Looks like I'm late to the 200 plays party, but I made it all the same! I'm enjoying this on the second listen. I like the mix in the way that it encourages me to turn it up, I like songs like that. Not to keen on the lyrics, but I like the delivery. Sounds like you're getting a good understanding of EQ from this song, and staticnomad seemed to provide some good advice as well. Keep doing your thing, no matter what!
thanks, dude. i'm a huge fan of your work and i love your replies to posts on here, so it's a great privilege to have you check out some of my work! much appreciated, and thanks for the listen!
thanks for the reply. I already managed to make a trrack (trackqq) out of ferryterry's guitars to your 'lovely bones' (them?): https://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/167571
I am still awaiting the vocals you promised.
Hey Mike..cool man,old school to the core (not that I'd be an expert on rap nomenclature,but I know what I know! lol)..you've probably got one of the most laid back smooth styles going around at the moment and I know you didn't find that talent wrapped up beneath a Christmas tree,so more power to you,on a production note...I think the mix is great vocal wise though at times there possibly needs to be some volume focus (as in an automated swell)like with the background bells occasionally,if you do this subtly throughout the track it'll make it breathe more and you'll get it to organically pump with the vocals....great work man!
Dope track wordybum! That beat is ill and you delivered some illness on the mic. The mix sounds good too. This one's a Fav and its downloaded. Nice work!
"i find myself appreciating your input more than most anyone else on this site"
That's nice to hear and a few other people have said something similar. One guy's even sent me PMs a couple of times asking me to review particular tracks. There have also been a couple who have given me outright abuse for my track reviewing style quite a few times. I guess a couple of hateful/mentally ill individuals out of the hundreds I've reviewed isn't too bad going.
As regards a collaboration; that is possible though I'm quite nervous and apprehensive about such a thing as so many things can go wrong and have in the past with people I actually know. Never collaborated online or with someone I didn't personally know before.
However, after your suggestion, I had a look at a couple of short (2 min) work-in-progress tracks that might suit you (ie ones with a hip hop vibe). I found a couple of potnetially suitable ones so will do a bit of work on them in the next few days and then find a way for you to hear them. Then you can tell me if you feel inspired and can contribute something vocally. If so, I'd have to like it and then I could work your vocals into the arrangement and build the track up around the vocal plus probably try out some fun vocal FX work, add some other instrumentation and so on.
I'd be nervous about sending anyone a version of my tracks so would just ask that you don't do anything with them (and probably eventually delete them). I'd just send low quality MP3s (ie 128K) but they'll be fine to rap over.
If we do end up with a completed track or tracks, I'll always want to be able to do whatever I want with it (ie put it on whichever album I choose) and I'd extend the same courtesy/right to you. So, you can put it on whatever album/EP/mixtape of yours.
Let me know if that all sounds OK and I'll get on with finishing up these short demos and posting them online (probably Soundcloud) for you to hear.
Thanks for the kind words, always, friend. i find myself appreciating your input more than most anyone else on this site, which isn't taking anything away from anyone else, i just feel that you GET IT, so whenever you respond to a piece of work i take it in 110%. now...
the question i have is... when are WE going to collab on a track?
hello. this is some very fine and cool funky music. guitar is superb.
but still this one sounds a bit like a part of something much bigger because these guitar lines are really so narrative. that's why you can construct entire track around only a single piano loop.
thanks so much! i built the baby standup bass around your piano work, then i built the drums around that. the guitar was an added plus. i appreciate the loop, thanks again!
hi. wow! what a fantastic collab. I really like what you did here. danke's track gets even more funky now with your vocals haha. Somehow that little sax solo would probably fit better somwhere in the middle of the track instead (to me:) but anyway this is some very nice vocal take!
Few weeks ago I downloaded your another track titled 'them-lovely-bones', very funky number but there was far too much of collab action happening at that time to work on this track.
