new beak track

getting back in the game for some new releases and whatnot, what you think of this track?

any suggestions on EQ, mastering, etc would be particularly appreciated. do i need the bring the lower frequencies out more?

thanks

Beak_OneMoreYearInTheLifeOf.mp3 4.23 MB · 181 downloads

I think a tiny bit of reverb with more highs would help make a lot of the drums at the very beginning sound quite a bit better. There's a not a lot going on around then, so just a little bit would help not to make the so flat sounding. Yeah I think the bass freqs could be brought forward a bit as well through out. The guitars sound pretty good thoughout, but in the first structural switch the flute-type sound just doesn't do it for me. I realize you probably wanted it somewhat subtle, but some more reverb here would be good too I think.. it just feels stifled and muffled.

Sometimes in the second half of the tune the drums feel a little too "I need something on every sixteenth note here" and even though you can find a rhythm with the different timbres, the overall rhythm also gets kind of lost that way.

Overall I think it's a pretty good tune, original, well thought out. I can tell a fair amount of time was spent on it, the guitar playing is excellent. I only mentioned so many things so that you could see my view of perfection in this track.

Now, go be a man and review other people's tracks on here.

Happy Birthday, ya dicklicker.

very nice track, one of the best ones i've heard here for a while!

really fkin quality stuff.. the soundquality also surprised me, this is balanced, loud and well-defined without being flat... there could be more going on in the lower regions, some more pressure in the kicks would be wicked but its also fine as it is.. nice crunchy percussion, reminded me of (chris) clark's ultracompressed crunchy, light-yet-heavy drum hits.. and i heard a familiar click around 0:21 ;))

i agree with chloroplast about the first switch to the flute-ish synth + hectic beats (around 1:05), its not smooth enough, it kinda breaks the flow.. a touch of reverb to add a bit of soundstage and depth could work out nice too, especially if you have some high-quality reverb that you could slightly drench the entire mix in (short decay/predelays and a 5/95 wet/dry ratio for example). but this already is very good music overall.. thx for sharing..!

(oh, and, BOC RIPOFF ;)))

change nuthing! :grin:

simply great to hear the return of beak.

familiar, yet somehow different. doesn't have the flow that most of Earwig and El Hacedor had, but something different to engage the listener.

loved it.

Yes, this track is made of rainbows, and EVERYONE knows about me and rainbows!!! :omg:

d.ling now.

big beak fan.

good god, what an awesome track fred!

the intro is very cool. everything sounds so dynamic and well-placed.

really like the short weird breaks. the whole track sounds through the beats/percussion very chaotic in a good way. the chaos's well-balanced through the guitar riffs.

the whole mastering/production is superb!

really dig this track dude, well done.

nice work fred

i love this - very nice indeed

more of the same please

good morning and thanks for the listens and comments. i'm trying to get something really polished here so i plan on toying with bringing the bass out some more and working with the mellotron section (more reverb then?)

  chloroplast said:

I realize you probably wanted it somewhat subtle, but some more reverb here would be good too I think.. it just feels stifled and muffled.

good catch. the problem here was my mellotron sample is slightly out of tune so i was unable to layer guitar over it because i simply couldnt find the tune, everything i was playing sounded like shit and i tried odd tuning on my guitar but it wasnt working. granted i didnt really try that hard but still, it was a deterrent from further developing the melody on that section.

complications like this and the little bit of laziness i use to just not deal with them are really what keep me from making what for me personally would be the perfect track. there's still a gap between the final product and my ideal track, but i think i'm closing the gap with every track i make (except for the occasional track that accidentally creates a gap in the other direction, i.e. my workarounds and shortcuts produce something better than i wouldve intended)

  iep said:

really fkin quality stuff.. the soundquality also surprised me, this is balanced, loud and well-defined without being flat... there could be more going on in the lower regions, some more pressure in the kicks would be wicked but its also fine as it is.. nice crunchy percussion, reminded me of (chris) clark's ultracompressed crunchy, light-yet-heavy drum hits.. and i heard a familiar click around 0:21 ;))

 

i agree with chloroplast about the first switch to the flute-ish synth + hectic beats (around 1:05), its not smooth enough, it kinda breaks the flow.. a touch of reverb to add a bit of soundstage and depth could work out nice too, especially if you have some high-quality reverb that you could slightly drench the entire mix in (short decay/predelays and a 5/95 wet/dry ratio for example). but this already is very good music overall.. thx for sharing..!

fantastic ear, iep. yes that's the windows refresh click in 0:21, and yes i was definitely going for something chris clarky with some of the hits. this is also the second comment about reverb so i will try some subtle things the next time i visit this track after it's out of my head. also i agree there could be more going on in the lower regions, so i'm either going to try to bring it out in the mix or maybe add more of a bassline per plug expert's suggestion . . .

  ieafs said:

i really love that little vocal sample that comes in (birthday answerphone message? :laughing: )... gives the song a even more of a lovely wistful feel. a very inspired choice i think - i especially like how they're singing in tune with the song at the start.

