Stitch on 14/5/2010 at 22:48
Quote Posted by Aja
I honestly don't see how our usage of them could be construed as pretension (at least no more so than anything else we've done).
I wouldn't consider field recordings pretentious so much as difficult to pull off. Give that sample of commuters walking through a subway too much space and your audience will wonder why the fuck they're listening to commuters walking through a subway, but if you pull it into the background the sample doesn't really justify its existence and is reduced to unnecessary ballast that works at cross purposes with, you know,
the song.
"The Big Dig" falls pretty concretely in the latter camp, but instead of suggesting that you drop the field recordings, I'd say fuck it, full speed ahead. Maybe there's a point in the future when you make field recordings work for you and the world is united in a 1966 dance party, but you'll never find out if your lovingly sampled loop of a homeless man vomiting Mad Dog behind the corner PDQ is tossed in the trash. Seriously, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Aja on 14/5/2010 at 23:03
When you say it falls in the latter camp, are you referring specifically to the sounds at the beginning, or the talking snippets, or both? I know it's a silly question and I might be trying too hard to defend a questionable production choice, but in the future I think we'd all still like to incorporate these kinds of sounds, so we need to figure what's working at present (if anything) and what's not.
Stitch on 15/5/2010 at 00:30
Well, I think right now you guys have found a new toy and you aren't quite sure yet where it fits into your music and how. This is pretty standard "young band with big ideas" territory, and the last thing you need is grizzled old scenesters providing the needles for your balloons. Christ, I can practically hear the conversation you'll have with a new girlfriend in ten year's time where you share the music of "the band I used to be in" and then laugh off the field recordings with a "yeah, we probably went a bit overboard." So ignore us jaded assholes.
BUT
The sample at the beginning is too sharp and accomplishes nothing. If you want a field recording to launch a tune, then give it a little time to establish itself before the song itself kicks in. The samples during the (excellent) jammy part have far too much presence to really work as you're using them--the voices should be pulled back into headphone fodder territory. Generally speaking, you want the song to be the focus, with any miscellaneous sound effects adding a layer of support just beneath the surface.
Basically, keep it ambient or use it strictly as an intro or outro.
Also: the jammy part is actually quite excellent, for the record.
Aja on 15/5/2010 at 01:21
I think you're right about the vocals sounding too present, maybe we could EQ them into the background a bit. But there's a fine line between the samples serving a small purpose and them becoming background clutter. We'll play around with them.
I disagree about the intro. Yes, it's sharp, maybe too much so, but for me it serves a definite purpose. After all, we've been playing and hearing the song without it for months now, and once it was recorded, it sounded empty at the start. We added the sample and instantly liked the ambience it lent, which led to the little B3 riff (lovingly doctored to "fit in", as though you were walking past a guy playing it), and everything sorta came together. And it does fade out entirely by the time the song actually starts. On the other hand, you aren't the only one to criticize it, so maybe I've lost any sense of objectivity. It could probably be softened a bit, regardless.
The other OTHER thing, and I hesitate to even mention it for fear of sounding even more defensive and closed-minded, is that the stuff we're making is, in small part, informed by more ambient and experimental artists for whom field recordings are as common a tool as anything else. Now I sound like even more of a jackass, but that's where the heart is. We're probably not representing it very well, mind you, but it is the inspiration.
Honest feedback is hard to get, so thanks again guys. Whether or not it sounds like it, I'm not dismissing any of your criticisms, in fact the opposite. I'll post more recordings as we make them.
PigLick on 15/5/2010 at 02:05
a good thing to note, if I had heard that song without reference, I would have instantly thought of you Aja, so you do have a "sound" of sorts which is recognizable. And keep in mind, we're not trying to tell you what you should do, just sayin what we would do if you were us.
what? ah well I'm pretty sure you get what Im saying.
Aja on 15/5/2010 at 04:33
I consulted with our band member who does most of the mixing and he agreed about EQing the vocal samples down a bit, and softening the intro field recording.
But no, I completely understand. In fact, I'm grateful: you guys are giving the kind of feedback we need, but would never get from friends or family.
witherflower on 15/5/2010 at 05:57
You got some funky stuff there, Piglick. Like it.:thumb:
My site (
www.oceanarts.net) has some of my own royalty free tracks available if someone wants to check em out. And also my first short film.
Jason Moyer on 16/5/2010 at 13:13
I have a small archive of the less embarassing music I've made, although I doubt it will be of much interest. There are a few of the less irritating post-industrial tracks from my college 'playing in a band and putting out records' days and the rest is fairly minimalist as that's what's primarily interested me for the past 10 or so years. Not much new stuff as I haven't had my gear hooked up in awhile and I haven't found much inspiration in doing things on a computer since the 486 era for some reason. Also, basically everything from before 1997 is really bad.
(
http://www.simracingsucks.com/jasonmoyer/music/)
Muzman on 18/5/2010 at 04:41
Hooray, the opus is done. Not mine exactly, but some large involvement on my part I think I can say.
It looks like youtube has screwed the aspect ratio a bit, so maybe I should wait til it gets uploaded again. But whatever.
Also the footage might a be a little dark and DVD mix it has might be a little quiet, so amplify and black background if you're so inclined.
I promise it won't change your life, but it's amusingly flashy for a lo/no-budget effort.
Revel in the exploitation delights of (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqpdfwpyWok)
Blind
