A new concept for a country boy...

[Dazzyt66]

Hi all,

 

I decided to move from my trusted country genre to a more rock/80s feel. These were all done in GarageBand (ipad) so limited with what I could do:

 

I've now moved to Reaper on the pc which I'm really enjoying experimenting with and can move more towards an 80's synth sound I'm looking for (OMD/Joy Division esq). I've dropped this in the lounge not for feedback per se but more of a 'does anyone (but me) like it?' 🙏

 

Also, to find out who else here uses Reaper and any good tips you may have for me based on the above.

 

If I've posted this in the wrong place I'm really sorry!!😔

 

 

[symphonious7]

THIS is what you do Dazzy????????  Hahahahahahahaha I did not expect this man!  I am LOVING this first track!  It's so like.. blue oyster cult.    Pretty decent mix too!  Odd choice putting the bass on the right but I don't mind it too much.  Ok second track.....  intro is baller....  Dude I am just rocking out to this man!!  hahahahaha I love songs that you can sing along with before you even know them, this second one makes me feel like that hahaha.  Love the vocal FX too.   Who do you listen to?  I'm into bands like The Byrds, Beach Boys, Roxy Music, Wire, etc right now, I've just really been on this either 60's garage/psychadelic kick or it's punk prototype, so you're totally hittin on the vibes I like haha.  One thing I'm noticing, is every song could use some more musical variation.  They do kind of... repeat a lot.  Moving to the next one.  

 

Ok "You're the Girl".  Once again off to a great start.  Man you're still giving me those blue oyster cult vibes...  this one is striking me as the best mix so far.   This is the one who's lyric I'm liking the most....  still quite simple but I can feel the chorus that's nice.  Are you into Petty?  I dunno thought of Petty haha....  I wonder if you could put a guitar on the left side as well with this one, (I can't believe I'M saying a mix is unbalanced) lol  That was probably my favorite so far, the third one.  

Alright last one....

You are SO good at coming up with those late 70's 80's melodies and counter instrumental melodies.  it just feels so authentically retro.  Nice drum fill!  Ever thought of adding harmonies?  Each song seems like it's missing nuance to me.  Things like extra percussion "shakers, tambourines, guillotines, oh sorry I thought I was in a different thread for a second)  harmonies, maybe a musical interlude before going back into some of the verses, choruses, just you know, accented parts to kind of break up the monotony.  But as far as ideas, feels, melodies, playing, execution, ROCK factor????  It's all great man!!  Not one bad song in the bunch!

[Dazzyt66]

4 hours ago, symphonious7 said:

THIS is what you do Dazzy????????  Hahahahahahahaha I did not expect this man!  I am LOVING this first track!  It's so like.. blue oyster cult.    Pretty decent mix too!  Odd choice putting the bass on the right but I don't mind it too much.  Ok second track.....  intro is baller....  Dude I am just rocking out to this man!!  hahahahaha I love songs that you can sing along with before you even know them, this second one makes me feel like that hahaha.  Love the vocal FX too.   Who do you listen to?  I'm into bands like The Byrds, Beach Boys, Roxy Music, Wire, etc right now, I've just really been on this either 60's garage/psychadelic kick or it's punk prototype, so you're totally hittin on the vibes I like haha.  One thing I'm noticing, is every song could use some more musical variation.  They do kind of... repeat a lot.  Moving to the next one.  

 

Ok "You're the Girl".  Once again off to a great start.  Man you're still giving me those blue oyster cult vibes...  this one is striking me as the best mix so far.   This is the one who's lyric I'm liking the most....  still quite simple but I can feel the chorus that's nice.  Are you into Petty?  I dunno thought of Petty haha....  I wonder if you could put a guitar on the left side as well with this one, (I can't believe I'M saying a mix is unbalanced) lol  That was probably my favorite so far, the third one.  

Alright last one....

You are SO good at coming up with those late 70's 80's melodies and counter instrumental melodies.  it just feels so authentically retro.  Nice drum fill!  Ever thought of adding harmonies?  Each song seems like it's missing nuance to me.  Things like extra percussion "shakers, tambourines, guillotines, oh sorry I thought I was in a different thread for a second)  harmonies, maybe a musical interlude before going back into some of the verses, choruses, just you know, accented parts to kind of break up the monotony.  But as far as ideas, feels, melodies, playing, execution, ROCK factor????  It's all great man!!  Not one bad song in the bunch!

Hahaha How do I reply to all this!! Lol

 

Do you really like em? Seriously? That's coooool! I'm really pleased!!!

