Okay, I've vacillated over this one long enough

Zildjian · Post by **Zildjian** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 7:20 pm

and for those of you who don't know what vacillate means...it's kinda like oscillate - but with the mind instead of the body...
i just LOVE that word... hmmmmm
vac?il?late Audio pronunciation of "vacillate" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (vs-lt)
intr.v. vac?il?lat?ed, vac?il?lat?ing, vac?il?lates

1. To sway from one side to the other; oscillate.
2. To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.
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(((((((((( Zildjian )))))))))
Listen to Oscillate Wildly by The Smiths : http://www.napster.com/player/tracks/16014693

Antiques · Post by **Antiques** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:27 pm

I enjoy this track! The guitar ostinatos are really pleasing and I think the layering works without being obtrusive.

However, that glockenspiel does get more noisey than interesting later into the song, as do some of the other bright elements like synth. I think what needs to be explored in creating balance is maybe a bass drum or a slightly warm and fuzzy bass guitar?

The guitar sounds, as have been said, are great and the vocals seem to stay pretty well afloat. Good job with the performances, just try to add in maybe like a bass drum and balance the track out.

Also, yeah, I think this would end really well with some of the elements from near the end pushed up to the middle and the track ending around 5 minutes.... there's some confusing and unecessary chattering in the middle.

What great sounds man!

-Tim

workshed · Post by **workshed** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:02 pm

Antiques wrote:I enjoy this track! The guitar ostinatos are really pleasing and I think the layering works without being obtrusive.

However, that glockenspiel does get more noisey than interesting later into the song, as do some of the other bright elements like synth. I think what needs to be explored in creating balance is maybe a bass drum or a slightly warm and fuzzy bass guitar?

The guitar sounds, as have been said, are great and the vocals seem to stay pretty well afloat. Good job with the performances, just try to add in maybe like a bass drum and balance the track out.

Also, yeah, I think this would end really well with some of the elements from near the end pushed up to the middle and the track ending around 5 minutes.... there's some confusing and unecessary chattering in the middle.

What great sounds man!

-Tim

Yeah, I have thought about cutting some stuff out of the middle to shorten up the song a bit. Might still try that. Thanks for the comments and enthusiasm!

-Bret

drSproinky · Post by **drSproinky** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:37 pm

zoetrope wrote:I like the slow opening, something many people shy away from these days. That said, it needs more variety in the intro before it hits the one minute mark. Change up the arpeggio perhaps. When the vocal comes in it's too quiet and the arpeggio too loud. Sort of a Rain Parade sound to this.

To get to your question, I think long is good as long as you have some breaks and up the ante from time to time to keep it alive. Here, the arpeggio gets so repetative and is so loud in the mix it's hard to evaluate the rest of what I hear. I'd love to hear a remix with that guitar buried so I can hear everything else.

I hope that helps.

I have to agree with the slow opening, but only because there's so much to review here. I'm in the process of realizing most of my stuff ends nicely (massive build up) which does NOT translate to making an impression on myspace. So the slow opening would be awesome on a famous and well-listened to album but not in a basement band. But it develops nicely soon enough...

Your voice is nice (mine is not), the melody ideas are very decent. I think this has some accessibility potential. Drum snare roll is kinda weird.

Overall, good sound. Very throw-back to 80s dream synth rock.

workshed · Post by **workshed** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:17 pm

drSproinky wrote:
I have to agree with the slow opening, but only because there's so much to review here. I'm in the process of realizing most of my stuff ends nicely (massive build up) which does NOT translate to making an impression on myspace. So the slow opening would be awesome on a famous and well-listened to album but not in a basement band. But it develops nicely soon enough...

Your voice is nice (mine is not), the melody ideas are very decent. I think this has some accessibility potential. Drum snare roll is kinda weird.

Overall, good sound. Very throw-back to 80s dream synth rock.

Thanks man! Much appreciated. I'm going to maybe tackle a remix (and some retracking) of this song in the near future, but it's tough to go back when I have 6-7 songs waiting to be recorded. That being said, everyone has had such great suggestions that I'm kinda excited about the prospect of fine tuning this track more.

Oh and if you like the '80s synth rock thing, wait until I do the cover I just decided upon last night. I'm stoked to get to work on it and will post it here whenever I finish it.

-Bret

dynomike · Post by **dynomike** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:59 am

Guitar and synth sounds are really cool, so are your vocals.

Here are some (to me) major problems:

Vocal too low in general, especially when it first comes in (i realize this is an effect, but still)

Can you change that drumbeat up... like, edit it.. its really off. The second snare hit (the "flam": double hit) is early, by a lot... for the main beat which occupies the majority of the 1st half of the song. And the crash at the beginning of every bar is really amateur drum programming, "all apologies to you". If you wanna send me a stereo mixdown sans synth drums and bass, I can probably lay down a real drum track sometime.. like, in around 2 weeks. I'd like your track to sound good and everything sounds so great except for the drums and bass... let me kow, and good job overall!

Mike

workshed · Post by **workshed** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:11 am

dynomike wrote:Guitar and synth sounds are really cool, so are your vocals.

Here are some (to me) major problems:

Vocal too low in general, especially when it first comes in (i realize this is an effect, but still)

Can you change that drumbeat up... like, edit it.. its really off. The second snare hit (the "flam": double hit) is early, by a lot... for the main beat which occupies the majority of the 1st half of the song. And the crash at the beginning of every bar is really amateur drum programming, "all apologies to you". If you wanna send me a stereo mixdown sans synth drums and bass, I can probably lay down a real drum track sometime.. like, in around 2 weeks. I'd like your track to sound good and everything sounds so great except for the drums and bass... let me kow, and good job overall!

Mike

Hey Mike, thanks a ton for the honest feedback. I agree -- the drum tracks are becoming a major sticking point on this song. They were initially meant to be temp tracks until I could get my drum kit home and try it myself, but me being more of a guitar player than a drummer got lazy and settled for the aforementioned drum programming.

That being said, that is incredibly cool and generous of you to offer up your drumming skills. I'd love to take you up on it so long as it won't put you out too much. I am a big fan of your music, recording skills and musicianship, so I would love to have you play drums on this track... and I'm sure it will be much better than if I were to do it.

Then once I have some real drums on there, I can re-record the bass with better bass parts.

I need a little time to decide if I want to tame the arrangement or leave it at the current 8 min. length. I'll PM you when I get ready to send it off. By the way, do you want a click track included in the mixdown?

Thanks again!

-Bret

Knights Who Say Neve · Post by **Knights Who Say Neve** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:14 am

Zildjian wrote:and for those of you who don't know what vacillate means...it's kinda like oscillate - but with the mind instead of the body...
i just LOVE that word... hmmmmm

word

seanmichael · Post by **seanmichael** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 3:38 pm

Love the gradual buildup type songs. My fave is probably the Music Machine- "Dark White"- ever heard it? Your vocals REALLY remind me of Joseph Arthur- as well as the programming/dense arrangement aspect. Are you familiar with him? You should check out his first two albums, Big City Secrets and... umm.. the second one. Oh. In the Sun? Anyway, the second one. And... definitely feels long to me, but I suppose that's all context. If it was an album or side closer sandwiched in with a bunch of shorter songs, I might not feel that way.

Enjoyable stuff

Sean
Mercy Brown

dougo · Post by **dougo** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:17 pm

Bret,

Enjoyed the song. I can't wait to hear it with you playing some real drums on it. That said the doggiebox drums sound pretty good!.

Take care,
Doug O

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Okay, I've vacillated over this one long enough

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