MrMarc

Check out this new band, Hearts on Hiatus
Formed just 1 year ago they have 8 original songs under their belts

Search for hearts on hiatus on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwacqtLDsLc
Great new sound , a pleasure to listen to
Enjoy

 

RickenbackerBassPlayer

Is this your band? The Music Showcase is for users of KMA to get feedback on their music. If this is not your band then I would be glad to move this to the Soundtrack of Our Lives.

__________________
"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." - Ludwig Van Beethoven

MrMarc

Thanks
This is my son's band
For the few videos labeled with Porchfest I played drums for them
Their real drummer , of course, is much better than me

MusicMan

I watched the video of "Better Not Be" and uhh their "real" drummer was way off, and I mean WAY off time. I'm all for young bands playing music and enjoying it, but if you're going to promote a band, like you're doing here, you should remove videos like that because they give people the impression that the band is terrible. I'm sure that's not the case because I do see potential talent, but videos of really obvious mistakes throughout the entire song should not be posted for anyone other than family to see. That might sound a bit harsh, but I really want to emphasize that it's normal for high school bands to not be perfect. But to post it on youtube and promote it by asking for feedback on sites like KMA, that's just a bad idea if you're wanting people to offer honest feedback. Mainly because people like myself who really do want to encourage young people to explore music and be a part of a band and such, but it's hard to do so when you're presenting an image of the band that is capturing them on an off day.

So yeah, the drums were terrible. The guitars couldn't really be heard. The vocals were loud enough that I could tell that she's a decent singer. But that's about as much as I can say about the video because having the appearance of no time signature being followed was such a turn-off that I wouldn't care to watch it again and give more detailed feedback.

Hopefully you understand where I'm coming from and use this info to better present your son's band to the public. I really do wish them luck though, keep experimenting and learning. And if something isn't working, try something new.

__________________
Rules! A definite must-read

The Music Showcase is the best place to share your music here, you can even embed Youtube videos.

Send me a PM if you need any help with anything.

MrMarc

I see your point and thank you very much for being candid

I guess part of the problem (other than those you listed) is not being able to post a link in this forum yet and that specific performance coming up first alphabetically.

"Before you Leap" is much more representative

MusicMan

I listened to the song you suggested and their cover of "Closing Time" and it was much better than the other song I reviewed. If I had any more constructive feedback to add after watching these two, it would be to encourage the singer or the whole band to take some music theory classes. It would probably help her write better vocal melodies. Assuming she's the one writing her own vocals, it appears she falls into the trap of repeating the same melody too many times, and not making the various parts of the song (chorus, verses, bridge, etc...) sound different. To repeat the same one bar vocal melody 4 or 8 times in a verse can get old very fast to a listener's ears, unless that melody is really well written and longer than what it is on "Before You Leap". Learning music theory helps a LOT with that kind of thing, and it helps the entire band write better music and songs. If they're still in school, and your school offers music theory classes like my school did, take the opportunity to receive great musical training for free.

The cover was pretty good, although it sounded like the chorus vocal might have been at the upper end of her range. Music theory would also help in situations like this where it might be better to transpose the song down a step or so to meet the singer's range.

Hopefully that will help in some way. Thanks for sharing.

__________________
Rules! A definite must-read

The Music Showcase is the best place to share your music here, you can even embed Youtube videos.

Send me a PM if you need any help with anything.

Mrfancypants

Hi
I would like to say that I am as you put it the "'real' drummer", I would lime to say that I would take your comment and see what I could improve. Unfortunatly your comment was about as far from consecutive as I could fathom. I do appreciate you sincerity but to say that it's "terrible" is just an unfair over exaggerated discription. I'm aware of the mistakes but really man you really have to look at the fact that I haven't been plAying my whole life.
Never the less I would tend to agree with you that things that are not quality should not be put up for public display. Anyways I think my point is that I'm aware of the short comings of the playing in these selections and I think you should relize that it's embarrassing enough as a musician to have things desplayed that you aren't content with let alone to have someone deconstruct it as such in a public froum.

MusicMan

Welcome, and thanks for joining us.

Firstly, I never said your band was terrible. I said that putting that video online and then promoting it at forums like ours, could give the impression that your band is terrible. I also said that I was sure your band was not terrible, because I could see potential talent.

I too played in bands when I was your age and I know how embarassing it is to make mistakes. If you didn't want the video shown, then you should have told whoever posted it to take it down. And tell whoever posts links to it at forums, even though they mean well and want to help promote your band, that linking to THAT video isn't a good idea. If you have no control over this, get used it and rehearse more so that you make less mistakes. People have cell phones and record video of nearly everything. What happens if at your next show, some dude you've never seen takes a video of your band and you guys sound like four different people playing four different songs simultaneously? And spams links to it everywhere online with the title "Worst Band Ever"?

We used to practice 3 times a week for 2-3 hours and we weren't the best band ever, but we did work hard to get better all the time. If it's something you enjoy, just practice more at it. You'll get better as a band, and learn a lot from each other, and learn more about music in general if you start paying attention to the band as a whole and not just the drums you're beating on. Hope that helps.

__________________
Rules! A definite must-read

The Music Showcase is the best place to share your music here, you can even embed Youtube videos.

Send me a PM if you need any help with anything.