 

My main GOTO music has been country for a few years now - mainly cos I can't stand some of the new crap! Lol that said my musical tastes are varied and I guess I'm influenced by them when I come up with the 'rock' feel - as most of my collection in that genre is 70's and 80's (Petty, Blue Oyster, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, the Cure, the damned, etc etc) and then more recently the Darkness, Jet, Nickleback and the likes - so I guess that's where it comes from. I even have the Beach Boys! Lol

 

The repeating will be down to the loops and samples I'm using when I did all these in GarageBand on the iPad - it's pretty limited on what I can do which is why I moved to Reaper. I can only play basic guitar and I really want to be able to make MUSIC lol or at least songs people like and then others can take em and make em real, if you know what I mean...

 

 I've already remixed You're The Girl in Reaper and it sounds a bit better but I'm still learning and can spend time sorting them out now 🙂

 

Anyway, thanks for the reply. I'm really gonna try and add some of your suggestions to the remixes in Reaper. Your input TRULY made me smile! I'm glad I'm doing something that someone other than me likes!!! 👍

 

Having just looked at your influences, it actually reflects much of my collection (including the old vinyl!!) lol

 

[symphonious7]

5 hours ago, Dazzyt66 said:

Hahaha How do I reply to all this!! Lol

 

Do you really like em? Seriously? That's coooool! I'm really pleased!!!

 

My main GOTO music has been country for a few years now - mainly cos I can't stand some of the new crap! Lol that said my musical tastes are varied and I guess I'm influenced by them when I come up with the 'rock' feel - as most of my collection in that genre is 70's and 80's (Petty, Blue Oyster, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, the Cure, the damned, etc etc) and then more recently the Darkness, Jet, Nickleback and the likes - so I guess that's where it comes from. I even have the Beach Boys! Lol

 

The repeating will be down to the loops and samples I'm using when I did all these in GarageBand on the iPad - it's pretty limited on what I can do which is why I moved to Reaper. I can only play basic guitar and I really want to be able to make MUSIC lol or at least songs people like and then others can take em and make em real, if you know what I mean...

 

 I've already remixed You're The Girl in Reaper and it sounds a bit better but I'm still learning and can spend time sorting them out now 🙂

 

Anyway, thanks for the reply. I'm really gonna try and add some of your suggestions to the remixes in Reaper. Your input TRULY made me smile! I'm glad I'm doing something that someone other than me likes!!! 👍

 

Having just looked at your influences, it actually reflects much of my collection (including the old vinyl!!) lol

 

It's so funny cause you were so humble in your introduction thread you gave me the impression you were gonna be very amateur and just strumming an acoustic guitar or something, I really was expecting to have to humor you.  And then I listened and was like "Whoa!  This isn't amateur, it's freaking great!"  hahaha 

[Dazzyt66]

1 hour ago, Jenn said:

Wait... you used a midi right?? or just plugged your guitar/bass in?

Cause if not.. please tell me how you got these sounds in garageband

I'd like to take the credit but they are just loops (for the guitars) and then I used a stock drummer to get the sounds I wanted. Messed about a little with the mixing and effects and presto. It is my voice unfortunately - they don't have an app for that lol

 

I like it cos I really am crap at any kind of instrument (well, I'm ok on harmonica lol) so it brings my stuff to life in a way that's ok. What I'd really like is someone real to take them and make em real, if you get what I mean.

 

I'm not sure you have loops on the mac but they are included on the iPad - although it's mainly aimed at dub, EDM and all that mix stuff...

 

All that said, I've now invested in a midi keyboard and am starting to make some music from scratch in Reaper with Synth1 and a drum machine... watch this space for You're the Girl v2... 😀

[Dazzyt66]

1 hour ago, symphonious7 said:

It's so funny cause you were so humble in your introduction thread you gave me the impression you were gonna be very amateur and just strumming an acoustic guitar or something, I really was expecting to have to humor you.  And then I listened and was like "Whoa!  This isn't amateur, it's freaking great!"  hahaha 

That's about the best compliment I could ever get!! 💪🎉

[Dazzyt66]

2 minutes ago, Jenn said:

Ah ok! I would've never guessed..

Yes, the mac version does come with loops, mostly EDM like you said. My problem with them is that if you want to evolve them, you can't match the sound with virtual instruments! So I've always been stuck making my own melodies with robotic instruments.. guess it's a fair trade off.