I am working currently on some other idea from ferryterry but that particular one was really cool. Are you still interested in developing that older project? I might try to create a solo section on keys and ask ferryterry for some guitar lines as well.
Again very impressive work on this one. I will check out some of your other tracks.
thanks so much for the kind words and taking the time to give it a listen, Promenade! i am definitely still doing them lovely bones. i as actually using 2 verses from this song (atlantic drifts) for them lovely bones - its a whole different feel when the vocals get running on that track. i can Send you the track if you'd like to vibe off of it and see if something comes to you.
message me your email and i will send it over.
thanks again for the listen and the respect. Bless.
When i heard Dankes track, i realy loved it and when i listen to this one you uploaded here, i have to say - Wow -
I am realy not a big fan of rap but everything fits realy good to Dankes song. It sounds like you both worked together a long time to do this one. And thats means that YOU done a very good work.
Like i sayed, i am not a rap fan but i enjoyed the listen to this little piece of music very much.
thanks so much for the respect and kind words, Joe! i really appreciate it. the song needed to have a vocal message put to it, and i am glad i was able to do that for you.
Thanks for the reply. Good to see PlanetJazz has come back and will take your vocals and even send you the audio tracks to do your own version.
"i didn't know if the words would sound right over the track because of those very aggressive stabs throughout the verses."
Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting at. They're good stabs but interfere quite a bit with the vocals. So, maybe the timing of the stabs can be redone by PlanetJazz to fall more inbetween the vocal lines. Or maybe they could be removed entirely from teh verses. Just the bass and drums should be fine to accompany the vocals. Then the stabs will be more exciting when they return as a break from the vocal. Just my little idea for PlanetJazz, in case he reads this.
I look forward to seeng what the two of you end up with as I feel there's definite room for improvement.
Hey wordy,great flow man!...I dig the expressiveness of your voice and the articulation,great sense of timing to!...I think the best result track wise will be achieved if you send me your whole vocal track by itself,and I mean the whole track length from 000 till the end,so it will register perfectly as a separate track into the existing arrangement (also Bonez's if he adds a verse) and I'll incorporate them into the mix,preferable dry with no effects (I'll add those) I'll also send you all the separate elements of the tune so you can do your own remix as well...great stuff man,you've got that old school vibe nailed down tight!
contact me at planetjazzbass@gmail.com
Thanks, man! i appreciate the kind words and the respect. it would never have been a track without your vision. i will definitely send the dry vocals to you via email for a mix. i think since this is your baby i will leave it in your hands to work on. however... i'd love the Bass track by itself. Being a bass player myself i can hear SOOOO many gems in there that i'd love to sample you here and there in some tracks.
again, thanks so much for letting me be a part of this. i will send the dry vox this week.
I've already commented on the original version of this track in quite a bit of detail so I won't bother again here.
I think your added vocals are, predictably, good. However, there's a big overall problem: the mix is now just too busy.
So, if the top layer of synths could be partially/mostly removed as you're rapping, things would be a lot cleaner. Your vocals get in the way of the nice jazzy bass guitar runs. Not a criticism of you and I understand that you don't have the separate stems to mix - just the one MP3 file of the whole mix.
Second half you've left without vocals so it would be fine to get rid of the top layer of synths in the first minute (as you're rapping) as that stuff gets heard later anyway.
1:12 when you take a bit of a vocal break the other elements can be heard more comfortably again.
I guess the only options are either PlanetJazz sending you the separate elements to mix or you sending him your vocals to incorporate.
As always, thanks for the positive feedback on my style and wordplay. i was thinking of sending PlanetJazz the dry vocals and let him have fun with it. i'm waiting for him to log in and give it a listen. we'll see what he thinks and go from there.
this was a weird one for me. i didn't know if the words would sound right over the track because of those very aggressive stabs throughout the verses. i felt like i had to hit them in unison with the beat, but overall i like the old school feel to it and the specific slang that not too many people outside of my circle of peoples would understand.
