Boom Boom the Cat

[Larry T.]

Hey Hi. Here's Boom Boom the Cat. Nits and crits welcomed????

link: https://larryterrano.bandcamp.com/track/boom-boom-the-cat

 

 

DAW: Cakewalk by Bandlab

 pc: windows 10, i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 8GB ram, acoustic and electric guitars, DI Yamaha bass, harmonica, focusrite scarlett solo, arturia minilab mkII, arturia analog lab 5 lite, CbB effects

reference speakers: M-Audio BX3

Edited July 28, 2023 by Larry T.

[KSband]

That's a cool song, very creative. I like the harmonica.

[Bajan Blue]

Larry - this is cool - love the breaks - keeps your interest all the way through

Great Stuff

Nigel

 

[jack c.]

cool title.how about some melody here and there?good job.jack c

[Larry T.]

On 7/27/2023 at 4:29 PM, KSband said:

That's a cool song, very creative. I like the harmonica.

Thank You for the kind words. I've been learning the harmonica for about a year. Most of this tune called for a key of A harp but I think I used a D in one or two sections ????

[Larry T.]

On 7/28/2023 at 2:14 AM, Bajan Blue said:

Larry - this is cool - love the breaks - keeps your interest all the way through

Great Stuff

Nigel

 

Thanks so much Nigel. Tried to keep it simple yet interesting.  My usual "try to get more with less" production approach ????

[Larry T.]

On 7/28/2023 at 6:16 AM, jack c. said:

cool title.how about some melody here and there?good job.jack c

Thank You jack. This tune is basically based on drum, guitar, piano and bass riffs with the melodies being handled by the harmonica's and synth. I thought of adding more synth melodies but the ram meter was almost in the red so decided to let it be. Cheers????

[Johnbee58]

If that's Boom Boom on the pic he (she)'s adorable.  What a cute kitty!

I'm loving the many directions you take this tune.  Clever use of some time changes there and the harmonica is great.

? John B

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Johnbee58

[Larry T.]

On 7/29/2023 at 2:01 PM, Johnbee58 said:

If that's Boom Boom on the pic he (she)'s adorable.  What a cute kitty!

I'm loving the many directions you take this tune.  Clever use of some time changes there and the harmonica is great.

? John B

 

Thanks so much John. The kitty in the picture is  from Wikipedia Commons photos but is exactly what our kitty looked like.

I tried to keep it moving and interesting. The drum break happened first and then the guitar, piano and synth inserts. The harmonica's are the result of numerous retakes. Thanks again????

 

 

[bjornpdx]

Larry, well done!  The timing changes keep the listener on their toes. Cool harmonica ending .
The quiet parts were perhaps a bit too quiet?

-Bjorn

[Larry T.]

11 hours ago, bjornpdx said:

Larry, well done!  The timing changes keep the listener on their toes. Cool harmonica ending .
The quiet parts were perhaps a bit too quiet?

-Bjorn

Thanks Bjorn. If you mean some of the slide-y sounding guitar parts I spent days trying to determine the best audio balance of them. In the end I kept them in what I heard as in the middle of the audio image at the beginning of the song, not loud, as they aren't the focus like the harmonica's. They are louder after the drum break as that was the Big Ending I was trying to move the song in the direction of. If this isn't the quiet parts you meant please let me know. Cheers????

[PhonoBrainer]

Got a Joe Walsh feeling from this, a good summer chill vibe! Guitars, harmonica, keys all come along nicely balanced. Plenty of very cool parts and musical ideas!!! Kudos!

The drums were either 1) recorded live? then we must accept some limiting mix environment expectations . . . or 2) using a sample instrument like EZDrums or similar? Then I think more could be done to the kick (more bassy? less muffly and less compressed?) and the snare (more beef? more snap?) and I'd suggest to achieve that, I'd recommend doing the "reference mix check" checking your mix alongside, A to B comparison, a pro-level mix, Like for instance a Joe Walsh tune  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hD5lmf2LLE

This kick-***** plugin goes on sale a lot, you just put it at the very end of your Main Out master channel, load a bunch of mixes you like to check your mixes against, and A-B compare your way to greatness! Don't be put off by the $199, it hits much much lower quite frequently  https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/adptr_metricab.html

 

Sorry to get all linky but I think your cool song deserves it.

cheers,

-Tom

[Larry T.]

