Song Reviews

[BALDO]

Hmmm teka i need my heart pill ...prophylaxis muna ako baka madale eh.. 

[bugoy]

re:

parang masyado yata kayo na amaze sa ganda ng tunog ng percs niyo nakalimutan niyo na ayusin yung vocals.
sa totoo lang halos wala rin ako mintindihan sa lyrics. hehehe kaya nga "SONG" diba yung pagkanta ang emphasized dapat ? parang nag ga gargle yung kumakanta hehehe. sana man lang kahit may effects yung vocals ginawan niyo pa rin ng paraan para maintindihan yung lyrics, eh paano namin ngayon malalaman (radio listeners) kung ano yung theme na gusto niyo ipahiwatig ?

anyway noob lang ako ano ba yang drums diyan ? totoong drums or electronic drums or fruity loops ? as you've stated, PC lang yata gamit mo walang interface at kung anu mang mixer, w/ that drum sound quality imposible ma produce ng ordinary PC soundcard yan. saka para kasing pantay na pantay yung palo parang robot, adjust mo ng konti yung velocity if fruity gamit mo.

[marvinq]

...sa totoo lang halos wala rin ako mintindihan sa lyrics. hehehe kaya nga "SONG" diba yung pagkanta ang emphasized dapat ? parang nag ga gargle yung kumakanta hehehe. sana man lang kahit may effects yung vocals ginawan niyo pa rin ng paraan para maintindihan yung lyrics, eh paano namin ngayon malalaman (radio listeners) kung ano yung theme na gusto niyo ipahiwatig ? ...

baka hindi ka na "youth". hehe. youth theme kasi eh. "youth"  lang ang makakaintindi.

From now on, Marvin, I'm calling you Simon.

actually kit, he's kinda my idol, and you can consider me his disciple. now, i only wish i had as much bentleys as he does. oops, i forgot -- i don't even have one. haha.

(*) yes, i know, kit. it's way too early in the morning. it's not even 7am yet. too much caffeine?

[marvinq]

Pasali.  Sa akin, there are three important parts (maybe more) of a good song, the melody, lyrics (unless you are doing an instrumental) and arrangement.  All of these are suppose to relate to the listener emotionally (remember, each of us have their own "music of our lives" - songs that we can relate, remember, cry, laugh, etc. to)....

mismo, sir mike. i can remember discussing that very same point with hazel a.k.a. starfugger. (it was more a dialogue than a debate -- we were on the same side/team.) at some point it will have to boil down to the music. a lot of the job of the mixing engineer (and most everybody else involved) is actually geared towards the success of the song (success = ease at being able to convey the emotion and/or the message of the song). a lot of times, probably because of the multitude/multiplicity of the options (thanks to piracy and cracked plug-ins), instead of it becoming "about the music", it's becoming about "uniqueness", "coolness", "tunog kano" or "tunog egoy", etc. -- at which point the art is becoming purely an avenue for self-expression (not a bad thing, per se -- but i've many times likened it to a dog pissing everywhere to mark his/her territory with no real regard for his/her surroundings) instead of the pursuit of beauty (hence, that undeniable rhyme between the words "musician" and "beautician", haha) that it used to be (which i'd like to think is why we call the likes of bach, beethoven, mozart, picasso, monet, the masters).

...The song that you hear... the mixing, volume, flangers, panning, lyrics, etc. are all the specifications of the band....This is the sound of kukays jam, making it distinct from other groups. Well kanya-kanyang taste lang yan, and as to our side, we find it a perfect mix because our desired sounds came out in a smooth flow as we desired. It is our standard as professional recording artists, like any other bands. We do not like being branded like  "it sounds-like this certain group or something". Every band wants to be unique, to be recognized as their own identity although sharing same genres with others. There has to be distinction. So here it is, our final product, sounds as planned, smooth, unique... ready for radio airplay and sharing.
...

(*) i find it lamentable how some artists can actually rely on plug-ins or processing to generate their "uniqueness" or "individuality", kinda like some arranger i know who derives his uniqueness from samples he bought. (that's like a book author who considers the selling point of his book to be the fonts that he uses -- pathetic, di ba?) that individuality, in my opinion, has to come from something more internal than plug-ins or samples. phil collins was famous for his gated reverb drums, but it wouldn't be wise or safe for him if he had chosen to stay with that sound today. now, of course that'd be too "80's" by today's standards. but here's my point -- there's enough genius in his work that even if he lost his gated reverb, he'd still be phil collins, and his songs will still kick ass. to be able to tell whether the processing is just right (creative) or too much (gimmicky, and somehow imparts lack of skill) is purely a subjective thing of course. then again, ultimately, it's the listeners who are going to be their judge.

