September 7Sep 7 A new tune I'm finishing the mix on about a night spent driving through the Arizona desert and thinking way too much. Any mix feedback appreciated, especially the outro that gets pretty busy.
September 7Sep 7 Hell yeah man, I'm glad you got this one out for general consumption. I really dig this one a lot.
September 7Sep 7 I dig it. That electric guitar part is awesome, it conveys the desert in the same way that a lot of Arizona bands have managed to do, must be something in the (lack of) water (Sidewinders, QOTSA, etc.). As far as the mix goes, I feel like the synth and ganged 'verbed vocals are a little high in the chorus, fighting with the lead vocal. I don't mind the outro mix at all. I need to take some guitar lessons.
September 7Sep 7 1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said: I don't mind the outro mix at all. Yeah same here. I like that a lot.
September 7Sep 7 16 minutes ago, G650 said: Hell yeah man, I'm glad you got this one out for general consumption. I really dig this one a lot. Thanks, still just a private track as I finalize the mix, but I'll be pushing it out to all the things eventually. I appreciate the ears. 15 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said: I dig it. That electric guitar part is awesome, it conveys the desert in the same way that a lot of Arizona bands have managed to do, must be something in the (lack of) water (Sidewinders, QOTSA, etc.). As far as the mix goes, I feel like the synth and ganged 'verbed vocals are a little high in the chorus, fighting with the lead vocal. I don't mind the outro mix at all. I need to take some guitar lessons. Thanks, appreciate the feedback. In my mind, I had David Lynch "Lost Highway" as the vibe/mood I was aiming for with the composition and instrumentation. Desert, isolation, surreality, mental discord, etc... I'll look at dialing back some of the things you call out in the chorus a little. I've been most worried trying to get the outro to work with all the things that are going on there competing for frequency space. Glad to hear from both of you that that is in a good spot. Btw, It has occurred to me that a hot bridge P90 would have been the perfect sound for the outro solo.
September 7Sep 7 8 minutes ago, Goredho said: I've been most worried trying to get the outro to work with all the things that are going on there competing for frequency space. My perspective is that the items competing are actually what makes it. I'm terrible with metaphor but it's like when they fade a movie out and the screen starts to go all distorted? I'm definitely not describing it well, but that sort of the thoughts racing through your mind all turning into a jumble. I thought of another GnR song that does that I really like too, Breakdown, along with Coma as I mentioned. Way different style than this, but that sort of effect.
September 7Sep 7 14 minutes ago, G650 said: My perspective is that the items competing are actually what makes it. I'm terrible with metaphor but it's like when they fade a movie out and the screen starts to go all distorted? I'm definitely not describing it well, but that sort of the thoughts racing through your mind all turning into a jumble. I thought of another GnR song that does that I really like too, Breakdown, along with Coma as I mentioned. Way different style than this, but that sort of effect. Thanks, yeah, I think it works as an editorial choice for effect/evocation like you describe, but my initial mixes, it all sounded like crunchy mush. In the end, I just really narrowed the eq band for the vocals and the solo has a somewhat wider band in the same area, but I notched it significantly where the vocals are present. So the solo kind of brackets the vocals frequency wise with the sum of them being a whole lot of mids/upper mids. A sorta unintentional side effect of the narrow EQ band on the outro vox is that it kinda sounds like an AM radio, which I think leans into the vibe of the song. The outro vox and guitar solo are panned left & right a bit, too, so they aren't right on top of each other. Another tricky part of the outro was the bass line, which starts down low around D1 and winds up at G3. So it is spanning some frequency lanes for the other instrumentation. I have it EQed more like a guitar and bring in some synth bass to hold the low end down as the bass line starts getting away from the lower register around where the vocal riffing comes in. Edited September 7Sep 7 by Goredho
