Pixies "Gigantic" backing track.

[Bubba]

A few months ago, somebody on HR (I forget who) suggested that I had a go at this song. My son, who plays all my drum tracks, has since gone to college, but he left me this drum track before he went. I've been working on those drum tracks since September on and off, then last weekend I blitzed all the guitars.

I wanted to post this as a finished mix - my wife is going to sing the lead - but she's recovering from a chest/throat infection so I'm having to postpone recording the vocal. There is no master buss compression on this, so apologies if you have to turn your system up a bit.

All comments and suggestions welcome.

[rayc]

It sounds good Bob BUT the intro drum hits seem rushed an one seems a little early or late. After that things are cool. I look forward to hearing this develop.

[Greg_L]

I agree with Ray. For the most part it seems pretty authentic and well done. There are timing discrepancies here and there though. Mostly between bass and drums. The intro bass and sidestick are wavering a little. The drums speed up and slow down throughout the song. One thing about the Pixies, Kim Deal's bass was locked in with Lovering's drums. They were good at that. And she was good at dropping her notes smack dab on the beat. The guitars seem real good. Very authentic.

Maybe it'll all gel better with some vocals on it.

[Bubba]

I agree with Ray. For the most part it seems pretty authentic and well done. There are timing discrepancies here and there though. Mostly between bass and drums. The intro bass and sidestick are wavering a little. The drums speed up and slow down throughout the song. One thing about the Pixies, Kim Deal's bass was locked in with Lovering's drums. They were good at that. And she was good at dropping her notes smack dab on the beat. The guitars seem real good. Very authentic.

Maybe it'll all gel better with some vocals on it.

Yep, both of you are spot on, about the intro especially. When I first started working on the track, the intro count was awful - I don't know what got into the lad, but there was a lot of variation in both the timing and the loudness of the side stick. I played the bass over it as best I could but I was very dissatisfied with it. I decided to sample the four best hits that I had and loop them. Unfortunately, the bass doesn't quite follow the fixed-up hits!

I now have to do what I ought to have done in the beginning. Lay down a guide click with the drum machine, line up the hits, then redo the bass. I hope to track vocals tonight, fingers crossed.

[JD01]

I agree with Ray. For the most part it seems pretty authentic and well done. There are timing discrepancies here and there though. Mostly between bass and drums. The intro bass and sidestick are wavering a little. The drums speed up and slow down throughout the song. One thing about the Pixies, Kim Deal's bass was locked in with Lovering's drums. They were good at that. And she was good at dropping her notes smack dab on the beat. The guitars seem real good. Very authentic.

Maybe it'll all gel better with some vocals on it.

Yep, both of you are spot on, about the intro especially. When I first started working on the track, the intro count was awful - I don't know what got into the lad, but there was a lot of variation in both the timing and the loudness of the side stick. I played the bass over it as best I could but I was very dissatisfied with it. I decided to sample the four best hits that I had and loop them. Unfortunately, the bass doesn't quite follow the fixed-up hits!

I now have to do what I ought to have done in the beginning. Lay down a guide click with the drum machine, line up the hits, then redo the bass. I hope to track vocals tonight, fingers crossed.

That sounds like a right faff. I bet you're starting to wish you'd got your son lessons in Superior Drummer MIDI programming instead of one of them old fashioned acoustic kits.

[Bubba]

That sounds like a right faff. I bet you're starting to wish you'd got your son lessons in Superior Drummer MIDI programming instead of one of them old fashioned acoustic kits.

Ha ha! As if! I'm pretty good at fixing up stuff like this, shouldn't be any more than a 30 minute fix and that includes setting up the old 1980s Alesis HR-16 drum machine!

[Armistice]

That sounds like a right faff. I bet you're starting to wish you'd got your son lessons in Superior Drummer MIDI programming instead of one of them old fashioned acoustic kits.

Ha ha! As if! I'm pretty good at fixing up stuff like this, shouldn't be any more than a 30 minute fix and that includes setting up the old 1980s Alesis HR-16 drum machine!

It would work better with a Boss Dr. Rhythm 770....