Members SteveE9C6 Posted June 13, 2006 Members Share Posted June 13, 2006 Lonesome Wind is my newest tune. It's not traditional country, but more "Texas Country" The song has an interesting storyline... give it a listen and feel free to comment on my message board or here.Thanks!Steve(Pedal Steel Addict) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted June 14, 2006 Members Share Posted June 14, 2006 Yikes--drum machine country music. I don't think the world is ready for that. The vocal is a little weak--it's hard to make out the melody with the vocal wobbling. It may just be in the wrong key for the vocalist. The pedal steel counterpoints the vocal well, though. The chorus is good, but the vocal problem runs throughout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveE9C6 Posted June 14, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 14, 2006 Yikes--drum machine country music Sorry... that's a real drummer.Sorry you have a problem with my vocal warbling. It's the only voice I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted June 14, 2006 Members Share Posted June 14, 2006 Steve, Alt-Country is not my primary style, but I like Lonesome Wind - good song structure, good lyrics, love the pedal steel. I think the drum machine comment may be due to the fact that the drums are very consistent - not a lot of variation or fills - so it sounds like a lot of programmed drum tracks. Also, I don't know if I would describe it as "warbling", but I did notice that it was hard to understand the words a lot of the time and for a story song to work you really need to hear all the lyrics. Maybe some compression on the vocal or making the vocal track more prominent in the mix with additional panning/eq would help. So all in all, I pretty much agree with Chicken Monkey except for the "yikes" part. Ram Sadasivhttp://www.myspace.com/DanceMusicForGrownupshttp://www.soundclick.com/DanceMusicForGrownups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveE9C6 Posted June 15, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 15, 2006 I remixed this last night and tried a slightly different multiband compressor format and a tiny eq adjustment to make the vocal more intelligible. The lead guitarist emailed me about something else he noticed that I will try to fix today. All in all, it seems to be doing ok. It is number one on the alt. country charts this morning, and number seven on the country chart. While I have no illusions about being a big time artist (Heck, I'm 54, fat, bald, and a pedal steeler) I do hope to have some success in the writing business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesway Posted June 16, 2006 Members Share Posted June 16, 2006 OOOHHH. the soundclick VIP package! very pretty! alright, the music: whether or not the drummer was real or a computer chip, it definitely DOES come through as a drum machine. i think it's less the drummer's fault than the recording technique employed. EDIT: listening to it again, yeah, it's the drummer's fault! man, how about a variation or two sometimes? goddamn, how redundant! that last-three-eighth notes of every fourth measure on the snare is killing me! KILLING ME! i like this song and i typically hate country. i like the story thing that goes on a lot in country music, though. this song has that, but at the risk of getting a bit too long. i also think your voice is good, but maybe a bit stronger at parts would be be a welcome addition. you should full voice a part here or there. despite a good approach and tone, the vox is almost annoyingly static at certain points. (it's really the same thing as the drummer comment, but applied to the vocals now, if you think about it) the lap steel sound is maybe a bit too soaked in cliche for this city boy, but well done if that's your thing. the mix is really quite good (minus the drum comments!) overall, i think you have something to your vocals and the song in general sounds pretty well-crafted. EDIT: taking the drum and vox comment seriously, the underlying issue would be that there's no real development to this tune. like a good short story should be, a good tune should have a real climactic part (if not more than one) to pull it together. you sing the same way from start to finish. your drummer plays the same way from start to finish. i feel the same way listening to it from start to finish. there's limited development. that said, it seems like that's an issue that would be taken care of by a good producer and artist combo, (taking in stride that you mentioned a songwriting career) but even when you pitch this song, you should hint at a climax better than you did in this performance. it's not a good addition, in my opinion; it's NECESSARY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveE9C6 Posted June 16, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 16, 2006 it definitely DOES come through as a drum machine. The repetition was deliberate and was looped to give it that effect, so I guess that is where the "drum machine" sound comes from. If it were a drum machine, I could apply "swing", but since it's not midi, my options are more limited, unless I wish to record a measure or two at a slightly different tempo/feel and cut and paste. There is no lap steel on this It is a pedal steel. Pedal steel is my primary instrument. A friend of mine and pretty well known (major league) mastering engineer gave me a lengthy evaluation of my mix yesterday. Overall, he felt I had done a pretty decent job. He asked me to increase the predelay on the main vocal reverb, and gave me some specific frequency adjustment settings regarding the bass. I appreciate each and every comment you folks make. I am certainly not a pro engineer and doing this all myself loses a bit of perspective. This was all done on Sonar5PE using a combination of Mackie onyx pre's, a Joe Meek TwinQ Pre/ digital outs, and a number of different mics... from AT4050 to SM57's. The tracking room/Mixing room is 17x24 10 foot ceilings and has been treated with bass traps, aurelex panels, diffusors, and a floating hardwood floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesway Posted June 16, 2006 Members Share Posted June 16, 2006 Originally posted by SteveE9C6 There is no lap steel on this It is a pedal steel. Pedal steel is my primary instrument. alright, man. you got me! Originally posted by SteveE9C6 The tracking room/Mixing room is 17x24 10 foot ceilings and has been treated with bass traps, aurelex panels, diffusors, and a floating hardwood floor. i'd kill for something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpliffyJonez Posted July 1, 2006 Members Share Posted July 1, 2006 Country music is my favourite music of all time and I like your song, even though you could make it a bit shorter, or at least add some instrumental breaks to give the listener a break from the constant singing. What makes the drums sound bad is the bass drum, it sounds like one of those 80's electronic drums. I think it would be better if you just got rid of the bass drum. Also, Turn that steel guitar way up! I can barely hear it. It's awesome that you play steel so turn it way up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveE9C6 Posted July 1, 2006 Author Members Share Posted July 1, 2006 Tough crowd here;) That's cool. I like feedback. Try this song on for size... Her Love Rescued Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpliffyJonez Posted July 2, 2006 Members Share Posted July 2, 2006 Steve, I like this song more. Great steel playing! It's my favourite instrument in the world and I hope to learn to play it too one day too. Do you sing and play steel at the same time? I also like the other songs on your site. Man, the steel adds such a nice touch! I don't know why every band doesn't have one, they should, country or not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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