I came here after reading your comment on my song, and I'm really
glad I did! This is really nice. Reminds me a bunch of one of my
favorite alt rockers here at MacJams. I love your guitar solo work at the
end. There are some really cleverly placed notes in there that were
really unexpected and fun! (what is the guitar terminology for plucking
a note in two octaves?)... anyhow, whatever it is, it's done really, really
well. I'm pleased to hear the vocals here uneffected; without tons of
reverb. I think for this tune, it gives it a much more intimate feeling.
I'm not good at vocal EQing, but I think this could benefit from some
stereo separation on the melody & harmony tracks. If you ever decide
to re-work this, I'd be curious to hear what it would sound like with
more empasis on the percussion. Not sure if it would give a different
feeling altogether, but it could very well heighten the drama of this.
there are some really good vocal and mastering "pros" here on
MacJams if you ever want to pick some brains on that subject. Really
nice work! Will be on the lookout for more from you! --MissChaos

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Thanks Miss Chaos,

I can hear what you mean about the stereo mix--the harmony vocal is a bit
lost and could be separated out a bit more. This is just my third song with
GarageBand and I still feel like I'm flailing around a bit. Haven't been happy
with vocals--this is the best sound quality I've achieved so far. As for
percussion, I know nothing about it--I simply chose one appropriate loop and
repeated it till the bitter end. How do I get fills and variations and intros and
endings with the percussion loops? Still a total mystery to me.....
jpfeiff

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I will help you w/ those pesky little percussive needs - Gladly - Dion

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So what's the secret? If I have a drum loop I like, and I want an intro, fill, or ending in the same style, do I need to find a seperate loop, or can I somehow ask GB to generate a fill based on the chosen loop?

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You have to send the file to during production and I will arrange all of the
percussive action for ya - In fact, I'll provide for you as much of the rhythm
section as you'd like - It's called, a collaboration - Pesky no more - You could
do it yourself too just takes practive- You do have a good feel for rhythm, it
seems - you could pencil things in I do lot of that - you could get jp5, alot of
percussive
stuff in there - i don't have it yet, but I'm likely to, soon, maybe - I love doing
percussive stuff though, that's just me.

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I was led to this song by MsChaos' posting at the chat about how
wonderul your song is. And yeah, I have verified that statement to be
truthful. This song is well done, both lyrics wise and melody and vocal
and instrumental performance. There is a little bit of rawness in the
mixing which gives it a live performance texture. On the other hand, it
can be a little more refined and pro-sounding. I'm nitpicking (and
without a good set of earphones I can be wrong), and it takes nothing
away from your awesome job. High marks for this one!

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I think the "rawness" in the mix is simply the result of my inexperience with
recording in general and GarageBand in specific. I'm amazed at how polished
some people can get stuff with GB...I still feel like I'm barely a step beyond my
old tape deck and Radio Shack mic sound. I've got lots more material that I
want to record.....how do I make it sound pro??

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Real nice playing and singing. After reading your responses below I
have to say your third attempt with Garageband sounds pretty darn
good. You didn't go crazy with effects- so I commend you for keeping
things simple. Overall this is an very nice song!

As far as the mix goes, it sounds (to me) like the main vocal and the
harmonies were a little to the left. You might consider centering the
lead vocal and offsetting the harmonies... giving them more their own
space.

There were a couple of spots (beginning of the each verse) that it
sounds like the mic got knocked a bit... are you using a shock mount
and pop screen? Just curious. It's kind of a nit-picky thing but can
make a huge difference in the songs overall quality.

The drums on the intro sound okay- but on the outro you might want
to consider fading them or cutting them and finishing with that sweet
guitar work. The guitar should be the focus at that point and will leave
a better impression with the listener.

Again, real good stuff! Welcome to Macjams!


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I'm w/ MissChaos on this; you commented, I'm here - And that's the
way it happens... And I'm glad it did

This is very very vibe you got goin - Your vocals, the harmonies, lyrics
LOVE IT! Your own sound - Cool - This is especially groovy. Or as
Jiguma (check him out) would say, this is Deeply groovy.

Right on, Sir --- Man...

Welcome

- And thanks for sharing - Dion

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Well written, well played. very cool groove, great little guitar riffs. Swingin.
thanks for posting JP

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Others commented on the drum loops, but rather than fix them would
like to see a raw version with vocals and guitar only.

Song is lyrically bitter, but song positively. Almost the opposite of
everything I do (I make happy pieces come out mad).

Was worth a listen.

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Yeah--I'm seem to be attracted to songwriters who write catchy little tunes
about awful things. I like the irony... Thanks for listening to this newbie's
stuff!

Jim

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Loved the guitar playin'!!! Excellent lyrics and vocals. Thoroughly
enjoyed listening to this.

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I listened to the other mix and I like this one better. My own theory is that
harmonys ought to blend and not be seperated. You'll have to take my
opinion with a grain of salt because I don't know jack about mixing.
Nit picking aside, I dig this tune. I like the lyrics and vocal. Great
musicianship. Cheers

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Hi, this is really nice! And a guitar freak like me like the guitar work a lot .. You have surely got a nice sound out of the Santa Cruz.

The guitar loops are great .. only I could have wished a bit more variation.

Faved and downloaded!

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