Sure, you can try EQing an instrument while everything is playing. I do that as well as isolate it. I always spend various occasions isolating every instrument. Then, when it seems to sit right, I forget about it and let it just function in the mix.
And then, perhaps when stuck for ideas, I might go back, isolate it and see if I can fiddle with it and make more out of it. I often can.
I don't know which software you're using but that probably doesn't matter too much as they're all fairly similar these days. I'm pretty sure you can automate almost every parameter now. So, pretty much any control on any plugin.
I work in Cubase and Reason (run together essentially as one program) though things are slightly different in each one. But in both, you can pretty much do one right click of the mouse and then you get an option to go to the automation track. On that track (usually underneath your instrument track) you can draw and drag as many nodes as you like to make the EQ change however you like through time ie as the playback head passes your different nodes.
You'll probably also graphically see the controls on your EQ plugin, for instance, moving. That's the automation taking effect. It's really simple stuff and there'll be instructions in your DAW manual. Just search for 'automation'.
For widening, there are various tools. I mostly just use, in Cubase, the bundled plugins, with names like Stereo Enhancer. In Reason they're called something a bit different. There are also presets for those plugins so just give them a go and have fun.
You can automate that too. So, maybe move (automate) your guitar part to be wider in the chorus and "narrower" (ie no/less stereo widening) in the verse. Just an idea.
I primarily use Logic and occasionally i will use Ableton. thanks so much for the insight and a small piece of your blueprint. i'm excited for the weekend to toy around with some projects i have building up.
It honestly took me years to start regularly using EQ (and automating it) and my tracks are much improved for using it. Stereo widening effects have also helped a lot in terms of fattening sounds up. That's not really a sonic sculpting thing but it can help a lot when a sound seems just too weak.
I try stereo widening out on all my guitar parts, though don't use it if it's not helping. And I'll add it to drums, bass, synths, whatever seems to call for it.
EQ is cool for subtly sculpting sounds, removing high end noise, fixing messy overpowering bass and everything inbetween. Just cleaning sounds up isn't boring when you get into. Clarity is important!
I have no idea how to properly use EQ but I've learned a few things from slow experimentation over the years.
It's fun sculpting sounds with EQ and it can really help when you have a few elements in a mix and you want to make one stand out from the rest. So, maybe try having those slightly messy parts all playing at the same time and then individually playing around with the EQ to bring one out. Maybe one bar (4 bars, 8 bars, whatever) you might make one part stand out from that mix and then the next bar, make another stand out. You can do that by automating the EQ on each separate channel (so, for each part) and that's a fun way to make more of your mix of elements without adding any new parts. It can be quite subtle but effective and is well suited to hip hop, which tends to rely on heavily repeated elements.
Too much to say about this kind of subject and I'm no expert anyway so I'll just encourage you to experiment as it can be fun when you get into it. It can be a bit daunting and confusing but you have to find what works nicely for you rather than what anyone else tells you is the right way to do stuff. Maybe there is kind of a right way but it's more interesting and unusual to kind of make up your own way.
i totally agree with you on the EQs for sound sculpting. i always find myself getting ahead of myself and trying to EQ a certain instrument while EVERYTHING is playing with it, as opposed to isolating it and really dedicating myself to it as an individual entity. what are your thoughts on that?
also, how does one automate EQ & widen it? i'm intrigued.
I like this! The description matches the track really well. Very simple instrumentation, which reminds me of the older hip hop styles. Vocals are on point, which has really good rhyme, nice flow, and it's very creative. Nice work man!
Hi. Your opening bassline reminds me a little of Dre's excellent track The Watcher from his 2001 album ( I think).
Lots of space in the track and the delayed/reverbed drums sound good.
Then the vocal is really good. A fine, laidback rapping style and incessant flow.
Additional music elements are really well done and make an interesting soundscape. I like the bell sounds. And the piano.
