How Did You? (MJ Coffehouse)

michael2

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Description

Threw this one together in order to make it into the challenge on time. Recording acoustic really points out the limitations in my recording technique. If anyone has any tips on how to clean this mess up, please let me in on your secrets. I like the song, but it sounds a bit rough. Hope you like, I'm thinking it's a little Big Star/Alex Chilton (which would make it a 5th generation Beatles rip-off).

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Song Stats

Hits: 1217
Comments: 35
Fans: 30
Plays: 125
Downloads: 64
Votes: 6
Uploaded: Jun 28, 2008 - 12:40:27 AM
Last Updated: Jun 28, 2008 - 12:55:38 AM Last Played: Nov 12, 2009 - 10:47:52 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Song Actions

Keywords:

help me perfect this mix (1)

Hardware:

cheap $100 Kay acoustic, MXL USB mic, intel mini mac

Software:

GB4

Comments

Vic Holman	Vic Holman said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	very cool tune neat finger picking and vocals (well that's a given) solidly written song. I like! Check out my latest song called November

michael2	michael2 said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	hey thanks was thinking of you a minute ago: i miss your original avatar. you were my little cartoon guy friend. thanks for listening Vic, so glad you like. I'm kind of clumsy at the finger picking, but I love it so, thanks again. Check out my latest song called Behind Enemy Lines (w/Bud and Particle Dots)

Vic Holman	Vic Holman said 515 days ago (June 29th, 2008)
	like ...this guy. i was actually going to repost him as soon as i found the old file Check out my latest song called November

Feter	Feter said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	How Did You? this is superb ..definetly so gorgeous guitar pickin and singing ..the harmony so specaly here with the panning ..(with headphones) ..its a classic if its beatlish or something ...thnx alot for sharin !! Check out my latest song called A Night With Feter feat'(Roxylee sloparts crissew johnwhitehead and Yamin AL Yamani )

buckhorn	buckhorn said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	Just Threw it together. Did ya. Shut up. This is friggin masterful. I Love this. Rough diamonds or polished turds. I prefer the former. Music for "The Graduate" Remake. Stunning. Check out my latest song called salience #2

	said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	Nice one Michael very pretty song

	said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	Killer... Man this is a killer track, nothing is rough at all. The guitar sound is neat... I just only wish I can someday play that style of fingerpicking, this is amazing! Fine vocals as usual. (also loved the chords progression!). Take Care - Yeman A. Al-Rawi

Peter Bauckham	Peter Bauckham said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	Limitations? You're having a laugh. This is a great tune - I love the finger picking which doesn't sound at all clumsy to me. Nice vocal. Really good post. Peter Check out my latest song called All The Same (CBGB) (Last Chance Challenge)

Jim Bouchard

Jim Bouchard said 517 days ago (June 28th, 2008)

to me, it sounds like Elliot Smith
but I feel like that's stating the obvious, and probably due to the tight harmony throughout. I guess I don't see a problem with the recording technique and the resulting sound, but then again recording technique is a lot about capturing the sound in your head. And I don't know what exactly was in your head. The guitar sounds a little dull, and that is probably just the fact that it's a plywood Kay guitar and an MXL mic. A little EQ'ing might make this more lively. I think the midranges are a little scooped out and I actually experimented with EQing this mp3 and boosting it a fair bit between 800 and 3K, while cutting some of the frequencies above 4K seems to sound pretty good. I was using Bias' Repli-Q and modeling it on a Calixico EQ to arrive at this. There's plenty of other EQ tools you could use, but that's all I think this needs; it's a really great song. I love it now that I've downloaded it!

The funny thing about this Coffeehouse idea, a lot of the songs don't really sound all that live. This is a bit canned-sounding the way it is, but re-EQ'ing it makes it sound a lot livelier.

Check out my latest song called Weather or Not w/awigze

Reinholt56	Reinholt56 said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	Hi Michael...... Another good song from you.... Keep up the great work and take care. Paul Check out my latest song called Ambient Soundscape #1

lavalamp	lavalamp said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	5th generation Finger picking good. Kind of a Elliott Smith vibe, which you know I dig. This is a truly great song. I have to work with a cheap acoustic, too. You made yours sound so sweet. YOUR BEST VOCALS! Dave Check out my latest song called Googolplex Times Zero

MarkHolbrook	MarkHolbrook said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	I think Jim says it best its all about the sound in your head. To me this sounds wonderful and I kinda like the noisy acoustical sound. Some eq on it might be nice, I'd perhaps lower the mids a little to give the bass and treble a tiny bump. The vocals of course are pretty much perfect. I wouldn't change much if anything! Check out my latest song called Never Say Goodbye - Bond Challenge

Roxylee	Roxylee said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	playing catch up.. and I'm so glad I got to hear this one. Great lyrics, singing, and picking. Yeh, Beatle-esque and gorgeous! Check out my latest song called Sweet Grace

bud	bud said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	Can't go wrong with Big Star as a start and truth is I think you went a bit further into Elliott Smith territory. I'll have to give it a headphone listen for technical crits - but it's a great song well performed and that's all I really care about. Check out my latest song called try not to think

Ed Hannifin

Ed Hannifin said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)

So I WASN'T imagining it...
..on the other tune of yours I heard tonight... This channels a bit of the Chilton-lead side of Big Star, while I heard Chris Bell in the other one...

Nice, nice, nice vocals and nicely simple guitar part...

Yeah, and this could've fit on Rubber Soul without too much finagling...

I REALLY like it...

