This is meant to be an anonymous ‘blog’, although if any of my friends see this, they will figure out it’s me pretty quickly.
So my musician friend will remain nameless. Let’s call him Bob. Bob sent me a copy of his album recently, asking for comments on the production.
These are my comments, with track titles edited out, in full!
TRACK 1
A warm, welcoming start. Gorgeous keyboard (can the first 30 secs be equalised so it’s not as loud/quiet?). Good use of stereo. Nice balance. Concerned that the low synth arppegio sounds abit pre-setty. I’d have the high keyboard bit that comes in at 1m48 a bit lower in the mix, as I would with the guitar at 2m17. The same instruments are fine for the rest of the song. Ooooh moody, I like. Great “thump” at 2m34/35. The sound effects at the very end suit the song perfectly.
TRACK 2
The fap fap rhythm that comes in at the start sounds like you’re w*ing. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Guitar louder and/or vocal quieter in the mix please. A bit of distortion on the vocals but that works for me. Crikey, suddenly there are layered vocals and it’s OVER! Bob playing it short but sweet? I’m impressed! You need to be careful to hit the “Who’s” bang on the note, there’s a bit of what I call a swoop where the very beginning of the word is sung slightly below the note it’s meant to hit. The “Who’s” at 1m41 is an example – it’s just a personal bugbear of mine.
TRACK 3
Seven secs wait for anything to happen? Naughty. Again I think the vocal (nice vocal) drowns the instruments a bit. This may be your curse! The guitar that comes in at 1m40 is way too loud for the rhythm. Great use of vocal layering, mucho brownie points. From 2m40ish you can’t hear the rhythm track at all although this may be intentional. Oooh a Europop moment with that baseline from 3m07! I like. The snare that comes in sounds crappy. Can it either be more real or even the other way, more mechanical? The quiet man who sneaks in the background (“don’t take too long”) at 3m33 is good. Have that baseline louder so it is more prominent behind the guitar from 3m34. Woah, the guitar in at 4m04 is WAAAAAY TOO LOUD! Great rhythm progression. I’d have the final vocal quieter near the end. The der-der-der line synched with the identical keyboard line is wonderfully cheesy and lovely. It made me like you. (Not that I don’t already, but that’s how a punter would feel.)
TRACK 4
Im27. That’s all I’ll say. I’ve always struggled with that stray note. I know it’s meant to be there. But I struggle with it. Which is odd coming from a guy into Venetian Snares. Love the mournfulness from about 1m25ish.
TRACK 5
You know this works. The loud vocal from 1m14 is much better in the mix than earlier tracks. Is that an intentional stutter at 1m58? The bass drum reminds me of Jam & Spoon (ask me to play you the track some time). I’d tweak the higher guitar line (2m48ish) down in the mix a bit, just a bit. The vocal at 3m50ish is perfect. Can the guitar ‘riff’ from 4m23 be any sharper, a bit more Hooky-from-New-Order? The build up at around the 5min mark is in danger of mushiness, the last thing you need is for someone to stop tapping their foot because the hi-hat has dissipated. Cool speaking at 6m37. You sound exhausted from then on. This is a good thing. The vocals, they’re saying different things. Good! It gets tangled at 8m59 with that quick riff, suddenlyu there’s so much going on, nothing is distinguishable. It’s only for a few seconds, but the rollercoaster leaves the tracks for a moment and it’s disorientating. Good end.
TRACK 6
Perfect, expect for the ten hours of silence at the end. Good tune, good execution, expect a support slot with Spiritualized.
TRACK 7
Confident and simple, like George W Bush. The guitar phrase from 3m04-3m07 seems to lose its way a bit. Still, great track, does the job with no fuss.
TRACK 8
This is my sitting-at-a-festival-in-a-field-taking-in-the-atmosphere track. Yes, I know, that’s wrong wrong wrong, but we all interpret songs for ourselves! I didn’t think I’d say this but the vox are a bit too quiet when they come in. I can’t hear them on my crappy speakers well enough considering the (still quiet but louder than the vox) guitar. Quieten down that guitar from 1m58. Or louden up the earlier bits. You see, I don’t think this should be a “quiet” song. It should be a “sparse” song. Guitar is hitting that penetrating mid-frequency for the rest of the track, so it’s coming across louder than it ought to be. Damn you’ve got a sexy voice… where was I?... oh yes, the next track has started.
TRACK 9
And this follows on nicely. Good effects, the vocal is muffly and the low-fi sound works well here (take that mic back to the shop, low-fi is the way forward!!). After the 3 minute mark, this sounds even more gorgeous. I’d hold the vocal back a bit. I’d end the track at 3m55, although the ending as it is works fine.
TRACK 10
Generally strong. Can the 2m39 “But not you” be a bit less… lonely. I’d probably stick a little bit of guitar in there, just dying away ready for the accapella layers.
TRACK 11
I ditch the cymbal. I’d have the bassline louder. I like the chordy bit in the background near the beginning, it reminds me of the gorgeous chord that comes in quietly towards the end of Amerie’s 1 Thing. The distortion coming in from 2m25 is very nice (could just be the bad speakers). I’d want to mess with the drums a bit from 3m10ish, get a sharper rhythm. If you take it from 3m45 you get this ambient wash that is very dangerous if not kept in check, but it morphs nicely into your ‘whale-song’ moment from the 4min mark. Bloody hell, you’re moody bugger. Send a copy to Nick Cave. The fuzzy guitar most prominent at the end is beautiful. 20 seconds of silence at the end?
TRACK 12
I get wound up by complex drum beats, but only coz I’d want to play with them, a tweak here, a tweak there, and suddenly it’s 4 in the morning! It’s good though. The shouty vocal should be shouty without being too loud for the mix. Which it is. Another good end. You know how to end a song.
TRACK 13
Your Moby moment. Vocal is nice down in the mix at the start. There’s a phenomenal pop at 1m03 and a crackle at 1m13 and 1m24 and 1m33 and 38 and hold on, this is deliberate, isn’t it? Sorry. (Again it could be the speakers!) A nice balance, love the reverb, love the slow fade even down to the extra guitar build-up that comes in at 4m14 just as the song is dying, making you think the song is going to continue in a secret room somewhere behind your speakers (Trevor Horn has done that before now and I’ve always liked it).
