[acoustic pop] Le choix

[Ixox]

Acoustic... except micro tonic... and the bass... and... no that's all.
I already used this melody in a contest.

French lyrics by Wopelka. Can be read here. Thanks a lot Philippe...

Le choix

All feedbacks are welcome...
What you like, what you don't like etc....
Thanks...
Xavier

[knockman]

Your stuff is always nicely 'resolved' in its melody and structure.(Does that make sense?). I must study more French, but on the former point you can craft songs admirably - a good reference for those who want to improve their song structure.

On areas I'd be advised to keep my mouth shut - I'm not keen on the drum track; it's difficult to say but I found it too intrusive at points which interrupted my appreciation of your compositional skills. Perhaps it's mixing or such but I'm the last person to listen to in this respect.

Thanks, will now study wopelka's lyrics.
regards

[bluedad]

like the choirs in this. the music and arrangement create a very surreal experience, heightened by the fact that I don't have any idea what you're singing about.
I like the sound of the drums, but at just a few parts the snare seems too busy.
i must get voxformer. have you tried it on guitars yet?

[t-willy]

xavier! ah now i know your real name have i heard this song before???????? it sounds very familiar. the only reason i say this is because i remember hearing something like this before and really liking it. something about a gun?

i must admit you've got your own sound and that's a really good thing. i think i could recognize an ixox song from anywhere (almost)!! the only critisim i have is that there was a bit of crackling on the high end parts. it may only be my speakers, but it was pretty prominant. the guitars and vocals were really smooth and warm sounding. very nice!!

lates

t-willy

[garret]

Oh, that's lovely, and very french.

I much prefer this version to the english (whatever happened to these days, the weight of the wurld is crushing you) translation. French is such a gorgeous language...

I love the fast chanson vocals in the verses.. it reminds so much of the quebecois folk music I fell in love with a few years back when vacationing in canada. Slight thread hijack: Speaking of which, if anyone can recommend some chanson records, I'd greatly appreciate it... we saw a young singer (Dominic Bouffard) a few times at a local bar in Quebec City, and she was amazing... but alas she didn't have any cds for sale.

A few suggestions for improvement:

The acoustic guitar sounds ugly to my ears... what did you do to it? Are you listening to donkey t and recording with a SM57? It sounds more like a national metal body resonator...

I like the drums, but that crackle fuzz thing has to go.

I'm not sure about the mellotron choirs... they sound a bit canned to me. Maybe some cello instead? Or overdub the vocal harmonies yourself.

Everything seems a bit static... in particular, the acoustic part is holding back... I want to hear it cut loose with energy and power. Maybe some fast triplet strums if you can pull it off... bum da da bum da da bum da da, like a mexican mariachi band! As the song picks up energy, the rhythmic strumming could drive the song forward...


-Garret

[mystahr]

Yeah, I recognize it from one of the contests, but can't put my finger on which (not important really)

As always a tune very much enjoyed, as your style is such an inviting one and just eazes me. I find myself swaying in my easy chair to your tunes.

I agree with the boxed choirs though, I think garrets suggestion for cello or even strings or your own flute might replace that too for a better feel

[Ixox]

Lots of interesting feedbacks.... Thanks you very much....

knockman thanks a lot for the structure compliment. But i think my song are very very simple.. .Maybe that's what' you like. That's what i like too.
What you say about the dums helps me a lot. Intrusive sound, i see what you mean. I agree the snare part doesn't fit very well.

bluedad thanks.
The snare is definitaly too busy at some point...
I'll have to light it.
Voxformer on guitare too in this song..

t-willy And you what's you're real name ?
"And i, i play with my little toy gun"... Good memory
The crackling high end may be caused by the electronic snare (again !!!!).

garret i'm glad you remembered my contest entries... But the one was not the one you say but this one
Acoustic guitare.... I was afraid somebody would say that !!!
No SM57 but... Direct Input...
I tried to record with my studio project C1 and the sound was awfull...
I love your acoustic guitare sound so i trust you 100% here.
I usd a different method here... a mix between DI + mic.. .Can you tell me if it's better...
I'm still looking for a good acoustic guitare sound..
You use a MXL603s right ? more information about your technic would be welcome.
Choir ? yes maybe strings ensemble would be good here.
Thanks a lot for the other suggestions.

Mystahr thanks a lot... The link to the contest is just above.
Will try different stuff instead of the choir.

[Wopelka]

you know how i feel when i hear you singing my words... particularly this one...

very cosy-warmy sounding

love the piano (what a sound!) and the drums. however as mentioned before, some busy 'snare' here and there, particularly here (sounds very odd): 1:14-15

i love the choir sound, don't get rid of it please.

another killer song from you, thanks a lot

[Lunch Money]

I like the singing, and I agree with the Quebecois reference, having vacationed there myself last summer! If I can think of any singers/groups to look up, I'll let you know.