Ed

Check out my latest song called Next Time Around (w/jiguma)

	said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	How Did You? your voice is full of character and this is a grat song!

davisamerica2	davisamerica2 said 516 days ago (June 28th, 2008)
	How did You? Better yet, can you tell me how can I do this? Midas touch here: cheap Kay guitar turned into a Stradivarius. This guitar work was very impressive. Great vocal, great harmony, great melody, great lyrics. In short; great song! Thanks for letting me download. Terry Check out my latest song called It's Lonely Here

Moviz	Moviz said 516 days ago (June 29th, 2008)
	Love the guitar and the harmonies on this... and really nice song too.... (Simon and Garfunkel get lost); loved it, M Check out my latest song called Come Back Billie

Skean	Skean said 515 days ago (June 29th, 2008)
	Yes This sounds so good too my ears very nice played and your vox is wow. Check out my latest song called Let's Go Trippy

rsorensen

rsorensen said 515 days ago (June 29th, 2008)

How Do You?
first of all, props for that pic! So awesome where'd you find it? Another great post. Really good singing and I love those harmonies. Good playing too. Didn't know you were so good at the fingerstyle thing. It's something I struggle with. As for the mix I think it's almost there. The mids are coming through a little strong for me so maybe I'd back off a little in the master EQ. You don't want to lose that nice warm sound you have going though so just a touch. Great tune. Post the lyrics dude!

Check out my latest song called Keep Your Chin Up

	said 515 days ago (June 29th, 2008)
	Nice! And very relaxing and you have a great voice Micheal. Lovely guitar playing and great lyrics. Its a beautiful song. Well done. Peace Dee.

screamalexz	screamalexz said 514 days ago (June 30th, 2008)
	... i like that guitar part. i don't know much about recording so can't give you to many tips, but the song itself is good which is the most important. the airy vocals are nice, i can hear the elliot smith comment a little. nice tune. Check out my latest song called Die (Album Version)

Alannah	Alannah said 514 days ago (July 1st, 2008)
	yes ... it's true .... .. i always look forward to an M2 tune ... never disappoints ! Check out my latest song called I'm Drownin' - Smokey VW (feat Alannah) + Outtaorbit

8piscean8	8piscean8 said 514 days ago (July 1st, 2008)
	Sweet This is fabulous. Really like the vocal harmonies. Great finger-picking also. Reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel more than the Beatles which is awesome. Did you record three vocal parts or did you just split the harmony part? I would love to read the lyrics if you post them. -Adam Check out my latest song called The End

12parsecs	12parsecs said 513 days ago (July 1st, 2008)
	great! great song. well written. i especially love the chorus progression and corresponding harmonies! and cool bridge too, for that matter. you should be proud of this song. and your engineering skills... you made a $100 guitar sound like a million bucks! Check out my latest song called Through

apb	apb said 513 days ago (July 1st, 2008)
	I too .. .. get more of a S&G/Graduate feel .. perhaps in the Boxer-ish finger-picking? the sweet vocal harmony... and close up intimacy style recording. I loved it... and the pic too. Superb. Check out my latest song called Misplaced

SJB

SJB said 513 days ago (July 1st, 2008)

how did you
Hi Micheal,
Your recording technique must be good already because the guitar sounds better than any Kay guitar I've ever heard. It might benefit form a bass cut below 100Hz and a high end boost. A bit of reverb might also add some shine. Picking and singing are faultless and I'd be very happy with it if I it were mine. I can't easily relate it directly to anything Beatles-like. The gentle lilt and soft vocal might be a bit similar to the White Album's Julia but this ain't no copy (5th generation or no).
Steve!

Check out my latest song called Short tune

Ibstrat	Ibstrat said 512 days ago (July 2nd, 2008)
	I don't know anything about mixing or Hz, I just know that this comes across as a great song with lots of emotion.Your fingerpicking sounds great to me.Vocals and lyrics are superb. Check out my latest song called Blues in Bm

guygrooves	guygrooves said 512 days ago (July 2nd, 2008)
	Solid... Great song and vocal harmony. The guitar sounds pretty good for a cheap one, you can't blame the craftsman as the licks are really good I wish I could pick like that. I would agree with what Jim said about and add that a little compression on the signal never hurt. Only a little though. Great tune. Check out my latest song called Last Day Here

spitlogic	spitlogic said 512 days ago (July 3rd, 2008)
	Im no expert I think it all sounds very good. The mix is perfect as far as I can tell. Check out my latest song called Guillotine

	bellyfur said 510 days ago (July 4th, 2008)
	great stuff

Estella

Estella said 506 days ago (July 8th, 2008)

*sigh*
if only my mixes were the "mess" yours is.

Let me just say, your lyrics are outstanding. honest, good writing.

I can hear the beatles or elliot smith, actually, in the sliding harmonies, but that's neither here nor there.

this is a beautiful song. and i'm really glad to have heard it. it's one of those so touching, I want to fave em twice!

Peace.

Check out my latest song called Este Momento

dajama

dajama said 503 days ago (July 11th, 2008)

I love the vocal
on this. Great harmonies - they work perfectly. The lyrics are really well done, perceptive and intriguing. There are some really nice changes on this too. Not sure what you don't like about the mix, sounds pretty good to me, maybe a little dullness, but nothing fatal. Cool song. Nicely done. Sorry it took so long to get round to listening! Peace.

Check out my latest song called Across the Wire (MJRF)

Heightened	Heightened said 338 days ago (December 24th, 2008)
	Sounds good to me But wonder how a more pink floyd thing would sound Check out my latest song called A Journey Through Starburst Galaxy M82

particledots	particledots said 221 days ago (April 20th, 2009)
	Brilliant Stuff cheap kay acoustic huh? no cheap song there tho michael lovely stuff b Check out my latest song called Mt St Helen - (Cadence Corrected Mix)

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Artist Info

Name: michael2

I'm a guy who never wanted to do anything but play music. I grew up with classic rock and prog rock before discovering punk and the new york dolls once I got to high school. As i got a little older (and less angry), I developed a love o... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

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