JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback MP3 Feedback Forum New Religion

I'd like to know if this is ready to start pitching. This is my first try at digital recording. If anyone has any advice on arrangement, production and improving the sound quality of the recording, I'd really appreciate it. I'm using Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 and recording everything directly through my pc's sound card.
I've posted the mp3 on both Soundclick and Songramp.
Thanks in advance.
-Todd

http://www.soundclick.com/toddcody

http://www.songramp.com/homepage.ez?Who=tcody13

NEW RELIGION
� Todd Cody

There�s the barstool in the corner where I used to sit and pray
With a bottle, under neon I�d worship everyday
The barkeep listened to me while I confessed my sins
Then accepted my donation and filled my glass again

But now those days are over I�m not the man I used to be
There�s no salvation in a bottle, no miracles to see
My drinkin� days have ended, I�m sober through and through
�Cause I�ve found a new religion loving you

Chorus:
I�ve found a new religion loving you
I�ve taken all my vows, changed my point of view
I saw the light, I�m born again, it�s a miracle come true
�Cause I�ve found a new religion loving you

The jukebox was our choir, it played all the drinkin� songs
The entire congregation would dance or sing along
When the services were over I�d stumble home and then
Sleep it off �till mornin� when I could worship once again

Bridge:
I kept the faith for years until you helped me understand
Neon ain�t the guiding light that�ll take me to the Promised Land

Now those days are over I�m not the man I used to be
There�s no salvation in a bottle, no miracles to see
My drinkin� days have ended, I�m sober through and through
�Cause I�ve found a new religion loving you

Chorus:
I�ve found a new religion loving you
I�ve taken all my vows, changed my point of view
I saw the light, I�m born again, it�s a miracle come true
�Cause I�ve found a new religion loving you

Oh, I saw the light, I�m born again, it�s a miracle come true
�Cause I�ve found a new religion loving you
Loving you

Hey tcody, I listened to all three songs on your site. Definitely got the country groove going.
I really liked the song "Too Long". It was just you and the guitar and a little background(sounded like organ). The vocal showed out in this song.
With some better recordings of your songs they'll sound even better.I'm no expert on that. But I noticed a "hissing sound"
Good lyrics.
Keep up the good work.terribob

[This message has been edited by terribob (edited 10-29-2005).]

Hey Todd:

Really liked the song - good lyric, fun melody, nice hook and delivery.

Hissing bothered me too. Maybe one of the experts around here will weigh in on how to get rid of it. I've heard people say that its hard to get a good recording using your PC's sound card, but that may be too general a statement.

Am gonna listen to your other songs when I have some more time. Welcome to the site!

Scott

Its a decent song;
I can tell you this as far as pitching goes: You need to get rid of the hissing.
I'm not trying to be critical of your demo - but if you're going to pitch in nashville you HAVE to get a pro demo. That's just the way it is - I don't like it...I think their attitude sucks. But its the way it is.
Evne if you just shell out $150 for a clean acoustic/guitar.

Hi everyone, thanks for listening. Terribob, I'm glad you liked Too Long. That's a true story. As an update to it, I did find out where my father was and we are in touch again. Maybe I should write an update to that song, or rewrite it to have a happy ending.
Scott, glad you liked New Religion. I think it's my best, lyrically, so far.
Spacemonkey, I couldn't hear the hissing at first on the recording/mix computer, I think because of the speakers. I'm trying to figure out where it's coming from and learning about compressors to help.
Thanks again,everyone, for listening and for the comments and advice.
Todd

[This message has been edited by tcody (edited 11-04-2005).]

Hi Todd,

Liked your vocal stlye and lyric.. very heartfelt.
Your arrangement was perfect in my opinion..
Your recording was rather good.You have a good sense of level balance and also capturing your feeling on tape. I still like to call it tape...
The hiss didn't bother me much as I used to get alot of it with tape But Scott is right you have to change that soundcard first chance you get..Also when your tracking solo each track and see if the Hiss is on all tracks or just a few or maybe even one.. All it takes is to be on one track like the vocal for example and you will hear it..
Nice job on the recording and nice song!
A little more and your ready to pitch.

Take Care
Sub

[This message has been edited by substudio (edited 11-05-2005).]

Todd,
I liked your songs, especially "New Religion". I could hear it on my radio.

