KVR :: Music Cafe » garret: new pop tune Silver King (updated mix) [View Original Topic]
There are 39 posts in this topic.

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garret - Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:29 pm

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It's been awhile since I posted something in progress.

Here's a tune I've been working on for a few weeks... It still needs a bit of work, but I'm eager to get some feedback on the composition and arrangement.

Silver King

Thanks for listening!

-Garret
P.S. For the uninitiated, you might like this if you like Belle and Sebastian, the Sea and Cake, the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson, cheezy Paul McCartney tunes or glorious Beatles tunes, and/or 70s middle of the the road pop your mum loves.

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AndrewSimon - Mon Jun 28, 2004 7:55 pm

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Hey it sounds great.
Nice song good voice nice arrangment BUT....
I don't like the drum arrangment.
Was it made from loops?
It just doesn't feel right to my ears.

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garret - Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:03 pm

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Thanks!



Yah, that's one of the things that needs a lot more work. The drums aren't from loop cds, but just a few quick patterns I repeat throughout the tune... when I get time I'll fix them up to sound more natural.

-Garret

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Shane Sanders - Mon Jun 28, 2004 8:25 pm

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Sweet. Great tune, and the little interlude was in just the right spot. The overall progression was very satisfying, too.

Sounds like you've changed mics or something. It was more up front than previous tracks from you. I think you could really milk the harmony vocal thing that comes in toward the end, maybe going for something huge sounding to contrast with the intimacy of the rest of the piece.

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mystahr - Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:10 pm

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It's been too long

Good to hear you again Garret

Yeah change the drums around (or let Shane help you out here, as I think his percussion would fair well here)

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freeztar - Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:15 pm

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Good tune! I like the drum arrangement, except for the kick. The interlude is really cool!
Besides the kick, I'd leave it how it is.

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amoebe - Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:46 pm

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Sounds very good, I like the horns (And everything else except the kick)

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Sascha Franck - Mon Jun 28, 2004 11:11 pm

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This is a nice tune, I like your voice and singing.
I do however agree on the drum comments. There's something weird going on, especially in every second bar when the kick does the 8ths all the way until the "3 and".
You should change that IMO.
Also, the kicks staring in the bridge-like part at 1:39 are too brutal for my taste.

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putte - Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:18 am

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.. thats great!

garret! .. .. oh, how superb you sing this song! Better than ever .. top!
And the instrumentation is, as with all your songs, so good. warm sounding, nice harmonies .. it all fits.

thank you for the music garret,
you´re still in my top-3 of kvr

putte

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Ixox - Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:30 am

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This really have your unique sound !!
Very nice song Garret, beautifull arrangment (except the kick ) and great voice as usual....

I find the phaser/flanger (?) drums in the middle part around 2'00 is disturbing and a little "easy" effect.

I've just listened to this song several times and i love it...

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donkey tugger - Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:42 am

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Sounded suspiciously like an electric guitar in there? Whatever next? Heavy Metel?

Lovely tune, though I have to agree with others that something odd is going on with the drums....

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Glooper - Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:58 am

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f*** ay, this is good. You can sing so well...

The brush snare sounds great. IMHO I think it's the sound of the Kick that's wrong, too much mid-range and too boomy.

But still an amazing song...

Ben

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tuwi - Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:09 am

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great song
you voice sounds like coldplay... really mellow... i like it a lot! i even like it so much il download it to me !
by

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bluedad - Tue Jun 29, 2004 3:38 am

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lovely tune garret. I put you in the same class as putte and ixox as having that 'sound' I strive for, but don't come close.

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scuzzphut - Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:57 pm

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top stuff once again, Garrett
Loved this wee track just as much as I love your other stuff.

scuzzphut jr. (he's 8 ) says that I have to tell you that he likes your songs, too. Particularly your May contest entry "Accomplishing, believing"

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garret - Tue Jun 29, 2004 1:28 pm

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Hey, that's great to hear! Right now Elliot (age 10 months) is an equal opportunity music fan... he'll dance around to the theme from the teletubbies, bad tv theme songs, j.lo.'s latest booty shaker, or whatever classic rock his mom has on the radio... the kids got no taste. If I play him a tune, he's much more interested in the guitar than the music... grabbing at the strings and planning for its destruction.

Edit: correction... Elliot's mom wants everyone to know she doesn't listen to classic rock very much. Mostly she listens to Duran Duran. And they're not classic rock.

