. But it isn't something I can afford right now as good microphones cost a lot of money. As for it sounding like an old casio, I don't know why it would-- I am going through propellerhead reason for my drums and for my keyboard. But still, as for equipment, mine is very very cheap. I can't afford good equipment.
anyway, more later but I g2g
Jesse
EDIT: Ps, you didn't have to eliminate part of your review. I am not offended. I wouldn't mind having more details, too on the specific ways I can improve my sound.
Last edited by jq on Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Kizzume
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Joined: 31 Dec 1969
Posts: 2785
Location: Tacoma, WA USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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EDIT: Oops--this was meant to be after my last message....
I don't know if you saw the way my message was before, but it was a really harsh review. This one I have there now is still harsh, but it wasn't so long winded and it basically says what I want without seeming like I'm putting someone down in a Simon Cowell sort of manner--that's why it took me so long to respond to it--I like to encourage people, not discourage them when they're doing something artistic, and I'm sorry for being so Simon-ish in the way the post was before.
The one thing I didn't say was that I really think you should look into getting a good vocal microphone, the ones that are shaped like a cylinder that require power through the mic cable called "phantom power" (I think it's 50 volts, and you can get those units cheap, but if you had a sound card with an I/O box it would most likely have phantom power on it already). For the mic you're probably looking at to get decent quality, depending on where and how you get it, $85-250 (well, and up from there too, but to sound decent, that range can get you something good), and then you either need to get a pop filter or get a pair of pantyhose or nylons and put it over the mic to cut out the windy "P" sound. A good mic makes a WORLD of difference, and I really wouldn't have believed it until I started working with good microphones. It's a night and day difference.
Even if you can't get a good microphone, at least do the cheap pop filter thing with a pair of nylons or pantyhose, and re-record parts and back off the mic a bit on the parts that peak the VU's (the parts that get distorted). Pick apart your recordings more than you do now--be a perfectionist, seriously. If something doesn't sound QUITE right, it's probably not right, so you should re-record that part, and do it over and over again if you have to. It's SOO easy to just want to get through a recording, but if you want it to sound good, you need to be very picky. I've known people that have went too far the other way too, where it's NEVER good enough, and you don't necessarily want to go there either, but I think right now you say "it's good enough" to yourself too much.
This isn't saying that the songs themselves aren't good, or that you should or shouldn't stop doing certain styles, it's just saying that the songs that you DO have could sound much MUCH better if you were more picky about your recordings. If you need any tips on any of this, please don't hesitate to call me or leave me a PM or an email.
I feel really bad about giving bad reviews when it's someone I know and consider a friend. I sincerely hope that my review does not cause any hard feelings.
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Meow.
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Kizzume
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Joined: 31 Dec 1969
Posts: 2785
Location: Tacoma, WA USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| jq wrote: | Thanks for a fairly detailed reply, Kizzume. I am not offended. I don't have the chance right now though to give a full reply.
I will agree right away though that my microphone is a real problem. It is not a nice microphone at all. But it isn't something I can afford right now as good microphones cost a lot of money. As for it sounding like an old casio, I don't know why it would-- I am going through propellerhead reason for my drums and for my keyboard.
anyway, more later but I g2g
Jesse
EDIT: Ps, you didn't have to eliminate part of your review. I am not offended. I wouldn't mind having more details, too on the specifics. |
Okay, well, here's the original post:
Here it comes, please brace yourself--the bad news first:
This does not sound like an album, it sounds like a series of scratch/test tracks, a work in progress with scratch vocals. The harmonies are WAY out-of-tune, especially on the song Pictures which becomes utterly unlistenable about halfway through. Some of the main vocals are out-of-tune as well--it just doesn't sound like you worked very hard to try to refine your vocals on this album at all, almost as if you were half-asleep when you were performing them. When you're recording the vocals, if it doesn't sound perfect to you, re-record that part. If it takes you 2 weeks or even 2 months to record the vocals on one song, so be it. Just keep re-recording it until it sounds as perfect as you're able to get it, not this "it'll be good enough" attitude that it sounds like was used in these recordings. Use the punch-in/cut-in method if you have to, over and over again to get the vocals to sound right. Another thing is that some of the songs sound like they should be sung with an angry tone, but it just sounds like you barely know the melody and are reading off a page, and like I said, it sounds like you're falling asleep and are just trying to get the naked musical idea out without care of how it has been performed. Neil Young sounds like that all the time, however, so it's really hard to say. If I was rating a Neil Young album, the way he sings would be a large part of my review even though everyone already knows that's just the way he sings. Some people just sing that way. Thom Yorke occasionally sounds that way too--I used to assume he was on heroin when he sounded like that.