Could maybe do with some panning on those different elements to separate them a bit better as it's hard to make all of them out.
A tight production in general so big congrats to you.
I'm working on a few hip hop instrumental genre crossover tracks right now (eg blues, hip, reggae and funk all in one track).
Here's an older, really mad genre-merging hip hop track I made - hip hop, jazz, electro, d'n'b, metal and Eastern banjo metal with lead saxophone so quite a trip:
thanks for the great feedback and compliments, brother. Every time i play this track i think of the watcher. the baseline demands that you keep listening. I'm truly a novice at mixing and the use of Proper EQ, so to get such positive feedback makes me feel good about the progress i've made.
I'm going to check out your stuff now. thanks again for the listen.
Yo man, what's up. This is a dope track. Nice lyrical delivery. The mixdown is nice and crisp. Very clean indeed. Did you record your voice on your own? I'm very impressed with the results. Keep doing your thing.
Hopefully we can collab in the future. Until then, peace man!
thanks for the compliments and respect. yeah, i built the beat, mixed it the best i could and laid my own vocals in my home studio. i'm glad you liked it. i checked out your page and all of your tracks have vocals on them already. do you have any instrumentals i can vibe on?
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
on Ron Burgundy Colab request by wordybum
thanks for the reply. I already managed to make a trrack (trackqq) out of ferryterry's guitars to your 'lovely bones' (them?): https://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/167571
I am still awaiting the vocals you promised.
I can't see any of your current stuff removed https://www.looperman.com/forum/thread/183465/i-will-be-taking-down-a-portion-of-my-tracks ???
I mean... it is still there - at least some amount of a portion of you tracks hm...
Looperman at it's best(s) I guess;)
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
on The Statement by wordybum
on Atlantic Drifts Music by Danke lyrics by Wordy Bum by wordybum
"i find myself appreciating your input more than most anyone else on this site"
That's nice to hear and a few other people have said something similar. One guy's even sent me PMs a couple of times asking me to review particular tracks. There have also been a couple who have given me outright abuse for my track reviewing style quite a few times. I guess a couple of hateful/mentally ill individuals out of the hundreds I've reviewed isn't too bad going.
As regards a collaboration; that is possible though I'm quite nervous and apprehensive about such a thing as so many things can go wrong and have in the past with people I actually know. Never collaborated online or with someone I didn't personally know before.
However, after your suggestion, I had a look at a couple of short (2 min) work-in-progress tracks that might suit you (ie ones with a hip hop vibe). I found a couple of potnetially suitable ones so will do a bit of work on them in the next few days and then find a way for you to hear them. Then you can tell me if you feel inspired and can contribute something vocally. If so, I'd have to like it and then I could work your vocals into the arrangement and build the track up around the vocal plus probably try out some fun vocal FX work, add some other instrumentation and so on.
I'd be nervous about sending anyone a version of my tracks so would just ask that you don't do anything with them (and probably eventually delete them). I'd just send low quality MP3s (ie 128K) but they'll be fine to rap over.
If we do end up with a completed track or tracks, I'll always want to be able to do whatever I want with it (ie put it on whichever album I choose) and I'd extend the same courtesy/right to you. So, you can put it on whatever album/EP/mixtape of yours.
Let me know if that all sounds OK and I'll get on with finishing up these short demos and posting them online (probably Soundcloud) for you to hear.
on Atlantic Drifts Music by Danke lyrics by Wordy Bum by wordybum
I'm very impressed with what you've done with this track.
In fact, you've made me more greatly appreciate the original, which I first thought was decent but nothing special.
I can see how this would have been a therapeutic experience as the chill vibe is deep in this one.
I'm not really one for analysing raps so can't offer much thought there though I can say I enjoy many of the lines. "The music made me" is a good one.
Intelligent lyrics though I think you pretty much always have them.
