My first larger-ish-scale production/mix job

[bitewounds]

Hey... random harsh comment. I think it's a bit of a mess.. things are biting each other / the mixes are badly balanced. What bugs me personally the most is that the band isn't tight, drummer particularly. The whole thing is utterly raw. Which could be charming. But in this case, I think, consulting a pair of ears that isn't part of the band could help : /

[AldenW]

Congrats on the release! Sounds like a lot of work.

Your songs have a great energy to them. I like the vocalist too. It's true, things are a little rough, particularly in the percussion, but I think you guys've got mojo.

[rasseyed]

This morning I took a quick listen and I think your music is interesting. In the first two songs I was almost thrown off by the choices the drummer makes, but I decided to revisit them after listening to all the tracks. I like the melodies, bass lines and the interesting rhythm parts. Good Job!

[GJ999x]

liking 'she got away,' definite mojo. Nice work guys!

On Sunshine (also great) I can sort of hear what other posters are getting it, maybe not so much the percussion particularly but the complex rythum is working hard to stay together, jussst about making it mix sounds great to me but i'm no rock mixer.

Must be awesome to have a full album perfectly presented like that. Kudos

[ray_subsonic]

"She Got Away" is a Rippingly Good Power-Pop song in the vein of Big Star, Fleshtones, DB's, etc. It's great to hear good guitar rock!! The Songwriting, Arrangements, Singing and Vocal Harmonies are of a good standard. Some people here are Talented. Keep going!! Guitar sounds and parts range from good to very good.

Guitar solos could be better. The Drum Sounds and Recording needs looking at. The Drummer has made wobbly choices that have thrown off his timing.

But still, there is energy, desperation and freshness. That's why kids are liking it because they can FEEL IT. Overall, it's a good and honest first effort.

[Xander]

Just finished "She Got Away". You sound like a really fun group, I enjoy it enough that I would definitely see you live if I was in your neck of the woods.

Great guitar sounds! Very garage-bandy (in a good way). And the solo was fantastic.
I like the big group vocal style. It really fits the songs well, and makes it more fun to sing along.
I think the mix is pretty spot on. The right parts are upfront and there is good space. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but so far, I like it!

For your first production, I say great job. My first production was in a similar state. Everything was there, but I definitely could have done a few things differently.

I do agree with some previous comments that some drum parts are a little out of place. Kind of like they are just trying to do a little bit too much all of the time. Next time, think about simplifying a lot of those fills. Focus on the groove rather than the number of drums he can hit within a quarter note.

I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but I will!

[D_T_Music]

Originally Posted by ray_subsonic

"She Got Away" is a Rippingly Good Power-Pop song in the vein of Big Star, Fleshtones, DB's, etc. It's great to hear good guitar rock!! The Songwriting, Arrangements, Singing and Vocal Harmonies are of a good standard. Some people here are Talented. Keep going!! Guitar sounds and parts range from good to very good.

Guitar solos could be better. The Drum Sounds and Recording needs looking at. The Drummer has made wobbly choices that have thrown off his timing.

But still, there is energy, desperation and freshness. That's why kids are liking it because they can FEEL IT. Overall, it's a good and honest first effort.

Just listened to "she's gone away" and "sunshine" and agree with just about all of this.

I actually really like a lot of the drumming ideas, I just get the sense (I could be wrong though) that you didn't use a click track and that the tightness might have benefited from one.

I really like the composition and especially like the fullness of the vocal harmonies. The pieces are really well arranged and while I feel that the mix is a bit cluttered for the complexity of the arrangements it has a nice present and in your face feel. Great work

[danerius]

Hi. Theres some awesome songs in there + great vocals and vocal arrangements. Im also digging the progressive indie power pop slant. Interesting and inventive guitar and drum parts. The coda song made laff out loud

My objections are: EQ is too similar on everything. Sounds like u EQd every track individually first and then started mixing. Now everything is fighting for the same sonic space. Theres also very little difference in depth. No noticable reverb or variety in the stereo field. Its all rather flat

Levels need tuning too. Sometimes the bass is way up, or a guitar or a vocal part etc. At times the vocals are way down

Overall the energy is awesome but some guitar lines are sloppily played. The drums are in parts too, particuraly the bass drum. Should be easily fixed in a proper DAW. Make sure u dont loose the energy though

But as I said earlier. Great songs, great vocals. And thats the most important foundation for a band. Period

Regards /Bo

[jonbd]

Just going through the album now and I love it, a real pleasure to listen to. I'll echo what others are saying about the sloppy drumming, but the songs and performances of other instruments/vocals are great. Awesome band!

[sleepyhollos]

Bloody good shot. It sounds really big and the songs are good. The drumming, as stated is the Achilles heel of the project. I think that it could be a bit over compressed for my like when you did the master on it but then again it's loud and punchy which is what is needed for today's market to make it radio friendly.

Could have tried to control the string noise on 'Hannon' a bit as when the player's hands are moving around on the strings it can be a bit instrusive. Though, this is one of the songs that works best on the record in my view. Maybe the lack of drumming here helps.

I just also want to add that whilst your drummer is a bit ragged, I wouldn't want you to feel disheartened with him or he to feel disheartened if any of these comments get to him as his playing maybe a bit scruffy at times but his ideas are great which demonstrates a good musical ear. I reckon that's better than a boring drummer with standard ideas playing perfect. When this guy gets his chops up he (or she) will be really good.

Vocalist has a good voice and you've managed to get a good balance on things. I think 'Shi** got bad' is my personal favourite. I see that most people above have commented on 'She Got Away' but to me that song is a bit 'Busted' and didn't really catch me. I prefer your Artic Monkey-esque, riff driven stuff.

Good stuff!!! Well done

[Mr. Sister]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm learning a lot here. I haven't had the chance to really listen through for a couple days, but I've since noticed things the inconsistencies between tracks, the over-limited mastering, and shrillness on some elements. There's good news! We're having artwork done now for a proper release here in Halifax NS, and I'll be doing a couple touch ups to make things more even, and master it with dynamics in mind over loudness, because it would be nice to give the listener a consistently clean listening experience.

Umm, oh yeah, so there's more good news, the stuff on the album is actually rather dated, and the vast majority of the drum tracks were done between 1-1.5 years ago. Since then we've worked on dynamics as a band, as well as the importance of tempo. I've subtly stressed it a couple time during jams, mentioning the difference between intensity and tempo. Intensity loses it's effect if it's out of tempo etc. We've got enough new songs for a 4-5 song ep, and plan on recording soon. The album has gotten us some attention here, and we've been contacted by the tour manager of a bigger local band than us, and we could potentially be opening up for 2 amazing bands on a campus tour across the province. Imagine that! So we'll be recording a new batch of songs that I'm personally WAY more excited about than what's on Albert (save a couple tunes), and I can't wait to put some fresh shit "on tape", and use the advice given/what I've learned, and put some new stuff out!

But thanks for the nice words on the tunes, if I got paid for the amount of time I spent sitting in a basement in front of a computer with headphones on, I'd be a chamillionaire.