D

[D]

thanks for your time skeba and the honesty

those vocals on the songs u heard were more or less one take place holder type of vocals, they are extremely better when finished than on the versions here

i posted versions for people to kind of get a feel of how my stuff sounds

just like in any music, some like it, some dont, thats why i appreciate the honesty, if its not your thing there is nothing wrong with it, doesnt mean i suck or anything

i mean if i took a poll on this board to see how many people liked Prince, im sure it would come back overwhelmingly NO and i think he is the greatest artist to ever live on this planet, just like their are people who dont like VR or even GNR

but i still want to thank u for taking the time and giving it a listen, sorry u didnt like it

[AdZ]

Prince is the man.

Sorry, Just had to add that.  The Purple One lives!

[WagMyDog]

To tell you the truth .. I can't get a good grip on the songs. They're just not catchy ... sometimes not even listenable.

Although, it would be unfair of me to say they don't have their appealing parts. For eg, that opening bit in unforgivable, before the electric guitar bit kicks in.

Let's start with your drum bits. Welcome to Reality and Death of Me have the same loops. That gives them a very similar feel, especially when coupled with the keyboard chords, which also sound very similar.

I think the keyboard and that particular distortion you've chosen sounds cheesy ... although if other people like it fair enough.

Now you've admitted the vocals are way better on the finished thing .. so I'm asking for a fair chance to review that.

If you could put up one song .. or just a bit of a song that's a finished product.


Lastly, do you really want to make it big as an artist? Or do you have some other job in mind, and this is just a side thing?

I'm asking because you don't seem like you would be very affected by the outcome. I mean, if it is your only job, then you SHOULD be affected by what people say, and you should be constantly working to better any thing, take all the help you can get.

However, if it's not your DAY job, and it's just some way to express your feelings through art, then by all means, take it down the path YOU wanna go, and walk the way YOU wanna walk.

[D]

some things to keep in my mind when listening

1.the songs i have posted such as death of me,unforgivable are album filler i guess u would call tracks and are the weakest songs ive got, i post them cause if people like those, then the best songs they will love even more

2.i do care very much what people say however like i stated previously no artist no matter how great will ever be liked by everyone, its simply impossible to create a song that  every single entire human loves

3.i dont want to be big as in an mtv,platinum selling, on magazines etc etc, my intent is expressing feelings being an eccentric,diverse indy type artist that is left of right in most cases and attract a cult type audience, i love every song im recording or i wouldnt record them, if others can relate to what ive done and it touches them that is outstanding but u are right i dont really care if people dont like them, because if u were bothered by every person that didnt like them u would be constantly in a bad way

4.lets say u dont like the keyboard but such and such over here loves it, do i do 2 versions one with keyboard one without? see what im sayin? it would great to be able to do 50 different versions of a song so everyone would like it but thats impossible

5.im poor!!!!! i have a very limited amount of money and equipment to work with, i dont have live drums, i have to use drum machines so in using a "some drums are better than no drums" approach, i just have to make due with what i have

if i had a professional studio and a drum set of course it would take my stuff up another notch, but this is the true DIY (do it yourself) method at work, im actually happy everytime someone doesnt exactly get what im doing, cause songs like death of me,welcome to reality and unforgivable are the only songs that sound like they sound, the rest of the album is basically heartbreaking love songs which is what i do best

so u guys have to judge the sound etc on a different level than say a cd u buy because i just dont have the means to have a huge pro quality sound, guitar tone etc i mean u work with what u got, if i could buy some marshall stacks and a big guitar rigg id do it in a second but i have a 200 dollar pedal board i just bought and a 700 dollar studio thing

once i get into the love depressing normal more commercial stuff, u all will understand what im talkin about but those are still in the recording stages and im not putting up one take demos anymore cause first impressions are alot and i have made some bad first impressions putting up filler songs and one take demos but i still have way more positive than negative and this is my day job, this is my destiny and no one is gonna change my mind

my goals when i started writing songs when i was 12 was basically to write one song that I loved and that I could listen to, ive now done that bout 40 times over so to me im already successful and everything im doing now is basically extra

[WagMyDog]

Okay. Fair enough.

I'd really love to hear the finished product. Take your time. And if your stuff is heartbreaking stuff, I'll assume you have more stuff like the picked guitar on Unforgivable .. which sounded pretty damn good.

BTW, might I mention, sometimes you can get a pretty good recording from a simple Marshall 15DFX .. and a good electric guitar, plugged into your comp.