Big congrats!
the question i have is... when are WE going to collab on a track?
on Ron Burgundy Colab request by wordybum
but still this one sounds a bit like a part of something much bigger because these guitar lines are really so narrative. that's why you can construct entire track around only a single piano loop.
Great guitar jam!
Very cool project - good luck with the collab.
Best,
Alex
on Ron Burgundy Colab request by wordybum
on Ron Burgundy Colab request by wordybum
on Atlantic Drifts Music by Danke lyrics by Wordy Bum by wordybum
Few weeks ago I downloaded your another track titled 'them-lovely-bones', very funky number but there was far too much of collab action happening at that time to work on this track.
I am working currently on some other idea from ferryterry but that particular one was really cool. Are you still interested in developing that older project? I might try to create a solo section on keys and ask ferryterry for some guitar lines as well.
Again very impressive work on this one. I will check out some of your other tracks.
Best to you, Alex
message me your email and i will send it over.
thanks again for the listen and the respect. Bless.
on Atlantic Drifts Music by Danke lyrics by Wordy Bum by wordybum
When i heard Dankes track, i realy loved it and when i listen to this one you uploaded here, i have to say - Wow -
I am realy not a big fan of rap but everything fits realy good to Dankes song. It sounds like you both worked together a long time to do this one. And thats means that YOU done a very good work.
Like i sayed, i am not a rap fan but i enjoyed the listen to this little piece of music very much.
Respect man!
stay tuned
joe
bless.
on Atlantic Drifts Music by Danke lyrics by Wordy Bum by wordybum
http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/164479
on Atlantic Drifts Music by Danke lyrics by Wordy Bum by wordybum
Peace...TG.
i'm glad you enjoyed it. Bless.
on Open Says me by wordybum
Bless.
on Used to be HIPHOP Rough draft by wordybum
Thanks for the reply. Good to see PlanetJazz has come back and will take your vocals and even send you the audio tracks to do your own version.
"i didn't know if the words would sound right over the track because of those very aggressive stabs throughout the verses."
Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting at. They're good stabs but interfere quite a bit with the vocals. So, maybe the timing of the stabs can be redone by PlanetJazz to fall more inbetween the vocal lines. Or maybe they could be removed entirely from teh verses. Just the bass and drums should be fine to accompany the vocals. Then the stabs will be more exciting when they return as a break from the vocal. Just my little idea for PlanetJazz, in case he reads this.
I look forward to seeng what the two of you end up with as I feel there's definite room for improvement.
Good work, all the same.
on Used to be HIPHOP Rough draft by wordybum
contact me at planetjazzbass@gmail.com
again, thanks so much for letting me be a part of this. i will send the dry vox this week.
on Used to be HIPHOP Rough draft by wordybum
I've already commented on the original version of this track in quite a bit of detail so I won't bother again here.
I think your added vocals are, predictably, good. However, there's a big overall problem: the mix is now just too busy.
So, if the top layer of synths could be partially/mostly removed as you're rapping, things would be a lot cleaner. Your vocals get in the way of the nice jazzy bass guitar runs. Not a criticism of you and I understand that you don't have the separate stems to mix - just the one MP3 file of the whole mix.
Second half you've left without vocals so it would be fine to get rid of the top layer of synths in the first minute (as you're rapping) as that stuff gets heard later anyway.
1:12 when you take a bit of a vocal break the other elements can be heard more comfortably again.
I guess the only options are either PlanetJazz sending you the separate elements to mix or you sending him your vocals to incorporate.
Good luck.
this was a weird one for me. i didn't know if the words would sound right over the track because of those very aggressive stabs throughout the verses. i felt like i had to hit them in unison with the beat, but overall i like the old school feel to it and the specific slang that not too many people outside of my circle of peoples would understand.
on Used to be HIPHOP Rough draft by wordybum
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
Sure, you can try EQing an instrument while everything is playing. I do that as well as isolate it. I always spend various occasions isolating every instrument. Then, when it seems to sit right, I forget about it and let it just function in the mix.
