New Town
Feb 26, 2023
agasthya
Earth Tones
spent about a week noodling on a kind of orchestral type piece and then scrapped it all and wrote this today. song is about how tough it can be to make friends in a new town where you don’t really know anyone.
Looking for feedback on
hows the mix? I always lean towards muddy and never feel like I have a good idea of the true sound since i mix on headphones
Discussion
peter March 5, 2024 2:22pm
oh shit! @@agasthya so amazing to see this transform! love this original version too
nick March 9, 2023 10:12am (edited)
look, gonna make a slightly more critical comment, largely because of the potential i see in this song. i think you create an incredibly intriguing space and attitude with the intro, beat drop, first verse, but i think the current chorus takes it in too cheery/poppy/cute of a direction. i would love to hear a rework where that section is omitted and the “shoes off/woohaaa” section repeats as the chorus (because it’s tiiight,) and just keep this song swampy shadowy cool. one man’s opinion, curious what others think @@peter @@daeclan @@nurphgun @@Ben @@juliapiker @@ryan
agasthya March 9, 2023 3:07pm
oooo yess this is what NCBC is for. i wanna hear what other people think about this too. thanks nick!!
juliapiker March 9, 2023 6:59pm
you know what? I actually don’t disagree. You do kind of lose me a little at the chorus melody but I’m so fucking hooked by the rest of it it’s an easy fix if you decide to.
If we are calling :47 your pre chorus. Kill the break/pause that adds that extra beat at :56 and go directly into “I DON’T REALLY KNOW NOBODYYY, I DONT REALLY KNOW NOBODYYY”. But with more idk… thickness than the way you’re doing it at 1:18
i wish we could leave voice memos @@ryan @@nick
Ryan March 12, 2023 5:28pm
Yeah y’know, I agree it gets too sunny. But I wouldn’t axe it quite yet. When the “doot-doot-doot-doot” rejoins in the back half, the mood makes more sense. What if you added more of that and let it hit right away? I think drop the high-octave on the vocal, too. Let the “am I a creepy outsider in this new town” energy into the chorus—it can still be hooky!
Tengo March 8, 2023 11:11pm (edited)
WOW. This absolutely slaps. You’ve got such a great songwriting instinct and the way you vary vocal delivery and vocal processing is so dynamic. Super cool stuff!
I dug the mix! The only small notes I have is that on my end, some of the kick and/or the open high hats sounded a little too distorted, and I think the “ooohs” could be even more wet with delay and verb.
Just a truly sweet track. Well done!
agasthya March 9, 2023 9:35am
thanks!!
nick March 8, 2023 1:20pm
oh damn kick bass right off the bat is tight. woah this song is brash. is that live bass? and lol, same, always mixing with headphones. i would ditch the breaths before “i got a knack” and others, i dont wanna know you’re human.
agasthya March 9, 2023 9:38am
it’s actually live guitar pitched an octave down since I was too lazy to go get the bass and plug it in haha. good idea with the breaths, i think it will add to the overall brashness
nurphgun March 8, 2023 12:42pm
No notes, just so good. How do you do it?! The little baby voice, the low voice, the doot doots.
agasthya March 9, 2023 9:39am
thanks nora!!
atalinkay February 27, 2023 11:44pm
Riding to this with the windows down all the way, don’t care if it’s winter
agasthya March 9, 2023 9:39am
✌🚗
Z February 27, 2023 5:45pm
Bust a few rhymes like “woo-ha” -Knack for coming in strong!
The octave-upped vox on the chorus really helps that standout.
Way to write something in a day after scrapping something that wasn’t working.
I think it’s cool that we’ve had all these quasi-love-lettters to various, specific locations, this is such a unique take on the prompt, I really like that.
I love the franticness of it. Sometimes it borders on claustrophobic or maybe too dense for me to feel inside the song, I wonder what it’d be like to cut the shaker here, the organ there, I think a little more space could let the song breathe better.
love the post chorus “I don’t really know nobody”
Mix doesn’t sound muddy to me.
Overall it is a real muscular beast, love it!
agasthya March 9, 2023 9:41am
thanks! Yeah I kept going back and forth between wanting a sort of wall of sound and wanting to give the listener a chance to breathe, cutting shakers is always a nice subtle way to make space.
lizzie February 27, 2023 5:19pm
this is so great. amazing that each part and the mix sounds so good in just a day’s work. it sounds fantastic from my laptop speakers, more mud to you!
agasthya March 9, 2023 9:41am
thanks lizzie!
EliasSZ February 27, 2023 2:16pm
This is a serious banger! Loving the vocal delivery throughout and the mix on the drums (and everything) sounds incredible. Also those vocals bouncing between the ears add such a good vibe. Love when the bass comes forward at :50 before the break.
froebusiness February 27, 2023 2:01pm
I don’t really know nobodayyy. This track is too good, man.
alechutson February 27, 2023 12:40pm
Yessssssss dude. Definitely some Paak energy here. Mix sounds great to my ears. I love the idea of rocking out to social anxiety 😬🤘
Ryan February 26, 2023 11:15pm
My dude this is a proper banger. I love the mix, especially on the vocals. And I dig the balance of dark but clear. FWIW, I think the drums could go even harder. Especially after the vocal break—I wouldn’t mind the re-entrance at 0:58 being like “oh shit, this track just leveled up again.” Love that single synth note that comes in at 2:15. Damn this is fun, man.
agasthya February 27, 2023 8:50am
thanks Ryan! that synth is actually that guitar from the beginning, just pitched up and verbed out!
juliapiker February 26, 2023 10:37pm
Oh Agasthya this is fucking dooooooope. I truly am bopping this through the entire apt. I think this mix is pretty great. It’s beefy for sure, your low mids are sitting in a delicious place though. It’s a great tone. You’re super creative and I always look forward to your stuff!
agasthya February 27, 2023 8:47am
Julia!! thank you!! I just saw someone on twitter saying that they use the Waves Vitamin plugin on the master for harmonic enhancement and I tried it on this track. it’s subtle but I think it helped clean up the mud I’m always worried about.
Sam Pearce February 26, 2023 10:07pm
Sick vocal tone and processing. And I also like how you hit like five different vocal approaches in a short space in way that feels natural. The breaks where the kick drops out add a lot of excitement. Also the ricocheting falsetto vocals. Made me think of the end of “Banshee Beat” by Animal Collective, even though it’s obviously a very different song.
agasthya February 27, 2023 8:45am
thanks Sam! I’ll always take an Animal Collective comparison haha!
Ben February 26, 2023 9:11pm
Some scorching Kendrick / .Paak vocal vibes here right off the bat.
Mix sounds pretty great to me. Dirty but clean.
Great beat.
In a new town myself recently, and experimenting with different ways of making friends with the locals. Varying success. Keep at it.
This song rocked. I still bump your NCBC stuff from last session (“i need to get tha fuck up rite!”) and can’t wait for more.
agasthya February 27, 2023 8:44am
thanks Ben! definitely was channeling some .Paak with “if you come into my house take your shoes off”. and ya baby+new town means getting more creative about meeting people and hanging out! Godspeed to you and Nora ✊
daeclan February 26, 2023 8:30pm
dope ofc, beat came in dirtier than xtina. mix sounding super present on my old ipod headphones, comes through clear and full.
agasthya February 27, 2023 8:50am
thanks Dec! Always striving to be more like xtina