Artist Name: FUNamental Title: Take This Song Genre: Male Vocal/Acoustic Rock Rating:
Equipment
Pro Tools, GarageBand, Apogee I/O, Shure SM7B, Taylor and PRS guitars, Line 6 Firehawk, Nord Lead, Loop Loft Earthy Pop drum samples, IK Multimedia Lurssen Mastering Console software, various other plugins…
Music
“Take This Song” is a male vocal three-way collaboration between John Narus, Elliot Sneider, and Marshall Dodson. The recording is listed as acoustic rock in the submission. All three share the writing, performance and recording credits.
Reviewed By Marty Peters
This collaboration was done remotely during lockdown; John in Miami, Elliot in NYC and Marshall in Memphis. Marshall in Memphis tracked his vocals in Garage Band, John programmed the drums and played the guitars, and Elliot played and recorded the keys and synth bass, all in Pro Tools.
So, how does it sound? This has to be the most soulful acoustic rock submission we have ever received! It reminds us of Bill Withers and Dobie Gray. Thanks to Marshall’s fantastic, passionate vocals, the entire track is dripping with Memphis. We love the soulful faux Fender Rhodes sound that Elliot got from his Nord keyboard here, as well as the great backing vocals. As for areas of concern, there is an inconsistency in the rhythm section throughout the song. The breakdown at the 1:24 mark has us scratching our heads. It comes across as a poorly executed tape splice from days of yore, and the synth bass dropout combined with the uber-compressed guitar during this section does not work as well as it could. Lastly, the track has what sounds like a general distortion throughout its duration. Something is amiss.
Suggestions
This was an ambitious project from the get-go, and we applaud the guys for their resolve and effort during trying times. With long-distance cross-platform work, there’s plenty of room for things to go sideways. As for suggestions, we’d love to see a remix that takes things down to the studs (the ‘good bones’, and I quote). The vocals and keyboards are definitely keepers, and getting them working with a balanced rhythm section is key before adding additional sounds. Keep the bass and drums consistent throughout the song and examine whether that breakdown is necessary for the arrangement. Lastly, with fewer sound sources present, try to identify and correct whatever is causing the distortion that we’re hearing.
Summary
The ingredients are all here!
Contact
John Narus, [email protected]