[D]

hey thanks wag

im not tryin to sound like i dont care or i disreguard peoples negative critiques, cause trust me the negatives effect me way more than the positives

i probably did a bad job in the order i posted songs

but i promise if u love sad, acoustic type heartbreak songs i will have several u will like

death of me and some of those were more experimental type stuff, thats why none of those are really an indicator of how i do sound cause i am actually more of an acoustic type artist

but dude i still thank u for taking your time and listening, but im workin hard on finishing up some of the acoustic type slower songs and ill post them as soon as i do

just please dont think much of the drums cause i know they are sorta shit, but like i said right now its the best i can do

im hoping for more of a developmental deal, take what i got in a real studio with a producer and do what would turn out to be the in store version

[AdZ]

D, I listened to 'welcome to reality' and 'death of me' and for me, the songs sounded too durge like, too much like a funeral march. and I really didn't like the distortion on death of me, your vocals kinda blurred into it too much.

It would appeal more to me also if you didn't slur some of you words.
This is just my opinion don't take it as an insult or anything.

[D]

those songs are suppose to be kind of gloomy

death of me is one frigged up song, the distortion is just there, i was using a cheap zoom pedal board on that song and it was  a song where i was really feeling one step away from jumpin off a bridge when i recorded it so i just wanted to make it as ugly as possible   i look at death of me as sort of a song where u have to be in one screwed up mood to like, if u were really depressed or down it would be more appealing

on "unforgivable" im gonna delete the electric part and leave it a simple acoustic song, i like the guitar picking and im gonna leave it like it was written with acoustic guitar and bass


guys just give me some more chances when i post the more melodic love type songs, i dont know if that is your cup of tea, but i promise if u like love song type deals u will find a few at least that u like somewhat!

[D]

ok everyone

i put up a llistner friendly song

I wish you knew

its acoustic with a nice guitar lead , nice vocals and good lyrics

listen and this song is more of what my style is

let me know

go to

www.dmusiconline.com

[journey]

I listened to "I Wish You Knew" and thought it was very well done. It has a really catchy hook and nice melody. It's a pretty love song. And, I really,really liked it.

[Butch Français]

yeah I agree with conny.
being a drummer among other things and all, the machine really doesn't do it for me, get a drum kit dude!

[D]

so is the drums the main problem on "i wish u knew"?

anything positive about the song?

[Skeba]

I do think it's the best one I've heard.

[D]

that song is more of what the rest of my style on the cd is

sometimes i overdo things but thats just experimenting etc trying different stuff

once again i would love to buy a drum kit and do live drums etc

but i cant afford one, plus i have nowhere to put one, the drum machine is basically to have something, i know it isnt the greatest, trust me i know but ive tried it without drums and to me its better havin some drums than none at all

i just want everyone to keep in mind that this is a low budget type project im doing, just try to see past some of the tones,drums etc cause alot of it is just shit equipment, i mean u can only make a 400 dollar guitar with factory everything sound so good, same with the drum machine etc

lookin past some of the production type issues though does "i wish you knew" sound like a pretty solid song?

conny:

the lyrics i wrote when i was 18 its one of those songs i wrote in high school when i was just learnin the craft so the lyrics are not the greatest in spots

im a work in progress, im improving and learning everyday, so hopefully ill finish some more and hopefully u all will start liking some stuff!

thanks for listening everyone, i really appreciate it!

[AdZ]

It's a nice song (much better than the others) but your singing sounds really distorted and your voice sounds strained

[WagMyDog]

that song is more of what the rest of my style on the cd is

the drum machine is basically to have something, i know it isnt the greatest, trust me i know but ive tried it without drums and to me its better havin some drums than none at all

i just want everyone to keep in mind that this is a low budget type project im doing, just try to see past some of the tones,drums etc cause alot of it is just shit equipment, i mean u can only make a 400 dollar guitar with factory everything sound so good, same with the drum machine etc

lookin past some of the production type issues though does "i wish you knew" sound like a pretty solid song?

Some things I think you should consider...

1. Sometimes good guitars w/o drums, really work great. However, just on some songs. I'll say your 'drumming' is better here. While it is a bit laid back, that is the song style so it works ... (for a low-key production thing ... I'm sure if and hopefully when you do get a record deal, they'll get it to sound better).

2. Your singing. It is a bit off, though keep working on it, and listen to your vocals, you must see where you're going off. I'm sure you can refine it and make it better.

3. What kind of song are you aiming this to be? If it's a patience kinda number then you don't need background vocals (I know they have it on Patience, but it sounds just as good w/o the BG vocals). If it's a bigger production and you're just doing a low-key job of it, then work on the vocals. Your BG vocals go off key a lot of times, plus in a couple of places you seem to fuck em up, not knowing when to stop.

4. If you could work up a great intro for the song, do it, even if it's just slow strumming w/o the drums. Or you could try some picked bit like what you did on Unforgiveable.


Here's the deal. Your voice is the thing you have to work on the most. Your guitaring seems great for a singer, no one expects you to be Yngwie Malmsteen. You've gotta practice a lot, just keep singing, experiment with your vocal range and stick within it. Leave the out-of-range stuff for when you're performing live, and that way you can blame it on the booze.

