Short Leash - demos of two acoustic songs

[Short Leash]

Hi,

Normally I play in a band but I've just got a new webcam which can record audio so I was having a mess about with it see what I could do.

Some caveats:

These are the first things I've ever recorded solo.
I cannot sing. I am aware of this :)

I've put a couple of songs up which can be found here:

http://www.purevolume.com/shortleash

I'll record a few more tomorrow and put them up. Appreciate any comments/feedback :thumb:

Cheers

[winstonychou]

at least you sing on key which is kind of a rarity. you're too soft though, which is definitely a problem for acoustic music because the words (or even just the melody) carries the whole song. right now you can sing but you don't have the confidence to do it loudly. that's better than having confidence and not being able to sing but you definitely should sing louder.

i know that assessment's kinda short but if you're loud enough the rest will definitely follow. i'd be glad to listen any other stuff you have.

[Silverhammer]

i like the guitar playing. it's clean and the progressions sound like a tangent from the norm. the singing as you know is soft, but that can always be fixed later. it would help though if you put the lyrics up as well so that myself or anyone else can follow along if they cannot make out what you are saying. and since you have a webcam that records audio, why not put your playing on youtube, where you have the chance to explain your songs and such? it's always nice to hear exactly what a song means to the artist who makes it from the artist.

[Short Leash]

Hey guys, cheers for the comments. I've put the lyrics up now on the site. As for the singing - I'm not the singer in our band so usually it doesn't matter what I sound like ;) The lame recording equipment I have (a £20 webcam!) doesn't help my rather thin, reedy voice much either.

I haven't had a chance to record anything else yet but will do so soon. If you've got anything you want me to have a look at let me know.

[Short Leash]

Hello,

I've got round to recording a few more tracks namely;

Walking On The Sun - poppy little number, usually the song we start with live. It's about the weather :thumb:

Roses & Ballgowns - an acoustic love song. Hope it's not too saccharine. I like it anyway.

Smoke And Mirrors - a new one, not played it with my band yet. Very much at the demo stage.

http://www.purevolume.com/shortleash

Like I said before, I can't sing particularly well and my equipment sucks. I'm not the singer in the band, I just write songs.

I'd appreciate some feedback more on the overall songs/structure/lyrical content and what not. They're all meant to be played with my band but we haven't recorded anything yet .

Thanks

[Aklerc]

Hey :) I really like your guitar playing, it's nice and catchy and your chord progression are ace. Your voice isn't really that bad, it's quite pleasant to listen to. Could do with bringing up the volume though :thumb: But yeah, I really like your stuff. Keep it up!

[myhatredinside]

honestly, i like it. i think you sing just fine. i was expecting something really terrible but this was actually pretty good. guitar playing is very solid. yes the vocals could probably be a bit louder but in the end, i think you did a pretty damn good job. keep it up.

[Ripping Hammer]

Hey, this is pretty good! Your chord progressions are catchy and engaging. The first song, "Jewels" reminds me of Bright Eyes, specifically the song "First Day of my Life"... the rest all sound abit similar, but with just a guy and guitar you're not going to get much dynamic range, I guess. The best part of this is your voice... you can actually sing, and it has a little bit of nice untrained, unpolished edge to it that I find very appealing. This is solid, solid stuff, I'd be interested to hear different, more filled out arrangements of this stuff.

[Short Leash]

Thanks people. Yeah, "Jewels" does have a similar chord progression to "First Day Of My Life" (essentially C to E) but then again, "First Day Of My Life" is a rip off of "Mama, You Been On My Mind" by Dylan so, que sera, sera :D

I'm moving up to London soon so will be getting back together with my bandmates so should hopefully be able to get some more fully fledged recordings together soon.

If anyone else wants me to listen to their stuff gimme a crit and post the link.

Cheers.

[Alpha Waves]

really like the guitar work on Jewels, nice and catchy


not overly keen n the second song, but thats mainly a recording quality issue

roses and ballgowns was pretty nice, not as catchy as jewels but i like the progression

and the singing aint as bad as i was expecting