studio demo's

[almann1979]

we went into a studio this week to record demo's for our website. and i have to say i am very disappointed with what we got back - especially crocodile rock which seems to have got rid the guitar completely!!
in all honesty i think many of the members here could have recorded and mixed us better in their own home - in fact we should have flown over to dogbites for the money these cost - he would have done a much better job

still, i will post them anyway,
1.human
2. crocodile rock
3. crazy little thing called love

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... dID=835776

happy halloween!
Al

EDIT - i have now remixed croc rock and calle dit croc rock remix. there are also 2 versions of hound dog on their - the studio demo and my remix. the more i listen to the studio versions the more angry i feel about these have come out - still - lesson learned

[Blue Jay]

Those were good! Many of my favorite songs there....

Sweet Home Alabama, Johnny B. Goode and that Crazy Little Thing

[almann1979]

the johnny b goode and sweet home alabama on that page are live recordings - the demo's from the studio were just the 3 listed above.
thanks for listening though - they are some of my favourites as well!!

[jase36]

I've seen some of the stuff you've posted on youtube previously and liked what I saw. I personally think the new studio recordings are a little bit sterile, I can't say if there well produced or not but to me it doesn't portray the rockin band you've sounded on you youtube.

[almann1979]

thanks - i agree. they have been the source of some friction really.
i was personnally very disappointed with them - while the singer/keyboard player loves them.

he didnt like it when i remixed a couple

[jase36]

i was personnally very disappointed with them - while the singer/keyboard player loves them.

he didnt like it when i remixed a couple

Carefull that sounds like musical differencies


What did the other guys in the band think?

[almann1979]

i think they all felt it was a bit of a waste of money given the outcome - but they're not really vocal about their opinions, they're very quiet in nature.

All i know is i have heard much better free home recordings on this forum.

[cnev]

I listened to them last night and I would agree that they sounded a little thin for lack of a better word and the fact that you had to pay for the studio time makes it feel worse but they aren't a disaster or anything.

[rparker]

I gave them a listen too. Tough to say. Kind of generic sounding, maybe?

I hope that there's nothing come out of this that ruffles too may feathers and causes a split. Sounds like you've been generally well received from the gig reports you've done up.

[almann1979]

well we did have our little spat (or me and the singer did) - but at the end of the day we are both reasonable people and we have agreed to re-record all of the songs (and more) with our own equipment and mix them ourselves.

you see, the problem is, the singer thinks that the guitar is ALWAYS too loud, and that if i am involved in any of the mixing i will put it too high in the mix - but ironically, it was he who place the keyboard too high in all the mix's and deleted the guitar from 2 of the songs completely.

We just cant see each others points of view - and im sure i am just as guilty as he at times.

i guess we will never see eye to eye on sound levels - but usually we never let it cause a cross word - it was just the fact we had to play a gig for nothing to pay for these that annoyed me a bit.

hopefully next time i post it will be something worth listening too

thanks everybody for the comments

[cnev]

Why don't you have someone else do the mix so as not to influence what gets pushed up and what gets pushed back. Someone that knows something about mixing and what a good mix sounds like.

Besides the mix issue I thought the singer sang Crocodile rock quite well the others were not as good but not bad. But since you said he likes Elton John and George Micheal I can see why he sang the Elton John song better.

[rparker]

It was all worth listening too this time.

Good luck on that one. Sounds like you two are after two different sounds for the band. Might be a better product of he lets you win on some songs and you let him win on some songs? Well, if you're recording it yourself and have all the masters, you'll be able to play with it, let people listen and get opinions, etc, etc. I can't see cutting an instrument out completely. That's not exactly democratic.

[almann1979]

cnev - you are right, we really should get somebody neutral to do it, i would be more than happy to find somebody. However, the singer (who really is a nice guy) does not like to not be in control im afraid - he would never go for that

Roy - we used to alternate who decided the arrangement for each song. for example, if it was a rock song i would decide what keyboard setting he had, and what part he played, and if it was a keyboard led song, he would say weather or not there was a guitar solo, weather he wanted me to strum or play fills/arpeggios etc - but after a while, he just stopped listening to me, and then insisted i did nothing but strum quietly in the background on all keyboard songs, even croc rock - which in my view is built for some nice fills inbetween the vocals. these days we just do what we want without consulting each other. but that results in the keyboard powering out in songs like sex on fire ( )
i think we just want very different things, and one day i can see me being in a rock covers band, and him in an elton john tribute band or something like that. i think the only thing stopping that at the minute is that we are doing well and making enough money that we would certainly miss it if we split up.

[JoeHempel]

I love Crocodile Rock!! It's infectious, you guys did a good job on it!!

[cnev]

Al since you play a fair amount of covers can you just suggest that you shoot for a mix close to the original at least in terms of instrument mix, this way when he overdoes the keyboards on a song like Sex on Fire you can politely have him listen to the original and ask him where the heavy keyboards are.

At least shooting for something like that to me would sound more democratic at least you wouldn't be forcing your "mix" on him.

My gut feeling though is there isn't going to be a way to do this because he's always going to want his keyboards and vocals right up front in the mix.