The fuzz thing was already mentioned-- it's just not the right kind of distortion for the rest of the track. Some may find it quirky and interesting, but I found it a bit much. I didn't mind the 'business', although I admit the overall effect was that I DID focus a bit too much on the drums; on the other hand, maybe it was the fuzz sound that made me focus on the drums in the first place.

The canned choir was fine by me. Cello would sound good, but then wouldn't it just be canned Cello?

This is the second tune of yours that I've listened closely to, and the comonality is that you have a unique marriage of folk(ish) and electronic(ish) elements, while maintaining a clear and unified vision.

Cheers!
Greg

[garret]

garret i'm glad you remembered my contest entries... But the one was not the one you say but this one

Er.. whoops.. I guess I need to study up on my ixox back catalog.

Acoustic guitare.... I was afraid somebody would say that !!!

I thought you'd like to know... sorry to deliver the bad news.

No SM57 but... Direct Input...
I tried to record with my studio project C1 and the sound was awfull...
I love your acoustic guitare sound so i trust you 100% here.
I usd a different method here... a mix between DI + mic.. .Can you tell me if it's better...
I'm still looking for a good acoustic guitare sound..
You use a MXL603s right ? more information about your technic would be welcome.

That sounds much better... but I'd still like to hear the mic'd sound (no DI in the mix).

As I understand it, built-in pickups on acoustic guitars are just for live use... so right off the bat I'd chuck the DI and work on your microphone placement.

The Studio Projects C1 is a very nice mic, so I'm surprised you're not getting a decent acoustic sound through it. Although it is a large diaphram (35mm) mic... generally, small capsule mics work better for acoustic instruments. My marshall 603s is a 20mm diaphram... the smaller the diaphram, the faster a mic is able to respond to transients... and the presence and sweetness of an acoustic guitar is all high-end and transients.

That said, you should be able to get a decent sound with the C1 and a little eq... I generally set up the mic in one of two ways:

the lazy way: set short mic stand on desk. Position mic pointing at the 12th fret, about 8-12 inches (20-30cm) away from the strings. Try to get the angle of the mic to be perpendicular to the plane of the guitar. Sit on a chair in front of the desk...

the better way: set up a boom mic stand so it reaches over your shoulder while you stand playing. The mic should be somewhere in front of your right ear, pointing downward toward the guitar a few feet (60cm) away. You get a very natural sound this way, because the mic is positioned similarly to your ears and captures the whole instrument... but it takes time to set up and you have to play standing.

Let's see.. what else? I run my 603s through a studio projects VTB-1 preamp, with just a little tube gain. I usually use just a touch of compression on acoustic guitar tracks, and roll-off the low end below 100Hz or so.

-Garret

[donkey tugger]

The acoustic guitar sounds ugly to my ears... what did you do to it? Are you listening to donkey t and recording with a SM57? It sounds more like a national metal body resonator...

Pfft, you cheeky f**ker! I'd only just got the acoustic on the one you commented on. got a right nice J Marr stlyee tone on some of me newer ones!

[Ixox]

Philippe, i'm glad you like it...
Don't know about the choirs... bluedad and you seem to like them. They fit well with the lyrics.
The piano is the Malmsjö... It sounds very good. The high notes are beautifull.

Lunch Money, thank you for your feedback.
My usual stuffs are more acoustic then electronic... But i sometimes try to merge both.

garret, thanks a lot for the explaination...
The 603s cannot be found alone in france. Too bad.
I tried the lazy way (of course !).
Here is what i got (no effect, sorry for the bad playing ):
http://xhosxe.free.fr/zic/guitare_C1.mp3
http://xhosxe.free.fr/zic/guitare_SM58.mp3 (sm58 without the wind/breath protection).
The preamp is a VTB1 : 40% tube.
Do you get something like this when you don't apply any effect ?
If you find EQ setting that make the C1 usable, i would be very interested.

[mmdejonge]

Très belle chanson. Merci beaucoup! As said before I think there's a little too much crackle on the drums too. BTW, I seem to have activated the repeat button in my media player

[Ixox]

Thanks a lot Mike.

I've just uploaded a v2 with less disturbing drums.
Other little differences such as little more high end on the guitare.

Same link:
http://xhosxe.free.fr/zic/Ixox_LeChoix.mp3

[mr.me]

Thanks a lot Mike.

I've just uploaded a v2 with less disturbing drums.
Other little differences such as little more high end on the guitare.

Same link:
http://xhosxe.free.fr/zic/Ixox_LeChoix.mp3

Dling now.