September 7Sep 7 3 minutes ago, Goredho said: Thanks, yeah, I think it works as an editorial choice for effect/evocation like you describe, but my initial mixes, it all sounded like crunchy mush. In the end, I just really narrowed the eq band for the vocals and the solo has a somewhat wider band in the same area, but I notched it significantly where the vocals are present. So the solo kind of brackets the vocals frequency wise with the sum of them being a whole lot of mids/upper mids. A sorta unintentional side effect of the narrow EQ band on the outro vox is that it kinda sounds like an AM radio, which I think leans into the vibe of the song. The outro vox and guitar solo are panned left & right a bit, too, so they aren't right on top of each other. Another tricky part of the outro was the bass line, which starts down low around D1 and winds up at G3. So it is spanning some frequency lanes for the other instrumentation. I have it EQed more like a guitar and bring in some synth bass to hold the low end down as the bass line starts getting away from the lower register around where the vocal riffing comes in. Yeah they key is going to be getting it to be intelligible on crap speakers. With nice monitors you can pick all of that out, with a cell speaker not so much
September 7Sep 7 Just now, G650 said: Yeah they key is going to be getting it to be intelligible on crap speakers. With nice monitors you can pick all of that out, with a cell speaker not so much Yeah, it actually sounds pretty good now on shitty speakers. One of the things I've come to rely on for mixing in my much less than ideal monitoring space is a plugin that makes your headphones have a response like a professional studio monitoring room. https://www.waves.com/plugins/cla-nx I've found that helps an awful lot when paired with a decent set of supported headphones. Its got 3 sets of monitors modeled from CLA's studio, one of which is just a shitty boombox. Its really nice to change between 3 sets of monitors in the software and cover lots of listening scenarios. I'm not tweaking a mix, bouncing it down, then listening it on my laptop speakers, phone speaker, car speakers, etc... I mean, I still do that, but once I get it good using all the monitors in this plugin, I find it pretty much sounds good on all the other listening scenarios, too. There's much less iterating needed.
September 7Sep 7 Just now, jimmyjazz said: I assumed the "telephone" vibe of the final vocals was the intent! Nope, just a happy side effect of getting it to all work together. Better to be lucky than good, etc... etc...
September 7Sep 7 15 minutes ago, Goredho said: Yeah, it actually sounds pretty good now on shitty speakers. One of the things I've come to rely on for mixing in my much less than ideal monitoring space is a plugin that makes your headphones have a response like a professional studio monitoring room. https://www.waves.com/plugins/cla-nx I've found that helps an awful lot when paired with a decent set of supported headphones. Its got 3 sets of monitors modeled from CLA's studio, one of which is just a shitty boombox. Its really nice to change between 3 sets of monitors in the software and cover lots of listening scenarios. I'm not tweaking a mix, bouncing it down, then listening it on my laptop speakers, phone speaker, car speakers, etc... I mean, I still do that, but once I get it good using all the monitors in this plugin, I find it pretty much sounds good on all the other listening scenarios, too. There's much less iterating needed. Yeah i use the Abbey Rd Studio 3 plugin for that myself.
September 15Sep 15 Final mastered version of that last track after a final round of mix tweaks in case anyone wants to hear it. @sidis was kind enough to do the mastering for me.
September 15Sep 15 3 minutes ago, Goredho said: Final mastered version of that last track after a final round of mix tweaks in case anyone wants to hear it. @sidis was kind enough to do the mastering for me. Hell yeah man. I really like this song.
September 16Sep 16 So that guitar riff I posted above now has a song with it. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OdNzHV9w3FrgC94KndaQgqmrHZgjx_dC/view?usp=sharing Anyway, I can't fuckin' sing. Especially in the key change which is definitely out of my range but... eh. (Mind you, this is me picking and choosing the best bits and pieces of four different takes. But I don't get a lot of time where I can just yell to music in my house.)
September 16Sep 16 18 minutes ago, Rimbo said: So that guitar riff I posted above now has a song with it. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OdNzHV9w3FrgC94KndaQgqmrHZgjx_dC/view?usp=sharing Anyway, I can't fuckin' sing. Especially in the key change which is definitely out of my range but... eh. (Mind you, this is me picking and choosing the best bits and pieces of four different takes. But I don't get a lot of time where I can just yell to music in my house.) Cool tune.
September 19Sep 19 Neat thing about Google Drive files... I can update the file, and the link doesn't change. I think I'm pretty happy with the mix now. Time to move on... to the next song.
September 19Sep 19 First song from upcoming EP is back from mastering. Glad to have some new music out there finally!
