garret: new pop tune Silver King (updated mix)

[garret]

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"

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.

[scuzzphut]

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

[garret]

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:

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.

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!

It's been too long Good to hear you again Garret

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

The interlude is really cool!

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.

Sounds very good, I like the horns

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...)

There's something weird going on, especially in every second bar when the kick does the 8ths all the way until the "3 and".

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...

it all fits.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

[seldom]

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.

[Lunch Money]

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

[mr.me]

Refreshing song you have here.

Thank you.

[garret]

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

[kara]

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

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

[garret]

But, what a great song I love it

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

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.

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

If you have the time, listen to this one :
www.bucodi.com/rony/mavie.mp3

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

[kara]

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

[fst]

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

[garret]

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

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.

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

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

[Lunch Money]

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

[scuzzphut]

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.

[ouroboros]

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!