Songs for the Summer

[theGecko71]

I'm back after being banned. Maybe I can be good for a while. I'm glad to be back!

In between travel and work, I recorded a few more songs for my "Summer" EP. Still WIP, as usual, so suggestions welcome. Thanks, and enjoy!

Rock songs, nothing unusual. "Ur the 1" is actually a reconceptualized "cover" of a song my band did on a lark back in like 1991. The other I wrote after a trip to the beach. Duh.

Because people were at home when I recorded, I didn't use my real amps (sad), but used my Ruby 63 and Combo Deluxe 65. Guitars are my parts Esquire and a modified Epiphone Dot. For some of the overdrive there's a Klon(e) with the level to max and the gain to zero. Shimmer on "Midsummer" from my EHX Canyon pedal. I think I also used my MXR Custom Comp.

No AI whatsoever used on any of my songs (ever). I hate AI, and will join the Butlerian Jihad as soon as it gets started.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

Nice work as usual! I really like the bridge and last section of Midsummer. A really satisfying build and release. That shimmer effect sounds really nice. I have that on a Boss reverb pedal, and this is inspiring me to go try to actually use it on something. I thought I might have heard it on Ur the 1 too, but maybe not. Anyway, cool stuff.

If you're looking for comments, the only thing I'd say is that the vocal may be a bit too dominant for my taste. I can't say if it's purely a level thing, where it's just a hair too loud, or if it's more a matter of adjusting the reverb to soften it a bit. Then again, this is a taste thing, and I'm often told I bury vocals in my songs, so consider the source.

 

[theGecko71]

Thanks!

I like to bury my own vocals, too, and I was thinking the same thing about Midsummer: vocals too loud. I did in fact push them down in the mix, but after mastering it they kind of reemerged. I'll re-edit and push those bastards further down into the mud where they belong....

 

[theGecko71]

I did use the Canyon pedal on Ur the 1, too, btw, but it was the Octaver effect not the shimmer.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

I did use the Canyon pedal on Ur the 1, too, btw, but it was the Octaver effect not the shimmer.

Ah, that explains it, thanks. Because the shimmer effect is basically just an octave thing that moves around anyway, right? So it makes sense it would sound somewhat similar in a mix.

 

[theGecko71]

Ah, that explains it, thanks. Because the shimmer effect is basically just an octave thing that moves around anyway, right? So it makes sense it would sound somewhat similar in a mix.

Bruh, I have no idea! Maybe it is!

 

[GibbyTwin]

Just finished listening and I like all. It's my kind of fun, guitar driven music.
The only comment I would make (strictly for me) is I prefer vocals out front and decipherable. If the song was built around lyrics, why not let them be heard! You have good vocals.
One caveat - maybe they are where they should be and it's either my not so good hearing or the way my computer (listening with headphones) is presenting it. In any case, it was a fun listen.

 

[theGecko71]

Just finished listening and I like all. It's my kind of fun, guitar driven music.
The only comment I would make (strictly for me) is I prefer vocals out front and decipherable. If the song was built around lyrics, why not let them be heard! You have good vocals.
One caveat - maybe they are where they should be and it's either my not so good hearing or the way my computer (listening with headphones) is presenting it. In any case, it was a fun listen.

Yeah, I remixed to lower the lead vocals and while they sounded ok in my monitors, the car test made them seem too low. I guess a remixing yet again is in order

 

[GibbyTwin]

Thanks for giving me back some confidence in my hearing ability and that it's not too late!

 

[theGecko71]

Thanks for giving me back some confidence in my hearing ability and that it's not too late!

I knocked them back up a notch. Hopefully better now! I always wonder how professional sound engineers can get a recording to sound “good” through almost anything: iPhones, various headphones, home stereos, car stereos. I guess that’s what they got training for. Me, i just try my best fiddling around in my basement studio.