 

the ending comes as a little bit of a surprise. something about it feels a little unfinished for some reason... again, if you added that ethereal feedback you have at around 0:38 at the very end here (with just the acoustic guitar) and had it sort of fade out 5-10 seconds after the guitar finishes. i don't know, just seems like it might give the ending some more finality.

 

but all in all this is a very nice - i really like it.... and this is all made with goldwave? :laughing:

haha, yeah the phone message. . . . they were on their way to a strip club called "private eyes" so if you listen close they're singing "private eyes . . are WATCHING you" (the hall and oates song) . . . and what a pleasant surprise when i mixed it in to realize that it was sort of in tune with the guitar. so yeah, that's my favorite part of the track, glad you noticed. i always save my favorite voice messages because i like adding them into my songs, it's the only way i can get my friends to listen to my music lol.

the ending is purposely abrupt and shows my frustration with the song, i got really tired of it after hearing it 9 billion times. i think i had more problems with this track and heard this track more times than any thing else i've done, so i was just like, fuck this, i'm done. somehow it fits for me too, so it isn't really a cop out as much as it is a reflection of myself in the music, which is kind of the idea.

goldwave - yep, all of it is done in goldwave. i use soundforge occassionally because i like a few of the effects in there, but goldwave is my baby.

  ~ism said:

simply great to hear the return of beak.

 

familiar, yet somehow different. doesn't have the flow that most of Earwig and El Hacedor had, but something different to engage the listener.

 

loved it.

agreed, a departure in the flow department. the next track will be a return to form though.

thanks guys, thanks shocker, gump, jonas, atop, for your comments :)

boc rip off

  LUDD said:

boc rip off

dl`d and listened to it now...

excellent work .... (favourite bit at 1.43 when the "watching you" bit synchs with the geetar nicely) ...good to hear new beak at last...super duper...really like the sudden end too

( maybe needs more low end...i say this becaus i just noticed my flatmates megay bass blaster nob is on 10 and usually everything sounds like a broken fart at that level, whereas this sounded absolutely lush...so i`m gonna listen again with the ultra mega turbo X bass turned down)...

/

lovely drum sounds... i'd eq up the sub 60hz range on your kicks though.

liking the syncopation.. reminiscent of some d and b rhythmns.

yes, i'd reverb up the mellotron a bit...

the drum programming is fucking superb fred...

yes, 1.44.. the vocal sample synching with the guitar is super-effective.

almost squarepusheresque drums after this bit....

the mid/hi range perc in this section could be eq'd down a bit imo.

the ending is superb.

yeah, a wee bit of reverb on the whole mix, as suggested by someone up there^^, would gel it a little better, but i have few cpomplaints.. i've always liked your stuff fred, and i think you deserve a hardcopy release. you're a shedload better than most of the dull as fuck cunts on morr/cco.

sweet track.

makes me feel good inside. :grin:

leave it as it is fred. well, maybe minus the windows refresh click. fantastic track

I liked some of the melody but I didnt like the drums that much, too frenetic and all over the place. Distracted me from the tune thats going on around it.

i lieked the beats a lot but the melodie didn´t do much for me, eq speaking, it could have been more fat!!!

I didn't like the last two comments........ :omg:

i'm with the majority, more bass, more reverb.. but it's top notch as it is, love the samples.

cool, thanks again for listening. and loganfive - i took notes, will definitely try out your eq advice.

more bass, more reverb. it will be so when it is part of an ep in the future.

and atop - yeah well, that's just like, their opinions, man. :grin:

I like this alot, Frederick. No crits from me.

Well man, they need to stop because the world is already angry enough as is and we all need to hold hands and love one another and share bodily fluids and sodomize and torture our genitals......... :omg: :omg: :omg:

always impressive, beak. esp. the beat work. im hearing this through shit phones so nevermind there. everything could use more bass on these. sometime, id love to just hear you playing something acoustic with no beats or samples,. i cant tell what of the guitar was sequenced, if any, but it always sounds like you can really play the hell out of it. very, very good track.

everything by Beak is recorded in real time........

everything! :omg:

Some thick mid bass sounds should do it. Please no more reverb. It would ruin the track for me. I liked it! but some nice dirty fat sounds of some sort showing up would make me happy. Seems I like synthesizers