Actually, kingbenny, I labeled the last section "college jam band," and the model in my mind was OAR's Crazy Game of Poker, which might be the worst 42 minutes ever put to tape. I like Sublime, actually, although I can see the resemblance. One band that repeats things over and over because they're stoned is a lot like another band that repeats things over and over because they're stoned.

And edlundart, thanks for the compliments. The... [more]
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:34 AM on July 22, 2008

Well, arcanecrowbar, that section's just a lousy imitation of reggaeton. Check out Daddy Yankee, for example, if you want more (although he's a bit more electronic and hip-hoppy).

I will admit, though, that I really like the reggaeton beat, but the stupid airhorns and whistles drive me round the bend. Maybe I should have brought them up a bit in the mix.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 12:34 PM on July 24, 2008

This is really pretty. You know, except for the lyrics. I like it a lot.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:11 AM on July 24, 2008

Okay sure, I see cowboy, but the spy sort of cowboy. The sort who's casing the outlaw encampment. Or something. I dig this! Thanks.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:37 AM on July 23, 2008

That's nice. I agree about the wandering, and actually I think it would make a good soundtrack to travel, possibly by train.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:44 AM on July 22, 2008

This is fun; very playful. I like the vibraphone break. The beat reminds me a lot of the (very excellent) music from Beetle Adventure Racing.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:41 AM on July 22, 2008

This is not at all my usual type of thing; not in the slightest. But I really like it. The texture is fantastic, I love the fretless bass, and the sudden change at the end is really, really nice. Thanks for the surprise.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:38 AM on July 22, 2008

I love the ooh-wee-oooh-wayyy-ohhhhh synth that comes in around 1'30".
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:53 AM on July 21, 2008

That's freakin awesome. Rocking song, tons of energy. I love it.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:51 AM on July 21, 2008

That's a great groove.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:39 AM on July 16, 2008

That earache thing is fascinating. Two or three months ago, I drove home from work with the radio on and the windows down and noticed that it sounded a bit weird. Figured it was just fluttery currents blowing around. When I got home, I realized that everything I heard in my left ear was about 25 cents flat. I was terrified. Really, really terrified. I thought I was having a stroke. I thought I'd never be able to make music again. Because that sort of just-slight-enough detuning in one... [more]
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 9:17 AM on July 13, 2008

I think creepy nails it. Not that I don't like it; it's actually pretty cool. But definitely creepy. I actually really like the sound of the bass. As bad as cassette tapes sound, sometimes they deliver just the right tone to an instrument.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 12:30 PM on July 11, 2008

That's neat. I'll never turn down a ukulele track. (And yeah, the internal mics on Macs do sound pretty good, don't they?)
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:50 AM on July 11, 2008

That's just dreadful.

You know, in a good way.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:44 AM on July 11, 2008

That is a ton of fun. Just what I needed this morning. I'm a bit too busy at the moment for it to be my turn, though.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:39 AM on July 11, 2008

Very nice. I dig the barely-there harmonies especially.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:40 AM on July 9, 2008

If I could favorite ludwig_van's comment again, I would.

I record with some really cheap mics: an MXL 990 LDC for vocals (which really doesn't match my voice very well) and one or a pair of MXL 993 SDCs for acoustic instruments. It all goes through a Focusrite Saffire LE (which is a nice piece of kit, actually, and cheap) into Logic 8 (which, for the price, absolutely cannot be beat).

Electric guitars usually go through a Line6 POD xt (the... [more]
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:08 AM on July 7, 2008

Yeah, I don't know about USB, but I've got very little latency (a few samples) with my Firewire box. Zero-latency monitoring, too, which is practically a requirement.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 11:49 AM on July 8, 2008

My FW interface will, allegedly, do 192KHz, and squeeze quite a few of those tracks over the FW400 pipe. (Whether anyone actually needs that kind of sample rate in the home studio--or anywhere--is a discussion for another thread, though.) Seriously, though, if you've got the PCI slot, and the drivers are stable, may as well stick with that. But know that if you come to the dark (that is, Mac) side, Firewire is a viable (and, actually, pretty great) option.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 12:26 PM on July 8, 2008

I really miss playing with other people. Haven't done it on anything approaching a regular basis since high school, when it was mostly a small space above a health food store that high school bands occasionally played. The closest I manage to get these days is campfire singalongs. Which is a damn shame.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 8:37 AM on July 8, 2008

This is fun. You'll rarely hear me comment on lyrics (because I don't generally pay them much mind), but I dig the exploration of the mundane complications. And yeah, that chorus is just fantastic. The horn hits in the last one are a little too frantic for my taste, but I dig em anyhow. Rockin.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:42 AM on July 7, 2008

Awesome; I hoped you'd approve. I actually sequenced the drums the day you posted the original, but didn't get around to tracking the rest until last week. Would have posted it sooner, but I couldn't sit and mix until yesterday. I tried to hit all the stupid-mixing-tricks high points that would befit such epic rock.

