Female fronted rock/pop/indie band, with latin influences! Pleaseee help me out here!!

[Tech]

My band, stereotemple, just recorded a casual EP in my mates living room, just to get some ideas for tracks on record...

we need opinions and advice on our music... you would be doing me a *massive* favor in checking out one or two of our tracks and letting us know how can we can improve!!

[url="http://www.myspace.com/stereotemple"]http://www.myspace.com/stereotemple[/url]

thanks in advance... =]]

[Tengu]

I really like all of those tracks. Musically I don't think you need to be doing anything differently. Everything you are playing fits within the context of the song and nothing strikes me as being out of place.

Recording-wise the drums and especially the vocals sound very dry to me, so you could do with dropping a little reverb on them. You have a very good bass tone and it is far more prominent than the other instruments so take a bit more time with setting them up.

The only other niggle is that some of the timing seems a little off. In parts the snare seems to be hitting just before the beat and other parts aren't as nailed on the beat as they could be. Do you normally use a click track when recording? Playing live you tend not to notice details like that but when recording you really need a good timing reference down before you start adding tracks.

[Tech]

cheers for the kind words, and thanks so much for taking the time to listen and evaluate the tracks!! =]

yeah, I thought the vocals were really dry too... more reverb sounds good!!

and thanks for the comments on the bass tone, I was kicking myself about spending £20+ on a new set of strings before the recording but it all adds up, and I'm pretty happy with the tone too but yeah, we should look at everything else a bit closer next time.

as for the timing - this is the recurring comment we've gotten from everyone... this was our first time recording as a band (I've recorded before with other artists, but none of the others had). I took it for granted that our drummer could play to a click track, but he struggled so much we had to abandon the idea. I'm thinking about asking him to practice to a click track - it'd pay off no end in the long run!

We didn't pay anything for these recordings and we have no intention of selling them on or anything... but we didn't want to get a session with someone like peter king and spend £500 on an EP that wasn't a) worth recording in terms of material... or b.) going to reflect the best of our abilities. I wanted to get the practice in to give us something to work with...

Thanks very very very much for your input, it's definitely falling on keen ears =]

Edited July 31, 2008 by Tech

[ironside1966]

[quote name='Tengu' post='252221' date='Jul 31 2008, 06:16 PM']I really like all of those tracks. Musically I don't think you need to be doing anything differently. Everything you are playing fits within the context of the song and nothing strikes me as being out of place.

Recording-wise the drums and especially the vocals sound very dry to me, so you could do with dropping a little reverb on them. You have a very good bass tone and it is far more prominent than the other instruments so take a bit more time with setting them up.

The only other niggle is that some of the timing seems a little off. In parts the snare seems to be hitting just before the beat and other parts aren't as nailed on the beat as they could be. Do you normally use a click track when recording? Playing live you tend not to notice details like that but when recording you really need a good timing reference down before you start adding tracks.[/quote]


Agree with all the above, maybe try more overheads if the room sounded ok

if you focus on the individual tracks they sound ok, but IMNO they do not gel together as they should, it sound like the tracks where treated soloed to get the best individual sound rather then in the context of the mix.

saturation plugins can do wonders to help sound gel keep up the good work.

nothing bad to say about the bass sound.
Keep up the good work

[Kiwi]

Ummm just for the sake of clarity, when you say "female fronted"...

[attachment=11454:comedy_breasts.jpg]

...?

[Tech]

[quote name='ironside1966' post='252251' date='Jul 31 2008, 07:01 PM']...if you focus on the individual tracks they sound ok, but IMNO they do not gel together as they should, it sound like the tracks where treated soloed to get the best individual sound rather then in the context of the mix.

...saturation plugins can do wonders to help sound gel...[/quote]

ah, thanks for the heads up! it's difficult to listen to the mix as a whole when you're just recorded something yourself, but I see what you mean now... will look into saturation plugins thanks!


[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='252294' date='Jul 31 2008, 07:51 PM']Ummm just for the sake of clarity, when you say "female fronted"...

[attachment=11454:comedy_breasts.jpg]

...?[/quote]

lol

all your questions will be answered if you check out the myspace page my friend

[BassBomber414]

Tech ,

First of all I think your band shows very good potential and 'hats off' for the original material which shows a lot of promise.

I wont hold back here ; hold on tight.

VOCALIST - Very good , interesting voice that would suit Pop /Punk as well as 'Indie' - very reminicent of Debbie Harry (o.k. - ask your dad)The double tracking of vocals on 'Time' works very well indeed.
BASS - Good , - no probs.
DRUMS - Uninspired playing on a really 'dead' set of drums, or is that a recording shortfall ? Some unforgivable timing errors around the kit.
GUITAR - Not great.Playing and content is pretty average. Solos are a bit clunky. Better on acoustic, the distorted rythmic chording on 'Time' mars a fine song.
KEYBOARD- OK
SAXOPHONE - In my opinion - surplus to requirements, for the sample material.

GENERAL-For me,more thought should go into the arrangements.For eg ,I think the guitar work can be a bit 'busy' when the the vocalist is singing quite low key stuff.I think it is a question of settling for a mood for each track and arrange the track accordingly.Soft vocals = use more acoustic guitar ,maybe pick out the notes in chords( works well on a 12 string) hold off the trebly guitar chording etc., keep the the keyboards soft and well in the background.The strident full out vocal parts need a strong backing but I would save strong guitaring for solo breaks.I get the impression that everyone is chipping in their contribution, whether it is really needed or not.If you have aspirations to record take a look at succesful bands.That pop/punk sound that your band could do so well needs strong repetitive hooks in the songs(Listen to some Blondie hits) A band that handles quiet 'out front'vocals well is Coldplay. Love 'em or hate 'em their arrangements are exceptional.Plenty of light and shade required , and again using Coldplay as an example - lot's of space in the tracks , don't overwork them. Your trump card is your vocalist - let her shine.When she has some low key 'killer' lyrics let the band drop off nice and quiet and then wind it up again when she is done.I little more drama required.Have a listen to a band from around Cardiff (Sorry ) called Magenta - see how they use a female vocalist.
[url="http://www.magenta-web.com/"]http://www.magenta-web.com/[/url]


This is only one guy's opinion and everyone will see your band differently.
Best of luck for the future.

Edited August 7, 2008 by BassBomber414

[joe_bass]

Tech,


That was enjoyable to listen to!! I do agree with the other members on a few points though. The vocals do sound very dry.

For Time that raw sort of sound coming from the guitar when playing the chords just doesn't fit with the song imo.

[Tech]

Thanks very very much to take the time in your response BassBomer414... you answered many questions I had going through my head.

I also felt we were cluttered a bit at times, that's definitely something we should look in to... and I feared the sax might be surplus at times - our sax player is also the keyboard player, so it's not so much a problem to ease off on the sax.

it's a combination of things resulting in a dead drum sound, including the recording equipment, the room, the drumkit, amongst other things. new skins would be a thought for the next time we record, but our drummer is hoping to get a whole new kit soon.

good point about the mood of songs - never really given it that much consideration before, but it's something which we should do, because it could really help us get our songs sorted out.

and I love coldplay and blondie (of course I know debbie harry! ) - your thoughts here are exactly the thoughts I had too, and it's great to have someone else confirm that!!

I'm really grateful! Magenta are an awesome band, and I love how they construct songs - the singer is awesome, and they really flaunt that very well! we will take tips I also love the tone the bass player gets they remind me of what rush might be like if they formed in this day and age, but with less geddy lee very cool!

and thanks for the input joe_bass... I think you're right there too, the guitarist was using his tele in that one and I think the single coil bride pickup was too sharp for the job. we know better now