On 8/1/2023 at 12:06 PM, PhonoBrainer said:

Got a Joe Walsh feeling from this, a good summer chill vibe! Guitars, harmonica, keys all come along nicely balanced. Plenty of very cool parts and musical ideas!!! Kudos!

The drums were either 1) recorded live? then we must accept some limiting mix environment expectations . . . or 2) using a sample instrument like EZDrums or similar? Then I think more could be done to the kick (more bassy? less muffly and less compressed?) and the snare (more beef? more snap?) and I'd suggest to achieve that, I'd recommend doing the "reference mix check" checking your mix alongside, A to B comparison, a pro-level mix, Like for instance a Joe Walsh tune  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hD5lmf2LLE

This kick-***** plugin goes on sale a lot, you just put it at the very end of your Main Out master channel, load a bunch of mixes you like to check your mixes against, and A-B compare your way to greatness! Don't be put off by the $199, it hits much much lower quite frequently  https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/adptr_metricab.html

 

Sorry to get all linky but I think your cool song deserves it.

cheers,

-Tom

Thanks so much Tom. I really appreciate the listen and the links. The drums are from Cakewalk SI Drums loops via edits i made. They are compressed via the SI Drums VST setting and you have excellent audio perception?

The next area I need to learn is compression as I don't do it at all via a dedicated plug in and I know the mixes I'm doing now seem to be ok but I have a long, long way to go compared to some of you masters here. Also will research A to B comparison more????

[AndyB01]

Agree with Tom - the drums could be cleaner - harp and guitars sound just great.

Nice job.

Andy

[Larry T.]

22 hours ago, AndyB01 said:

Agree with Tom - the drums could be cleaner - harp and guitars sound just great.

Nice job.

Andy

Thanks Andy. Appreciate the listen ? ? ? ? 

[noynekker]

@Larry T. . . . this is super cool to listen to, and very catchy ! I actually like the sound of the Cakewalk SI drums, and have used them myself a lot over the years, they don't take over a mix, kind of over compressed samples, but sometimes the drums need taming down . . . you've made great use of them here in your laid back groove. Really enjoyed the guitar work, and adding harmonica was a nice touch. Great stuff, excellent theme and variations ! (was your cat really named boom boom ?)

Bruce

[Larry T.]

17 hours ago, noynekker said:

@Larry T. . . . this is super cool to listen to, and very catchy ! I actually like the sound of the Cakewalk SI drums, and have used them myself a lot over the years, they don't take over a mix, kind of over compressed samples, but sometimes the drums need taming down . . . you've made great use of them here in your laid back groove. Really enjoyed the guitar work, and adding harmonica was a nice touch. Great stuff, excellent theme and variations ! (was your cat really named boom boom ?)

Bruce

Thanks Bruce. Yes, the SI drums are actual recordings not synthesized renderings, so they do sound real. I've found that by using auxiliary sends and then adjusting each individual sends eq I can get some halfway decent sounds. Using eq adjustments for volume control also. 

And, our cat's name was Charly. Boom Boom popped into my head when I heard the bass drum in the song. Cheers????

[steve@baselines.com]

Nice layering of all the tracks - really good work.  I agree that something could make the drums better, but they also work as they are.

[Larry T.]

On 8/12/2023 at 10:48 AM, steve@baselines.com said:

Nice layering of all the tracks - really good work.  I agree that something could make the drums better, but they also work as they are.

Thanks Steve. I'm still using a 10 year old pc with 8GB of ram to do the songs. So keeping the instruments working is a constant consideration. The SI-Drums are ram friendly as are direct injected guitars and basses. Kontact is too big to run on 8gigs of ram and so is Addictive Drums, Izotrope and all the other stuff I'll get pretty soon????

[Jesse Screed]

Larry, I really like the sound of the guitar and the bass.  I also like the way you explored different paths but always returned to the center.  I had cool imaginations of how this all came together.