September 19Sep 19 That's really cool. Every once in a while I get a little Bob Mould vibe, not overall but little flashes. Recording process?
September 19Sep 19 4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said: That's really cool. Every once in a while I get a little Bob Mould vibe, not overall but little flashes. Recording process? Is herp derp considering a recording process? But no, it was just old school track drums and guitar, then overdub a few guitars, bass and vocals at our rehearsal place. The vocals took some doing, I ended up just having the singer face out into the open warehouse. Pretty much Neve and API on everything here I think, maybe some Daking on drum OHs. The reference track for this was actually Green Days She believe it or not. But I'll take any incidental Mould I can get! It's a very old song actually, circa 2005 or so. Our EP is basically committing some old crap to posterity, and then next year hopefully an LP that will be a mix of old and new.
September 23Sep 23 On 9/19/2025 at 3:27 PM, G650 said: First song from upcoming EP is back from mastering. Glad to have some new music out there finally! So we will put everything on Soundcloud, and it's on all the usual streaming sites except Spotify, but definitely would like to send as much traffic to Bandcamp as possible. And if you have any friends or kids that take pity on old randos making music and want to support us a 1.50 at a time, please send them our way lol. Probably have some cassettes and maybe vinyl once at least an EP worth is done. Hopefully by the holidays. https://earlystreetvillains.bandcamp.com/track/save-me
September 23Sep 23 40 minutes ago, G650 said: So we will put everything on Soundcloud, and it's on all the usual streaming sites except Spotify, but definitely would like to send as much traffic to Bandcamp as possible. And if you have any friends or kids that take pity on old randos making music and want to support us a 1.50 at a time, please send them our way lol. Probably have some cassettes and maybe vinyl once at least an EP worth is done. Hopefully by the holidays. https://earlystreetvillains.bandcamp.com/track/save-me Happy to support you guys when I get home.
September 23Sep 23 3 minutes ago, Goredho said: Happy to support you guys when I get home. Shoot homie, your critical listening is more than enough support!
September 23Sep 23 1 hour ago, G650 said: Shoot homie, your critical listening is more than enough support! I'd be curious how bandcamp works for you and what you do that might/might not work to get traffic there.
September 23Sep 23 20 minutes ago, Goredho said: I'd be curious how bandcamp works for you and what you do that might/might not work to get traffic there. Firstly, thanks! But yes, I will definitely let you know. That's the whole key, getting traffic there. So we are starting that journey now.
September 24Sep 24 I really dig that one. Feels like what Dinosaur Jr. would have sounded like if they were from north Florida instead of Massachusetts.
September 24Sep 24 4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said: if they were from north Florida instead of Massachusetts. I can't decide if that good or bad.
September 24Sep 24 26 minutes ago, G650 said: I can't decide if that good or bad. Take it as good. (Although I love DJ as is, too, but you guys just have a more "southern" feel.)
September 24Sep 24 1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said: Take it as good. (Although I love DJ as is, too, but you guys just have a more "southern" feel.) Oh yeah, there's no doubt about that. I was teethed on everything Stax/Sun/Muscle Shoals. Its in my blood. Plus this song is consciously southern ish aesthetic to represent Charleston
October 3Oct 3 So just an FYI, today is Bandcamp Friday, where artists get all of the proceeds of sales. So if you are into any indie artists, or anyone really, it's a good day to hit up their Bandcamp and make a purchase https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-fridays?from=countdownbanner
October 9Oct 9 On 9/24/2025 at 1:04 PM, G650 said: And the next one. like this one a lot, g. appropriately titled '98 as the vocals very reminiscent of eddie and cornell. very nice track, good work.
October 9Oct 9 1 hour ago, sidis said: like this one a lot, g. appropriately titled '98 as the vocals very reminiscent of eddie and cornell. very nice track, good work. Thanks my friend. As with the other one, it's actually a 20 year old song, our goal has been to take some of the better stuff to commit to posterity. The next track may be another old one, or maybe a new one, not sure yet. I have an old one in the can, but we are tracking a newer one tonight in fact that I am pretty eager to get out. You have heard the rough demo of it funny enough, but now it will have actual drummers and bassists playing which should enhance the quality to put it mildly.
