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Snoop Dogg Remix "That Tree" Contest Entry

Both widgets have the updated version of the tune. Due to the number of people reporting that the indaba player isn't working, I went ahead and updated my Soundcloud with the new track.



Snoop Dogg - That Tree (Zilker's Soul Search Mix) by DeepEddieZilker

Thanks for your input, guys.

Hehe Snoop Dog.

The vocals are pretty toned down, but i kinda like it.

Overall it sounds nice, i dont think too much of the bassline though.

Thanks for the feedback.

quote:

Originally posted by Subtle i dont think too much of the bassline though.

What don't you like about it?

a) Not loud or defined enough in the beginning?
b) Muddy/Too Loud/Too Busy/??? once it gets going? (Please explain)
c) Doesn't fit in with the music, at all?
d) Too Old Skool - as in kindergarten; 1991 called - they want their bass-line back?
e) Not dark enough?
f) None of the above? I just didn't like it.

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker d) Too Old Skool - as in kindergarten; 1991 called - they want their bass-line back?

LOOL

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker Thanks for the feedback. What don't you like about it? a) Not loud or defined enough in the beginning? b) Muddy/Too Loud/Too Busy/??? once it gets going? (Please explain) c) Doesn't fit in with the music, at all? d) Too Old Skool - as in kindergarten; 1991 called - they want their bass-line back? e) Not dark enough? f) None of the above? I just didn't like it.

I dont like the some of the notes the bass goes at. Like when it goes UP, UP, DOWN on the last measures.

Really, really beautiful melody and atmosphere. Nice percussion. Liked the bass.

While I like the "tree" vocal part, I don't know if you did some effect to snoops lyrics that give it a slight echo effect in the background? Not a fan of that. Really love the singing tree and the background vocals though.

Great remix imo

That was really cool except for one thing that I couldn't stand in the beginning. The overlapping sound of Snoop's vocals just sounded really weird, it was a bit much I think. Otherwise, great job.

Definitely agree that you could do without the delay on the vox in the beginning, the listener could get a little frustrated being confronted with that right at the outset haha. Maybe experiment with putting an echo on a word or two here and there for dramatic effect, or try toning it down to a cleaner room reverb? The rap vocals aren't my cuppa tea at all but I really like the chords you've created with your piano and pads, you really bring a nice warmth to the track and delivers that 'soul' as promised by your remix title. The pad could be deepened by boosting its lower mids slightly though, if it doesn't interfere with your bass too much. All the best for this contest Eddie

i think that bass needs some softening or eqing.

but i loved the other elements. i do not like the bass.

Gonna have a listen soon!

The low vocal layering stands out as a little atypical, for me, too - I'll probably tone that down drastically. I like some of the things that it does, but right in the beginning I can hear that being a little much, myself. I'll also take a look at cleaning up the bass-line without having to do a major rework. I've got a laundry list of stuff - mostly touching stuff up like panning and EQing a couple of tracks that are bugging me, here and there with no major rework of any standing parts. I'll be sure and post up the final mix, in this thread, when I'm done.

Thanks, tons, for the feedback, everyone. Very useful insights.

I'm not so keen on the drums as they sound as those from many tracks over the last 20 years. They kinda suit the track but for me aren't bringing anything new to the table, which some will say is fine, but others might deem as a bit tired.

The bass line comes in and sounds like it's something being mixed in from a new track - it doesn't sit so well and some notes are quite a lot louder in resonance than others, so I agree on the softening comment above.

It's hard for me to feedback on this one as I don't know this style at all, so please ignore everything I've said above!

Wickedly good

I agree that the drums are old school but that doesn't bother me in the slightest, and the breaks and fills are all in the right place.

The strings could use some nice wid verb on them to complement the rest of the track.

I do think the bassline has some issues though. It's a bit boomy and the sound itself may not even be right in the first place. It sounds like it should be a bass guitar playing, but it's playing next door.

Great vibe overall though, I wish I could come up with stuff like this instead of my 'walls of noooooise!!'

Tres kewl

Left comments on SoundCloud. Different, original, unique - liking it.

Great work man.

Cheers

Thanks, guys.

http://www.indabamusic.com/submissions/show/17493 - That's the link to the final version, in case you missed the link I edited in the original post.

The original work can be heard, here: http://www.indabamusic.com/featured...show/remixsnoop

I definitely hear what you guys are saying about the bass-line. While I made some adjustments, in order to temper some of the fluctuation in volume with the high-notes, I stopped short of major revisions, or even adding another layer, for a number of reasons. The irony is that, if you listen to the original, there really isn't much of a bass-line, at all. Personally, I like it, even for some of the flaws you guys critiqued, so chalk it up to poor taste on my part. Still, I do appreciate the honesty. I hope you don't think I'm blowing it off. If it were a different song to be made for the dance-floor, I definitely would have re-done it based on your critiques.

