Help Wanted - Love Is In Bloom Post-rock cover

[metroponytan]

Hi all, obviously I'm new here but I was directed to come to this community for pony-music advice, so here I am!

I'd like some constructive criticism on this post-rock cover I'm working on for Love Is In Bloom, on one of the build parts I wanted to reference weddings so I used a bit from the wedding march, but for some reason it makes the whole thing lose momentum for me. Maybe I'm reading too much into it because I made it, so that's why I'm taking it to you all.

If anyone could help on that, or the song in general, I'd be really grateful!

Anyway, linkage: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/251369/metroponytan-love_is_in_bloom%28cover%29.mp3

PS. I love the electronica that comes out of this fandom but I'm kinda lonely here with guitar based covers since that's all I'm good at.

[MasterOfRegret]

I can't say much about the wedding march thing, other than that it sort of 'ruins' it for me too.

Around each minute mark, there seems to be something that doesn't have as much power as it needs. At the 3:00, everything overpowered the lead that you ended with, playing with them leading into the last part. Around 2:03, I'd give it a little more punch.

I should mention I know nothing about electric guitars.

But I like it. I want to see the finished version.

[metroponytan]

Around each minute mark, there seems to be something that doesn't have as much power as it needs.

Dude, you're a genius. I guess the rules of dropping the beat in electronica also apply universally to all types of music!

At the 3:00, everything overpowered the lead that you ended with, playing with them leading into the last part. Around 2:03, I'd give it a little more punch.

This will make the song longer but that's part of the point of post-rock, so this advice totally works.

[Cherax]

First off, I agree with everything MasterOfRegret said, including that I want to hear this when it's done - and especially that the wedding march is a no-go. Good on paper, bad in practice. Like Communism! ;D

I think your lead guitar comes off as a little too harsh. (It may be a tuning issue, actually.) If not for the lead, then at least for the harmony guitar, try using a pick-up closer to the neck. I prefer using tones that are just different enough - maybe one pick-up switch away, or one EQ away - to differentiate the two parts. It's the same principle you use when singing harmonies; you either put more effects on the backing vocals, or get a different person to sing them, and it gels better. It also lets you get away with more interesting harmonies. You might want to apply this to the tremolo guitar in the background of the second verse, because it's really nice, but it gets drowned out by the lead.

A louder snare at the end would help - or just a sidechain to help it cut through a little more. Also, maybe change the bass from quavers to crotchets. You've got a huge two-feel going with the drums, but the bass is keeping the eights. Then again, that may be exactly what you want!, and that's fine too.

It's good to have you around. I've always thought this fandom needs moar post-rock.

[metroponytan]

Awesome feedback, Cherax! Lots of what I was looking for.

EQ-ing and stuff has been a challenge for me over here because my headphones are a bit weird, I think they kick up the presence range because when I take mixes to my car and check out how they sound there, all the lead stuff *does* sound harsh and the middle kind of scooped. It's actually for this reason I cut the attack on the snare a little bit, I didn't know if it was going to be too harsh when everything got bounced.

So, concerning headphones, I sadly can't recommend AKG K240's then. They're really good for mixing vocals but apparently not much else. Though I have some pretty good earbuds, I'm wondering if I should I switch to those?

There are six guitars doing harmonies (totally on purpose, yes) so maybe I should put a little more effort into organization of the audio space. Good ideas on the bass, too, it's actually sequenced so maybe it's time to pick up an actual bass guitar and track that! All in all your guys' ideas lend to organic-ness and that's totally what I felt was missing. Ahhh stoked to get back to work on this over the weekend.

[metroponytan]

So this thread helped massively. I think this is nearly ready to roll for YouTube?

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/251369/metroponytan-loveisinbloom%28postrockcover%29.mp3

[Cherax]

Just saw this on EQD - sorry I didn't see your last post! But oh man, great job. That friggin' ending knocked the hat off my head.

[metroponytan]

Couldn't have done it without your guys' help.

Actually would it be alright if I gave you guys some shoutouts on the YT description?

[Cherax]

>blushes
Well, sure!