 

Yeah haha I would like a 100 piece orchestra for myself .. minus the trumpet so I can conduct and play

Yeah, that's why I switched to a DAW I could .vst to death with 😉

[Dazzyt66]

19 hours ago, Rob Ash said:

Dazzy,

 

I made sure to check your settings before responding to this. There is a current trend on the site towards fluffy comments. Nothing wrong with that. It cycles both ways throughout the year... first soft and fuzzy, and then more serious and dissecting. You said you wanted hard critique. I don't plan to rip you a new one, but I do plan  to offer my honest thoughts. Hopefully faint praise is not all you really wanted. While the previous comments are all nice to hear, I am sure, they ALL, and I aim these next words at the posters themselves... they DO NOTHING..., ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help Dazzy make his songs better. Even if you insist that this post was not left in the  critique section, praise is still dirt cheap.

 

It takes a little real effort to offer a truly helpful, constructive comment.

 

First off, I agree. These are better than I first expected them to be. Clearly a lot of work went into each tune. Let's begin with a few obvious comments, in order to establish a baseline.

 

1, These sound entirely synthesized. The voices are cleverly used, but these sound totally like they were generated from VST instrumentation and loops/clips. That is not a critique, merely an observation. I agree that these can be more, if you find someone to help with bass, guitars, drums, etc.

 

2, These compositions do NOT sound 80's at all to me. They sound more like 60's era psychedelic pop to me. Some of that has to do with your vocal delivery, and some of it has to do with the fact that you used a keyboard to create most (if not all) of the stems. But a lot of it has to do with how the songs are built. An example of this would be how the vocal melodies mirror the main melodic line in the music bed. This occurred often in music in the 60's, less so in the 80's, where compositions in rock music were getting progressively more complex and intricate, and relied heavily on counterpoint melodies and each instrument (including voice) doing something slightly different, but complimentary. Of course, this was not universally true. Nothing in music ever is. But the trend was certainly NOT towards songs where the main melody and the vocal melody were the same, or nearly so.

 

Another example of why I think this sounds more 60's would be the voices you chose for the keys. Your voices sound like organs, rather than pianos, and more like synthesized voices than natural organ voices. Lastly, your vocal style really smacks of a 60's sound. Male vocals in the 80's were in the rafters, bro. Very high... some might even say effeminate. I was a rock singer all through the 80's... believe me, it was not easy to sing high like that, so I know.

 

None of this is meant to be negative... merely observations I am relating here in order to frame my opinions. As I said, I think these demonstrate a lot of work, and were created by someone with an obvious musical sensibility. That said, one of my main comments would be that you consider defining the project a little more precisely. To say that these are 80's style tunes is a little misleading. There are a lot of older players on this site. Some might jump at the chance to help on a few tunes that have a real 60's flare. There's nothing wrong with these ideas, Dazzy, they just aren't 80's rock tunes.

 

Anywho, I agree. one noticeable shortcoming these all share is a need for changes. Meaning transitions, as you, yourself mentioned. These need segues, bridges, interludes, solos (especially if they are 80's tunes!), and what not to break them up and make them more interesting to the ear. When you pick your partner to work with, try to pick someone who;s work demonstrates a knack for breaking up monotonous compositions. I'm not saying your work here is monotonous, only that the tunes will be best served by someone whose own work demonstrates a facility for changes.

 

I enjoyed listening to these. I listened to all of them. Pretty cool ideas, one and all.

 

I hope you find someone who can help you take them all to the next level.

 

Best of luck.

I don't know what the etiquette is for quoting is, so I did it all lol

 

Firstly, I think think this is the most honest and in depth critique I've had here and I truly value it. Truly. And it was REALLY useful.

 

TBH I just don't want to be too crap and the fact you listened is praise in itself. I thought they had a late 70's early 80s vibe but 60s or 70s is fine (I'm 51 so that range would fit with my musical influences) and these are my babies as I start out on this journey. I wrote them, composed em and 'sang' em - I also really do think they could be better but in the big scheme of things if they don't go anywhere then that doesn't matter either. So, yes, a good collaboration would be something I'd love to do. So thank you!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed listening to them (that means more to me than anything - I guess we all want our stuff to be liked) and I have moved on from loops now where I'm making my own music (albeit with vsti) to recreate a more genuine late 70 early 80 OMD Depeche Mode et al flavour. Watch this space as I evolve. The singing will still be crap though lol

 

Oh, and I actually do think they sound a bit monotonous but that is down to my skill level at the moment... 😔

 

Here's one I've already started rework on in its new 'genre' with all my own instrumentation work.

 

 

Great feedback. Thanks again.

 

Daz