MSE#3

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

Moderator: cgarges

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

MSE#3

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:58 am

my last one got nothing but crickets and tumbleweeds, maybe you'll like this one better:

https://morespaceecho.bandcamp.com/album/shuffles

similar idea as last time but now with big roomy drums and tons of distortion. i've also added such novel features as chord changes and more or less conventional song structures.

it sounds like U2 if bono missed the show and the other 3 ate mushrooms and freaked out. really.

boid
gimme a little kick & snare
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:18 pm
Location: Germany

Post by boid » Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:54 am

great stuff.
so chill and spherical and at the same time pumping in some way.

made me reminisce about being a kid in the 90ies.
not sure why :D maybe it's the production and the way the bass sits and the livelyness soundwise.

--> curtains
love the distortion/reverb on the snare

the desert and curtains my favorites so far.

I'm planning on cutting a sparse, rockish EP soon (hopefully), and i've been planning on doing roomy drums similar to that. just in a smaller space, because it's faster music.
last time I used some dynamics on the floor in front of the kit, how did you do it?

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Thu Dec 17, 2015 11:08 am

hey thanks for listening!

my default roomy drum shtick is a pair of earthworks omnis on the floor, 5-6 feet in front of the kit, spaced not too far apart....they're pointing straight ahead at the kick drum legs.

those mics get hammered with the venerable old blockfish, still my fav compressor for drum room.

that's most of the sound. then there's just enough close mics and overheads mixed in to make it not sound all crazy. :D

on 'curtains' there's the 'regular' drums, recorded as above, then there's overdubs where i was just doing snare hits and tom fills with the mics waaaay far away. that's the 'reverb'.

User avatar
joninc
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2099
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2003 5:02 pm
Location: canada
Contact:

Post by joninc » Thu Dec 17, 2015 1:07 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
those mics get hammered with the venerable old blockfish, still my fav compressor for drum room.
BLOCKFISH :worthy: :worthy:
the new rules : there are no rules

boid
gimme a little kick & snare
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:18 pm
Location: Germany

Post by boid » Thu Dec 17, 2015 1:37 pm

ha, only plugin I miss since I 've moved to mac.
AND IT'S FREE.

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Thu Dec 17, 2015 2:09 pm

it's free and like 12 years old! its brothers spitfish and floorfish are totally great too.

sascha's new compressor (u-he presswerk) is also great, but it doesn't do that magic thing the blockfish does with the release in opto/complex mode.

User avatar
SpencerMartin
gimme a little kick & snare
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:01 am
Location: Akron, OH
Contact:

Post by SpencerMartin » Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:03 am

That was super dope! I listened to Curtains three times just now. The overall dynamics and sonic variations (esp. drums) are killer. Great work.

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:38 am

thank you!

gotta say, i think i'm ripping off boid on 'curtains'. when those messed up heavy guitars come in halfway through, pretty sure i swiped that basic idea from a trenchmouth cover boid's band did awhile back.

so thanks boid!

boid
gimme a little kick & snare
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:18 pm
Location: Germany

Post by boid » Sat Dec 19, 2015 8:42 am

woohee those are pretty tight snare overdubbs then!
I always loved snare overdubs (like on beatles' hey bulldog).


pssshh watchutalkinbout MESSED UP?! my guitar sound is EXCELLENT!
lost yourself a customer scott.

the drummer playing on that quit, is all.
that's why I haven't sent you anything in a while. :(

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Sat Dec 19, 2015 11:02 am

MY guitars are messed up! yours did indeed sound excellent!

User avatar
Gregg Juke
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3544
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:35 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Contact:

Post by Gregg Juke » Sat Dec 19, 2015 1:26 pm

Finally had time to listen to this, Space. Very cool. My favorites are "Upset Octopus," "Siberia," and "The Desert." "Curtains" is cool too. "Season Finale" I find slightly disconcerting for some reason (so if that was what you were going for, you nailed it).

I certainly hope you're submitting this to someone who will rep it for licensing; this stuff is very cinematic, and I could see you getting a lot of uses for TV/film/doc production, that sort of thing. I was envisioning scenes from the desert while listening to "Desert," a la a PBS nature special, or National Geographic.

I love the "round but roomy" drum sound you achieved on this stuff.

Who did the mastering? (Heh).

Seriously though, how about some insights into gear and production? For example, what synths did you use, and what instrument/pedal(s)/filter/app created that sitar/tambura sound that is prevalent on much of this project?

GJ
Gregg Juke
Nocturnal Productions Music Group
Drum! Magazine Contributor
http://MightyNoStars.com

"He's about to learn the most important lesson in the music business-- 'Never trust people in the music business.' "

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Sat Dec 19, 2015 4:02 pm

hey thanks! i really appreciate that you stuck with it despite not digging the first tune.

the main thing on these songs (not the first one so much) is strat->mesa studio preamp->midiverb 2 on one of the reverse reverb presets (45 or 49)->line 6 looper. i leave the looper "open" and just keep adding to it, so the loops evolve as they go.

so all the songs start with that and a drum machine, i just improvise and record for a half hour or so, do a couple different loops. then find the good bits and make a structure out of them. then pile on the overdubs etc.

i'm going for cinematic! i'd love to license this stuff. can you (or anyone) point me in a direction for that? i don't have any idea.

i know you're kidding about the mastering, but i will say...the only way i'm able to master my own stuff is rigorous a/b'ing with a bunch of other records. most of which aren't necessarily that similar, style-wise, but i just try and make it so mine doesn't sound totally weird in comparison.

on that note, a pro tip for you: Do Not Ever compare your record with 'loveless'. especially Do Not Ever compare your record with 'loveless' at low volume, very late at night, while very stoned. whatever this comparison leads you to do, you will regret it in the morning.

User avatar
Gregg Juke
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3544
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:35 pm
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Contact:

Post by Gregg Juke » Sat Dec 19, 2015 5:06 pm

Hey, thanks for the insight. And, it wasn't that I didn't dig it (just not as much as the others), it's that the vibe is somehow edgy/menacing; hard to describe, but that could be a useful quality, especially in underscore applications.

As to licensing vendors, I'm interested myself, but can't say that I've found much more than the standard on-line sites-- Pump Audio, Audio Sparx, and Audio Jungle. It would be great to have someone who could hawk the stuff personally, but I don't have a source for that at this time...

GJ
Gregg Juke
Nocturnal Productions Music Group
Drum! Magazine Contributor
http://MightyNoStars.com

"He's about to learn the most important lesson in the music business-- 'Never trust people in the music business.' "

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Sat Dec 19, 2015 5:13 pm

yeah that first one is supposed to be menacing, in a kind of comedic way.

the second chorus of that one is my favorite bit on the record. you have to work hard to make E to D sound interesting!

boid
gimme a little kick & snare
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:18 pm
Location: Germany

Post by boid » Sun Dec 20, 2015 2:26 am

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:MY guitars are messed up! yours did indeed sound excellent!
i was kidding of course. I can't record guitars for shit.


see, but that shows, the focus you put on sound and transitions instead of "complex" structures.
listening to those tunes does something with you.
the mixing is really clever, morphing from one part to another.

One of the few times I think a mix in 5.1 would be really cool to hear.
Imagine watching a movie with music like that and then spreading the room sound of the drums mostly on the rear speakers, close a little on the front speakers.
and have the guitars swirl around, have a little detail peak out on the far left here and there.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests