Elysian Shadows

So, between being a noob to programming and changing languages/engines every few months (worked my way up to C++), I don't have projects to show at the moment like many of you. I figured I'd take this opportunity to show you what I actually do when I'm not doing the wannabe programmer thing. This past weekend I went down to NJ to do some recording for a friend's band. Got the drums done, though they need some tweaking. Here's one of the tracks so far, let me know what you think.

http://www.joekellyaudio.com/MyBlackCat.mp3

The guitar and vocals are scratch tracks, but they still sound pretty good.

WOW, what a cool song! Actually, I think the simplicity of just those tracks you've got now works really well for it.

Kendall and I both just listened to it. I thought it was actually really, really good. The guitar and drums were really catchy. I really liked the drums. It sounds like it could totally be a finished song.

So do you do "actual" drum things often outside of work? Haha.

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it so far. There's still plenty to do; they generally like to put a million things in the song first, and then cut it down from there. This weekend they'll be dropping some crash cymbals on the floor that Catherine (the singer) found in the trash during those floor tom hits at the end to make it sound bigger. Or maybe actually hit them with drum sticks if that ends up sounding terrible. And of course we'll have to record bass (not that anyone listens to bass). And there's tons of video of the sessions that will be online at some point.

GyroVorbis wrote:So do you do "actual" drum things often outside of work? Haha.

Heh, just record them. I play real guitar, but drums I'm only halfway competent at.

Hmm, I must say that I find the song average. The drum sound is cool though.

Hmm, I must say that I find the song average.

Well, I suppose you're entitled to your own opinion but... that song was unique, catchy, and beautiful. Hardly average!

AerisAndMe wrote:

Hmm, I must say that I find the song average.

Well, I suppose you're entitled to your own opinion but... that song was unique, catchy, and beautiful. Hardly average!

Hardly average is right! I really like this song, added it to my playlist

What's the band name? BTW.

That was great man! I can't wait to hear a finished product but you're off to an excellent start.

M_D_K wrote:What's the band name? BTW.

The band is Bern & the Brights: http://www.myspace.com/bgroove

I also recorded their "Wartime Lullaby" EP, which was actually my senior project in college. I'm projecting a better sound in the new recordings, but that one wasn't bad for the absurd time constraints we had. It's also just the other singer, Bernadette, because it was recorded before they were a band, and it was really just her stuff, instead of both her's and Catherine's.

AerisAndMe wrote:

Hmm, I must say that I find the song average.

Well, I suppose you're entitled to your own opinion but... that song was unique, catchy, and beautiful. Hardly average!

This is a beautiful world where opinions are subjective and not objective

aamesxdavid wrote:The guitar and vocals are scratch tracks, but they still sound pretty good.

It is a bit tough to understand on my laptop speakers. The vocals don't seem to stand out enough?

MarauderIIC wrote:It is a bit tough to understand on my laptop speakers. The vocals don't seem to stand out enough?

Nope, they're nowhere near as compressed as they're going to be. It's really just a test for how the drums are going to sound overall. And the guitar was recorded with the vocals, so it wouldn't even be worth the time editing because there's so much bleed between the tracks. One of the many reasons I want to get the final guitar and vocals in soon. Bleed is like the audio version of a memory leak; so damn frustrating.