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Long Gone

By orangedrink on January 6, 2018 12:31 am

Comin' out swinging for 2018!  I made a lot of electronic music in 2016 and I'm going to try to do more rock and rap music in 2018.  I played drums, guitar, bass, tambourine, and sang on this track.  I wrote a song on guitar but didn't really have a beat or lyrics I felt passionate about, so I tried something else, and this is what I got.  I felt pressured to make a "B section" but I feel good about keeping this short and having it build up and break down and build up again.  I am totally available for negative/constructive criticism.  I want to be the best Orange Drink member I can be, so please help with ideas!  Sexy grandpa pics are also always welcome.


Lyrics:
I'm not paying attention, I'd rather be just anywhere else
Still not paying attention, I'd rather be just anyone else

Is anyone there?
Read between the lines, read between the lines, read between the lines
Does anyone care?

When the money comes, we'll be long gone.



Ask the audience: Do you think this song would benefit from a slightly brighter EQ?

Audio works licensed by author under:
CC Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)

Great to see you back. I feel the vocals should come forward slightly in the mix vocals seem a bit too pushed back. smile

But I'm really enjoying this.

Pumped for another year. Enjoyed this very much and looking forward to hearing a lot more from you again.

Wow... so alive. great sound and change up. Welcome back and happy new year!

Great to see you back!  Very nice job.  It has a nice full band sound and I really like the drum work.

love the chorus part wink

I'm so glad your back !!!

Great track!!! amazing lyrics, man this year is going to be awesome.

Loving this one, especially the chorus part.

Man, you really returned with a tight sound this year! This aboslutely rocks!

It's great to hear you comming with such energy, Orangedrink smile

Now Sir McKellen and Sir Jacobi wanted to wish you a happy new WBYear!

Great Track... Rock suits you!
I like the Mix but maybe the vocals could be a bit more present... or maybe the guitar with slightly less heights.

You did a trainspotting theme smashhit! Great recording and mixing. Looking forward to hear more songs like this.

Catchy, can't get it out of my head now. Well done! big_smile

(IMO the "bitcrushy" effect doesn't sound that great during "Is anyone there?" and "Does anyone care?" and hold the vocals back a little.)

love this!

rockin!

Rockin' New Years! Maybe it's my hearing loss, but balance sounded good to me.

love that vocal sound! great work!

Oh man, this is way better than I was ready for!

i missed you beats last year!  so glad you are back!

i thought you were saying read between the lines read between the lies read between the lines

nice high energy start to the new year!  curious about your process as you record all these parts on your own how did you build this song? 

CatchinAshes wrote:

Great to see you back. I feel the vocals should come forward slightly in the mix vocals seem a bit too pushed back. smile

But I'm really enjoying this.

i'd be curious to hear how a bit of a vocal boost would sound too - it sounds pushed back in my headphones (JVC HA-RX300's) & more forward & evenly mixed when i listen through the laptop built in speakers... this is the mysterious part of mixing & mastering to me!

i like the vocal pan when the added vocals come in - that's a nice touch - wish i could comment on the eq for you but i don't understand that well enough yet - the song sounds pretty bright to me as is though smile

Great start, can’t wait to hear more like this and looking forward to some rap tunes, on headphones the vocals sounded good in the mix

That chorus is indeed super catchy!  Excellent one-man-banding and bringing it altogether with the mix.  The ending vox reminded me a bit of Thom Yorke's style.  I'll be humming this one later for sure smile

Aww yeah, lovin' this! big_smile
Great to see you back for another year orangedrink, looking forward to hearing what you come up with!

Man this is amazing. I can't help but visualize a heist payoff montage from an Ocean's movie! And you have given me the final push to get more vocals going with WB2018. Watch this space!

I'm so used to your electronic sound that this threw me for a loop. I don't feel like it suffered from a lack of B section at all. Great just by itself with the build and release structure. As far as the EQ question is concerned, it did feel a little muted in the beginning, but as the song built and especially once it's intensity hit it's apex, it sounded perfect, so I'm not sure. Looking forward to hearing a new Orange Drink tune every week this year!

Hi orangedrink! I dig this. I think someone mentioned bringing the vocals forward, but I like them where they are. They sit well in the mix to my ears. Looking forward to what else you do!

Ah, another one person band!
Very nice.

Catchy! I like the lo-fi aesthetic of this, and the vocal sound and lyrics. Maybe a brighter, beefier mix would be cool, felt bit muted, especially in the bigger parts. Looking forward to more, cheers!

