The Songwriter Forum - songwriting reviews, tips and chat
Songwriter Forum => Feedback on Finished songs => Topic started by: MartynRich on August 18, 2016, 11:05:22 PM
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Well you cheeky chappies, I finally got so narked off at politicians I wrote a song about them, something I rarely feel inclined to do...this one is dedicated to them all, whatever party they say they represent. It starts off quite folky then goes into some thumping dance with guitars...I hope you like it.
It was one difficult song to mix...big time. Any feedback on the mix or how to improve it would be tearfully received with possible gifts in the post.
Lyrics are at the link:
https://soundcloud.com/martynrich/friend/s-zafty
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It was one difficult song to mix...big time. Any feedback on the mix or how to improve it
Hi;
I think you use the panning too much. don t pan stuff (synths and guitars) that much into one direction.
I know, it makes the mix more transparent, but it s wired for the ear of the listener.
especially the bass has to be in the center.
The song itself has many interesting soundscapes, instruments and ideas this "rap" and "speech" part from 2:30 on.
It s a very ambitioned piece of music. in terms of music and content.
Great man!
B
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Sorry MnR....can't help with the mix (obvious reasons).......but I can tell you that I enjoyed this track.....very entertaining!
Good stuff!
8)-Tom
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Err. Very nice. I wish I had your skills.
The guitar is great. The concept, to sample those politicians - just brilliant.
Very good work!
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@B - thanks mate. The bass is panned dead centre on the chorus sections, then I pan it opposite the guitars on the rocking bits...I hear what you are saying though and will keep tweaking it.
@Tom - Thanks for comments!
@Rightly - ;D Err. Love it!
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this is great, Martyn :)
loved the lead guitar...sounded pretty epic
i think the sample of Mr Farage is my favourite...an excellent choice
fantastic stuff...who needs enemies?
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Martyn,
Enjoyed this listen.
Great Samples...should add the one when Blair says he's just an ordinary guy.
Love that bass.
More please!
Sandeep
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This is brilliant stuff Martyn. Blair, major, farage in the same space. The "You're not laughing now" quote will surely go down in history. As usual your songs are quirky, inventive and unique and you always have something to say apart from "Lost love yuckkkkk". Keep it up bro. You are on a roll. By the way there is a beer waiting for you in the Hope and Anchor (Hopeless W****r)
Cheers John aka Pompeyjazz
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@PaulAds - thanks buddy. Exactly my thinking, who does indeed?
@Sandeep - Yep, I had a million samples to choose from. Very painful to go through but I couldn't bear much more so I went with what I had. Thanks for the comments!
@John - thanks for the glowing review mate, it brightened up my morning no end...I have dim memories of the Hope & Anchor - I think it came in no. 4 after the Golden Globe, The Courtyard and the D&T...sure I must have played there as well.
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starts off folky & then omg its bronski beat ,..& now theres frantic funky frankie goes rhythym guitar ...are these politicians debating gay disco?
im not so keen on political samples in songs but they do work well in this & make it sound weighty & protesty..thats a new word ive invented just for your song btw ;D
ferocious guitar solo & at the end as well ..it sounds like a WMD
you do like to get funky & I enjoy it all but it always seems to slightly lack one of the funky five ingredients but being a white girl I dont know what it is ....maybe its in the mixing you talked about?
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Well I googled funky 5 ingredients and all I got was Jamie Oliver so that didn´t help much. The only ingredient I know in funk is to hit the ´1´ everytime, bang on the button. To be honest, funk never entered my head so it´s interesting you should say it, as I was thinking more rock n´ dance and I guess I´m trying to achieve a good hybrid of the two. Bit by bit I´ll get there. Maybe the beat is too complicated in the rocky (funky) bits and I should simplify it a bit...
Thanks for the review and the new music genre though! That´s now two from you so I defo owe you one back :D
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no i made up 'funky five ingredients' aswell ! ;D
its what i always do when i dont know what im talking about ...it always worked before google :)
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Very funky and cool. I'm amazed at what you guys can do with all these different instruments (whether real or virtual). A real groovy soundscape and the samples are spot on. The guitar playing is really nice - just drives the piece along with the great drums. Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do with this one? Something for sure I hope :-)
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I think you got one really brilliant song here and love the way you fitted everything together, not to sure of the title though, maybe "When they screw you over" anyway, cant help you on the mix or whatever know nothing about that but what i will say is if you can get your song out there, i would say you would gather a huge amount of listeners, not often you hear songs like this but when you do, everyone listenings, all the parts you fitted made headlines news.
Great song Martyn glad you weren't put of recording it 8)
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1000% agree with Butcher regarding the panning of the bass! Don't mind the rest of the pannings as much but the bass is really disturbing. Musically not really my cup of tea but I do appreciate the skills involved putting it together. Not sure about the vocals, from time to time the pitch sound off but that might just intended. Much of the policts passed my by for obviously resasons (I'm Swedish) but good used of samples anyways. Perhaps the kick could use some more punch? For some reason I got som Pump Up The Volume vibes from this track
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Hi martyn
Listening on a mono bluetooth speaker so I'm no help mixing wise. But as far as the song goes this is great! Love the modern funky groove to it - could be top 40 if funk you up can be.
