The Last Time: A little depressing Shoegaze waltz!

[zerocrossing]

https://soundcloud.com/zerocrossing-1/t ... 04-28-1345

Let me know if you're hearing something odd on this one. I can't quite figure it out, but it sounds fine on my AirPods until I play it from Soundcloud. It's like I'm getting some weird stereo phasing.

Just a note, this is part of my "get'er done" project where I'm just going through my old songs and quickly recording them so that one day someone might say, "wow, grandpa was odd."

[pekbro]

Well done, I enjoyed it

Your voice sounds kind of Joe Walsh or Randy Newman-ish, two signers I like a lot. The guitar was well done too, I seem to recall you saying you were not great at playing the guitar? Seems fine to me, if a little conservative. I think I could hear the phasing issue you mentioned, it was actually pretty cool, but inconsistent. Other than that, the bass drum sounded a little too boomy for my taste, but overall the mix sounded good on my crappy logitech speakers.

Anyway, impressive effort I thought. Thanks for sharing...

[donkey tugger]

I think what's a bit disconcerting (though not necessarily 'wrong') is that the stereo image of the drums is very wide (listening on KRK headphones) whereas the guitars aren't, and usually it would be t'other way round. Makes it a bit less focused than the norm, but it's interesting nonetheless.

[Rene Asologuitar]

Hi zerocrossing,
Nice vocals.
I liker the guitar solo in the middle.
Thanks for sharing.
Rene

[zerocrossing]

Well done, I enjoyed it

Thank you!

Your voice sounds kind of Joe Walsh or Randy Newman-ish, two signers I like a lot.

I’ll take that as a complement, but to be honest, one reason I never record my songs is that my voice makes me cringe when I hear it.

The guitar was well done too, I seem to recall you saying you were not great at playing the guitar? Seems fine to me, if a little conservative.

I appreciate it. I guess I’m OK, but I can never fly around the frets like some guys can, but I do love playing.

I think I could hear the phasing issue you mentioned, it was actually pretty cool, but inconsistent. Other than that, the bass drum sounded a little too boomy for my taste, but overall the mix sounded good on my crappy logitech speakers.

Anyway, impressive effort I thought. Thanks for sharing...

Thank you!

I’ve got a major issue mixing these days. I’ve got some nice near fields, but I’ve not used them… in years. My wife now works from home, as do I, so there’s literally almost always someone home. Plus, because her work needs privacy, I gave her my studio room and took this mezzanine space, which is fine in terms of size, but echoey and almost untreatable. So, I’m mixing on a pair of headphones, so it’s a bit of guess work.

As for the phasing issue… that’s SoundCloud, because I add it to my iTunes library and listen to it from there and it sounds fine. I’m going to try and put it on YouTube to see if I get a better result. Thanks again.

[zerocrossing]

I think what's a bit disconcerting (though not necessarily 'wrong') is that the stereo image of the drums is very wide (listening on KRK headphones) whereas the guitars aren't, and usually it would be t'other way round. Makes it a bit less focused than the norm, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Thank you. Some of that’s intentional, though there’s some heavy stereo chorus on the guitar, and the lead effect is going though Fragments and producing all sorts of stereo stuff. I did want it to have a big expansive feel, like a band in an empty club. The other bit where it seems to shift… I don’t know what that is yet… or how to fix it, but so far I’ve uploaded two different mixes and both times I hear it. I had the vocoder vocal panned at first and I was wondering if that was causing the issue, but changing it didn’t help.

[enroe]

Well, I listened to "The Last Time". It's a singer-songwriter ballad, beautifully
sung and played - a bit squirming and melancholic.

You asked if everything was ok technically. would. Haha, it's much more
important how the song works overall - whether something is emotionally
moved. And in this respect I think it's a great success: vocals and guitars c
omplement each other - and thus unfold a coherent organic effect.

Very good - I enjoyed it very much.

[zerocrossing]

Well, I listened to "The Last Time". It's a singer-songwriter ballad, beautifully
sung and played - a bit squirming and melancholic.

You asked if everything was ok technically. would. Haha, it's much more
important how the song works overall - whether something is emotionally
moved. And in this respect I think it's a great success: vocals and guitars c
omplement each other - and thus unfold a coherent organic effect.

Very good - I enjoyed it very much.

Thank you, I really appreciate it.

