Song of the Month Club - June 2016

orchardman

@richardyot said:
@orchardman Nice song, the mix sounds a little too bright to my ears and the snare and the guitars are competing a little bit with the vocals in terms of frequency range - it might be the reverb rather than the instruments themselves though, but something doesn't sit right in the higher frequencies for me, there is a slight harshness there.

Nice arrangement, good vocal melody and also like the slight sense of melancholy in the vocal. It's good to hear more use being made of the voice with the subtle background vocals and harmonies. My favourite part is the break at 2.30 with the organ and guitar playing the chorused riff.

@richardyot thanks for the feedback. I have now slightly tweaked the song and taken out the acoustic guitar from the opening few bars where I thought the clash in the higher frequencies was particularly prevalent.

orchardman

@oddSTAR thanks for the feedback I'm glad you enjoyed the song.

orchardman

@deltAdata said:

@orchardman said:
Here is our's for this month, it's probably as poppy as I ever want to get, but hey the sun is shining so sing along.

Nice song ! well sung ! Maybe the voice is a bit to high volume beside the instrumentals, for my taste.
Well done !

Very good duck photo !! Did you shoot it yourself ?

@deltAdata thanks for the feedback, I have now tweaked the song and adjusted the volume of the vocals in some places. I'm glad you liked the photo of the duck, I didn't take it unfortunately but you have got to take your inspiration from any where you can get it.

orchardman

@Halftone said:

@orchardman said:
Here is our's for this month, it's probably as poppy as I ever want to get, but hey the sun is shining so sing along.

I was worried when you said 'poppy' and after hearing the first couple of bars wasn't sure I was gonna enjoy it much - but then I had it on in the background while working and it caught my ear. Some pleasant pop - the vocal line has a comforting feel. I liked it well enough I pressed play again after 1st listen. Good job.

@Halftone thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed it despite its poppy nature. I have got to admit it's not the the type of music I thought I would be producing a couple of years ago but the sun has been shining here for the past couple of weeks so we decided to make some happy music.

orchardman

@grizzlegritz said:

@orchardman said:
Here is our's for this month, it's probably as poppy as I ever want to get, but hey the sun is shining so sing along.

Really loved the song and the voice. I'm very new at this but I wonder if you did a final mastering like the Final Touch app to balance things out a bit more?

@grizzlegritz thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed the song. I did try and master the song (whatever that means) and I have now adjusted some of the levels on the song to hopefully give some more balance.

orchardman

@LostBoy85 said:
@orchardman Hey man,thanks very much for your feedback,although I do feel you were being rather generous with me this month!!

I think it's so cool that you and your wife make these songs together.Do you gig? Does she play or write or just sing? Anyway enough 20 questions.
"Flying Henry home" sounds great to me.The singing is lovely and good work figuring out the harmonies.The title is a good hook in the song and it's a good lyric that doesn't spoon feed you the story,there's room for the imagination...god,I'm boring myself here!!
Bottom line well done on what I thought had shades of "the beautiful south" about it.

@LostBoy85 I have played your track a couple more times and I don't think I was being overly generous. Are you sure you weren't the singer for Kamelot in a past life.

I'm glad you enjoyed our song. My wife is definitely the musician in this relationship and she is responsible for the lyrics, melodies and harmonies. She also plays piano (although not on this track as she has broken a bone in her finger).

richardyot

@oddSTAR enjoyed the listen, and also got a bit of a U2 vibe from the delayed (virtual) guitar phrase - good structure and evolution, would definitely love to hear what this sounds like with vocals, so please post again once you have some.

crouchie

Might have a month off trying to bloody learn how to use Cream and Modstep (not going well so far mind!) but happy to keep reviewing!

crouchie

@LostBoy85 said:
Hey guys,

This is a song I've just finished.I wrote the lyrics and the melody many years ago (when life was being a bit shite as it sometimes is) but never really did much with them.I recently rediscovered them and finally took the time that I should have done long ago to produce it.Apps used Auria pro,Isymphonic orchestra,thumbjam, Igrand piano,Korg IM1 & Darcy of GarageBand fame on the drums! all thoughts are welcome
and thanks for listening.
Leo

Well now that's got a touch of class to it hasn't it! Really impressive arrangement in particular, but the song is great too. You blend the strings in particularly well, and that's not easy. I'm not a big fan of simulated instruments as they usually stick out like a sore thumb but you've worked them in well. I know the apps u use are good but they still need to be applied well. The mix is great, balanced and to my novice ear no issues. Great stuff, well done.

crouchie

@trackedout said:
h

Like that, had a lot of energy and groove. Warming to your vocal style a lot more, slightly ethereal quality on this one. I like the arrangement, would've liked a little breakdown somewhere just to mix it up a bit. The guitar sounds are great, v well compressed, the only complaint is that I didn't like the solo guitar sound that was panned left in the mix in the second half, just felt a bit dry and didn't quite measure up to the other parts. Really good though, well done.

carol

More via my usual pit of despair:

crouchie

@theconnactic said:
"Maracajá" is the Brazilian Portuguese name for the margay cat. Enjoy the listening!

