Walking Me Home
daeclan
Screen Dream
i looked up old tv show theme songs & found this website that cataloged the bpm & key of tv theme songs & found a song that i really vibed with called Wakko’s America from The Animaniacs so i borrowed the bpm & got cooking. i don’t think that’s the theme song, but i don’t think that matters. inspired by the title, i thought about how much i have been walking lately, especially with my dog zuzu since the weather has nicened.
i wanted to write a song about walking her, but then remembered the prompt (equal parts your life & not your real life) and considered the sweet notion of my dog taking me for a walk, for a change. immediately, i was confronted with the mental image of my 9 lb chihuahua terrier mix on her hind legs walking me, on all fours, rootin’ around sniffin’ piss & takin’ absolutely massive dumpers so that’s the show: a docu•drama reality show about a dog who takes care of her owner more than he takes care of her
- Write a theme song for an imaginary TV show.
✅ Walking Me Home - The show’s premise is equal parts your real life, and very much not your real life.
✅ & ✅ A Dog That Walks Her Dad - Feature an instrument you have never featured before.
✅ A Kalimba ! Recently bought off etsy, never used in my own music or any NeonChefs before
this started as a kalimba jam but once i found this loop, i wanted an 80s-ish power-ballad-esque drum sound. also took inspiration for the bass from future islands’ seasons (waiting on you). so maybe a late 80s narrative dog walk drama and not a reality show? idk
(n.b.: the actual theme song would be from 0:41 – 1:08, the rest is just structure but i’d love notes on the entire piece. tyty.)
lyrics:
daddy took a big one tonight
daddy took a big one tonight
daddy took a big one tonight
and you had to bend down & pick it up
she’s walking me home
she’s walking me home
she’s walking me home
she’s walking me home
all i wanna do is piss on everything,
smell on everything,
piss on everything
all i wanna do is piss on everything,
love on everything,
smell on everything,
piss
she’s walking me home
she’s walking me home
she’s walking me home
walking me home
daddy took a big one tonight (she’s walking me home)
daddy took a big one tonight (she’s walking me home)
daddy took a big one tonight (she’s walking me home)
& you had to pick it up with your paws
Looking for feedback on
i really worked hard to mix this (as best as i could) and would love a harsh/honest critique on ways to make this sound better. bass too chunky? is it too muddy? is it too neat? are there ways to strengthen this kind of mix?
Discussion
nick April 13, 2023 12:07pm (edited)
First off, love how thoroughly you describe your approach to each parameter—I definitely appreciate the full scope of that insight. My current mentality in regards to self-mixing is that I’m not trying to win any awards for innovation, and so I try and take advantage of the Logic presets as much as possible. Totally agree with @@Z that throwing the whole thing through a preset master is a game changer. I often mix and even record all with the master bus applied which is ~not recommended~ by the pros, but it absolutely recommends by me.
Ryan April 3, 2023 5:22pm
“All I wanna do is piss on everything, love on everything, smell on everything” – the Buddha
Some mix notes to consider!
The bass and kick sound are competing for the same space. I’d try thinning out the bass sound so that it’s more consistent in tone when you’re higher up on the neck / using higher strings and when you go down to the woofier territory. Hopefully that’ll also clear up some room for the kick, which you can then add sub and punch to.
Keys are sitting in a great place! Nice and isolated in that part of the EQ spectrum
Vox sound pretty good to me. I agree with @@Z that some wetness (delay, verb) on the lead could be a good thing.
And then yeah, what’s your protocol for a quick “mastering” once your track is done?
This track caught me completely off guard and I kind of haven’t been able to stop picturing you walking around on all fours and taking big shits on lawns ever since. In my mind’s eye, you are smiling.
Z March 29, 2023 7:36pm
Yeah I immediately start cracking up when this comes on. In isolation you might thinking it’s a tender Bruce Springsteen crooning about Wendy when we hear “she’s waking me home,” but you’d be two legs short.
The bass slow down into ”all I wanna do” I really like, and look forward to.
I’m most impressed that for all the unsettling stuff about dumping and pissing, sung at pillow-distance, the endearment of it all prevails for me.
and way to truly feature a unique instrument, Kalimba I think grounds it around the airier textures, it’s like I can feel both the interior of the house and the warm-ish night-time poopin’ air.
big one daddy!
Z March 29, 2023 7:43pm
Oh sugar I’m sorry I didnt really give mix-notes.
I think everything feels pretty well balanced, I’d try to two quick things-
Vocals performance I wouldn’t change a bit but they stick out a little – I’ve been finding success getting them to sit better with effects, like an 8th, a quarter, and a slap bus, and see if any of those give a little more presence just at the felt not heard level. Maybe even a little saturation?
and then I think l the whole thing could use a little more weight – do you throw anything on your master bus? I like to do that a lot when I’m demoing so I can feel things better even if it’s a bit heavy handed. Like a tape emulator or a limiter and play with that a bit and see if it you can’t score a little extra beef!
Ryan April 3, 2023 5:09pm
Comment of the week: “I’m most impressed that for all the unsettling stuff about dumping and pissing, sung at pillow-distance, the endearment of it all prevails for me.”
nick April 13, 2023 12:01pm
Ditto to @@ryan ’s accolade
Ben March 27, 2023 9:37am (edited)
Daddy took a big one tonight.
I lol’d a lot while listening to this.
Great kalimba work.
In terms of the chunk/mud of the bass, I don’t think it’s too chunky of a sound, in a vacuum, but it does maybe stand out and take up a good amount space… but also it sounds good to me. It’s a good driving bassheavy song and that is working. Maybe a good way to balance things out a little, while still maintaining the chonk , would be to add a little more mids/highmids to the track. Maybe one more subtle instrument or synth pad, or maybe even just slightly adjusting the keyboard mix? I dunno man, it sounds pretty great though.
This is the second submission on this assignment that couldve been on the “Inside” track list, like immediately following a banger like “Bezos II.”