Critique My New Band

[Spidey2112]

I hear a little Gin Blossoms influence, musically. Loved the female harmonies on this, too. Great job, one and all.

 

[39-Bassist]

Understand but wondering what I can do or suggest on my end. Just don’t want to have to completely rely on someone else.

Actually if you are like me, I like to not just hear the bass but feel it too. (without it being overbearing)
And with this type of music it need not be. (overbearing)
I personally would have just given the bass tad more bottom and upper mid.

Honestly the production has a mid 70's mix and tone.

The funny thing is I would probably have tried a different distortion sound on the guitar. But that is just my taste.
Good song and glad you had fun doing the original music. I know I do.

 

[digmeout]

I liked it! It gets a great groove going! All and all if I heard this playing somewhere I would stop pay attention and listen, it's catchy. As stated by others it need more bass definition. I think that would help drive the song even more.

 

[KidAmnesia]

Congratulations on your new project!
For me, the best part of playing music is to get toghether with friends and create something new as good as you can. And you seem to be doing great at it.

Its a good song, it flows nicely. And the recording is pretty good too, maybe the lead vocals are a bit too up front, but it's generally a good mix. The bass stands out when it needs to, and doesn't clash with the rest of the instrumentation when it needs to be supporting it, I think that's a good management of the production; going for a tone tha t "cuts through the mix" when you have several guitars, piano, organ, drums and vocals is good only if your goal is to be able to hear the bass, but is ussually problematic for the whole mix.

And I loved the tone of the electric piano.

 

[Scotty4string]

Great job!

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Miles Kennedy / Slash vibe. Sounds great.

 

[brianrost]

Understand but wondering what I can do or suggest on my end. Just don’t want to have to completely rely on someone else.

I hear the bass just fine when the rhythm guitars aren't blasting away. For example, during that interlude from about 3:00 to 4:00 the bass is nice and clear for those melodic fills. When the guitar is soloing the bass is still easily heard. It's only when the rhythm guitars are coming out of both left and right channels that the bass and to a lesser extent the drums seem to be overpowered.

It seems like a mixing issue to me because when I turn the volume way down both bass and drums start to disappear and when I crank the volume nice and loud the bass is right there.

I'd boost the upper mids and maybe scoop some of the lows out of the guitars.

As far as the song itself, I'm with Carl Hillman. Performance and production are very good overall, the lyrics are generic but OK. The harmony vocals are what really caught my ear. Nice hook in the chorus.

 

[sabre79]

So, tell me what you think.

Sounds good to me.

 

[brianrost]

P.S. Here's a song from 1969 with a lot going on in the mix, but the bass is really in your face, even listening on small speakers. With my laptop speakers at the lowest setting, the bass is just as prominent. The electric guitars are not as forward in the mix as on your recording except for the solo.

The bass is a Danelectro with flats, played with a pick. The click on the attack of the note is what makes it really jump out.



The bassist is Pete Townshend, who produced the record in a home studio.

 

[Lee Moses]

I liked it!!!
This is a good record maybe tighten the arrangement and cag the Sweet Child of Mine lick and boom

I thought the same thing. The Sweet Child lick really detracts from a song that has a decent bit of originality to it. Overall, I'm impressed--good job, and congrats!

 

[dune]

Great tune. Love the vocals and that chorus is money! The tone of the guitars doesn't quite measure up to the rest of the song. Bass could have been more present in the mix and maybe a bit more driving but sounds like you are already aware of that. What you're playing is really tasty though. Arrangement-wise, I would be doing some pretty severe editing: I'd cut the intro in half and ditto for the interlude between the first two verses and the guitar riff after the first chorus. The instrumental beginning to the bridge, the bridge itself and the guitar solo also go on way longer than they need to. It's a solid bridge and I like the "pulling on the rope only makes it tighter" lyric a lot but it just goes on too long. Sadly for me, the chorus doesn't pay off coming out of the bridge nearly as much as it does coming out of the verses. I'm a fan of the "always leave 'em wanting more" adage and too much repetition goes against that. I can't say enough about how hooky and awesome that chorus is, so I'd be looking to get to it sooner initially, get in and out of the bridge (strong but just too long) and lead solo (as others have said, I'd totally lose the repetitive GnR stuff and just tell the lead player to trust his gut and cut loose) and then go out on that chorus as strong as it sounds the first two times, let that female vocal wail all over it and maybe work in a bit more tasty bass. I think that it's totally natural and common for songwriters to let their songs go on too long initially. I've been called out by producer types before on my stuff and they've been right. So I'm as guilty as anyone of doing that on my own stuff, but editing someone else's stuff is always easier, don't you think?

