KVR Audio

You™ · Post by **You™** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:21 pm

I've been thinking about a social transgression I recently committed and in the spirit of atonement, I'd like to share a little song about it. I hope you enjoy:

Midas's Ears [3 MB]
Lyrics and stuff

Falconmusic · Post by **Falconmusic** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:25 pm

the vocals are WAY to low in the mix...bring them more to the front. GREAT song!

Katanaman · Post by **Katanaman** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:38 pm

Nah, The vocals sound ok to me. And yes, great song. It's not really my kind of music but something about this made me like it.

You™ · Post by **You™** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:25 pm

Thanks a lot. I thought this song had potential. Don't know if I do it justice, but it was fun.

Wopelka · Post by **Wopelka** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:15 am

at first i thought: not really my style... however i must say: kudos, it works great.
the mix is wonderful.

AndrewSimon · Post by **AndrewSimon** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:53 am

Nice

kinda Bob Dylan style

Ian B · Post by **Ian B** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:59 am

This is great stuff

there's nothing wrong with the vocals at all imo. The whole feel put me in mind of 60's Dylan, and that's no bad thing.
'EDIT' I see AndrewSimon beat me to it with the comparison

Hovmod · Post by **Hovmod** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 6:08 am

Great song! I thought your mashup was fun, and the first part of it really lifted LadyJ's song from the conformity bog it's in and made it interesting. But maybe you crossed a line with the cover art?

This is a gorgeous song and not least a very nice thing to do!

You™ · Post by **You™** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:15 am

Hovmod wrote:...But maybe you crossed a line with the cover art?

Yeah, I think that was the consensus - the art was most offensive. I don't see why it's any worse then the sound. I think people have a hangup about pictures of themselves. Did you see the cover art I made for this? I did far worse to myself than her. I even changed the cover art on the mashup so as not to offend her (or the donkey) anymore than I already have. So if you have one of the originals, it's a collectors item. That donkey was the sweetest thing - she lives on a small co-op farm behind an organic restaurant-store on Cape Cod.

Thanks everybody. I'm really glad you can find something to enjoy in this song. I know it's a bit of a genre bender - kind of a The Band/Dylan/hip hop/bigbeat/sloppy mess. I even have a lyrical shout out to Dylan and a drum loop from Cibo Matto

. I'm not much of a harmonica player though.

Ixox · Post by **Ixox** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:35 am

George, you're too sensitive to what happens on this forum...
What you did was funny (i have the original cover

).

Good song.

The percu and rythm are great !
I find the vocal could have been mixed brighter.

You™ · Post by **You™** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 11:52 am

Ixox wrote:George, you're too sensitive to what happens on this forum...
What you did was funny (i have the original cover ).

Good song. The percu and rythm are great !
I find the vocal could have been mixed brighter.

Really I'm not too sensitive. I'm "in touch." Besides, it gives me great fodder for my lyrics. When people that don't know the stories hear my songs, they think I'm talking about them or someone they know. I hope it's pretty universal. I've heard "write what you know."

I did all the drums and percussion here at home. I grabbed every shaker and maraca for one pass, played drunken congas for another, and did the rest with Octpad/MIDI/loops. I worry that the shakers come up front too much.

I have to say this is one of the first MP3 compressed songs where I really noticed the difference between it and the original. I hear artifacts in the high-end and a bit less definition overall. It's like the audio equivalent of a JPEG.

garret · Post by **garret** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 9:19 pm

Good stuff, you! I like it...

This one has a superb slow burning groove and style, as all your stuff does.

The vocals are great, but I think I agree they're a bit muddy. I'm not sure if the vocals are quiet, or if there's just too much going fighting for prominence. I think I would drop the shakers a touch, and think about whether you need all the guitar(s) now that the tune's built. I find sometimes that I write a tune based around a guitar chord progression, and when I fully arrange it the guitar part is in the way.

So maybe try dropping the arrangement back to the minimum tracks and see what you really miss. Maybe try to get some variety into the arrangement, like switch out the backing instruments each verse, take the backing down to the minimum (bass + drums or just bass) during one of the rap verses, etc...

Just some ideas.. great work!
-Garret

donkey tugger · Post by **donkey tugger** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:18 pm

You™ wrote: I even changed the cover art on the mashup so as not to offend her (or the donkey)

Takes a bit more than that to offend me....

Good song again George. I think the shakers/hi end stuff is a tad too much too (k-v-r hi-hat disease, grrr

)

The laugh at the end is top too.

You™ · Post by **You™** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:14 am

donkey tugger wrote:Good song again George. I think the shakers/hi end stuff is a tad too much too (k-v-r hi-hat disease, grrr )

The laugh at the end is top too.

Thanks for the feedback. When I get around to revisions, I'll see about tweaking the vocals, arrangement and high end stuff. I wasn't aware of the "k-v-r hi-hat disease." Do you think it's contagious? I don't want to kill all the shakers, because I really like the rhythm. Like I said earlier, this is one of my MP3 posts where I really noticed the "artifacting" in the higher frequencies. Also, I've been fooling around with a multiband compressor/limiter (jklimofive) at the end of the master and I've been fiddling with the higher freg. thresh and makeup gain settings in order to get more evenly distributer power across the whole spectrum. It seemed to work well with my song in the monthly comp, but in material like this with all the shakers and tamb, it may be too harsh...

Glad you caught the giggle on the end, Donks. I thought about you when I was mixing. I reckoned that was something you might leave in there. Keeping it real.

knockman · Post by **knockman** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 12:43 pm

i thought your mash-up and picture highly appropriate to the 'theme', a taste of media backlash for the up and coming hopefuls - hell, if someone paid that much attention to me...
i've barely followed the contest gossip thread this month, there's alot of great tunes and parody as to be expected from kvr, but the chatter seems to be going around in circles. still, you've sifted a nugget from the dirt - great flow and movement here, and knowing the context and all makes it a delightful phenomenum.

regards

Tijuana Jailhouse Rock