Members mbengs1 Posted July 16, 2015 Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 If you like instrumental like satriani, vai or petrucci. please check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Luke17 Posted July 16, 2015 Members Share Posted July 16, 2015 THAT kicks some major butt... I am always hesitant to open new music especially anything at 4 plus minutes...but I have to say I loved every second of it... I am always a sucker for that chord progression you played...The tone of the lead guitar plus the playing was great... I could hear an accomplished rythym section kicking in behind your playing in my head. good 'chit' man...going back to soundcloud to listen to some more of your stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted July 17, 2015 Members Share Posted July 17, 2015 I liked it! More organic, natrual sounding than Satch.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 18, 2015 Members Share Posted July 18, 2015 Not a fan of two chord stuff but beyond that, the flat intonation on the bends ruins the "happy" vibe. If it were a darker minor thing that might be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 18, 2015 Members Share Posted July 18, 2015 I'm afraid I have to be that guy (or one of those guys, I guess)... the very out of tune lead guitar seriously undercuts things. Also, I don't get the musicality or logic of some of those chromatic runs in the lead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted July 18, 2015 Members Share Posted July 18, 2015 You ARE that guy though Blue.....You're the tell it like it is guy...That's why you garner a lot of respect around here. I'm more of an encourager type, and being a guy with very limited talents, it's easier for me to like something for what it is. I don't have a large body of really good work in the field to back up any criticism I would throw out there, whereas you and several others do. So if I like something, I say so. If I don't, I usually say nothing. "Cuz we got you and the others for that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Luke17 Posted July 18, 2015 Members Share Posted July 18, 2015 I was wondering when the 'moldy oldie 'guys around here would start raining on The OP's parade......sad. I have heard some of the work by one of the posters here that just left a turdnugget of criticism...(that he has since edited.) I'll stop here before I am guilty of being as negative and petty as that person... the criticism thrown out was neither constructive nor encouraging...it was just outright hissy mean. I have to agree with the above poster who essentially said' 'if you cannot say sometime nice, don't say anything at all' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 I was wondering when the 'moldy oldie 'guys around here would start raining on The OP's parade......sad. I have heard some of the work by one of the posters here that just left a turdnugget of criticism...(that he has since edited.) I'll stop here before I am guilty of being as negative and petty as that person... the criticism thrown out was neither constructive nor encouraging...it was just outright hissy mean. I have to agree with the above poster who essentially said' 'if you cannot say sometime nice, don't say anything at all' It wasn't intended to be, my friend. When I read the blunt advice I'd blurted out ['Next time tune' -- just so that people don't think it was even worse than it was], I decided it didn't reflect what I was trying to communicate. That is why it was edited out. With regard to your suggestion, if you cannot say sometime nice, don't say anything at all -- let's just ask the OP. mbengs1 - Did you post this here because you only wanted praise -- or were you trying to get folks' honest opinion of how you're doing and where you might put more attention in your next project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbengs1 Posted July 19, 2015 Author Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 It wasn't intended to be, my friend. When I read the blunt advice I'd blurted out ['Next time tune' -- just so that people don't think it was even worse than it was], I decided it didn't reflect what I was trying to communicate. That is why it was edited out. With regard to your suggestion, if you cannot say sometime nice, don't say anything at all -- let's just ask the OP. mbengs1 - Did you post this here because you only wanted praise -- or were you trying to get folks' honest opinion of how you're doing and where you might put more attention in your next project? Well i'm prepared to hear the worst. lol. but to get praise only is fine. i'm constantly trying to improve in my songwriting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Luke17 Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 Well i'm prepared to hear the worst. lol. but to get praise only is fine. i'm constantly trying to improve in my songwriting. OP Maybe some people become critical of others When they reflect on their own catalog of work and maybe find it lacking. Out of frustration, they diss the other artists work without offering any encouragement or suggestions for improvement. Your music Rocks....pure and simple. luke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 And many know what they're listening to and won't do the circle jerk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 Well i'm prepared to hear the worst. lol. but to get praise only is fine. i'm constantly trying to improve in my songwriting. Good deal. In retrospect, I wish I'd taken the time to give more nuanced comments