One more...a bit more rockin'!

[MichaelAlan]

Here. This one is called Pessimism Is Him:


http://www.istramusic.com/thelinkthatto ... towork.mp3

[MichaelAlan]

Did I mention this will someday be a piece of rock history?

[JohnDavisNYC]

sounds good. not my cup of tea in terms of the style... i guess this would be screamo? i know nothing about genres for modern rock... but it sounds really good. it is perhaps a little too 'clean' sounding to me... i can hear everything... but almost a little bit TOO clearly... i feel like it's missing some rock 'mushing together'... i dunno...

the verb in the bridge is a little overly 'gated' sounding to me... maybe layer more than one verb, so it's not so quite as clear where the verb starts and ends.

that's my only real production critique. but i'm also listening on headphones to an mp3.... so who knows what it REALLY sounds like. there are a few little timing discrepencies in the second verse for like 2 bars in the drums... it's actually in the intro before the fill into the second verse. whatever. doesn't hurt the song at all, just seems like the sort of thing that would usually be 'fixed' in this style of music.

it seems a little wierd to me that the only tom that happens in the song is panned so hard left... i might make the panning a little more down the middle... although in the ending bit i guess there are toms on both sides... can't tell from the 'jug jug jug jarrrrr' guitars, though... it seems like there is a wierd cymbal edit right before the ending, although it might be an mp3 encoding glitch.


anyway, good sounding song. catchy and well performed. the vocals are really well done. intonation is great... hope some of that rambling ends up being helpful.

cheers,
john

[surf's up]

pretty cool song. also not what i typically listen to stylistically, but its catchy and well-done. it sounds like the kind of thing that would make a sports video game soundtrack. im listening on crappy speaker, so take this with a grain of salt, but the snare sticks out to me. not sure if its the reverb, or the way it was compressed, but it doesnt seem to decay quite naturally. or maybe its just the timbre in general, not 'organic' enough or lacking some body. keep in mind i dont listen to a lot of this kind of music, so my gauge of what a snare ought to sound like in said context is not very well calibrated.

overall its well done. the mix has power, or as some might say 'balls' which I think most people agree makes heavy stuff a lot more listenable than if its weak. what role(s) did you play in this recording?

[surf's up]

oh i know where i recognize the snare sound from!!! fine young cannibals: "she drives me crazy" thats not an insult, just my observation.

[MichaelAlan]

I sang, wrote lyrics, and recorded it.


Interesting comments on the drum verb and snare. There is no reverb on the kit. It was recorded in a fairly small, untreated room, with the door open and a room mic all the way in the living room. (pretty far away) So it makes for a good ambient mic, but I have it turned up a little too much in most of the songs on account of the mixing room I'm in. Thanks for the listen guys!


Mike