You gotta change the title though - "What You Gonna Do?" seems the obvious candidate.
fine work on display here!
Paul
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Thanks all three of your for listening and giving your comments...very positively taken! A friend of mine is putting a video together so that should hopefully give it some more exposure. Im not a fan of samples either but I just had to show those people up. Anyway...
Jambrains - which bit of the bass do you mean? The bass on the chorus is dead centre..and I don't hear the bass on the heavier bits that far out...it is only slightly panned. I am wondering if you are hearing the synth line underneath that is maybe clashing on the bass frequencies? That effect is a definite swirler... :D
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Jambrains - which bit of the bass do you mean? The bass on the chorus is dead centre..and I don't hear the bass on the heavier bits that far out...it is only slightly panned. I am wondering if you are hearing the synth line underneath that is maybe clashing on the bass frequencies? That effect is a definite swirler... :D
The bass line that comes in for the first time at around 1.07 was what I had in mind.
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Ok, thanks mate, Ill have a listen...
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A complex and entertaining piece..enjoyed the panning myself..a bit unusual...
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Reminded me of Lennon when the vocals kicked in,very Beatle-ish.
Then it goes off into Faithless territory.
Great topic,I have the ultimate disrespect for politicos and it pleases me to hear anyone hold the greedy bassdrinkers to account. :)
A very interesting piece,young Martyn. 8)
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Martin,
Neat intro and liked the morphing into a dance track. Had my foot tapping straight away.
Lyrics all good and it all works with vocals clips. Blair and Garage are the 'best' ones. Did that take a while to find them all?
Re arrangement the mix my only suggestion is that you put the bass right in the middle of the mix. It sounds more powerful when the bass guitar is there, so i think the synth bass should be more prominent too. Great choked guitar solo.
Got flavours of Stereo MC's in the somewhere
:) :)
Neil
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Thanks both. It didn't take me long to find the samples, there are a million of them on Youtube. I will look at the remix of the bass and see what it sounds like...as always your comments are very much appreciated.
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Hi Marty,
Yeah, like this ;D ;D Mixing/playing gtr and synth together,
and getting it to sound good, aint easy ;D ;D But I think you
managed it here. I love the choppy, driving rhythm gtrs. The
song really takes off when they kick in. If it were mine....... ;D
I would be looking at having more of that gtr and less of the
'what ya goin to do' vocal. Sounds really good at the end when
they both come together, and I'd be tempted to shorten the intro.
Just like to hear that gtr kick in earlier ;D ;D
Great concept, and loved the soundbites ;D
Excellent work...
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I like the harmonies and instruments in your song, and the "what ya gonna do" very much! And well, I'm bad at mixing so I can't help you, but I can say in my ears you did a good job!
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Hi Martyn,
Very good listen.
Really liked the different styles throughout the song; they blended well and gelled with the speech samples.
Good vocal delivery.
The panning was different - but I rather quite liked it.
Digger
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Thanks you three. I did tried to put the bass in the centre but to me it made the mix sound too muddy...there´s a lot going on in the background to fill the bugger out. Plenty of people say they like it as it is so I´ll leave it as it is, because I like it too :D
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Man! My bad,I thought I'd commented on this already mate. ???
Great use of and selection of samples.I think you've done a great job with the mix mate.I especially love the music bit after "not laughing now" really great mate! The "what you gonna do" is a good hook.Theres a couple of minor pitchy parts mate,but other than that I got nothing but love for this one! ;D ;D
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Amazing stuff. Really liked it. I can't help with mixing - I've never particularly been a techie. I'm still sitting in front of the camera with my guitar and hoping for the best. lol
Great track though, genuinely can't think of any criticism at all and I'll be listening to it again.
Well done!
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I, too found the political references beyond my understanding. . . and didn't mind at all.
Love the concept. Love most of the execution.
One thing I found is that with all the musical interludes, I was able to experiment and found an all-but infinite number of ways to sing each part of this without departing from the musical instrumentation.
The music allows a LOT of room for vocal interpretation. I'm not sure you have taken full advantage of that with your current vocal.
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Hi,
Political commentary songs are tricky to carry off. It's dangerous territory for a songwriter but I think you've managed to pull it off by letting the absurdity of what politicians say speak for itself and keeping the commentary oblique and open to interpretation.
Musically I think it fine - strong arrangement and nice playing. Don't mind the bass panned and I would never have thought you had any trouble with the mixing as it sounds spot on to me.
Clever, accomplished work.
M
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Thanks again for the comments....I always have pitchy parts but they don't bother me anymore...it'll fix itself in time. Hardtwist, I'm interested in what you said about the vocals...any suggestions like that are always welcome.