Damn! Wasn't expecting a full-blown catchy rock song! Very glad to see you back smile

"Read between the lines" line is catchy on a good way. smile

Thanks for the track!

Whoop. Like them chords boys...

Maybe you could sweep the equipment over the course of the song... or run some subtle filtering, I can feel y'all getting more shimmery towards the end might be cool to exaggerate the effect... I dunno I'll try it on my sampler

*sweep the eq

Excellent start to 2018.  Nice work. Solid tune!

Oh wow, hadn't expected to hear indierock! Love it, voice(s) sound(s) amazing! Great great song. And I love the vocal harmonies!
So happy with this. You should actually get out and tour with this.
Very energetic.

Excellent!

Glad to hear you back in 2018!

CatchinAshes wrote:

I feel the vocals should come forward slightly in the mix vocals seem a bit too pushed back. smile

theGuen wrote:

I like the Mix but maybe the vocals could be a bit more present... or maybe the guitar with slightly less heights.

Jim Wood wrote:

Rockin' New Years! Maybe it's my hearing loss, but balance sounded good to me.

kaedo sevaada wrote:

i'd be curious to hear how a bit of a vocal boost would sound too - it sounds pushed back in my headphones (JVC HA-RX300's) & more forward & evenly mixed when i listen through the laptop built in speakers... this is the mysterious part of mixing & mastering to me!

Jason Nijjer wrote:

Great start, can’t wait to hear more like this and looking forward to some rap tunes, on headphones the vocals sounded good in the mix

hypnogram wrote:

As far as the EQ question is concerned, it did feel a little muted in the beginning, but as the song built and especially once it's intensity hit it's apex, it sounded perfect, so I'm not sure. Looking forward to hearing a new Orange Drink tune every week this year!

roboctopus wrote:

Hi orangedrink! I dig this. I think someone mentioned bringing the vocals forward, but I like them where they are. They sit well in the mix to my ears. Looking forward to what else you do!

miraclemiles wrote:

Catchy! I like the lo-fi aesthetic of this, and the vocal sound and lyrics. Maybe a brighter, beefier mix would be cool, felt bit muted, especially in the bigger parts. Looking forward to more, cheers!

Thanks for the specific feedback everyone!  Generally summarizing the volume comments, we kind of have 4 people in favor of increasing the vocals and 4 people saying it is fine as it is.  Ultimately that's a good thing if not everyone agrees one way or another.  Vocals are tough for me to mix because I have to get over that "fear of the spotlight" kind of thing.  ...which is ironic because it's a one man band, amirite?  wink

CatchinAshes wrote:

Great to see you back. I feel the vocals should come forward slightly in the mix vocals seem a bit too pushed back. smile

But I'm really enjoying this.

Thanks and good to see you too!  Excited for us this year!

E-dub wrote:

Pumped for another year. Enjoyed this very much and looking forward to hearing a lot more from you again.

EDUB - thanks so much, loving the new moniker

NWSPR wrote:

Wow... so alive. great sound and change up. Welcome back and happy new year!

Thank you!  Trying to bring some energy like a New Year firework!

CosmicCairns wrote:

Great to see you back!  Very nice job.  It has a nice full band sound and I really like the drum work.

Thanks so much, I got some new drum cymbals that I am really excited about.  I hope to practice drums more consistently this year.

Phil Harmonic wrote:

love the chorus part wink

Thanks!

Aday wrote:

I'm so glad your back !!!

Great track!!! amazing lyrics, man this year is going to be awesome.

Thanks so much for the note on the lyrics.  I was trying to say a lot with a little.

Dkstr wrote:

Loving this one, especially the chorus part.

Thank you!

laguna wrote:

Man, you really returned with a tight sound this year! This aboslutely rocks!

It's great to hear you comming with such energy, Orangedrink smile

OMG thank you for starting off my year with a pic of my secret husband, Derek Jacobi!  That is the perfect New Year gif!  And thanks for the kind words, you inspire me! 

theGuen wrote:

Great Track... Rock suits you!
I like the Mix but maybe the vocals could be a bit more present... or maybe the guitar with slightly less heights.

Thanks so much!  Going to do more rock this year for sure!  That was actually how I got started back in the day.  This song is very much "Classic Orange Drink" in many ways.

Q-Rosh wrote:

You did a trainspotting theme smashhit! Great recording and mixing. Looking forward to hear more songs like this.

