Sharing some of my band's music | Forums

[kittendaddy2]

Hi all,

I've seen a few of these threads and I thought I'd contribute. My band just got done recording a few songs and I was curious to get people's thoughts.

For context, I've personally been playing guitar 3 years (I play lead guitar in the band) and most of the other players have been playing between 2 and 5 years, so we're far from "pro" (our bass player picked up the instrument for the band, and is primarily a classical guitarist). We got together a year ago to jam and do covers in our main singer's garage, and a few months later she started writing songs/rhythm guitar parts and we all fill in the other parts together.

Anyway, here are a couple from the group:

I Would


All of Me


Seen (this one is a bit more rocky)


Thanks in advance for any comments!

[rcole_sooner]

Impressive stuff.

[crispyfunk]

Very Nice!! you guys make me want to get my guitar and rock out i loved it , Thank you for sharing.

[kittendaddy2]

Thanks guys!

[Duggle-SD]

Sounds pro, I would be very proud of it if I were you. You just need some more songs to make a full CD length.

I really liked the vocals in the first two. Her voice seemed beautiful and melodic and fit very well. Both of those songs worked very well, it's the kind of thing I could see buying and listening to. Reminded me of so much Irish music like The Corrs, Sinead O'Connor or The Cranberries. I wasn't such a fan of the more hard rockish song (Seen). I don't know if it just wasn't my style or if her voice didn't seem to fit it (for me anyway)..

[Steel_Nirvana]

You guys look a little like the Talking Heads.

[PRS_Rocker]

Those are good demos with a lot of potential. I would sit down and re-track the guitars. It's best to track guitars separately from everyone, so I hope you did that. The bass and drums are solid, but the vocals are VERY dry. I can tell that you probably tracked the guitars with a direct in and through a processor. They don't sound mic'd, because they are very compressed. DI box? POD? Amp Farm? If you're looking for your 'live' sound, track the guitar using a doubling box. Run one to an amp that's close mic'd and mic'd a little way off for a natural reverb sound. The other should go straight into the board for processing later. This can be done by sending that out to an amp or effects send/return. You'd be surprised at how great that could sound. The Strat on the tracks (Please tell me that was the jangle of a Strat) was extremely dry and could use a little chorus, reverb, and delay. Don't drench it, just wet it down a little. The timing of some of the chords was ahead and behind the beat, so you might re-track it if you can.

No for those who think I'm a 'hater' (whatever that is), don't get your boxers twisted around your earlobes. This is a really good demo, and it sounds as good as anything Roger Waters brought in to turn into Dark Side of The Moon, The Wall, or Wish You Were Here. It's just the mix, some timing, and a few tweaks I'm recommending to make it a little more appealing for repeated listening.

BTW, Kittendaddy, my daughter goes by kitten too. What's up with that? LOL

[kittendaddy2]

Those are good demos with a lot of potential. I would sit down and re-track the guitars. It's best to track guitars separately from everyone, so I hope you did that. The bass and drums are solid, but the vocals are VERY dry. I can tell that you probably tracked the guitars with a direct in and through a processor. They don't sound mic'd, because they are very compressed. DI box? POD? Amp Farm? If you're looking for your 'live' sound, track the guitar using a doubling box. Run one to an amp that's close mic'd and mic'd a little way off for a natural reverb sound. The other should go straight into the board for processing later. This can be done by sending that out to an amp or effects send/return. You'd be surprised at how great that could sound. The Strat on the tracks (Please tell me that was the jangle of a Strat) was extremely dry and could use a little chorus, reverb, and delay. Don't drench it, just wet it down a little. The timing of some of the chords was ahead and behind the beat, so you might re-track it if you can.

No for those who think I'm a 'hater' (whatever that is), don't get your boxers twisted around your earlobes. This is a really good demo, and it sounds as good as anything Roger Waters brought in to turn into Dark Side of The Moon, The Wall, or Wish You Were Here. It's just the mix, some timing, and a few tweaks I'm recommending to make it a little more appealing for repeated listening.

BTW, Kittendaddy, my daughter goes by kitten too. What's up with that? LOL

Thank you for the detailed feedback! I'm brand new to the recording side of things (and relatively new to all of this). The guitars were tracked separately, so that could be cleaned up. Our rhythm guitarist/lead singer plays a Strat and that was lined directly into the recording software (this was at a studio) and my guitar (the pictured Les Paul Studio in the stills) is played through a Fender Blues Jr and micced.

The timing thing is definitely something for both of us to work on and we could change the tone on her guitar and wet it down pretty easily. Timing is definitely the thing that bugs me most about my parts when I listen to it, especially in I Would.

As for the name, my wife and I raised pre-weaned kittens for years, so I've been using the handle off and on. It's also my effective name in roller derby, where I go as "Kitten Daddy" is a non-skating official and referee for my (women's) roller derby league. I tried some "tougher" names, but they tended to like Kitten Daddy best of all >.>.

Again, thanks for the detailed feedback! No hate read here.

[PRS_Rocker]

I'm surprised to hear that's a Blues Jr, it could be my computer speakers, but it sounded very muffled and compressed. I owned one, and it always had a cutting, sharp edge to its sound. The only reason I don't play through it any more is because I could never bring the volume level down to where I wanted. That's a LOUD 15W AMP! That said, you can plug it into a 4x12 and crank, and the little bugger can be pushed to its limits and show you its honest breaking point.

Keep on doin' it, KD. You guys just might have a future in music.

[kittendaddy2]

Yeah, I think the pedal I use for distortion in particular is a bit harsh (Boss DS-1) and played against the rhythm pickup it's pretty muddy. I still need to figure out a few things about tone .