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My First Complete Song - Doug McAuliffe

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Forum Name: Music and Musicians Exchange
Forum Description: Talk with and get feedback from other musicians on the site
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=121644
Printed Date: November 28 2024 at 10:26
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Topic: My First Complete Song - Doug McAuliffe
Posted By: dougmcauliffe
Subject: My First Complete Song - Doug McAuliffe
Date Posted: November 29 2019 at 19:44
Hey all Dougmcauliffe here, aspiring prog musician and piano major. Me with a little help from a friend recorded this song and we are really proud of it. So give us your feedback! The name Is just a placeholder atm. 95% finished.

https://m.soundcloud.com/user-149839300/celebrationdemo-4

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The sun has left the sky...
...Now you can close your eyes



Replies:
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: November 29 2019 at 20:44
https://m.soundcloud.com/user-149839300/celebrationdemo-4" rel="nofollow - https://m.soundcloud.com/user-149839300/celebrationdemo-4

That's some nice retro prog, like a Genesis rehearsal in 1971.   The intro is too long and generally the composition could use a healthy dose of editing.   Also the keyboard & guitar are not in tune with each other, I'm guessing it's the guitar that's out.  

But I know how much work it takes to write and record an actual song, so good job.   Half the battle is showing up.




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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy


Posted By: dougmcauliffe
Date Posted: November 29 2019 at 21:01
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

https://m.soundcloud.com/user-149839300/celebrationdemo-4" rel="nofollow - https://m.soundcloud.com/user-149839300/celebrationdemo-4

That's some nice retro prog, like a Genesis rehearsal in 1971.   The intro is too long and generally the composition could use a healthy dose of editing.   Also the keyboard & guitar are not in tune with each other, I'm guessing it's the guitar that's out.  

But I know how much work it takes to write and record an actual song, so good job.   Half the battle is showing up.




I really appreciate the feedback! Gonna take what you say and improve the song!

-------------
The sun has left the sky...
...Now you can close your eyes


Posted By: flyingveepixie
Date Posted: November 30 2019 at 02:06
Hi Doug.

I had a listen and would agree with the first comment about the intro and the guitar.  Some very nice ideas in there though and it's definitely got some potential.  The hammond organ sound is lovely although the other synths sound a bit aggressive and toppy to my ears.   Can I ask a few questions..?

How are you recording it..?  Via analog machines or on a digital platform..?

Are the drums live or virtual..?  They sound live but the problems with getting a good live drum sound are myriad as you need so many mics - including some more specialised ones - and also need to take into account mic placement, each individual drums resonance as well as factors like atmospheric temperature, pressure and humidity as they all affect how drums will sound at a given moment. It's why I always stick to virtual drums in my own recordings, as well as space limitations in my recording room of course.

The guitars sound very scratchy too - how are you amping them..? and what mic(s) are you using..?  or are they D.I.d..?

What are you using for monitoring..?   To get a decent sound you should have the best monitors your budget will allow.  These are the studio headphones I use and I can recommend them as they provide a completely flat frequency response and wont colour your sound in any way..

https://eu.audio-technica.com/ATH-M70x

Re the actual song structure : If it was me I'd bring the drums in a bit earlier - maybe when the acoustic guitar starts strumming..?  Some vocals would help everything along too and would make that long intro a bit more palatable.

You need to get to grips with how to apply eq and compression.  A good place to start is to roll off all frequencies below 50Hz for every instrument as you can't hear sounds at those frequencies anyway but they are still there interfering with your finished sound and messing it up.  Like this :



The small curve in light blue at the left side shows the sub 50Hz frequencies rolled off with all other frequencies on a flat response setting.

Anyway, sorry to yak on.  There's loads to learn in the recording world but it's a fantastic journey if you decide to get serious about it.



Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: November 30 2019 at 06:37
Decent effort, and playing, but too much repetition for such a long song. Besides the bass breakdown part, it never develops into anything but the same few riffs over and over. Trimming about five minutes off the song would help. 