Thank you!

ade wrote:

Catchy, can't get it out of my head now. Well done! big_smile

(IMO the "bitcrushy" effect doesn't sound that great during "Is anyone there?" and "Does anyone care?" and hold the vocals back a little.)

Thanks!  And also I really appreciate the constructive criticism.  It is actually really helpful to know what things can potentially keep the audience at a distance, and then I can decide whether that move is intentional or not.  Kind of like a cook learning that this dish is too spicy for some people to eat.  Maybe they wanted it spicy, but not so spicy that people had to turn it down!  smile  Thanks buddy.

spOOked wrote:

love this!

My dude!

7506 wrote:

rockin!

Heck yeah! \m/

Jim Wood wrote:

Rockin' New Years! Maybe it's my hearing loss, but balance sounded good to me.

God bless your hearing loss, repairing my mixes smile

peterswimm wrote:

love that vocal sound! great work!

Wow, thank you!  Great to see you on here.  I want to hear some music from you soooooo badly smile

scottux wrote:

Oh man, this is way better than I was ready for!

It's all downhill from here!  Ha ha, jk and thank you.  Hope to set a higher bar than I had in 2016.

kaedo sevaada wrote:

i missed you beats last year!  so glad you are back!

i thought you were saying read between the lines read between the lies read between the lines

nice high energy start to the new year!  curious about your process as you record all these parts on your own how did you build this song?

1: That gif is a perfect compliment to the song.  The "angel" almost alluding to death.
2: Wow, now that I listen to it, it really sounds like "lies" - I think I'm just going to change the lyrics from here on out, thanks!
3: For this song I kept running back and forth between the drums, guitar, and bass.  I recorded a test drum beat, played it back and played guitar.  I tried to see if any chord progression popped up.  I have a looper pedal (Line 6 DL4) and I recorded a few chords.  Then I plug in the bass and see if I can come up with a complimentary bass line.  I realized I wanted a different chord, so go back to the guitar and change the loop and go back.  After that, I have a better idea of how the beat should be, so then I am ready to record the drum beat in earnest.  I also use the computer to cut things up and create loops so I can try to come up with guitar melody lines on top, or come up with lyrics.  It can be a real pain running back and forth!  I need a studio engineer helper smile

Jason Nijjer wrote:

Great start, can’t wait to hear more like this and looking forward to some rap tunes, on headphones the vocals sounded good in the mix

Thanks, and I got a rap track for you coming tonight!!!  THE   H O T N E S S

Tone Matrix wrote:

That chorus is indeed super catchy!  Excellent one-man-banding and bringing it altogether with the mix.  The ending vox reminded me a bit of Thom Yorke's style.  I'll be humming this one later for sure smile

WOW Thom Yorke comparison?  I can die happy.  I know what you mean though, I love it when he does the "stomach ache whine + petulant child" vocals!  Big Radiohead fan and there is a poster of them in the studio.

Martiln wrote:

Aww yeah, lovin' this! big_smile
Great to see you back for another year orangedrink, looking forward to hearing what you come up with!

Ditto!  Your week one track was a hot change up, here's to 51 more!

Tweaklab wrote:

Man this is amazing. I can't help but visualize a heist payoff montage from an Ocean's movie! And you have given me the final push to get more vocals going with WB2018. Watch this space!

Holy crap that is the best compliment and mental image ever.  I actually watched all three of the new series a few months ago, and love Steven Soderbergh, so maybe it was subconsciously in there??  I should edit a video together.  Bring the vocals dude!  Vocals + 8 string guit?  Gonna be brutal.

hypnogram wrote:

I'm so used to your electronic sound that this threw me for a loop.

This is basically the Orange Drink mission statement in action smile  I'm so glad it A: threw you and B: you enjoyed it.  Thanks for the mixing feedback as well, it means a lot coming from someone who (imho) perfectly mixes music with insane hardware limitations.

roboctopus wrote:

Hi orangedrink! I dig this. I think someone mentioned bringing the vocals forward, but I like them where they are. They sit well in the mix to my ears. Looking forward to what else you do!

ROBOSQUAD.  I also really enjoy your mixing (you had a great live mix at LSA!) so that means a lot to me.  Thanks.

Nestrogen wrote:

Ah, another one person band!
Very nice.

We gotta stick together!  Maybe collaborate in 2018?

miraclemiles wrote:

Catchy! I like the lo-fi aesthetic of this, and the vocal sound and lyrics. Maybe a brighter, beefier mix would be cool, felt bit muted, especially in the bigger parts. Looking forward to more, cheers!

