okay...here's an early take of one of the songs I'm working on...there's no lead guitar yet..or backing vox..the vox are guides only..and the mix - well, let's just say the producer let me do it...

Hoping to find out if I'm on the right track with this, so please let me know what you think.

...and since there are so many words in this song..I thought I'd share the lyrics for all those who are interested:

Aren’t you happy with the pretty little kisses?
Open wide, sleepy eyes; it’s time to put on your glasses…
….so you’ll see…everything that you’ve been missing.
Don’t you know it’s alright to relieve when you are stressed?
Wakin’ up’s so hard, when you’ve just gotten undressed…
…won’t you wake up and see what you’ve been missing?

Make yourself alive…Make yourself alive…Make yourself alive and just be right here, it’s alright

Could you look through ringing glasses full of tonic?
Turn around and reach out try to touch the supersonic…
…would you do, the things you’ve been avoiding?
Do you hesitate to unwrap a gift?
Can you touch it with your mind and set yourself adrift…
…will you try, do what you’ve been avoiding?

Make yourself alive…Make yourself alive…Make yourself alive and just be right here, it’s alright

Do yourself a favour – don’t
Mix match your flavours – don’t
Mix up flavours – or you’ll find…..that it’s all in your mind

Could you satisfy the urges you’ve been hiding?
Jumping up, falling down, never choose what’s worth deciding…
…are you free – of all the things that hurt you?
Isn’t there a place you like to go in dreams?
Matrix – like, sudden hike, happy bursting at the seams…
…will you hold on, to all the things that hurt you?

Make yourself alive…Make yourself alive…Make yourself alive and just be right here, it’s alright

A really catchy tune.  I really like the cheezy guitar after "it's alright".  On the production (and I'm no expert) I think the whole sound is very bottom heavy.

I've really enjoyed listening.  Thanks.

thanks PRG...it's not a cheezy guitar..it's a cheezy upright piano 

like it! remember having a go making a remix with devo. we will have to give it another go for ya so hopefully have it to you soon :P

I love the double vox at the "do yourself a favor" part. That's just beautiful.

Again I love the dry vocal production, and I like the acoustics soundscape. Great lyrics too... somehow gets me in that same playful mood I get from watching the old Peanuts cartoons (from the 60's )

Yeah. Great lyrics, very nice song!

great song, as usual...

mix sounds fine. love the piano!

only thing I'd maybe change is the bass. sounds like it's panned slightly right. I personally like bass centered. or not. whatever.

i believe you ask for comment on the mix, well, its nice, maybe bass a bit too loud or boomy,and indeed out of balance somehow,
but maybe you are sparing space for the lead and backing vox.., i'll wait and listen when you add those, i suppose

like the song! nice lyrics too,

think its just allright
 

heh caught myself swaying along for a bit there... lol i love the way all your songs have sort of a jazz feel to them (maybe its your voice?) but i love it! what ever your doing keep doing it because you know your my favorite utensil! any way it was good cant wait for guitar and what not! then it will kick my but all over the amp! so um... hurry up all ready k??? lol

your doll friend
pap

er...yeh...I guess I did pan the bass to the right a little...I shouldn't be left in charge of anything!

Thanks for all the comments...I do like the sound of a driving bass..but am wondering how to mix it so that it's not "too" loud...any suggestions?

different ways possible to get that bass more fitting, probably a combination of all:

-if you boosted some freqencies in the mid lo zone, try to cut that back, rather filter your eq then boost is my opinion,
you can find the 'booming' freq. and lower that with the right Q

(I am not sure anymore, but there should be a 'dangerous' freq. zone in a bass sound, wasn't that around 1 K? anyone?)

-experiment with different compression settings and types a lot !(and more)

- a lot of people think of bass(and basedrums) as lo sounds, but dont forget theres a lot of high(mid) freq. too which are very important for their presence

i dont look often at numbers on my equalizer but i think theres a lot of power, deepness and warmth around 80-90 Hz somewhere, think this bass sound you made here could use just a little more of that too, but thats my taste

i believe in this case you just can turn down the volume a bit

like the song better everytime i hear it

thanks everyone...and MaxdB - I'll try your suggestions!

It sounds like your playing bass with a pic. Just play play with your fingers, quite a lot of the time, that works at making it not so boomy, and i think it would sound better!

I think you should have it a bit faster. It seems like the drums want to be faster, but they're being held back by the metronome, so it gives the tempo a kind of "jumpyness", and it doesn't sound completely smooth.

Apart from that, I love it! It's very jolly and my happy, my kind of song 

Funny you should say that captaincowhouse.....

When in the studio - we sped up the guitar track 4.06 % for the drummer (he thought it should be a little faster).  I like the faster speed (this one here is slowed down again)..but it raises the pitch of the guitar and vox....I tried singing the vox in the new pitch but am having a really hard time as its just at the edge of my register.

We are recording on a studio soundboard..with digital inputs onto super8 tape.  Anyone know how I can keep the faster speed, but not change the pitch of the guitar and bass?

It can be done, but not with analog equipment. Speeding up a tape will simply up the pitch aswell, just like speeding it down will cause the pitch to lower. Dedicated digital recorders (and software such as Cubase) have the ability to "time stretch" audio data to change the tempo, but not the pitch. Likewise they can also change the pitch without changing the tempo, however both methods do tend to compromise the audio quality.

How does your voice sound when it's pitched up 4.06%? Maybe it's possible to compensate the chipmunk effect with a device like a TC Helicon Voiceprism, it can "genderize" your voice back to normal when it's pitched up, as it can also pitch up your voice by 4% without getting you to sound weird. You could use a regular pitch shifter on the sped-up instrumental track to pitch it down enough as a reference for you to sing comfortably, and let the device do it's job (if you can access a Voiceprism or a similar device that is; Antares AVOX vocal kit (software) may be capable of doing the same things) as you record your vocals. I'm really not sure if the instrumental track will remain sounding good if you'd perform the reverse trick on it - I mean pitching it down with a Voiceprism without changing it's "formant shapes". But these are just suggestions...

The finest and probably best option is a complete re-record. No cheating, and no audio compromised

I was afraid you'd say that! arg!!