Dimitri.

I liked this, a little bit different to many of your others. Like the retro electro feel to the keys and the fact the track was just a bit more synth based. Like the bass loop in the last minute or so, really kept my interest. Early on there was just something about when the guitar came in that didn't quite sit right, just felt a tiny bit sparse. A minor thing but I just wondered if that could be smoothed out a bit? Great stuff as always though Dimitri.

crouchie

@deltAdata said:

Yes, really like that a lot, got a really pro feel to it. V jealous. Visuals help too! Perfect length, well structured and I wish I had done it. Can't say fairer than that I spose. Excellent.

JohnnyGoodyear

@orchardman said:

@JohnnyGoodyear said:

@orchardman said:
@JohnnyGoodyear I am going to be honest here and I do not mean to offend. This track is either brilliant or a bunch of pretentious arty shite and I still haven't decided. I am going to give it a few more plays, perhaps after a couple of glasses of red. I apologise if I have over stepped the mark.

I don't have a problem with you thinking it's shit, we're all grown ups etc. Not the most polite way of expressing disapproval, but no offense taken. Pretentious always puts me in mind of pretend, things dressed up to appear -falsely- one way or another. That riles me a little bit. This is a simple poem about limerence, a thing I find genuinely interesting and one I've suffered from (and enjoyed) in my past. That to one side, I've always said I would prefer people to either really like or dislike what I do, to feel strongly about it rather than be somewhere in the middle, so I can hardly start complaining now. Appreciate the listen.

@JohnnyGoodyear sorry to have been so abrupt, it had been a hard week at the coal face. I did say it was either brilliant or shite. Ultimately all music/art is there to provoke an emotional response and this certainly did. I liked the the musical arrangement and I think it was the lyrics/poem that I was struggling with but hey what do I know I'm writing songs that were inspired by a silly picture of a duck. Sorry once again.

@orchardman No worries mate.

richardyot

@Halftone two things always stand out from your tracks: there is always a great bass line, and a tense dark atmosphere which I really like.

The funny thing is that in this track the real guitar is my least favourite part of it. I really like the sparse but melodic musical phrases you often use, but that guitar solo just sounds like your average shredder noodling without much sense of purpose or melodic invention, and doesn't fit the mood of the music in the same way as the other elements. The Geoshred part that comes in afterwards actually works much better for me because there is a much greater sense of melody to it, and it's relative sparseness is a much better fit for the song.

But all the other stuff is really good: great bass line, great electric pianos, strings, and great groove and vibe.

theconnactic

@crouchie said:

@theconnactic said:
"Maracajá" is the Brazilian Portuguese name for the margay cat. Enjoy the listening!

Dimitri.

I liked this, a little bit different to many of your others. Like the retro electro feel to the keys and the fact the track was just a bit more synth based. Like the bass loop in the last minute or so, really kept my interest. Early on there was just something about when the guitar came in that didn't quite sit right, just felt a tiny bit sparse. A minor thing but I just wondered if that could be smoothed out a bit? Great stuff as always though Dimitri.

Thank you so much for the review!

Dimitri.

richardyot

@JohnnyGoodyear this one is very "you", which is a great thing because you have a distinctive style and voice and this piece is a very recognisable example of it. I'm quite jealous as I haven't quite managed to carve out my own style in such as distinctive way, and finding your own unique voice is the single most important thing in any art, so please nurture it and keep using it.

I don't really have any crits, I think it's a great piece and as ever I await to see what you do next.

Halftone

@richardyot said:
@Halftone two things always stand out from your tracks: there is always a great bass line, and a tense dark atmosphere which I really like.

The funny thing is that in this track the real guitar is my least favourite part of it. I really like the sparse but melodic musical phrases you often use, but that guitar solo just sounds like your average shredder noodling without much sense of purpose or melodic invention, and doesn't fit the mood of the music in the same way as the other elements. The Geoshred part that comes in afterwards actually works much better for me because there is a much greater sense of melody to it, and it's relative sparseness is a much better fit for the song.

But all the other stuff is really good: great bass line, great electric pianos, strings, and great groove and vibe.