but I guess felt the other posters had covered positive aspects pretty well, and the tuning issue was problematic for me. I thought the piece had admirable entergy. But I'll share this with you: I've done a few all lead instrumentals and I've often found in my efforts that it can be difficult to sustain interest and excitement through a whole song with one long solo. Your change-up goes a ways in that direction, and does help break things up. Keep up the good efforts. Clearly, those efforts have some real appeal to folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 OP Maybe some people become critical of others When they reflect on their own catalog of work and maybe find it lacking. Out of frustration, they diss the other artists work without offering any encouragement or suggestions for improvement. Your music Rocks....pure and simple. luke Luke17 Can't imagine who you're talking about there. Oh, wait... Clearly you have a head of steam here and would really like to tear into some slash and burn criticisms of my work. I say, go for it. I've done a lot of crap. I'll tell you what -- let's have a slag-off! You find a track on one of my Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or even my old Soundclick page. If you can't find something embarrassing there, you ain't trying -- I'll just withhold one track from consideration ["Idiot Slut"] because it's only on my Soundcloud page as a favor to the other people in the recording; it's from 1984, done on an even-then ancient fourtrack; and it was a late night goof, a spur-of-the-moment parody of Berlin's then-inescapable "Sex (I'm a)"... Now, for my side, I'm not going to demand the chance to slag one of your tracks. No interest in that, myself. No, I thought I'd give you some company and turn my talon-like critical facilities to the same track of mine that you choose -- and, unlike my constructive critique efforts of others, I won't hold back. This ought to be fun. Ready? http://onebluenine.bandcamp.com/ http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...&content=music Let's rumble! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 Jeeze Luke, you want some Scope when you're finished? mbengs- Nothing wrong with what you wrote. Speaking from a technical standpoint, going by the theme's F E C opening run and subsequent revisits to it later in the song, I'd say that your E string was about a quarter step flat. Either you couldn't hear it or it was intentional. Also your mix is too guitar heavy. The drums and bass are all but buried in the mix. Even a guitar ego like Yngwie would wonder about that mix! Maybe see if you can get qualified person to give that mix a try? In addition to possibly making it a more comprehensive mix, it might also smooth out the transition in and out of the middle section. Harmony Central seems like it's more about validation of something that's already finished, rather than an opportunity to learn, grow and improve your skills as an artist. Look for the constructive criticism even when there apparently is none. Some people can't put it into words as well as we would like. Some people are just jack asses, too. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 I post unlisted drafts on YouTube specifically to get critical comments from the "SSS Production Squad." Another set of ears is always helpful. I learn from positive comments because they tell me what "clicks," and from criticisms because they point out areas for improvement. I implement the majority of the suggestions and the songs are better as a result. I don't expect everyone to like my music. All I know is that enough people like it to encourage me to contniue. If someone asks for opinions, they should expect to hear opinions. Not all will be favorable, and frankly, you'll probably learn more from the negative ones if you don't take them personally. Even if you sell a million copies of something, that means that only 0.003% of the American public thought your music was good enough to merit buying it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockViolin Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 OP Maybe some people become critical of others When they reflect on their own catalog of work and maybe find it lacking. Out of frustration, they diss the other artists work without offering any encouragement or suggestions for improvement. Your music Rocks....pure and simple. luke Or maybe they listened to the song and quite rightly pointed out it's too out of tune, just because it is. And for those of us that can tell, that's a stopper right there. I listened for 1 minute. The intonation was so bad in the last 15 seconds of that minute I stopped the track. There is no suggestion for improvement more glaringly important than to fix the intonation issue, whatever it's cause. It's the kind of red flag issue that warrants the response it got from blue and 1001IMO. No need to sugar coat it. I've actually never heard anyone with such good chops play so out of tune. mbengs, what on earth...? Fix it if you can, and don't let it happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 As to the song itself, I'd recommend mixing the rhythm guitar back further, mixing the drums up higher, and giving the bass more articulation. The guitar has a certain sameness about it, so a pumping rhythm section would provide more variety. The transition that happens around the 3 minute mark is welcome, but you could take better advantage of it by making it more dramatic - e.g., dropping out the tracks for a fraction of a second just before it hits, or