[marvinq]

kitc! may project tayo... gawa tayo ng kanta... yun na mismo ang pamagat... "your heart... remember your heart", tapos, yun na rin ang slogan at theme song ng philmusic. (or philippine heart center... or heart evangelista's fan club... ) gusto ko yung unique, yung parang phil collins. hahaha!

(*) hey, you gotta admit it, it has a nice hook.

... hehe. sige na. almusal muna ako.

[Phil]

...well let's just ignore the song posted here to be review because the original poster don't have the legal right to post the piece of music and have it criticize and reviewed. 

..for me a good song.....instrumental...usually all my stuff... should have a "hook" easy to the ears ... to the musicians....to the wannabe musicians....like me.... and to the common listener.

[bindoy]

From now on, Marvin, I'm calling you Simon.

actually kit, he's kinda my idol, and you can consider me his disciple. now, i only wish i had as much bentleys as he does. oops, i forgot -- i don't even have one. haha.

(*) yes, i know, kit. it's way too early in the morning. it's not even 7am yet. too much caffeine?

ah sir marvin...edi matutuwa ka dito pagnapanuod mo to...di siguro to OT kasi song review din naman ito..pero tignan mo ung bata na si connie...pati si simon...napanganga...at tama si bugoy...lyrics talaga number 1..MESSAGE ang pinakaimportante... ...pero di din sya absolute...

enjoy mo to sir... astig!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En0A8KGMgq8

[marvinq]

...lyrics talaga number 1..MESSAGE ang pinakaimportante... ...pero di din sya absolute...

actually, it's the SONG that's most important. the lyrics are just half of it... the melody is what makes those words a song, without which those words would just be poetry at best. that why i'm also on guard against anything that'll obscure or take away the focus from the melody line, whether it's an over-arranged minus-one or an overly eager singer who does every vocal acrobatic he/she could ever imagine.

[KitC]

Yup! Way, WAY too much coffee in the morning.

Dem darnfangled new moosic is just too hard on our 'old-timer' totoy ears, dagnabbit!!! It's the end of the world, I tells 'ya!!! These young'uns ain't got no respect! No respect!!! Why if it were up to me, blah, blah, blah.................

[starfugger]

kitc! may project tayo... gawa tayo ng kanta... yun na mismo ang pamagat... "your heart... remember your heart", tapos, yun na rin ang slogan at theme song ng philmusic. (or philippine heart center... or heart evangelista's fan club... ) gusto ko yung unique, yung parang phil collins. hahaha!

(*) hey, you gotta admit it, it has a nice hook.

... hehe. sige na. almusal muna ako.

i just need to laugh once a day, really.  here's where i get my dose sometimes. 

[xjepoyx]

Yup! Way, WAY too much coffee in the morning.

Dem darnfangled new moosic is just too hard on our 'old-timer' totoy ears, dagnabbit!!! It's the end of the world, I tells 'ya!!! These young'uns ain't got no respect! No respect!!! Why if it were up to me, blah, blah, blah.................

[starfugger]

Yup! Way, WAY too much coffee in the morning.

Dem darnfangled new moosic is just too hard on our 'old-timer' totoy ears, dagnabbit!!! It's the end of the world, I tells 'ya!!! These young'uns ain't got no respect! No respect!!! Why if it were up to me, blah, blah, blah.................

 

haaaay maaga pa sa ganitong klaseng halakhak.

[xjepoyx]

hahaha ako nga din di pa nagaalmusal eh...

@marvin
sali ako sa pag areglo ng kanta hehehehe


@boss kit
wait lang ala pa jobet eh

[marvinq]

with just one song (i.e., tentatively entitled, "your heart"... i don't know why. haha). we can have...

(1) a songwriting workshop
(2) an arranging workshop
(3) a MIDI workshop
(4) a recording workshop --- special topic - scalarizers!
(5) a mixing workshop
(6) a mastering workshop

... and have tons of laughs in the process.

@kitc - i know, i know, it's decaf for me from now on...