 

[Dbassmon]

Production: A+
Playing (Execution): A
Vocals: A
Lyrics: B-
Music (Writing) & Arrangement: C
Overall: B+

Very nice!

Nice Job. I agree with Mr. Hillmans' review.

Song writing is the weakest aspect of the effort, specifically, the hook or lack thereof. There is not a melodic motif or lyric that is memorable. While nicely played and sung, I could not tell you what the song was about or sing back the melody in the chorus. It left me feeling unmoved in any way so it missed the mark of a good song. Your band can play and this was nicely recorded.

I respect and applaud your effort and your fearlessness in posting and asking for reviews.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

There is not a melodic motif or lyric that is memorable.

Currently, one of the most popular songs in the U.S. and around the world is
Rema, Selena Gomez - Calm Down.

Here are some song's lyrics:

"If I tell you say, "I love you", you no dey form yanga-oh, oh, yanga-oh
No, tell me no, no, no, no, woah, woah, woah, woah
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Baby, come gimme your lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-woah-woah-woah-woah-woah
You got me like woah-woah-woah-woah-woah-woah-woah-woah-woah
Shawty, come gimme your lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-woah-woah-woah-woah-woah, hmm"

 

[g-dude]

Great song! Your lines are steady when they need to be and melodic. Perfect example of knowing when to serve the song and then stretch out a bit when appropriate. You SHOULD be proud of it!

Just one thing… while listening to the intro, I kept hearing “It Don’t Come Easy” (Ringo Star). But there’s nothing wrong with that.

Nice work

Yes - that’s exactly the song that came into my head.

Was a shock not hearing Ringo!

 

[squeally dan]

Thanks guys for all the feedback and I don’t disagree with much of it.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

Thanks guys for all the feedback and I don’t disagree with much of it.

I liked your bass-line "template" (laconic long notes) in all sections of the song but the bass-line in Verse somehow got my attention: a staccato short note followed by a "very" long note.

I liked your knowledge of the song's sections - clearly separated patterns of the bass-line.
Overall, it's a good bass-line, maybe, too "sanitized."

 

[squeally dan]

I liked your bass-line "template" (laconic long notes) in all sections of the song but the bass-line in Verse somehow got my attention: a staccato short note followed by a "very" long note.

I liked your knowledge of the song's sections - clearly separated patterns of the bass-line.
Overall, it's a good bass-line, maybe, too "sanitized."

Thank you!

 

[squeally dan]

I liked your bass-line "template" (laconic long notes) in all sections of the song but the bass-line in Verse somehow got my attention: a staccato short note followed by a "very" long note.

I liked your knowledge of the song's sections - clearly separated patterns of the bass-line.
Overall, it's a good bass-line, maybe, too "sanitized."

Thank you. I now hear a spot where I was a bit sloppy but the producer wanted to limit punch ins so we kept the original performance.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

the producer wanted to limit punch ins

I think you've got more than enough comments about that "producer's" ideas/vision of the bass line in this thread - nothing to add.
Once again, your simple but close to perfection bass-line in all sections of the song (but some parts in Verse) really got my praises - those long legato notes "tucked" in all the other instruments/parts in perfectly.
Your proper approach to "lighten" the bass-line in Verse shows your knowledge of the form, but the "groove" aspect in Verse (the microgroove ingredients in the bass pattern) was not portrayed (in my opinion) properly in the final mix of the song.

 

[TimBosby]

@squeally dan
It's great. I love it. Great bass playing and cool chord progression. And I like the use of the keyboard (Rhodes piano maybe?) My fellow Square Wave Jerks dig it too.