The Colourbox - Two Teas, No Sugar. Feedback please?!

thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
edited June 2018 in Making Music
After much deliberation, procrastination, and technical frustration, I've finally "finished" my EP. I won't say too much by way of backing info but basically I was bought a studio experience by my old work mates as a 30th birthday gift which was interesting, though most of what is in this I've done myself, at home. If anybody wants to know I can give some details of what kit I used and what not.

Would love some feedback. The originals are "Sheena is a Monster", " I'm sorry Suarez ", " Wait" and "If". The others are covers - " Pale Blue Eyes" Velvet Underground, "Red Light Blue Light" Harry Connick Junior, "Wild Fire" Laura Marling. All instruments and vocals played, programmed and sang by me (with a few spoken samples from internet).

Without further ado:

Listen to Two Teas, No Sugar by thecolourbox #np on #SoundCloud


Oh and I did an acoustic demo type version of Wild Fire too:

Listen to Wild Fire - Acoustic (Laura Marling Cover) by thecolourbox #np on #SoundCloud


Many thanks in advance for your thoughts
Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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Comments

  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Lashings of ginger beer reverberation. So much that it sounds as you are performing in a tunnel. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Lashings of ginger beer reverberation. So much that it sounds as you are performing in a tunnel. 
    Ha yes I do like a lot of reverb and it's possibly a bad habit of mine, using reverb to cover up the playing and vocals a bit. I've maybe not learnt how to be more subtle with it yet as I tried a couple without any or much and it sounded rather jarring. Does monitoring on headphones make a difference as well do you think? As I find when playing guitar through them I need a bit more air in the sound to make up for the lack of room ambience
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    edited June 2018
    Lashings of ginger beer reverberation. So much that it sounds as you are performing in a tunnel. 
    I agree .. there's a decent song in there but too much reverb, especially on the vocals.

    Wild fire was good .. no reverb to detract from the playing and singing.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Fretwired said:
    Lashings of ginger beer reverberation. So much that it sounds as you are performing in a tunnel. 
    I agree .. there's a decent song in there but too much reverb, especially on the vocals.

    Wild fire was good .. no reverb to detract from the playing and singing.
    With my singing and playing though there is good reason to detract from it Haha but thanks guys, point taken on board. I'll be looking to read up on a few things as a conclusion to this project - I've taught myself thus far and I still don't understand half of the stuff the software can do, or how to fix some niggling tech issues I keep having, so I hope to improve on that in future (and set up preset templates more than likely!!)

    Is it a case of the input needing to improve, do you think, so that I don't have to cover it in compression, reverb and overdrive? If I turn off the fx it just sounds dry and bare and my mistakes or shortcomings show up a lot more. 

    Another thought that may or may not be valid that somebody else has commented on, and this is in general not specific to the reverb thing, is that the music I listen to and enjoy playing is not reflected in these songs, mainly because my vocals do not lend themselves to those styles. So I have to do more generic styles of music which I'm not so used to listening to in order to pick up styles and ideas. 
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    I'll get a listen on my commute home but here are some thoughts for now:

    Why not post a drier version for us to hear? You can obsess about perfection but plenty of famous tracks have mistakes or imperfections which make them. What might seem a mistake to you could be different to others. Or you might be told to stick with the reverb! But people are friendly and honest here. 

    And why not try recording what you want to play? You can adapt it to go with your vocals if need be but don't play/sing stuff that's not you.
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Fretwired said:
    Lashings of ginger beer reverberation. So much that it sounds as you are performing in a tunnel. 
    I agree .. there's a decent song in there but too much reverb, especially on the vocals.

    Wild fire was good .. no reverb to detract from the playing and singing.
    With my singing and playing though there is good reason to detract from it Haha but thanks guys, point taken on board. I'll be looking to read up on a few things as a conclusion to this project - I've taught myself thus far and I still don't understand half of the stuff the software can do, or how to fix some niggling tech issues I keep having, so I hope to improve on that in future (and set up preset templates more than likely!!)

