What's Due is Due | Alt-rock (Jack White w/ Noel G on lead?)

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Here's a track I "finished" a few months back. Didn't seem to be any major criticisms, so I haven't done anything with it since then. If you find anything that could be improved, let me know.

https://soundcloud.com/steevm/whats-due-is-due

I quite like the rhythm on this one, and the chorus is a 6-bar progression rather than 8. Nothing ground-breaking, but I think it gives this one it's own unique flair.

Verse part 1
Am | G C | E7 | E7 F

Verse part 2
C E7 Am G

Chorus
C G Am E7 F G
You've seen it all before
But no one's keeping score
It's something in your eyes
It keeps me mesmerised

The savings you withdrew
You could not undo
Keep tightening the screw
What's due is due

You've got me where you need
Am I supposed to plead?

I've played this game before
But no one's keeping score
But one thing is for sure
What's due is due

And now I feel alive
No words could describe
The way I feel with you
Floating in your eyes
Drifting in the skies
Until the day is through
Dig into your soul
What I find is gold
What wealth you did accrue
Such a big surprise
And then I realise
In the end what's due is due

She said she had a plan
I cannot wait young man!

She's such a devious mind
That I respond in kind
And now I'm in a bind
What's due is due

She took me for all I had
Left me shackled and unclad

And like the time before
No one's keeping score
But one thing is for sure
What's due is due

And now I feel alive
No words could describe
The way I feel with you
Floating in your eyes
Drifting in the skies
Until the day is through
Dig into your soul
What I find is gold
What wealth you did accrue
Such a big surprise
And then I realise
In the end what's due is due

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It sounds like a good solid song to me. I don’t hear anything I can really criticize.

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Like it. Liked the vibe, the vocals, the lyrics.
Only one thing I would say is that the chorus is good but the distorted guitar takes up a lot of frequencies, and so do vocals. I'd turn down the distorted guitar in the mix so its not competing as much, or not have it as a flat distortion bed of sound.
Otherwise, great :tu:

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A very good song. Your vocals are strong on this. :tu:

The chorus is bathed in unpleasant white noise/distortion. I am not sure if the hi hats or the guitars are the source.

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its got a bit of a bowie feel until the chorus, thin white duke period.
i like it, catchy and got my head rocking 8)

the lead has more of a jmascis sound to my ears, but then ive done my best to avoid listening to noel.

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Frantz wrote: Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:55 pm The chorus is bathed in unpleasant white noise/distortion. I am not sure if the hi hats or the guitars are the source.
Someone else said something similar and I uploaded an MP3 with just the hats and guitar to see if they could identify it better. But no reply, so I was still in the dark.

Having listened again on my earbuds on my phone at work, I'm 95% convinced it's the hihats. On my monitors it sounds different. I also don't have the Soundcloud compression when listening on the PC; dunno if that's related. My earbuds always over-accentuate the highs and I feel that the monitors sometimes mask them a little. I take it you were listening on monitors?

I'll upload the MP3 with just the two parts when I'm home today - maybe you can confirm the hihats as the culprit that way.

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In no particular order...
fastlanephil wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2019 12:32 am It sounds like a good solid song to me. I don’t hear anything I can really criticize.
Thanks Phil!
vurt wrote: Sun Sep 29, 2019 7:05 pm its got a bit of a bowie feel until the chorus, thin white duke period.
i like it, catchy and got my head rocking 8)

the lead has more of a jmascis sound to my ears, but then ive done my best to avoid listening to noel.
Have to admit that I'm not hugely familiar with Dinosaur Jr. Noel always had this habit of soloing in the box and overusing bends - at least that's what it sounds like to me, and I thought this had a similar vibe at the end. I guess that neither here nor there though. What matters is that you got halfway to headbanging...
Bansaw wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2019 12:57 am Like it. Liked the vibe, the vocals, the lyrics.
Only one thing I would say is that the chorus is good but the distorted guitar takes up a lot of frequencies, and so do vocals. I'd turn down the distorted guitar in the mix so its not competing as much, or not have it as a flat distortion bed of sound.
Otherwise, great :tu:
Maybe a couple of tweaks here and there would be in order on the guitars then. I don't think they're miles off though, they are meant to fill up the sound after all. I wonder to what extent this plays into the issue Frantz mentioned about the hats (I think it's the hats).