And then, perhaps when stuck for ideas, I might go back, isolate it and see if I can fiddle with it and make more out of it. I often can.
I don't know which software you're using but that probably doesn't matter too much as they're all fairly similar these days. I'm pretty sure you can automate almost every parameter now. So, pretty much any control on any plugin.
I work in Cubase and Reason (run together essentially as one program) though things are slightly different in each one. But in both, you can pretty much do one right click of the mouse and then you get an option to go to the automation track. On that track (usually underneath your instrument track) you can draw and drag as many nodes as you like to make the EQ change however you like through time ie as the playback head passes your different nodes.
You'll probably also graphically see the controls on your EQ plugin, for instance, moving. That's the automation taking effect. It's really simple stuff and there'll be instructions in your DAW manual. Just search for 'automation'.
For widening, there are various tools. I mostly just use, in Cubase, the bundled plugins, with names like Stereo Enhancer. In Reason they're called something a bit different. There are also presets for those plugins so just give them a go and have fun.
You can automate that too. So, maybe move (automate) your guitar part to be wider in the chorus and "narrower" (ie no/less stereo widening) in the verse. Just an idea.
Hope that makes sense and helps a bit.
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
Yes, you're doing fine.
It honestly took me years to start regularly using EQ (and automating it) and my tracks are much improved for using it. Stereo widening effects have also helped a lot in terms of fattening sounds up. That's not really a sonic sculpting thing but it can help a lot when a sound seems just too weak.
I try stereo widening out on all my guitar parts, though don't use it if it's not helping. And I'll add it to drums, bass, synths, whatever seems to call for it.
EQ is cool for subtly sculpting sounds, removing high end noise, fixing messy overpowering bass and everything inbetween. Just cleaning sounds up isn't boring when you get into. Clarity is important!
I have no idea how to properly use EQ but I've learned a few things from slow experimentation over the years.
It's fun sculpting sounds with EQ and it can really help when you have a few elements in a mix and you want to make one stand out from the rest. So, maybe try having those slightly messy parts all playing at the same time and then individually playing around with the EQ to bring one out. Maybe one bar (4 bars, 8 bars, whatever) you might make one part stand out from that mix and then the next bar, make another stand out. You can do that by automating the EQ on each separate channel (so, for each part) and that's a fun way to make more of your mix of elements without adding any new parts. It can be quite subtle but effective and is well suited to hip hop, which tends to rely on heavily repeated elements.
Too much to say about this kind of subject and I'm no expert anyway so I'll just encourage you to experiment as it can be fun when you get into it. It can be a bit daunting and confusing but you have to find what works nicely for you rather than what anyone else tells you is the right way to do stuff. Maybe there is kind of a right way but it's more interesting and unusual to kind of make up your own way.
Best of luck and I will check on your other work.
also, how does one automate EQ & widen it? i'm intrigued.
thanks for the help, man. i really appreciate it.
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
~GO
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
Lots of space in the track and the delayed/reverbed drums sound good.
Then the vocal is really good. A fine, laidback rapping style and incessant flow.
Additional music elements are really well done and make an interesting soundscape. I like the bell sounds. And the piano.
Could maybe do with some panning on those different elements to separate them a bit better as it's hard to make all of them out.
A tight production in general so big congrats to you.
I'm working on a few hip hop instrumental genre crossover tracks right now (eg blues, hip, reggae and funk all in one track).
Here's an older, really mad genre-merging hip hop track I made - hip hop, jazz, electro, d'n'b, metal and Eastern banjo metal with lead saxophone so quite a trip:
Way Beyond Wrong
https://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/145971
I'm going to check out your stuff now. thanks again for the listen.
bless.
on Wolf in sheeps clothing by wordybum
Hopefully we can collab in the future. Until then, peace man!
boy'cott