    Is it a case of the input needing to improve, do you think, so that I don't have to cover it in compression, reverb and overdrive? If I turn off the fx it just sounds dry and bare and my mistakes or shortcomings show up a lot more. 

    Another thought that may or may not be valid that somebody else has commented on, and this is in general not specific to the reverb thing, is that the music I listen to and enjoy playing is not reflected in these songs, mainly because my vocals do not lend themselves to those styles. So I have to do more generic styles of music which I'm not so used to listening to in order to pick up styles and ideas. 
    I always record dry or just a touch of reverb on an FX channel that I can delete. I suggest you maybe look at mixing. For example I use Cubase which allows me to create FX channels that can be applied to recordings. In the case of vocals I could add a touch of warm saturation and reverb and then mix to taste with the dry signal to create warmth, space and ambiance.

    Music Radar have tutorials on mixing as does Steinberg (you don't need the company's products - you can pick up the basics). YouTube is full of videos.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654

    @flying_pie I could do alternate less-reverb versions yes, though would probably be next week before I get time. Re perfection & mistakes it's not so much that, "Mistakes" probably isn't the word, more "shortcomings" I think. I'm happy to leave little mistakes in (as evidenced by these recordings haha) as they generally add to the vibe as you say.

    My next project may well be to make music I like, though it will have to be instrumental as honestly, my voice would not work for it. That's not self deprecating, it just does not fit. I like listening to and playing White Stripes, Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I don't have the vocal range (high or low) to go with that type of guitar playing, and playing up a 5th makes the guitar sound like the smurfs are playing it. Playing up a 5th and doubling down an octave with a POG would become a tedious gimmick after a few songs I think. I don't have any musical friends I could steal to sing for me either, as the few I have play and sing only MoR Dad rock or choral stuff! Cheers for your thoughts though, I appreciate the differing viewpoints.

    @fretwired I too use Cubase, I could not understand how to do even the most basic stuff in Reaper or Pro Tools. I did try to use FX tracks on a couple of them but I don't think I fully understood what to do with them as I could not hear any difference with it switched on or off even with two or three tracks sent to it. I've never read any tutorials or watched any videos as my vocab of what things are is so low, I get quite lost very quickly, have to stop and then look up the thing I was confused about so it's a bit of a rabbit hole and as ever, time is the enemy.


    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    edited June 2018
    I haven’t listened to anything yet but, based on the comments, if you wanted my son to attempt a mix ( not entirely random this, it’s what he studies at college and is top of his class) he’s hanging around college until the end of next week. He’d need the raw stems though ( no, I don’t know what that means). 
    If it’s rubbish no harm done I guess. 
    I’ll listen to the tracks later and compare them to some obscure sixties band you’ve never heard of... :innocent: 

    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    I haven’t listened to anything yet but, based on the comments, if you wanted my son to attempt a mix ( not entirely random this, it’s what he studies at college and is top of his class) he’s hanging around college until the end of next week. He’d need the raw stems though ( no, I don’t know what that means). 
    If it’s rubbish no harm done I guess. 
    I’ll listen to the tracks later and compare them to some obscure sixties band you’ve never heard of... :innocent: 

    Already asked ....he doesnt have the stems ....unless someone can advise how to export multi track from Cubase?


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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    spark240 said:
    I haven’t listened to anything yet but, based on the comments, if you wanted my son to attempt a mix ( not entirely random this, it’s what he studies at college and is top of his class) he’s hanging around college until the end of next week. He’d need the raw stems though ( no, I don’t know what that means). 
    If it’s rubbish no harm done I guess. 
    I’ll listen to the tracks later and compare them to some obscure sixties band you’ve never heard of... :innocent: 

    Already asked ....he doesnt have the stems ....unless someone can advise how to export multi track from Cubase?
    Ahh. My son said he could also work on it if was in Logic Pro or had the ableton project file (?).

