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Needleman recordings


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PUNX.

Cheers for the feedback :). The more I listen to the two, the more I think ADD needs to be cleared up a little to bring it to the same standard as Hold Fast.

I shall also try pushing Hold Fast a little harder when we next practise and see how it goes. I'm gonna sound like Tom Waits by the time I'm done.

xx

Yeah, i'm pretty sure i'm going to strip ADD back and remix it knowing what i do know against what i did then. I'm pretty confident i can improve the drums a bit at least :)

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The 2nd song is definitely an improvement as the levels are better balanced, I found 'ADD' a strange listen, the vocals and guitar are so high in the mix I found it a bit grating with a lack of bottom end from the bass and my ears were also trying to get the drums to fit with everything else. I'm not convinced everything is quite in time TBH but a better mix might correct how it sounds to me.

Personally for me it's a bit 'safe' in terms of the style of both songs but then I'm not a huge follower of 'punk' music and have tended to dwell in the UK 70's bands/US early 80's stuff, knowing nothing about modern examples but I have found myself getting into bands like Fucked Up, Cursed, Unsane, Coliseum and such over the past few years, I guess I like something a bit more guttural and meaty sounding.

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Hold Fast is way better in all respects to ADD, in my opinion. Structure, mix and vocal are all better.

Don't really get the vocal in ADD to be honest, it sounds like the melody and the guitars are actual different songs or something.

Agree with SJ about pushing your vocals a bit harder in Hold Fast, but I like the recording too.

Promising, would listen again. Gigs booked?

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Hold Fast is way better in all respects to ADD, in my opinion. Structure, mix and vocal are all better.

Don't really get the vocal in ADD to be honest, it sounds like the melody and the guitars are actual different songs or something.

Agree with SJ about pushing your vocals a bit harder in Hold Fast, but I like the recording too.

Promising, would listen again. Gigs booked?

Since a lot of our songs are fairly short, we need to flesh out and add at least one, ideally two to the repertoire before we start gigging.

Cheers for the feedback :)

xx

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  • 2 months later...

Sorry, the new song. Why I don't sing the blues.

Tone in the verses is ok, bit dead sounding but it works with the vocals. Chorus tone sounds generic cal-punk to me - a bigger rawer tone would have been a nice change.

Just my opinion min...

 

Cheers, do you think a bit more jangly in the verses? Ahh, I was really just going for a cal-punk tone so that's fine by me :)

 

No probs, thanks for listening!

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Yeah, I agree re: the guitar tone in the chorus of Why I Don't Sing the Blues - it's one of those distorted tones that when it kicks in some dynamic feels lost because the balls of the guitar have been ripped off or something. I just mean when a distortion pedal is stamped on I want it to go YEEEAAAAAH HAVE THIS rather than there being no change in dynamic, or even a step down. That is a terrible description, sorry.

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Yeah i would agree with that, i dont really feel a kick when the overdrive kicks in, it s a bitty like white noise coming in over the top. 

Its a weird song, but you can see the progression from the first two, not sure ill ever fully get on board with the under two minute songs, but i like most of the minute and a half when im listening. Would definitely come along to a gig to see what its like live. 

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Yeah, I agree re: the guitar tone in the chorus of Why I Don't Sing the Blues - it's one of those distorted tones that when it kicks in some dynamic feels lost because the balls of the guitar have been ripped off or something. I just mean when a distortion pedal is stamped on I want it to go YEEEAAAAAH HAVE THIS rather than there being no change in dynamic, or even a step down. That is a terrible description, sorry.

 

Cheers, that makes sense, I think it's an artefact of compression on the recording so the levels are quite even but maybe it needs a bit of a vol boost coming into the chorus to keep the dynamics of the song going. I'm still learning about mixing and mastering so all feedback is relevant and welcomed. Hopefully there's been a progression in the mixes compared to the previous songs?

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The feedback is much appreciated.

 

The reason a lot of the songs are so short is because I really REALLY hate listening to songs that drag on. Way too many bands take a simple song and add in unnecessary bridges, solos extra verses, choruses and middle 8's just to bring it up to 3 minutes long and it really takes a lot away.

 

These are 3 of the 4 SHORT songs in the set, others are closer to the 3-4 minute mark. I think. Depends on how fast we play them tbh!

 

xx

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Yeah i would agree with that, i dont really feel a kick when the overdrive kicks in, it s a bitty like white noise coming in over the top. 

Its a weird song, but you can see the progression from the first two, not sure ill ever fully get on board with the under two minute songs, but i like most of the minute and a half when im listening. Would definitely come along to a gig to see what its like live. 

 

Bizarrely there's three songs over 2mins waiting to be mixed it just so happens that these one's got done first. I guess it's just the type of punk that we like and we felt like extending the songs would just be like padding them out with filler rather than going for short, sharp blasts.

 

We're playing 11th April at Celler 35 if anyone's interested.

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Oh aye, from the first mixes, you can definitely hear the progression. Home recordings are always going to be a hard way of fully getting your band across as we're all used to listening to mixes from guys who have done it all their lives. Im very impressed you have got them to that standard already to be honest. 

 

I'd be very interested in hearing a few longer songs like. I am one for repeated parts of songs, i just like the repetition side of songs sometimes. Ill try and make it along to Cellar 35.

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Oh aye, from the first mixes, you can definitely hear the progression. Home recordings are always going to be a hard way of fully getting your band across as we're all used to listening to mixes from guys who have done it all their lives. Im very impressed you have got them to that standard already to be honest. 

 

I'd be very interested in hearing a few longer songs like. I am one for repeated parts of songs, i just like the repetition side of songs sometimes. Ill try and make it along to Cellar 35.

 

Cheers man, should have at least one of the longer one's up over the weekend :)

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Cheers man, should have at least one of the longer one's up over the weekend :)

 

YOU FUCKING BETTER, PHIL!

 

I think Social Distortion are a great example of getting across what I'm trying to avoid actually, I absolutely love them but they have songs that are nearly 5 minutes long with only 3 or 4 chords and 2 repeated sections! Ball and Chain is one of the worst culprits.

 

xx

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I dig the track, though the stark contrast between the verse and the chorus is quite distracting at first. I know you maybe wary about multi tracking guitars incase it makes your live tone sound different, but I think it'd be pretty neat if the jangly guitar continued underneath the SoCalPunx tone in the chorus, kind of like Against Me! do, with the one jangly and one dirty guitar.

 

Or as others have suggested, it might piece together a little better if the jangly part was quieter, and then the driven guitar comes in much louder and fuller.

 

The vocal melody on the chorus is definitely the strongest aspect of the 3 tracks.

 

 

I'll be at the Cellar gig. Punx most certainly better be upped.

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