Too cute? Humbly request feedback.

[littlepokey]

I have a mix that I ve been working on that I would love some feedback on. I find that when I m working on my own stuff, I am very easily distracted and sometimes lose sight of where the song wants to go. Anyway, I'm concerned I put a little too much "candy" on it and am wondering if it is distracting from the weight of the song (got some new effects boxes I've been playing with, so of course my job is to overuse them). Sometimes I get a little wrapped up in getting "cute" with sounds and effects at the expense of good taste. Advice from a fresh set of ears would be much appreciated! Thanks!


http://kingof8.com/BEEN_BETTER.mp3

[erockrazor]

I think it sounds good. The effects are tasteful enough for me. Not really too crazy for me. I don't like the constantly panning bass, it's making my equilibrium throw up. I think the vox are pretty far up in the mix but everything was tracked really well. Everything sounds very good. A little bit of a live feel about it. Good song.

[LeedyGuy]

I like this as well, but I agree. Why the "Suitcase bass?"

[dynomike]

the only effect / thing i'm not really a fan of is the background vocals. and i agree, the panning bass is kind of distracting, though i do kind of like it.

sounds good in all. the guitar solo section sounds particularly good. any details on the guitar recording? its very very VERY clean. did you compress a lot? it kind of sounds like heavy handed ELOP compression to me, but i could be way off base. anyway, i liked it.

-mike

[littlepokey]

Thank you all for the comments. I was trying to give the bass some movement, but certainly wasn't going for nausea inducing madness. After reading these comments, I played around with it for a bit. When I reined in the panning a little it seemed a little more solid, but when I took it away completely, I kept feeling like I was missing it.

The effect on the BU Vox was some chorus and a panned out double-delay to give some texture and airy-ness to it while (hopefully) drawing attention away from my lame ass singing. I'm still not sure about this one, because it really sounds like the effect is trying to cover something up (which it is), rather than used for some really compelling artistic reason.

Appreciate the comments on the guitar solo section. There is nothing that exciting happening there in terms of the compression or recording chain. If I remember correctly, it was simply a Cascade Fathead aimed at my amp. I am embarrassed to admit that the while I do own a few nice compressors (although nothing so spendy as a Manly), this happens to be nothing more than the waves Renaissance Compressor plug-in!

The guitar rig however is pretty cool. A 1964 Harmony H-77 (possibly the coolest single coil guitar ever, see picture below. The pic isn't my guitar, but is the same except for the color) through my Vox Pathfinder amp. Now don't laugh, but this combo has got THE COOLEST clean guitar sound ever achieved by me. It gets that Duane Eddy/Spagetti Western/James Bond kind of sound like nobody's business! That little amp may be the best $70 bucks I ever spent. The tremolo circuit is COOL!

[Corey Y]

I don't know if you updated the mix on the file you posted after the previous suggestions, but it sounds good to me. I'm listening on my reference speakers and nothing's making me seasick. Headphones might be another issue.

Slick, shimmery production has its place...and it's on songs like this. Well done, the guitar tone is indeed sweet. Those old Sears and Roebuck type guitars, when you find good ones, have that nice jazzy pop to them. I do agree that the vocals are a little high in the mix, but as for your question if it's over the top with effects, I don't think so.

[Mane1234]

Well done....I like things that swim around in a mix...Love the geetar.