having a backwards cymbal or something lead up to it. There are quite a few places in the song that are ripe for a transitional turnaround to launch into the next section. This would keep the interest up. You could also do things like add some delay with feedback to the guitar in specific places, play fewer notes, and let the decay carry the guitar until the next part hits with a flurry of notes (at which point you'd bypass the delay). I feel a mix can be a performance. It sounds like you basically put the faders up for a reference mix. Having fun with the mix, and adding some twists and turns, can make a song come alive! The analogy I'd give is a movie where you know how it's going to end vs. one that has lots of plot twists. The one with the plot twists will keep your attention. There's a fair amount of low mid mud in the final mix. I'd drop the overall response about 2-3 dB around 200 - 400 Hz, and maybe give a bit of a high frequency shelf lift starting at around 6-8 kHz to add some air and definition. You can either take that as negative criticism, or free consulting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 As to the song itself, I'd recommend mixing the rhythm guitar back further, mixing the drums up higher, and giving the bass more articulation. The guitar has a certain sameness about it, so a pumping rhythm section would provide more variety. The transition that happens around the 3 minute mark is welcome, but you could take better advantage of it by making it more dramatic - e.g., dropping out the tracks for a fraction of a second just before it hits, or having a backwards cymbal or something lead up to it. There are quite a few places in the song that are ripe for a transitional turnaround to launch into the next section. This would keep the interest up. You could also do things like add some delay with feedback to the guitar in specific places, play fewer notes, and let the decay carry the guitar until the next part hits with a flurry of notes (at which point you'd bypass the delay). I feel a mix can be a performance. It sounds like you basically put the faders up for a reference mix. Having fun with the mix, and adding some twists and turns, can make a song come alive! The analogy I'd give is a movie where you know how it's going to end vs. one that has lots of plot twists. The one with the plot twists will keep your attention. There's a fair amount of low mid mud in the final mix. I'd drop the overall response about 2-3 dB around 200 - 400 Hz, and maybe give a bit of a high frequency shelf lift starting at around 6-8 kHz to add some air and definition. You can either take that as negative criticism, or free consulting This..Mbengs...is what constructive criticism is supposed to look like...Listen to Craig.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 Also notice I didn't say anything about the music per se That's because it's totally subjective. Someone who doesn't like classical music will say they don't like Bach, even though he was one of the greatest composers ever. And someone who only likes classical music will likely not recognize what made Buddy Holly's music so compelling. What I try to do in any critique is be objective. It's the same for me with product reviews. I don't think it matters whether I like something or not. What matters is whether I can describe something with sufficient accuracy that the reader can decide whether it's something they may or may not like. In any event, with my suggested changes someone who doesn't like the music will probably still not like it. However, those who do like it might like it a whole lot more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 Also I didn't mention the tuning because that's already been mentioned, but I do find it problematic. Not to put in a plug for Gibson G FORCE or anything, but since using it, I've never had to re-cut a guitar part because it was out of tune... One more thing: The gut reactions from people can be helpful as well. I'm going to beta test my next CD on my neighbors, who probably won't like most of the music. However, knowing which ones they think suck the least will be helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 This..Mbengs...is what constructive criticism is supposed to look like...Listen to Craig.. Also notice I didn't say anything about the music per se That's because it's totally subjective. Someone who doesn't like classical music will say they don't like Bach, even though he was one of the greatest composers ever. And someone who only likes classical music will likely not recognize what made Buddy Holly's music so compelling. What I try to do in any critique is be objective. It's the same for me with product reviews. I don't think it matters whether I like something or not. What matters is whether I can describe something with sufficient accuracy that the reader can decide whether it's something they may or may not like. In any event, with my suggested changes someone who doesn't like the music will probably still not like it. However, those who do like it might like it a whole lot more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 At this point I have to tell you a story. I played a concert in Philadelphia that was reviewed in two different newspapers. One review was totally positive, the other was totally negative. That in itself was instructive, but the REALLY instructive part is they keyed into the same things. The positive one loved that we played a continuous set, while the negative one said we didn't interact with the audience. The positive