Frantz wrote: Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:55 pm A very good song. Your vocals are strong on this. :tu:
Huzzah!

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sjm wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:15 am I'll upload the MP3 with just the two parts when I'm home today - maybe you can confirm the hihats as the culprit that way.
Sure, I'll give it a listen when you upload it.

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Frantz wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2019 1:47 am Sure, I'll give it a listen when you upload it.
So apparently we can't upload MP3s here, so here's a temporary SC link:
https://soundcloud.com/steevm/whats-due ... es/s-0qGGO

I've tried to provide a little context by having the end of the verse with drums and guitar, followed by the chorus with drums and guitar.

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The Fizz Detectives version sounds quite different than the normal mix. Fizz Detectives sounds quieter, clearer, and better I think. I am not sure what is going on but would guess the master bus is overloaded and a limiter is messing with the sound in the normal mix. Is there significant gain reduction being applied? If so, you might need to adjust the levels of all channels that make up the chorus.

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Quirky. I like it. Well done. Nothing to nit pick about on this end.

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Frantz wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2019 2:25 am The Fizz Detectives version sounds quite different than the normal mix. Fizz Detectives sounds quieter, clearer, and better I think. I am not sure what is going on but would guess the master bus is overloaded and a limiter is messing with the sound in the normal mix. Is there significant gain reduction being applied? If so, you might need to adjust the levels of all channels that make up the chorus.
I tend to have a limiter on the master to make sure nothing horrible hurts my ears or speaker, and periodically check that it isn't actually doing anything to the sound. I will check again just to be 100% sure. I might have made some quick changes to the mix and not thought to check before exporting...

If not, I wonder if it's actually happening when encoding on SC; maybe I just need to turn down the master by 1 dB or so.

Thanks for the listen and getting back to me, as the last person to hear the noise didn't reply when I uploaded a similar MP3 to the fizz detectives version. We might not have solved the issue, but at least I have something to work with!

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Really great song. I think you're really good at this (Still really dig "World Ablaze"). And while I get the David Bowie reference I still, as per my comments on your WA thread, I get more of a David Byrne vibe :).

This one has one of those great 'don't know where the first beat is' intros. Also your quirky, almost-spoken, almost-atonal delivery really suits the verses, but this imo is causing some issues when doubled up in the chorus.

I think it would make a lot of difference if you tried to be a bit more tight with both the rhythm and pitch of the chorus. It doesn't have to be spot-on (There need some slight differences for the doubling to have effect). However, when both the vocals are falling shy of hitting the target notes, and in their own ways; and the delivery is also a bit lax rhythmically, it feels a bit of a shambles. It's not critical, but it does detract from the potential power of the chorus, which could really do with providing more of a solid punch as a contrast to the verse. Just an opinion, and if nothing were to be changes I still feel it's enjoyable to listen to. Only other thing to say is that one of the guitars is out of tune :P

All in all, a great job!!


Also, listening on SoundCloud, it runs automatically into "Playing For Time". That's a f**king stonker, right there. I'm guessing it will become a song, hence the WIP. If that should happen, please also keep a mixed/mastered instrumental version available. Really love it :tu:

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I hope you didn't take the comments about the chorus badly. I didn't mean to make it sound bad...It doesn't. Just think with some changes it could make a lot of difference.

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I listened to your version of october 11th: It's a moving poignant song.
Very good: The interplay of vocals and guitar in the verse-parts. This remains in
the ear! What maybe can become better - in my taste: The vocals in the
chorus part could stand out a little more. But only a little. The last guitar-driven part
and the ending is perfect. Good work, nice song! :tu:
free mp3s + info: andy-enroe.de songs + weird stuff: enroe.de

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