[whit3h34rt]

Howdy,

I cant hear any issues with the song

[vurt]

grandad is a bit weird

i like it.
guitar, id not worry about flying round the frets, who wants to listen to widdle all the time?
i have nerve issues so can't play like i used to (not that i was ever great) but like you, i enjoy it, so have found my own "slow, but steady, ignorant of rhythm" style

i don't know if it's shoegaze? but it reminds me of someone but i can't place it!!! i keep thinking, funnily enough, granddaddy, but it's not, and it's going to annoy me

wish i could come up with lyrics, i get occasional inspired single lines, but then it just turns to drivel

thanks for sharing

[zerocrossing]

grandad is a bit weird

i like it.
guitar, id not worry about flying round the frets, who wants to listen to widdle all the time?
i have nerve issues so can't play like i used to (not that i was ever great) but like you, i enjoy it, so have found my own "slow, but steady, ignorant of rhythm" style

i don't know if it's shoegaze? but it reminds me of someone but i can't place it!!! i keep thinking, funnily enough, granddaddy, but it's not, and it's going to annoy me

wish i could come up with lyrics, i get occasional inspired single lines, but then it just turns to drivel

thanks for sharing

Granddaddy? Don't know them (him?). But thank you. I appreciate it. I've spent the last decade or two in a room with an audience of myself and maybe a cat, so it does feel a bit weird putting stuff out. Also, this is drivel.

[zerocrossing]

https://youtu.be/J1gEolLiERU

Posting a video version to see if I can isolate why I'm hearing weird out of phase stereo stuff on YouTube vs. SoundCloud.

[vurt]

grandad is a bit weird

i like it.
guitar, id not worry about flying round the frets, who wants to listen to widdle all the time?
i have nerve issues so can't play like i used to (not that i was ever great) but like you, i enjoy it, so have found my own "slow, but steady, ignorant of rhythm" style

i don't know if it's shoegaze? but it reminds me of someone but i can't place it!!! i keep thinking, funnily enough, granddaddy, but it's not, and it's going to annoy me

wish i could come up with lyrics, i get occasional inspired single lines, but then it just turns to drivel

thanks for sharing

Granddaddy? Don't know them (him?). But thank you. I appreciate it. I've spent the last decade or two in a room with an audience of myself and maybe a cat, so it does feel a bit weird putting stuff out. Also, this is drivel.

i like sharing, not just because it's nice to have people enjoy what we do, but over the years, as ive done stuff i wasn't hearing anywhere myself, but obviously liked, it's been great to get recommendations of acts who do similar!
or just to get in to conversations about gear/techniques or inspiration.
music is just one part of that communication

like i said, it's not that it sounds like a grandaddy track so much, but has a similar vibe in my mind, a sort of whimsy but darker feel.
the album "sophtware slump" is a good example of what i mean
i think they're from austin? i saw them many years ago with the polyphonic spree

and cats make great critics, i know when ive gone to far from the look he gives me

[zerocrossing]

grandad is a bit weird

i like it.
guitar, id not worry about flying round the frets, who wants to listen to widdle all the time?
i have nerve issues so can't play like i used to (not that i was ever great) but like you, i enjoy it, so have found my own "slow, but steady, ignorant of rhythm" style

i don't know if it's shoegaze? but it reminds me of someone but i can't place it!!! i keep thinking, funnily enough, granddaddy, but it's not, and it's going to annoy me

wish i could come up with lyrics, i get occasional inspired single lines, but then it just turns to drivel

thanks for sharing

Granddaddy? Don't know them (him?). But thank you. I appreciate it. I've spent the last decade or two in a room with an audience of myself and maybe a cat, so it does feel a bit weird putting stuff out. Also, this is drivel.

i like sharing, not just because it's nice to have people enjoy what we do, but over the years, as ive done stuff i wasn't hearing anywhere myself, but obviously liked, it's been great to get recommendations of acts who do similar!
or just to get in to conversations about gear/techniques or inspiration.
music is just one part of that communication

like i said, it's not that it sounds like a grandaddy track so much, but has a similar vibe in my mind, a sort of whimsy but darker feel.
the album "sophtware slump" is a good example of what i mean
i think they're from austin? i saw them many years ago with the polyphonic spree

and cats make great critics, i know when ive gone to far from the look he gives me

I’ll have a listen to them later. I always like finding new stuff. I actually caught Polyphonic Spree opening for David Bowie in Berkeley. Great show. They were good, but Bowie… man. I miss that man.

It’s funny posting things here. I spent two decades playing these songs the NY Tri-State area and in California and I was never able to generate any interest what so ever. My best times were when we had a lead singer who had her own fan base, but as soon as she left the fans left. We also had luck playing covers to frat boys, but we never snuck in originals. Anyway, I do like the back and forth that happens here. It’s really nice.

So, Axiom records, if you don’t know, is Bill Laswell’s lable. He was Brian Eno’s bass player, and he does a really large number of projects, most are great. Your track definitely sounded like it could be on one of the ambient albums.