Hey thanks so much! Yes, I do like things dark and deep... And I really appreciate your comment about my basslines. I do often spend alot of time getting them to the right level of groovy-ness. I'm all about that bass haha

ma_therapie

Quick track I put together for another beat contest going on this month (#WeDoBeats300). Rules were to flip a sample from 300 Soundtrack (awesome music). Wonder if I am the only iOS guy competing with the MPC gurus? Anyway, only had a hour to finish it, but based on groove I found I am thinking I Might go back and rework this later. Happy that I got to use my new toy Bassalicious for the track. Shout out to @GospelMusicians. Great product.

LostBoy85

@oddSTAR Hey there,thanks for your feedback on my track mate.

So I've given yours a couple of spins and now that you've said your gonna write to it I'm very intrigued to hear what you do? It's a very cool backing track.I love the bass sound especially and the fake guitars rock!! I'm imagining that you must sound like Axel Rose,yep! That's it,no pressure mate! Can't wait to hear what you come up with...maybe if we all come up with a line each you can write it quicker..hmm...haha! How about "I wanna bang you like a drum"!? Haha! Sorry,that was literally the first thing that came into my head!
It does kind of fit in with the title...or not!!

richardyot

I wanna bang you like a drum
Oh baby I'm like a guitar you can strum
And if you think my lyrics are dumb
Yeah baby blame the Audiobus forum

If anyone else needs help with their lyrics @LostBoy85 and I are here all week.

JohnnyGoodyear

Heroically resists almost overpowering temptation...drags self off to bed....

richardyot

@JohnnyGoodyear said:
Heroically resists almost overpowering temptation...drags self off to bed....

Dammit, this is what you were born to do, give us a couplet or two before you slope off. Of course if you are intimidated by the rather high bar @LostBoy85 and I have set for you...

Bluepunk

@richardyot said:

@JohnnyGoodyear said:
Heroically resists almost overpowering temptation...drags self off to bed....

Dammit, this is what you were born to do, give us a couplet or two before you slope off. Of course if you are intimidated by the rather high bar @LostBoy85 and I have set for you...

Feeling hot n hazy
Las Ramblas is crazy
Too much Paella n
Pints of Estrella
has numbed my head
Off back to bed. (Please)

LostBoy85

Hahahaha! Excellent stuff guys!

theconnactic

Hahahahaah!

JohnnyGoodyear

A penguin in my pudding
is quoting Canto by the Pound
the Dada of my inner child
refuses to come around
the rush is up inside of me
this feeling will never last
yet in this outré moment:
I am the Perfect Pretentious Arse...

crouchie

@orchardman said:
Here is our's for this month, it's probably as poppy as I ever want to get, but hey the sun is shining so sing along.

Like that one. Vocal is the strongest part of this one, a great pop song, less folky than usual. Pitch control more subtle to my ear and works better. It's really well structured with a good duration and had me humming it afterwards, nicely done. I found the fuzzy guitar sound a bit too distracting where it is, but the sound on the solo guitar is really really lovely. Well done!

crouchie

@oddSTAR said:
Threw this together over the weekend and am rather pleased with how it turned out. No vocals as of yet but that's because I am terribly slow at writing lyrics, so perhaps another version will appear in the future. FYI, no guitars were harmed (or even touched) in the making of this little gem, which pleases me to no end even though I love my guitars.

https://soundcloud.com/oddstar/the-one-instrumental-version

Created using only:
Blocs Wave, Steel Guitar, SynthMaster Player, and iMaschine 2 via Audiobus & AUM, sent to Auria for mixing and made shiny in Mastering

Love this. Has an organic sound to the guitars but the slightly chopped loop style reminds me of UNKLE which is very good thing. Sounds fantastic, I really like a lot. Needs more kick mind, so it really thumps along, but very impressive given how quickly u made it. Great stuff!

crouchie

@fRAS said:
Hi again, one from me this month

The core is build around Figure loops, but I added some Alchemy, Drumjam, iKaossilator and Turnado .
Arranged off iOS since I wanted to get familiar with Ableton. I love to fiddle with Figure but it is pain in the ass to export the samples and I am not quite sure about the quality of the samples and I got clicks too with the full volume set in Figure mixer ...

I wonder if the track is working a bit without understanding the words. It's from 1977 TV series "Rachotilkovia" when I was 5 and I remembered it forever.

Some of the words sound like

The whole world is full of sounds. And every sound has its rachotilko (noise spirit). We can see them (and speak with) only through the glass that once upon a time was made by master glassmaker.

How many such in the world? Only one. You're lucky that it's You, who discovered it.

And that's how it's done. That's brilliant. Really well structured and doesn't get boring. Samples work brilliantly, didn't understand a thing! Well mixed and the sounds complement each other very well. I'd be over the moon if I could knock out something this good. Only reservation is the bass sound which is just a tiny bit too clean/funk for my tastes but that's just a personal thing. Great stuff. V jealous.