[BALDO]

sama ako jan ha.. kahit na sa ym na lang hehehe

[marvinq]

hey. eveybody's welcome. kahit nga mga "problem child" eh(di ba, bamf?)

[BALDO]

problem child ka pala Bamf hehehe...  ..  isa lang naman ang gusto kong makita at marinig.. isang pinoy singer o banda na nakapag record na isang english song sa PINAS na nai released dito sa US..siguro bibitawan ko na mixing board o control surface ko
( yeah right- kapag me pera na  ) kapag nangyari yun..  masasabi ko ng SA WAKAS!!!!   .. actually i heard yung instrumental ng
song ni Freddie Aguilar na ANAK sa isang dept store dito sa NY.. sana naman masundan ito ng me lyrics..  at tipong nasa top 10...

[marvinq]

(OT alert!)Hopefully, sir, something good's gonna come out of south border's effort over there. Been hearing lots of good news about them.

[skunkyfunk]

How can someone say a mix is perfect if he hasn't compared different opinions from different ears?

First of all, I don't like assessing a mix upped through myspace because of fidelity problems.  But as to the levels, panning, and stuff,  here is my opinion through my setup:

1.  Percs are killing the mix.  Masydaong angat.
2.  Ok with the 80s drum sounds.  Was this sequenced? 
3.  Flanging is ok but it needs more depth.  Sounds like a dry direct recording.

Di ko ma-assess nang maayos because the sound is automatically lo-fi'd by myspace.

[peeves24]

pareview nito mga masters:

http://www.raketship.com/drumblog/feeling_sa_piling.mp3

the song was included on a CD as a wedding giveaway. my friend, the groom composed/played all the guitars/sung on this. i played all the percs in haste hence some time issues (1 take for each instrument so please dont comment on the lousy playing). i recorded the percs after arriving home from sir Kit's workshop and really needed to finish it since the wedding organizers need to burn the CDs the ff morning.

wasnt really expecting much from my mix but after listening again to bamboo's latest cd today, i cant help but compare and got really curious as to how the engineer made the instruments sound in 3D.

i guess mixing isnt just pan to the left and pan to the right. any tips on how to make the song sound 3D spaced?

its too late to burn the CDs again and the wedding was held last thursday  but i really want to improve the mix coz i really like the song

[bugoy]

...sa totoo lang halos wala rin ako mintindihan sa lyrics. hehehe kaya nga "SONG" diba yung pagkanta ang emphasized dapat ? parang nag ga gargle yung kumakanta hehehe. sana man lang kahit may effects yung vocals ginawan niyo pa rin ng paraan para maintindihan yung lyrics, eh paano namin ngayon malalaman (radio listeners) kung ano yung theme na gusto niyo ipahiwatig ? ...

baka hindi ka na "youth". hehe. youth theme kasi eh. "youth"  lang ang makakaintindi.

bwahahaha oo nga noh 25 na nga pala ako  youth theme nga pala 

[starfugger]

haha, peeves, that's the magic of mr angee rozul damn.  his mixes sound deep, wide and tall, diba?
yung kanta mo, very catchy nice and easy to listen to.  yung hook ang galing

tanong ko ano yung guitar na gamit dun sa mga "sundot" (clean lead?)?

[peeves24]

yeah i dont understand how he did the forward/backward panning of the instruments

stock squier strat yung guitar

thanks starfugger! glad you like the song too

[marvinq]

that 3d sound is a product of both equipment and engineer. the difference between so-so preamps and really good ones are most obvious in the context of a mix. also, it'll help you a great deal if you could invest on quality monitors.

comment from "simon" a.k.a., marvinq - the guitar doing the fills seem to be more "in-front" than the vocals, which shouldn't be the case. that fill-in track is also distracting the melody line at times, and therefore isn't effective from an arranger's point of view. overall the mix sounds far from finished. the vocals sound harshly eq'd. maybe a mic-related problem. did you use the c2 on the vocals?

peeves.... peace tayo ha? your heart... think about your heart...

[peeves24]

hahaha fish tayo  thanks sa comment sir marvin! i didnt notice the guitar fills coz i mixed via headphones. tapos yung final mix kuno ko e tinest namin sa car (walang monitor/hifi speaker on hand that time)

the vocals was recorded via the usb version of the samson c01 condenser. the vocals did sound thin. i guess regular dynamic mics would have sounded much fatter.





wish ko lang sana sa susunod na PC workshop may hands on mixing