Graham Banks - The Chinese Are Coming - April 2009

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GrahamBanks
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Graham Banks - The Chinese Are Coming - April 2009

Post by GrahamBanks »

A different style for me...it's inspired by a couple of other songwriters, but I won't say who for now. Maybe you can guess... :wink:

http://www.grahambanks.com/Chinese
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georgeinar
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Post by georgeinar »

A lot of cool things going on in this song, the instrumentation is very well done and I like the melody and the vocal has a nice natural feel. I don't really understand the meaning of the lyrics, I took them as a tongue in cheek joke or satire, as in something from Hunter S Thompson or Ted Nugent? (attitude-not genre). I would be curious to hear this without the rimshot hits. I feel that it distracts from the other instruments and is not quantized with the same swing as the rest of the music. However, that being said, you got your April song in and that's fantastic.
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Pumpkin King
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Post by Pumpkin King »

Good song here. I think everything flowed together really well.

IMO though, the vocals are a bit loud. But I think that may be due the brass instruments. They kinda give the impression of a "big sounding song", yet the vocals seem to be louder than the instruments. Also, I think that the drums could use a change of pace in the song. Instead of keeping the 8 beat rhythm when you transition to the softer parts, I think maybe they could transition to a 4 beat rhythm in the same tempo. I was also thinking that it'd be cool if you could make a chorus with your vocals for certain lyrics.

I did enjoy the song. I'm just trying to make some suggestions. 8)
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ellll
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Post by ellll »

Hi Graham !!

I also felt thye vocals were just a little over...... The sound is generally very good to me...and I like the rhythmic elements. I am not sure about the rim shot being used as mentioned by George....; It seems reasonable to me but again it may be a tad to prominent which would bring a better balance if dropped back a bit..I also was not clear on the lyrics BUT Its nice overall...Indeed:

Nice One...! Thanks for letting us hear!!

Best Regards, John (ellll) :D
GrahamBanks
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Thanks

Post by GrahamBanks »

Thanks for the comments. I agree about the vocals. The mix is giving me some trouble. I have harmony elements recorded, but I can't get the balance right yet. I started out with some bad phasing problems, totally cancelling out my harmonies, but I think that's resolved. Now I am trying to get the different harmony voices to sit in the mix and in the stereo field. It's definitely not done yet, but it hasn't squashed my interest either. :P
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