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scuzzphut - Tue Jun 29, 2004 2:02 pm

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kids and guitars don't mix, Garret (just look what minivurt did at Mankyfest )

My kids are 12 and 8 and I *still* can't predict whether they will like something or not.

Some old crap comes on the radio - "hey - we love this"

I play some old crap from my vinyl collection - "that's crap, dad"

kids

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garret - Tue Jun 29, 2004 6:44 pm

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Thanks very much for the kind words, everyone... I'm glad y'all like it.

I worked on the drums a bit tonight, but I'm going to give the tune a rest for a few days before I try mixing again. You're all right about the kick... I was trying to cop an energetic motown drum pattern that keeps pushing the tune forward with the kick drum... I think I overdid it. I'll drop out some of the kick accents and drop the velocity too, especially in the chorus...

A few things to respond to:


Same mic (Marshall MXL1006), same preamp (VTB-1). But I recorded these vocals sitting down holding the mic, quick reference vocal style... that worked so well on Modern Times I thought I'd try it again. Anytime I stand up and sing I invariably start belting it out and lose the sweetness. I do need to add more contrast in the track... I tried to do something with the backup vocals in the last verse, but it isn't enough... I think I might have to go crank up the fuzz and go wall of shite, maybe trot out a vocoder. Kidding!



Too long! I'm writing em as fast as I can...



Thanks! I like how that turned out too. I think this is the first time I've snuck a jazztastic space jam into one of my tunes. And best yet, I broke the 2 minute barrier.. heck, I made it beyond 3 minutes.



Thanks... those are some lovely Sampletank2 french horns. I just got ST2 a month back, and I was happy to find it has some decent brass instruments. (There aren't any decent horns in the soundfont world, so I've avoided them up to now...)



Thanks for the very useful feedback... those accent notes are a motown thing to push the tempo... but I hear now how much it clashes with the bass, vocal, and guitar rhythms...



Too kind, as always... You really should get out more.



Yah, it's an easy effect, but soo much fun! I could get into this spacey jam thing. That's the incredible Multilens effects plugin which I won in last month's contest. I'm sorry you find it disturbing, I'm keeping it.



Yep, I'm going blood curdling metal next, and you're going middle of the road pop. I write a tune with no organ, and you write a tune with no distortion and three chords, all in key. The world has turned upside down...

Thanks again everyone...
-Garret

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seldom - Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:46 pm

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i apologise for not having any criticism of this piece.

it's just right if you ask me, slightly disconcerting and very comfortable at the same time.

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Lunch Money - Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:56 pm

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I think with the kick drum mods you mentioned, you'll be able to bring the drum beat back in line with the overall tone/vibe of the rest of the song.

The vocals were the highlight, being 'sweet' (your word!) and appropriate to the subject matter.

What strikes me is that although it IS clearly a "pop" tune, it has that certain quality to it that separates it from the mainstream... so it's "pop" by genre description only. Your description of it was fine, but here's the funny thing-- we probably hear it differently than you do! You are aware of all of your own influences, and have your internal reference point, but since I have not shared the same musical experiences as you, I hear it from a totally different perspective.

And from my vantage point, you have something unique and beautiful here.

Greg

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mr.me - Tue Jun 29, 2004 9:52 pm

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Refreshing song you have here.

Thank you.

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garret - Mon Jul 05, 2004 6:30 am

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Alright... I've made a few changes to the drums and adjusted the mix and mastering.

I'd greatly appreciate if you'd give a listen and let me know if I've improved things...

Here's the new mix:
http://www.worksongs.net/2004/silverking.mp3

And the original rough:
http://www.worksongs.net/2004/silverking-orig.mp3

-Garret

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kara - Mon Jul 05, 2004 6:52 am

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Hi Garret,

I won't comment on the mix, I'm a complete beginner at mixing myself.

But, what a great song I love it

I would love to add some piano to that. But only if you would appreciate it and if you have a chord scheme of the song and the tempo. Don't have the time to find out by myself.
Would perhaps be nice to add somme backing vocals to it to.

We have about the same style
If you have the time, listen to this one :

www.bucodi.com/rony/mavie.mp3

I didn't do the mix, like I said i'm a complete beginner in mixing...


Great tune you have there.

Rony

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garret - Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:37 am

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Glad you like it.. thanks for the kind words.



I'd love to take you up on the offer, but I'm completely sick of the tune now... I really need to learn not to obsess over mixing. After listening to this tune about 100 times during the last three weeks, I think I'm done hearing it for this lifetime.