Posted By: dougmcauliffe
Date Posted: November 30 2019 at 07:32
Originally posted by flyingveepixie flyingveepixie wrote:

Hi Doug.

I had a listen and would agree with the first comment about the intro and the guitar.  Some very nice ideas in there though and it's definitely got some potential.  The hammond organ sound is lovely although the other synths sound a bit aggressive and toppy to my ears.   Can I ask a few questions..?

How are you recording it..?  Via analog machines or on a digital platform..?

Are the drums live or virtual..?  They sound live but the problems with getting a good live drum sound are myriad as you need so many mics - including some more specialised ones - and also need to take into account mic placement, each individual drums resonance as well as factors like atmospheric temperature, pressure and humidity as they all affect how drums will sound at a given moment. It's why I always stick to virtual drums in my own recordings, as well as space limitations in my recording room of course.

The guitars sound very scratchy too - how are you amping them..? and what mic(s) are you using..?  or are they D.I.d..?

What are you using for monitoring..?   To get a decent sound you should have the best monitors your budget will allow.  These are the studio headphones I use and I can recommend them as they provide a completely flat frequency response and wont colour your sound in any way..

https://eu.audio-technica.com/ATH-M70x

Re the actual song structure : If it was me I'd bring the drums in a bit earlier - maybe when the acoustic guitar starts strumming..?  Some vocals would help everything along too and would make that long intro a bit more palatable.

You need to get to grips with how to apply eq and compression.  A good place to start is to roll off all frequencies below 50Hz for every instrument as you can't hear sounds at those frequencies anyway but they are still there interfering with your finished sound and messing it up.  Like this :



The small curve in light blue at the left side shows the sub 50Hz frequencies rolled off with all other frequencies on a flat response setting.

Anyway, sorry to yak on.  There's loads to learn in the recording world but it's a fantastic journey if you decide to get serious about it.


Hello and thank you for the feedback! My recording equipment is very ghetto, drums are acoustic recorded with a single mica and my guitar amp doesn't have output so its the same mic positioned in front of it. Keys are recorded through the interface though. Also use Audio Technica ATH-M50X. I'm currently rerecording as we speak and cutting stuff out and going for a better sound overall.


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The sun has left the sky...
...Now you can close your eyes


Posted By: dougmcauliffe
Date Posted: November 30 2019 at 07:36
Originally posted by Grumpyprogfan Grumpyprogfan wrote:

Decent effort, and playing, but too much repetition for such a long song. Besides the bass breakdown part, it never develops into anything but the same few riffs over and over. Trimming about five minutes off the song would help. 

Message received, re-recording and heavily editing the whole song.


-------------
The sun has left the sky...
...Now you can close your eyes


Posted By: Meltdowner
Date Posted: December 03 2019 at 07:53
Well done! One thing I'd recommend is to use a bit of reverb on the synth solo so it won't sound so dry and will blend better in the mix. Maybe use EQ to lower the high frequencies too.
For guitar I've been recording directly from my Boss GT-8 with its amp simulation. It certainly helps getting a less amateur sound if you're still learning about recording and mixing (and in my case I don't have a nice amp LOL).


Posted By: dougmcauliffe
Date Posted: December 22 2019 at 21:49
After revising a lot we decided to break it up and ultimately ended up making the ending it’s Own song while leaving the rest to be revisited later.

https://soundcloud.com/user-149839300/song-2-demo-with-mellotron-2/s-KMur1

Here’s a very early demo, the sound quality of all the instruments is really the best I can do with what I have, if you have suggestions for the mix throw them at me.

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The sun has left the sky...
...Now you can close your eyes


Posted By: dougmcauliffe
Date Posted: December 23 2019 at 19:50
https://soundcloud.com/user-149839300/song-2-demo-4" rel="nofollow - https://soundcloud.com/user-149839300/song-2-demo-4

Here’s a better version of the above demo !

-------------
The sun has left the sky...
...Now you can close your eyes


Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: December 23 2019 at 22:20
I kept hearing Les Miserables for half the song. At least half the melody line from this song...




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...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...



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