I just realized that I left out the cowbell. Damn.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 11:38 AM on June 16, 2008

(Wow, this turned out long. Bear with me, or skip to the end if you just want to see what I recommend for programming drums.)

Well, when I say stupid mixing tricks, I really mean stuff like the telephone delay, the (as you noticed) squeezed telephone EQ, the preverb, and the dry ending (mostly). Stuff you hear in silly pop rock on the radio. (But done only half as well, of course.) In any case, I'm no pro, and I'm really not satisfied with... [more]
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:39 AM on June 23, 2008

Glad the rambling was a little helpful. I mix (and track) in Logic 8, and the majority of shifting effects and whatnot is automation. Once you get the hang of it, it's dead simple, and really powerful. Stuff that you couldn't even dream of doing with an analog desk unless you had a dozen hands or more.

Honestly, as far as EQ and compression go, take a look at the gear thread. Subtractive EQ is probably the most important tool in your arsenal as a mixer; you've got to... [more]
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:26 AM on July 7, 2008

I really dig this. You sound great.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:12 AM on June 23, 2008

I love Jimmy Webb, and I love this. The bassline, in particular, just feels right. Very nice.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:08 AM on June 23, 2008

I really dig this. It starts off all new-wave, and then goes all early-REM in the chorus; it's a very good song. The arrangement and mix leaves the choruses a lot smaller than I feel they ought to be, though, in comparison to the verse and break. Still, really nice work.

I'll be honest: I'm probably going to cover this, but not in time for this month's challenge.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:23 AM on June 20, 2008

I like this. All the guitars play nicely together as the track builds. It's great background music (and I mean that in a good way).
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:55 AM on June 18, 2008

Well I laughed, at least. I love your voice and the off-kilter whistling. So nice with the uke.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:52 AM on June 17, 2008

This is great. I hadn't listened to the original--which is just outstanding vocal work--but this adds just the right touch. Not too busy, doesn't get in the way, but definitely gives it that little something. I dig it!

(And I wouldn't want to hear anything else in there, except yeah, maybe a Hammond just barely creeping up in the background.)
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:48 AM on June 17, 2008

This is great! I love day of the dead art and, of course, Grim Fandango, with which this would fit perfectly. It's got a great feel.

Run, you pigeons, it's Robert Frost!
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:45 AM on June 16, 2008

I can't stop laughing at the mouth sax. And it's not just because of the new favorite bar I've found. It's just so silly. I love it.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 9:00 PM on June 11, 2008

I always liked this song, and I like this.

I listened to Linkin Park when I was in middle school

I could not possibly feel any older right now.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 8:22 AM on June 11, 2008

That's just fantastic. (And, dang it, I was gonna say "da da da.")
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:56 PM on June 9, 2008

Neat! That guitar is so fuzzy! Nice.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:33 AM on June 9, 2008

This is great! Cover-a-MeFite is awesome.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:32 AM on June 9, 2008

Very nice. Unsettling, but in a good way. (I was thinking of doing something like this for the challenge, and I still might, actually, if I get the time. But more euro-cheese-dance, and less glitch.)
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:23 AM on June 9, 2008

Ha, this is neat. I would like to hear slightly different treatments on the vocals, but I really, really love some of the synths. Nice job.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:06 AM on June 5, 2008

I dig it. Especially the ascending-descending hh---emmmmmms. Rockin.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:04 AM on June 5, 2008

Very nice. Thanks for this.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:02 AM on June 4, 2008

I'm um... a little late here... but I dig this. The drum track is great; I really dig the little backwards swishes here and there.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:58 AM on May 29, 2008

I really dig this. Oddly, it worked really well as background to my morning news-reading. (That's a good thing.) I've got a thing for dark electronic music.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:52 AM on May 29, 2008

This is great. The guitar sounds fantastic (the spring!), and combined with the brush groove, it's almost hypnotic. In a good way.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:40 AM on May 28, 2008

Sandpaper... fantastic!
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:35 AM on May 28, 2008

It would be hard for me to love this more. Your delivery is just so spot-on. Awesome.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 5:55 AM on May 27, 2008

I dig it! And agree about your voice. Very nice.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 1:51 PM on May 26, 2008

I actually turned around the first few times I noticed the glitchy noises in my headphones. Then they got louder and louder... I dig this.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:45 AM on May 22, 2008

I dig it and, in fact, wanted more. So, please, more. Thanks in advance.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:23 AM on May 21, 2008

Thanks, guys. And I'll even admit it, I do sound a little like Weird Al here. I'm not proud of that. I mean, sure, the guy is a legend, but a wonderful voice he does not have.

I ought to post my cover of Billy Joel's "Movin' Out" (what is it with me and movin'?), in which I sound an awful lot like Weird Al circa "In 3-D," which is, again, not something of which to be proud.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 7:22 AM on May 19, 2008

I was about to call this silly, but really, it might be the least-silly cover of this song I've heard.
posted to MeFi Music by uncleozzy at 6:36 AM on May 19, 2008