UPPER GARAGE

[rayc]

This is something I've ben tinkering with on guitar every now and again when I get the chance to play. there's no guitar upstairs any more so I have to be IN the recording space to have a strum now so actually doing that becomes rarer.

That's life I suppose.

This is in A again, no relative minor in this YET.

BIAB drums, (Splashy but I did want something a bit garage y), and organ with a bunch of quick run through amp in a box guitar parts.
Bass is me as well.
Lots of mistakes because I only sorted out the progressions today and was learning them as I did the drafts.

UPPERGARAGE.mp3

Working on it today I thought I'd try some 12 string.
Fewer guitars in this mix - one on the left and two on the right (one playing power chords under the 12 string for "body").
Still only amp in a box stuff as I'm working on the arrangement.
New bass track.
Anything I should've kept?


I had to retrack the bass...I'd used an outboard compressor limiter and, it seems, I'd hit it too hard and moved to limiter mode which brought up the tails into an unending stream of bottom bass.
This version has the bass squished in the box with Density & then Modern Deathcore.
Seems tidier.
I also retracked the power chords under the 12 string.
MORE organ as well.


And slightly tweaked and with a place holder marking the spot for a solo...


I can't play solos or lead of any kind but I diddled about with triads over the 2nd 1/2 of the solo section. My brain doesn't work fast enough and I can't get my brain around bending notes so what I recorded is simplistic but, again, just a place holder.


I found a better, more Farfisa, organ in BIAB which is now in the mix and I added some TS mids to the "solo"...


As i tried to fit it to the chords I came up with the vaguest and thinnest of melodies but decided to do a single pass to get that down. Ended up I did two passes because I hadn't really nailed it my my head...I had to hack off a few words at the end of the chorus.
Seems like another one that ought to have a woman's voice.


I've tidied the scratch vocal and experimented making an harmony part for line ends (boring I know).
Wife n sister-in-law don't like the use of a melody & lyrics they've just told me...mind neither has read the lyric nor could hear it through the floor.
This needs a better voice to sell it I suspect.

UPPERGARAGEGb.mp3

Slight update...fixed a couple of bass accents and retracked the vocal...


Retracked the verse vocal and did some tweaking...thoughts?

Last night I thought of a line for the song - just one: "He's locked and loaded as she heads for the door ."
I remembered it today so, this afternoon, I play the track a few times and expanded on that line...
It's a bit unpleasant but it's what came to me...
V1
He's locked and loaded as she heads for the door
This battle won at the start of his War
Just shut your mouth or there'll be more
C1
It wasn't long till it came crashing down
The face transformed: the anger the frown
There's no one she knows in this town
There's no escape no where to run
There's nothing
V2
Bags packed and ready because she wants no more
And there's no protection within the law
Can't recall what she wanted him for
C2
It wasn't long till it came crashing down
Lover transformed: to a dangerous clown
He was her king but he battered his crown
There's no escape no where to run
There's nothing
SOLO
C3
It wasn't long till it came crashing down
She's going under and feels like she'll drown
The marks don't fade: they're the talk of the town
There's no escape no where to run
There's nothing
V3
He's all excuses for the heart that he tore
Just one more chance it's like it was before
A bed of roses till there's a thorn
C4
It wasn't long till it came crashing down
The face transformed: the anger the frown
He was her king but he battered his crown
There's no escape no where to run
There's nothing
C5
It wasn't long till it came crashing down
It all imploded: it came crashing down
It wasn't long till it came crashing down
There's no escape no where to run
There's nothing

[Lt. Bob]

nice start to something ..... I like everything .... obviously needs some vox or instrumental melody or something but it's a very good starting place

[CrowsofFritz]

Look forward to hearing this with vocals!

[Manslick]

guitars sound toned in. drums are in the pocket. organ up a lot.
i like the way the chord progression pulled me in, and then switched.
nice.

[rayc]

Thanks @Lt. Bob ,
any other ideas?
Thanks @CrowsofFritz ,
Yeah, well, hope fully someone else will sing. That'd be a plus.
Thanks @Manslick ,
Organ to come up ...That'll be tomorrow.
The expectation unfulfilling progression - ah, I like that.

[stratmonkee]

Love it, nice and jangly :>). Perhaps the bass guitar could come up a bit , maybe with a little more low end in its tone? I like the bass lines and think it would help give the song a really cool swing ...awesome start! (listened to your last mix)

[rayc]

Love it, nice and jangly :>). Perhaps the bass guitar could come up a bit , maybe with a little more low end in its tone? I like the bass lines and think it would help give the song a really cool swing ...awesome start! (listened to your last mix)

Thanks Gene,
I've retracked the bass and haven't needed such heavy handed EQing this time. Hopefully the bottom end is audible.

[TripleM]

I listened to mix 3b.

Real nice jangle guitar sound.

I think you could turn up the bass guitar a db or two.

Cool drumming. The drums sound a little roomy and distant - at least in some sections. But I liked the drumming.

[rayc]

Thanks @TripleM ,
The change in the drums is when I EQ to suppress the splashy cymbals a little in the "chorus", I think.
I'm still experimenting with managing that...drums are a stereo file so it's a real compromise.
Bass should sit a little better in this latest mix.

[vomitHatSteve]

Seems decent. No nits leaping out on mix 3b

[rayc]

Seems decent. No nits leaping out on mix 3b

Thanks @vomitHatSteve ,

[rayc]

New mixes in OP.