October 15Oct 15 This thread is too long for me to remember if I've posted this track. It's me and my dad band, but with my daughter on vocals and (believe it or not) Daryl Hall's drummer Brian Dunne on drums and percussion. Mixed in my spare bedroom, which is suboptimal in many ways, myself being not the least of the reasons. I *hate* mixing. Feels like a never-cracked puzzle to me. Anyway: Edited October 15Oct 15 by jimmyjazz
October 15Oct 15 7 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: This thread is too long for me to remember if I've posted this track. It's me and my dad band, but with my daughter on vocals and (believe it or not) Daryl Hall's drummer Brian Dunne on drums and percussion. Mixed in my spare bedroom, which is suboptimal in many ways, myself being not the least of the reasons. I *hate* mixing. Feels like a never-cracked puzzle to me. Anyway: I can't remember if you posted here or not either, but you have definitely shared it before. I really love the 90s alt vibe, takes me back to my younger days!
October 15Oct 15 8 hours ago, G650 said: I can't remember if you posted here or not either, but you have definitely shared it before. I really love the 90s alt vibe, takes me back to my younger days! I do believe we have unintentionally hit our temporal brick wall.
October 15Oct 15 2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said: I do believe we have unintentionally hit our temporal brick wall. Same.
October 18Oct 18 3 hours ago, YChang said: She's delightful and I can't stop listening to her album: So you're Olivia Dean?
October 18Oct 18 1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said: So you're Olivia Dean? <shrug>, I like her voice. Guess you don’t like it?
October 18Oct 18 17 minutes ago, YChang said: <shrug>, I like her voice. Guess you don’t like it? Actually, I do. But this thread is for people to post music they wrote or performed.
October 18Oct 18 3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said: Actually, I do. But this thread is for people to post music they wrote or performed. Oooooh… doh. Haha. Total miss on my part. Oops. Edited October 18Oct 18 by YChang
October 18Oct 18 16 minutes ago, YChang said: Oooooh… doh. Haha. Total miss on my part. Oops. No offense, but I kinda wish you were Olivia Dean up in here.
November 3Nov 3 On 10/17/2025 at 11:21 PM, YChang said: She's delightful and I can't stop listening to her album: Yeah she's magical
November 10Nov 10 Not sure where else to put this, but Christopher Raley over at The Other Side Reviews gave us a review on the latest single, and I thought it would be nice if anyone who is interested could give them some traffic and check out some of their reviews of other bands (not asking for us but feel free). They are awesome peeps who really give underground bands some coverage they would not otherwise see! https://www.theothersidereviews.com/category/single-reviews/
November 10Nov 10 4 minutes ago, G650 said: Not sure where else to put this, but Christopher Raley over at The Other Side Reviews gave us a review on the latest single, and I thought it would be nice if anyone who is interested could give them some traffic and check out some of their reviews of other bands (not asking for us but feel free). They are awesome peeps who really give underground bands some coverage they would not otherwise see! https://www.theothersidereviews.com/category/single-reviews/ Cool, nice review.
November 10Nov 10 14 minutes ago, G650 said: Not sure where else to put this, but Christopher Raley over at The Other Side Reviews gave us a review on the latest single, and I thought it would be nice if anyone who is interested could give them some traffic and check out some of their reviews of other bands (not asking for us but feel free). They are awesome peeps who really give underground bands some coverage they would not otherwise see! https://www.theothersidereviews.com/category/single-reviews/ That's a good review. And, ahem: Quote If ‘Save Me’ captures the gritty aspect of their sound, ‘Charleston ‘98’ pulls in influences that give the song a distinctly southern rock flavor.
December 15Dec 15 On 9/3/2025 at 8:36 PM, sidis said: here's one with goredho doing his best gilmour impression. i wrote the track, performed the acoustic guitars, electric bass, synth, synth bass, organ, and piano. wrote the strings as well. goredho was kind enough to write and perform the solo. i am actually quite happy with this track. i am going to the studio to record a session drummer to replace my programmed drums shortly but in the meantime, i didn't want to deprive the world of goredho's skills. so it only took me like three months to get the damned drums recorded but i did indeed follow through. Here is the updated version of @Goredho absolutely lighting the world on fire with a fabulous lead. Had a session drummer for the drums. I did everything else.
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