Thanks man!

Sodabelly wrote:

Damn! Wasn't expecting a full-blown catchy rock song! Very glad to see you back smile

Surprise!  Also, shout out to the soft drink Sodabelly Orange Drink crew.

Coauctor wrote:

"Read between the lines" line is catchy on a good way. smile

Thanks for the track!

Thanks for listening!

G.Versão wrote:

Whoop. Like them chords boys...

Maybe you could sweep the equipment over the course of the song... or run some subtle filtering, I can feel y'all getting more shimmery towards the end might be cool to exaggerate the effect... I dunno I'll try it on my sampler

Cool idea, will have to investigate that on a future WB!  Thank you

rdomain wrote:

Excellent start to 2018.  Nice work. Solid tune!

Great to see you again smile thanks

dj someguy wrote:

Oh wow, hadn't expected to hear indierock! Love it, voice(s) sound(s) amazing! Great great song. And I love the vocal harmonies!
So happy with this. You should actually get out and tour with this.
Very energetic.

YES!  Love it when I can surprise someone.  Wow, what a nice compliment as well.  I am trying to get a band together in 2018!!

m2K7 wrote:

Excellent!

Glad to hear you back in 2018!

Ditto!  Love your work and associate photography! heart

P.s. I sampled this for this week.

I love the vocal treatment on this.  Also - tambourine...  so under used in music!  Great drums, digging the guits.... spot on vox... really impressed by this.

Great! I disagree with those who feel the vocals are too far back. I like the way they sit and how the whole thing sounds like it was recorded live in a club somewhere. Great feel!

This is great.  I love the approach to structuring the song between the words and chord prog.  EQ is pretty good, maybe just some minor volumizations between chorus and verse parts for the accompaniment instruments.  Love the driving rock beat.  Feels like a long lost skill in the digital age lol

i thought you were saying read between the lines read between the lies read between the lines

nice high energy start to the new year!  curious about your process as you record all these parts on your own how did you build this song?  [/quote]

1: That gif is a perfect compliment to the song.  The "angel" almost alluding to death.
2: Wow, now that I listen to it, it really sounds like "lies" - I think I'm just going to change the lyrics from here on out, thanks!
3: For this song I kept running back and forth between the drums, guitar, and bass.  I recorded a test drum beat, played it back and played guitar.  I tried to see if any chord progression popped up.  I have a looper pedal (Line 6 DL4) and I recorded a few chords.  Then I plug in the bass and see if I can come up with a complimentary bass line.  I realized I wanted a different chord, so go back to the guitar and change the loop and go back.  After that, I have a better idea of how the beat should be, so then I am ready to record the drum beat in earnest.  I also use the computer to cut things up and create loops so I can try to come up with guitar melody lines on top, or come up with lyrics.  It can be a real pain running back and forth!  I need a studio engineer helper smile

My hubby who is much more of a pro than me listened to your mixes through both my speakers and said he liked your mix & wasn't hearing what i commented on. Add 2 more votes to the mix is good!  I think my headphones do something to the sound sometimes - I actually bought them for listening to my Ham radio... probably should invest in recording headphones smile

Your process makes me feel tired - WOW impressive - you make it sound so seamless!!!  Maybe this year you can find a volunteer studio engineer! 

Dammit this is great.

G.Versão wrote:

P.s. I sampled this for this week.

Flattered!

cTrix wrote:

I love the vocal treatment on this.  Also - tambourine...  so under used in music!  Great drums, digging the guits.... spot on vox... really impressed by this.

Thanks!  My sentiment exactly about the tambourine!  It's like a white noise shaker, if you think about it.  And it isn't easy to play well - quite an arm workout and you have to space the "give and take" evenly!  Thanks!

spry wrote:

This is great.  I love the approach to structuring the song between the words and chord prog.  EQ is pretty good, maybe just some minor volumizations between chorus and verse parts for the accompaniment instruments.  Love the driving rock beat.  Feels like a long lost skill in the digital age lol

Thanks, I might do some volume touchups before a public release.  Glad you liked it and the structure!

kaedo sevaada wrote:


Your process makes me feel tired - WOW impressive - you make it sound so seamless!!!  Maybe this year you can find a volunteer studio engineer!

Tell hubby thanks for the endorsement!  And YEAH my process makes me feel tired too!  smile

Diagamblic wrote:

Dammit this is great.

Dagnabit Diagamblic, THANK YOU

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