Re: Help us Pick a Band Name

[SunDog]

I just listened to the whole thing again. Let me know if xp works.

Feel free to comment about the rest of the page.

[corsair]

Cool cover, nicely played! Can I offer some constructive criticism... the vocals need work as they seem a little thin; perhaps multi vocal??

Hey Barry... the link worked beautifully on Snow Leopard....

[Barry]

Hey! Success!! Turns out it was a Windows 7 "thing".
For some reason it didn't want to play any videos, anywhere. The reason? Who knows, it gets confused coming out of multiple "hibernation" modes I guess. Only one cure: Reboot! (Thanks Microsoft for continuing to make my life so-o-o frickin' interesting! You'd think this nonsense would have been eliminated after how many versions?)

Anyway, on to the demo! You made a reference to "on the wall"? I couldn't find that one, but I did hear (finally) "Free Falling".
The tempo took me back a bit at first, wasn't expecting it to be as fast as that. However, it grew on me.

The recording is a bit jangly but good instrumentally. On my laptop the mix sounds a bit thin. Vocal chops are good John!
(EDIT: Try fattening up your voice with a some reverb or have your second vocalist double you)
For what it's worth, I'd like to offer a (hopefully) constructive comment:
Because you upped the tempo, I think it makes the song a bit more "manic" to my ears. I think the vocal needs to respond in kind with more of an edge to it; maybe a bit more aggressive growl if you like.

The Tom Petty original version is more dream-like and floating with the emphasis on the word "free-e-e" and "fa-a-a-lling" (duh!). John Mayer's version is downright comatose so we won't go there.

There's always a hazard for singers when you speed things up. When the lyrics are written to be sung slowly and with feeling, you run the risk of flattening everything out when you try to cram in the words to a faster tempo. The danger is that you can be reduced to a monotone delivery. Cudos for changing it up, but in your version, those key words are quite clipped with no sustain, emotion, or variation. I think I'd prefer to hear something like an "in yer face" attitude there. i.e., That woman is out of my life! Thank God! Observe my middle finger you beeatch!
I'M FREE!! HEAR ME??! FREE-E-E-E-E!

Keep it up and good rockin' my brudda!!

[SunDog]

Those comments are very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share your insight.

This first recording was just a live shot to show the format of the version to some guys who live in Massachusettes and New Hampshire - with whom the drummer and I will be playing a show in Salt Lake City this summer. When Roger did the FB page we just wanted to put something up - and we felt that this version sounded ok enough. We have a show to do a week from tomorrow - then we are going to go ahead and do up a real demo.

I will definitely keep in mind your comments when we have the next session. Thanks, again.

[anaerobe]

Ah, pedal car bandits. Or a variant.

[SunDog]

The polls have been closed for several weeks. Pedal Car Bandits is up for grabs - seems it was a very popular choice in this sector. Claim it - it is yours.

Any takers?