So Ready to Call It Quits

[jeremy.c.]

Originally Posted by Storyville

I don't understand this..... or wait.... does not compute.

To Olivia: I wish I could take credit for the mixes. I did have a hand in the mixing but it was primarily Benny Grotto. I wrote the music, arranged it, produced it, did a drop of the tracking and a drop of the mixing (mainly from the stems just to touch up a thing here and there). But the tracking and mixing was Benny.

well, mad props to you both, it really sounds top tier. Everything I've heard coming from Benny really does sound awesome. Your arrangements too are no small part in making it sound tight. It's a great recording all around (trust me, I would take content over polish any day of the week)
Congrats!

[bgrotto]

Originally Posted by olivia_nb

well, mad props to you both, it really sounds top tier. Everything I've heard coming from Benny really does sound awesome. Your arrangements too are no small part in making it sound tight. It's a great recording all around (trust me, I would take content over polish any day of the week)
Congrats!

Wow, thanks! That's awesome, thank you so much!

FYI - a lot of the credit goes to Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering, who did an absolutely KILLER job (as he always does!).

Anyway, thanks again!!

[wreckingstuff]

Really cool. I like Officer Down and Feel Real more as they have a more hip hop feel. Memorabilia has all the twang and tension of a Morricone cowboy soundtrack there in the intro though.

I see on soundclick it says for fans of Gorillaz, and I did think the other two tracks are reminiscent of Handsome Boy Modeling School / Nethaniel Merriweather... Not that they sound like HBMS, just reminded me, So you might have a good shot at that demographic in particular.

They all sound really 'pro', obviously perhaps, since you are, but the arrangements, separation, clarity, detail and balance sound top drawer to me.

What is your strategy for promotion? , if you are able to talk about it, I would be interested.

Also I see you are playing live, How much of the songs are instruments tracked in, and how much is programmed? How do you like to deal with reproducing programmed parts live?

[Chris Lago]

Originally Posted by Sid Viscous

Then he'll be wondering how he did all that awesome shit and how he can recapture the sounds and inspiration.

Exactly how I feel too.

[bgrotto]

Originally Posted by wreckingstuff

They all sound really 'pro', obviously perhaps, since you are, but the arrangements, separation, clarity, detail and balance sound top drawer to me.

...snip...

Also I see you are playing live, How much of the songs are instruments tracked in, and how much is programmed? How do you like to deal with reproducing programmed parts live?

Thanks for the kind words. I'm Benny, the tracking and mixing engineer on the project. I'm having a bit of a fit of insomnia at the moment, so I'll answer as many of your questions as I can and let Matt fill in the details (and correct whatever sleep-deprived nonsense I come up with) tomorrow.

I can't recall all the setup details, with regards to specific mics or compressors or EQs or whatever, but I do remember a few tidbits if you have any interest. Maybe Matt remembers more than I do, or maybe he has my setup notes that I left in the Pro Tools sessions.

So, of the songs that are on Matt's soundclick page, "Feel Real" is the only tune with programmed parts. The other two are all played live, all the way through, by real musicians on physical instruments.

"Memorabilia" was tracked entirely live, with all the instrumentalists (which included electric piano, upright bass, drums, acoustic guitar, violin [or maybe viola...?], and cello) in the room, except the drummer, who was in an iso room. The intro vocals were cut live, as well, however we overdubbed the vocals once the band kicked in. The instrumental portion is all a single take, all the way through with no edits.

"Officer Down" was also cut by live musicians, though I'm pretty sure Story did some chopping to give it a more loop-based feel. However, all the parts (guitars, strings, drums, bass, etc) are again, all played by live musicians on real instruments.

The musicians Story brought in are freakin' stellar. Just an insanely tight band, and a pleasure to work with.

[wreckingstuff]

Originally Posted by bgrotto

an insanely tight band, and a pleasure.

No kidding

Nice work all round, thanks Benny.

[AllAboutTone]

I have your same problem except different, every time I get a new piece of gear such as a new 2 buss, monitors, or anything post, I then want to remix my new CD I just finished. I'm never happy....well sometimes.

[Storyville]

Originally Posted by wreckingstuff

Really cool. I like Officer Down and Feel Real more as they have a more hip hop feel. Memorabilia has all the twang and tension of a Morricone cowboy soundtrack there in the intro though.

I see on soundclick it says for fans of Gorillaz, and I did think the other two tracks are reminiscent of Handsome Boy Modeling School / Nethaniel Merriweather... Not that they sound like HBMS, just reminded me, So you might have a good shot at that demographic in particular.

They all sound really 'pro', obviously perhaps, since you are, but the arrangements, separation, clarity, detail and balance sound top drawer to me.

What is your strategy for promotion? , if you are able to talk about it, I would be interested.

Also I see you are playing live, How much of the songs are instruments tracked in, and how much is programmed? How do you like to deal with reproducing programmed parts live?

@Benny : Viola. Although - there may be a violinist soon!

I really dig what David Albaurn and Dan the Automator did with the fusion of rock and Hip Hop, punk, etc. It's really just music. And I like that. And I think there is a fan base for that.

I'm still trying to work out promotion ideas. Right now, I've been relying on my reputation as a solo artist - and the reputation of the other bands the musicians are in. We have a youtube/facebook/myspace plan. We have our comparisons. But the media market outside of youtube we haven't worked out yet.

Most of the songs are played lives. The only things that were programmed were the drums in Feel Reel, which I chopped and tapped in live through a friend's mpc - which I was then later unable to get a hold of. So I just took the whole loop to Benny and said give it some love - which worked out very well. The claps in Officer Down were programmed in, however, each one was individually placed - no quantize. There's also some ghost drums in Officer Down that were programed.

There's also two other songs that haven't been uploaded yet.

Perhaps we should take this to another forum if we're going to get into that?


Point is - there's a couple of structural things I'd like to go back in time and change - and I wouldn't mind having put an extra db into the vocals. But I'm happy with the music again, which is nice.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by Sqye

.

...we...are...all...just...music...robots....

.....do...not...listen...to...us...

.

Are you that guy from Devo in real life?

[Empty Planet]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

In 5-10 years you'll hear it as music... all you need is some separation time... while you're working on your next project.

Good advice, that. Particularly the last bit.

Chin up!

[enroper]

Ummmmmm.....

cheer up. this shit is awesome. when are you going to play philly again..

[brian_delizza]

Good work man, I'm feelin it. Let me know when the LP drops and I'll definitely cop that!

[Storyville]

Originally Posted by enroper

Ummmmmm.....

cheer up. this shit is awesome. when are you going to play philly again..

Thanks man. After having lived with something so long, it's easy to take all the good things about it for granted and only hear the negatives.

I have a bunch of shows coming up. I'm doing the Troc main stage this Friday, the Fire next Friday (it reopens on Monday), and the Khyber on New Year's Eve. PM me, I can probably guest list you on one of those.

[Storyville]

Originally Posted by brian_delizza

Good work man, I'm feelin it. Let me know when the LP drops and I'll definitely cop that!

I have to scrape up the money to do a full length. This ep was done on a tight budget. I'd like to have more cash together for the next round so I can get a few more days with Benny, invest a little more into pre-production, and get a few more string players.....

I started jotting down song ideas. It's not good, I should be focusing on promoting the stuff I just recorded. But I can't help it, fighting inspiration is like amputating your good leg.

On another note, part of me wants to bring some of this work over to the Hip Hop forum - but part of me feels like that's just opening the door for people to start saying stupid stuff. There were some interesting things that happened during the tracking phase and mixing phase that I found valuable. Actually in the mastering phase too.