The cool thing about this track, for me, was exploring a different style altogether apart from my (our) typical fair. The thought had occurred to me to try and pump the tempo up from 101 BPM to at least 130. 130 just didn't sound good, at all. The vocals sounded clearly unnatural and trying to reconfigure the track for an EDM piece wasn't going to happen. The cadence of Snoop's rapping, the fact that the vocal stem provided already included a metric-fuck-ton of processing, and some other factors about them which, for my mix and my goals, felt wrong, I wound up settling for 118 BPM (still danceable but...). Snoop's vocals still sounded natural and doing a bit of an upbeat version was within the realm of the obtainable.

Having listened to the lyrics I just felt like, while the song was lousy for the dance floor, it was a great tune to drive to or just get stoned with and possibly do some Spring cleaning with it playing in the back-ground. The song's focus wasn't so much on the party, but a wholesome vibe which realizes the importance of family. Sure, yeah, I could hear it on the floor - but only in a rare instance with so much of the lyrics being niche, relating to Snoop's life outside his show-biz persona, the song just felt atypical, there. I don't ever think "That Tree" can or even should be made into a floor-filler remix, unless it's being played at a wedding. Maybe someone could do it, but to me, it just felt all kinds of goofy.

I wound up scrapping all of the other stems. The only other music, relating to the original, is the keyboard work, which I basically copied the chords of using a more full organ sound. After that, I used the synth and piano sounds to add inversions of those chords and create that really lush music bed.

The chief criteria for the remix competition was to take the acapella, minus rap verse by Kid Cudi, and replace that with our own contribution, be it rap, singing or instrument. The instrument I chose, before I built up the music-bed, for it, was a Rhodes patch I found on the Dimension Pro, which I wound up mixing in with a Wurlitzer sound from a plug-in I found at KVR. Predominantly, I wanted the focus to be on that.

Anyways. Thanks, all, for the feedback. I'm glad you guys liked what you liked about it and hope you found/find the final version, enjoyable.

For some reason the other link won't work for me, so I'm listening to the soundcloud version.

Well, this is certainly something different around here

I agree with the others on overlapping his vocals. It didn't appeal to me much!

I love 0.40 second when things begin to come together properly. The pads instantly reminded me of Moby's Porcelain.

The melody and synths are very laidback and they make me happy. I could imagine this appealing to a lot of people.

Great job and good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by Owsey2008 The pads instantly reminded me of Moby's Porcelain.

THAT'S what I was trying to think of, my memory triggered but couldn't put my finger on the title :P

Thanks, guys. I'm currently dying at 141st place. I've listened to a lot of REALLY BAD remixes of this song - which... *bites tongue* Anyway. Here's a bump for the vote.

I voted for you liked what you did with the song, i love it when hip hop sounds so 'real'.

Thanks, Viber. I was pretty much trying to go for a very organic vibe on this. I used likely a tenth of the time-based effects I've used on other tracks. There's a little delay and reverb on a few things, but really, it's a very dry version by my normal standards.

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker Thanks, Viber. I was pretty much trying to go for a very organic vibe on this. I used likely a tenth of the time-based effects I've used on other tracks. There's a little delay and reverb on a few things, but really, it's a very dry version by my normal standards.

Yea,you did good, its important to remember that youre working on a different style for a different audience this time imo.

I love it when producers take bad rap\hip-hop productions and make them into something more genuine (irony? )

quote:

Originally posted by Viber Yea,you did good, its important to remember that youre working on a different style for a different audience this time imo. I love it when producers take bad rap\hip-hop productions and make them into something more genuine (irony? )

Thanks. Unfortunately, I'm sinking like a fucking rock in the contest, so I guess my flavor doesn't have that 'mass' appeal.

There was a radio station I heard in Atlanta, GA, driving home from work that played these really killer hip-hop tunes. It was really deep stuff, both musically and (lyric wise) intellectually that I haven't heard, since. Completely underground. They'd run this spot where these two guys were joking about the state of hip-hop and how contemporary artists were rapping about having 'spinners' (the hub-caps that spin).

Unfortunately, intellectual creativity isn't a driving force when it comes to the top 40 stuff. It's all down to the lowest common denominator and the acceptable level of mediocrity. I don't want to be presumptuous enough to blame my poor performance in this competition on that, but the fact of the matter is that there are guys who are producing hip-hop that's fucking genius stuff that might not ever get heard apart from their circle of friends, the underground club, or the occasional airplay on a college radio station.

How can I vote for you Eddie.

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by TranceLover007 How can I vote for you Eddie. Cheers

http://www.indabamusic.com/submissions/show/17493

If you go to that web-site, there should be a console there. There's also a widget in the first post that has the 'Vote for Eddie Zilker' button on it.

Edit: And thanks.

I'm glad that I can help - well deserved man (610).

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker The Common dominator

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