Anyway, if you're curious, the chord progression is roughly:

verse:
F D# C#maj7 F Dm F

chorus 1st time:
Dm A F C A#maj7 F

chorus other times:
Dm A F C A#maj7 C#maj7 Cmaj7

bridge:
Fmaj7 Cmaj7 (three times)
A#maj7 C#maj7



Sounds nice! I like it.. did you write the tune? Next time around, you might try loosening up the tempo. I use a tempo map most of the time to get a more natural feel instead of a fixed tempo... in a jazz pop tune I think it really helps.

-Garret

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kara - Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:46 am

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let it rest for a couple of weeks and come back to it,you can't force making music. I can't anyway

I've composed, aranged and writen the words for the song. The voice is my wife.

Tempo change could be a great idea, have to experiment with that. Something i never used

Glad you liked it

Rony

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fst - Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:12 am

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Huge improvement, much better overall balance and the kick sits much better.

I absolutely love this piece , probably my fave piece of yours, certainly right up there with Codes & Ciphers/This Night.

Pure quality

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garret - Mon Jul 05, 2004 5:14 pm

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Yay... I listened to it in the car tonight, and I think it is a better mix. There's some weird distortion in the horns though... something weird going on with the mastering limiter I'm using.



This Night is my favorite right now. I wish I could keep all of my tunes that minimal...

I just posted another you might have missed, from the comp a few months back. (Accomplishing). Big poppy thing...

Cheers,
-Garret

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Lunch Money - Mon Jul 05, 2004 6:58 pm

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Garret,

The new mix is better, and sounds "complete". I didn't crank it on a HiFi stereo, so I didn't notice the distortion you were referring to. From where I'm sitting, it's a beautiful piece. Too bad you're not keen on it at the moment, but some day in the future you'll be glad to have recorded it.

Greg

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scuzzphut - Tue Jul 06, 2004 12:53 am

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I had a listen yesterday afternoon and forgot to post

I like it a lot, Garret. great work. it definitely is an improvement and makes a great song even better.

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ouroboros - Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:19 am

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Thanks for sharing this. Wonderful laid back tune, and I too, prefer the 2nd mix.

Just had a quick listen on headphones, and the panning of voice and instruments is very dramatic (~vocals in one ear, guitar in other). It probably isnot near as pronounced on speakers, but I'm trying to look like a critical reviewer here

in the break, the kick(?) is distorted too, and under the 'phones, had a funny/tinny sound that was distracting.

But all of this is negligible. I really enjoy the music!

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garret - Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:52 am

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Hmm... it's odd that you hear the vocals in one ear. The guitar and horns are panned opposite sides, but the lead vocal is right in the middle. Any chance your ears are imbalanced?

The kick is distorting all over the place... that might be related to the crackling I'm hearing in the horns... I'm using the C3 multiband compressor and TLS maximizer for mastering, and I think they're not playing nicely with each other.

Actually though, I kind of like the distorto-kick... it reminds me of the flaming lips...

-Garret

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TristezaOrange - Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:15 am

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Hey Garret, of course you realise that I love this. The Sea and Cake influence is definitely in there but it's also all Garret - ie tuneful, jazzy and warm. Cool track

[have you ever listened to The Clientelle? I think you're going to love them too ]

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TristezaOrange - Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:21 am

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Hey, I just visited your worksongs.net page. I'm going to burn my own Garret album

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garret - Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:56 am

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The Clientele? I'll have to check em out.... enjoy your cd, and let me know in a month or two what your favorites (and unfavorites) are... I'll need to edit out a few tracks eventually.

I think I'm going to get a t-shirt that says "I Sound Like the Sea and Cake." No one will know what it means except you and me, tris.

P.S. Go greece!

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TristezaOrange - Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:21 am

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I'll start downloading the tracks today, I'm on dial-up so in a couple of days I'll have them all. I'll let you know about my favs, of course.

After I left KvR, I went to study a bit for my friday exam and listened to 'The Fawn' from beginning to end. The Sea and Cake are a cool band, I love them but while some of their tracks can sound a bit 'clinical' your tracks are very warm. Oh, I think putte loves them too.

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TristezaOrange - Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:23 am

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[double post]

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TristezaOrange - Tue Jul 06, 2004 8:24 am

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[triple post]

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mystahr - Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:19 am

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Not much I could say then that this is tops now.

Smooth, well balanced and great production

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garret - Wed Jul 07, 2004 9:46 am

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Thanks guys... I think we'll call this tune done.
-Garret

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There are 39 posts in this topic.