one praised the "innovatve" sounds coming out of my synthesizer, the negative one wondered why I was just playing "noise." And so on. Same concert, same band, same venue...two totally different reactions. I was lucky to learn that lesson so young in my life. As Rick Nelson sang, "You see you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." Regardless of what kind of music you like, this song speaks the truth. [video=youtube;uAHR7_VZdRw] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Luke17 Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 Jeeze Luke, you want some Scope when you're finished? mbengs- Nothing wrong with what you wrote. Speaking from a technical standpoint, going by the theme's F E C opening run and subsequent revisits to it later in the song, I'd say that your E string was about a quarter step flat. Either you couldn't hear it or it was intentional. Also your mix is too guitar heavy. The drums and bass are all but buried in the mix. Even a guitar ego like Yngwie would wonder about that mix! Maybe see if you can get qualified person to give that mix a try? In addition to possibly making it a more comprehensive mix, it might also smooth out the transition in and out of the middle section. Harmony Central seems like it's more about validation of something that's already finished, rather than an opportunity to learn, grow and improve your skills as an artist. Look for the constructive criticism even when there apparently is none. Some people can't put it into words as well as we would like. Some people are just jack asses, too. Good luck! Scope...no thanks...I 'm a Listerine man...but I'll use anything necessary to remove a bad taste from my mouth... I don't think the drums and bass can be heard in the mix because there aren't any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Luke17 Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 Luke17 Can't imagine who you're talking about there. Oh, wait... Clearly you have a head of steam here and would really like to tear into some slash and burn criticisms of my work. I say, go for it. I've done a lot of crap. I'll tell you what -- let's have a slag-off! You find a track on one of my Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or even my old Soundclick page. If you can't find something embarrassing there, you ain't trying -- I'll just withhold one track from consideration ["Idiot Slut"] because it's only on my Soundcloud page as a favor to the other people in the recording; it's from 1984, done on an even-then ancient fourtrack; and it was a late night goof, a spur-of-the-moment parody of Berlin's then-inescapable "Sex (I'm a)"... Now, for my side, I'm not going to demand the chance to slag one of your tracks. No interest in that, myself. No, I thought I'd give you some company and turn my talon-like critical facilities to the same track of mine that you choose -- and, unlike my constructive critique efforts of others, I won't hold back. This ought to be fun. Ready? http://onebluenine.bandcamp.com/ http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...&content=music Let's rumble! You and your attitude, pompous holier than thou critiques, and your boring long winded posts are partially responsible for the lack of participation on this forum... since I returned to posting here I have witnessed at least 3 regular posters drop out... you arent totally responsible, Craig seems to be the one that is shooing most peeps away.. In case you haven't noticed, this forum has become pretty much of a Dry Gulch Town... administrators and mods do most of the thread starts and then answer them.. kinda funny, kinda sad, like my Uncle Mike when he drank to much... 'Rumble'? 'slag off'?? Oh please Dorothy,...tough words... I guess those Umbrella Drinks are kicking in over at Chez Blue and your claws are starting to show...easy Kitty! this isnt about me critiquing your work...it's about you bluntly slamming another Musicians work for what reason I don't know... No big deal to anyone I'm sure, but I be will joining the other members who grew frustrated with the prevailing 'ol boy network' here and will now sign off. Pretty soon you guys will only have each other to pick apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 I post unlisted drafts on YouTube specifically to get critical comments from the "SSS Production Squad." Another set of ears is always helpful. I learn from positive comments because they tell me what "clicks," and from criticisms because they point out areas for improvement. I implement the majority of the suggestions and the songs are better as a result. I don't expect everyone to like my music. All I know is that enough people like it to encourage me to contniue. If someone asks for opinions, they should expect to hear opinions. Not all will be favorable, and frankly, you'll probably learn more from the negative ones if you don't take them personally. Even if you sell a million copies of something, that means that only 0.003% of the American public thought your music was good enough to merit buying it I love the "SSS prod squad" posts. Haven't seen any from you in while there Craig but I know how busy you are. Really fun for a guy like me to be able interact with guys like you, Lee Knight, Mark Longworth and others in there. It's like a Digital petri dish of sorts, hearing the tweaks you make on the songs after considering the suggestions other give you. Speaks well of all who post there really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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