The sequenced parts (on the ones with vocals) need to be remixed (as in volume levels) badly. There are some sounds that overpower EVERYTHING and some that need to be there in the foreground that can hardly be heard.
You REALLY REALLY need a good mic. It sounds like you're using a gaming headset microphone to record this. Cheap mics can actually work medially okay for live performances, but they do NOT work for recording vocals unless you're trying for that "Look mom, I can sing into my taperecorder!" sound. The mic you're using is utter crap for recording vocals. At the very very minimum, you need to get a pop filter or put a pair of nylons of pantyhose over the mic to keep the windy "p" sound from happening, and you need to lower the mic volume so you don't get mic distortion and just turn it up in the mix later and add some volume compression. On-purpose vocal distortion is generally done as an effect AFTER it has been recorded at the right volume, not because the original recording was done with the mic too hot.
The guitar has a sound that makes me think of a cheap mic as well, but sometimes it sounds like it's plugged directly with no effect. Either way, both the treble and the bass need to be brought up in the guitar--it's really thin sounding right now. If you had a program that lets you add effects after-the-fact, you may want to record it dry/direct and add the distortion effects afterwards.
The rhythm on Searching For a Place is totally out-of-whack, particularly the bass part. The whole song sounds like an error being made over and over again.
The song Cut You, some of the instruments are out-of-tune from each other.
Dance With Me--I don't know how to judge that one. It's so out-of-league with what I listen to normally that I just don't know how to judge it.
Sunset Stripped isn't too bad. It takes a little bit to get where it's going (the beginning is slow-going), but it's not bad.
Amphibious Gender sounds like a $85 Casio keyboard from 1996--those cheap drums that come with them. It has some interesting progressions going on once you get past the middle of the song.
Swinging Pendulum is probably the strangest one on the album. Many of the instruments sound like that same Casio keyboard, but it's just so weird that it doesn't really matter.
The redeeming songs on the album, for me, are "Choice" and "Euphoria". Euphoria really took me by surprise--it's a radical departure from the rest of the album, I really really like it.
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Meow.
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Kizzume
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Joined: 31 Dec 1969
Posts: 2785
Location: Tacoma, WA USA
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| Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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| jq wrote: | Thanks for a fairly detailed reply, Kizzume. I am not offended. I don't have the chance right now though to give a full reply.
I will agree right away though that my microphone is a real problem. It is not a nice microphone at all. But it isn't something I can afford right now as good microphones cost a lot of money. As for it sounding like an old casio, I don't know why it would-- I am going through propellerhead reason for my drums and for my keyboard.
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I have a bunch of "refills" if you're interested. Are you using any touch sensitivity with the drums? Right now it sounds as if there's no variance whenever the drum is hit--I believe with Reason, the drums will have different tambers depending on the velocity at which the keys (or midi input in general) are hit, and if you don't have a keyboard to enter this stuff that has touch sensitivity, that would be the reason why it sounds like an old cheap Casio--those keyboards had no touch sensitivity. | Quote: |
But still, as for equipment, mine is very very cheap. I can't afford good equipment.
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What are you using as far as a microphone? There are cheaper alternatives than what I mentioned, there are $20-30 varieties that would sound better than what you're using now, and like I said, a pair of pantyhose or nylons will take care of the windy "P" and "B" sounds. | Quote: |
anyway, more later but I g2g
Jesse
EDIT: Ps, you didn't have to eliminate part of your review. I am not offended. I wouldn't mind having more details, too on the specific ways I can improve my sound. |
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Meow.
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