Oh, and the song is pretty good. If you work on that voice, perfect it for your style ... and believe me you sound like you could get there sooner than later ...  you could be the next big GWAG*.  

In anticipation of your becoming a big star, and flying me in to watch one of your shows,

WMD.

*Guy With A Guitar ... eg: John Mayer.


PS: On a similar note ... what kind of singer do you see yourself as? Whose style would you say is most like yours?

[D]

im a mutt of styles, thats alot of my problems, b4 i sung that song i drank a bacardi raz and my shit was dry!!!!!!!!

i guess my vocal style is a little jon bon jovi with garth brooks with a tad of axl and kurt cobain slopped in

i wasnt born with even a good voice, its something ive worked on and worked on and its never gonna be beautiful like a chris cornell or brian mcknight or what have u

i have early tapes and trust me its came a long way

TO THE SONG

the background vocals were originally wrote for my friends Girflfriend who could sing and it kicked ass with a female doin those parts, but i dont know any females that can sing so i took a stab at em and im just goin to do it with the vocals, maybe double em up or something

i do have bunches of songs better than this and thats a fact, this isnt what i consider a "big gun" *i hate that phrase*  but it really isnt

i need singing tips,like what to drink,eat, how to warm up properly etc

the thing is i sing so much better when im just doin a live type of deal, if its me fuckin around singing for people or to myself i sing 10 times better than what i put down
but as soon as i hit record its like i get nervous or hold back

any tips?


thanks once again everyone, and if i ever got signed which im starting to doubt if i am that good, but if it ever happened all of u all can have a job as whatver u want!

[D]

actually on unforgivable thats a guitar using the slash "estranged" technique with delay on distortion
im gonna axe that part maybe, or do a solo, im still playin around with that one

death of me, i got an awesome digitech 300a effects board that just fuckin rocks, the guitar tone from this pedal board is amazing, so im gonna do the guitar part with the distortion from it and make the guitar stand out more

ok conny  level with me

death of me i had tons of emotion on because i was really feeling that song when i sung it that day, ilet go didnt worry bout stayin on key as much and just let it rip from deep down

is this what u and everyone else is recommending on the other songs?

just letting go and goin off with it?

thanks alot conny, inspiring words from a great musician like u mean alot

everyone please listen to conny's stuff, he has a unique style that is very soothing to the ears, great guitar great voice, everything

more songs will be up shortly!

[Miz]

Ok, I've listened to them all except Unforgivable so far.  (dialups take time to download stuff...)

I think the songs themselves are good.  You've certainly got a talent for writing.  and the guitars are pretty good too.  I personally don't like the keyboards at all, but like you said...some people will and some people won't...and ultimatly it's your choice.  The lyrics on I Wish You Knew are a bit cliche...but since you were only 18 i'll let you off...

But I have to say, you're singing is off man.  I mean, don't get me wrong, it's about 3 hundred times better than I could do, but it still sounds strained...there doesn't seem to be any power there...

In my honest opinion, I think you should find a singer, a natural born singer, and get a drummer and a bassist or whatever and get a proper band together.  I think Pviljoen was saying something similar earlier.  Seriously, brilliant musicians have a natural affinity for thier craft.  Sure they still put a lot of work into it, but if you haven't got the gift in the first place, then it'll never be there.  You can get good...but you can never become excellent.  It's like some people can play sports, some people can't.  It's something you're born with.

I could have singing lessons everyday for five hours a day for the rest of my life, and still i'd never be able to be a singer...it just wouldn't happen.

I don't want to be overly harsh, but that's my honest opinion.

[D]

im not understanding the word strained?

i mean what is that?

its not the greatest but i certainly believe its above average, i could name tons of singers with a voice u wouldnt call "excellent"
i saw someone in a thread that said prince's voice was weak or thin

i couldnt tell u how many people think axl is the worst singer on the planet


criticism is fine but some is a tad harsh,

people listening need to realize their opinion isnt the only opinion

if u dont like it, thats great, thats your right, i respect your opinion
but when u start sayin how i should not sing, and how ill never be able to etc thats a bit over the line cause opinions are just that, opinions

you think im shit, but there are lots of people who share very different views than u do, so just cause u or pvil or whoever says so i should do it is ridiculous

a huge thing to remember

most artists have vocal processors,computers all sorts of shit that very much enhance their voice

it is very rare u will find a singer that sounds as good in concert as they do on cd

anthony kiedis is an example great singer on cd but live his voice is no better than mine

axl rose has he ever sounded all that good in concert compared to the cd? very rarely

the list goes on and on


so listen to the songs people but dont try to change who or what i am

im playing the instruments, im singing'

there is no compromise

so either u like it or u dont but lay off the bashing some, if it aint your thing thats fine but dont tell me to stop or what have u