    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • flying_pieflying_pie Frets: 1806
    @thecolourbox you could play that style of music but just sing lower. Adapt the melody to suit. It's the intention that makes the style not the pitch. 

    Having listened I'd agree with the comments about reverb. You've got some good stuff in there though. Don't shy away from vocals completely 
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    spark240 said:
    I haven’t listened to anything yet but, based on the comments, if you wanted my son to attempt a mix ( not entirely random this, it’s what he studies at college and is top of his class) he’s hanging around college until the end of next week. He’d need the raw stems though ( no, I don’t know what that means). 
    If it’s rubbish no harm done I guess. 
    I’ll listen to the tracks later and compare them to some obscure sixties band you’ve never heard of... :innocent: 

    Already asked ....he doesnt have the stems ....unless someone can advise how to export multi track from Cubase?
    There's an option called Export and you can export the individual tracks as wav files. Do you know what version of Cubase is being used?

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Sorry guys for the delay, been at a Travis gig tonight, what a band.

    Anyway! Yes the stems.... I may try to do dry stems this weekend but it takes forever and a day to do them as my version of Cubase (elements) does not have the batch export of each track, but instead you have to go through and solo one track at a time to export it. I generally only have eight tracks max at any one time, however I have about three versions of each eight also there in the background for different takes which are muted so I get rather confused as to which I have done and which I haven't when I try to do that. But, it was only about £70 instead of £400...
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Oh yes @Fretwired I do miss that option when I changed from sx6 to 8 Elements!!
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Oh yes @Fretwired I do miss that option when I changed from sx6 to 8 Elements!!
    You can still do it in Elements .. just do it a track at a time. I think you do the full one hit export in 9.5. There was an upgrade offer from 8 for around £20. I'll check for you as I have a copy ... I use 9.5 Pro though.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Thanks @fretwired but Elements 9.5 doesn't have the batch export either! I know i can solo a track at a time but with 7 songs at average of eight each that takes a long long time!
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    thecolourbox said:
    With my singing and playing though there is good reason to detract from it Haha 

    Is it a case of the input needing to improve, do you think, so that I don't have to cover it in compression, reverb and overdrive? If I turn off the fx it just sounds dry and bare and my mistakes or shortcomings show up a lot more. 
    Some of the world's most famous popular music vocalists are not exactly bel canto trained. This does not prevent them from getting a song across. The conviction in their delivery overcomes the shortcomings of their intonation and breath control.

    Confidence.
    Be seeing you.
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Thanks @fretwired but Elements 9.5 doesn't have the batch export either! I know i can solo a track at a time but with 7 songs at average of eight each that takes a long long time!
    Apologies, you are right. I was confusing Elements with Artist. Still nine tracks should only take a few minutes.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    thecolourbox said:
    With my singing and playing though there is good reason to detract from it Haha 

    Is it a case of the input needing to improve, do you think, so that I don't have to cover it in compression, reverb and overdrive? If I turn off the fx it just sounds dry and bare and my mistakes or shortcomings show up a lot more. 
    Some of the world's most famous popular music vocalists are not exactly bel canto trained. This does not prevent them from getting a song across. The conviction in their delivery overcomes the shortcomings of their intonation and breath control.

    Confidence.
    I don't have any other gear to shift to though other than the monotone you can hear on these seven recordings! 
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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  • thecolourboxthecolourbox Frets: 9654
    Fretwired said:
    Thanks @fretwired but Elements 9.5 doesn't have the batch export either! I know i can solo a track at a time but with 7 songs at average of eight each that takes a long long time!
    Apologies, you are right. I was confusing Elements with Artist. Still nine tracks should only take a few minutes.
    I tried to do it before the studio day in order to take the project file with me in pro tools which they used, it took about 10 minutes each track to export! In the time it took to export the full songs I cooked a roast dinner and washed up, single tracks take less but I have to keep returning to the computer every ten minutes so can't really crack on with anything else while I leave it running off that makes sense
    Please note my communication is not very good, so please be patient with me
    soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
    youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
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