Let's work on that hiss thing. I have no idea what your setup is like or where the hiss entered the signal chain. One possibility is that your original tracks were recorded at a low level and then boosted. Maybe you used a compressor? You want to get as much volume level as possible on each track at the time of recording. On tape you can record +3db in the red but on digital you want to stay just a little below 0db (where the red starts). Same thing when you mix, the output should be just below 0db. Same all along the chain. That way you get more signal, less noise (signal to noise ratio or SNR). This process is called gain staging.

If the hiss is coming from a preamp or guitar amp, it will need to be fixed there. I hope this helps. If not, let us know what you're using and maybe we can figure it out.

All the best,
jw

[This message has been edited by JWRoadhouse (edited 11-05-2005).]

Hi Sub, JW thanks, I'm glad you liked the song. I think I figured where most of the hiss is coming from. I decided to re-record New Religion from scratch. The drum tracks begin as midi and then I convert them to audio. I decided to convert each part of the drum kit to a seperate track this time (I converted them to a single track last time) so I could solo each track (thanks Sub) to find the hissing and I heard the hiss on each track. Not sure why this is happening.
I'm editing the waveforms to get rid of any sections that don't contain a drum/cymbal hit and so far it seems to be working, but taking time. I tried Cakewalk's Remove Silence feature, but no matter what settings I used, I lost a few of the quieter snare/cymbal hits.
I'm just learning to use EQ and compression and I've been experimenting with the settings.
I've been recording the other instruments direct using my 4-track as a pre-amp. Going directly into the sound card wasn't recording strong enough. I'm going to take more time and care this time to get the signal strength right on each track. I'll let you know when I post the new recording so you can tell me if I'm on the right track. Thanks for the comments and advice, I appreciate it.

[This message has been edited by tcody (edited 11-09-2005).]

Todd Coddy,
Hello & a big welcome to JPF!

First off, I'd say you're on solid ground with your story & lyrics, quit an ingenious angle... excellent job!

Next, I think the tune is fun but maybe just a tad too "Old Skool". I might be wrong, but my gut instinct tells me get a really cool up-to-date tune going on this. Something like a cross between new country with a lite touch of southern gospel, or something like that. I don't have any examples (yet) but there's some awesome composers networking around this place, so keep that in mind.

Regarding your recording equipment:
Two things that would help you right away:
1. Get a nice little pre-amp for your microphone. I use a very affordable ($40.00 or so) Tube Ultragain MIC100 made by Behringer. It's got a vacuum tube with pre-amp limiter, very clean and warm sounding.

2. You are probably using a very "low end" sound card because I can hear lots of hiss and noise. Two ways to clean that up:
a) Use a noise filter from an editing software, as for example, Cool Edit Pro. I use it and it's great!
b) Consider getting a better sound card. I use a "Santa Cruz" by Turtle Beach. It cost about $75.00 and will give you plenty of clean "horse power" to work with.

Anyway, you have some great material to work with. Awesome lyrics that moved me and lots of room to "shoot for the moon" on your melody and arrangement.

In my opinion, you're off to a good start, so don't quit on this just yet!

Take care & Lord bless ya!
Michael

------------------
The OUTLOOK may often appear bleak, but the UPLOOK is always bright!
Praiseworthy Productions
Michael Borges On Violin


[This message has been edited by Michael Borges (edited 11-09-2005).]

Hi Michael. Thanks for listening. The hissing is definaltely caused by the sound card. I took it out and tried the soundcard that is built into the motherboard. It may not be top quality, but the hissing was gone. Now it's time to re-record this. Hopefully the new recording won't have any noise problems. I hear what you're saying about the "old Skool" feel. That actually crossed my mind while I was recording it. I may play a little with the melody and arrangement, maybe do a seperate version, to try for a more comtemporary feel. I'll have to listen to some southern gospel to get some ideas. When I was writing it I actually had thoughts of opening the song with a couple measures of a choir or church organ. Don't know if that would work, especially as a song demo. Anyways, thanks again, I'm glad you liked it.
-Todd

[This message has been edited by tcody (edited 11-15-2005).]

I'll let everyone who responded know when I get the new recording done so you can listen if you want. Thanks.
-Todd

[This message has been edited by tcody (edited 11-15-2005).]