http://www.ursession.com/jonny

Below are brief descriptions of the songs I'm working on. I want to know what you guys think so far, if you would change anything about them, and if they honestly suck or are pretty shibby. Let me know your favorite and least favorite as well. Also, if time constricts you, ignore the song "Relate" it's really long. All together (minus Relate) I'm asking for about 15 minutes of your time. Thanks in advance.

It should also be noted that all of these songs are recorded using my acoustic guitar and Garageband, thus the poor quality. These are nowhere near finished songs, but they are more or less finished outlines.

"Fortitude" - The latest song I've made. I tried to mix in stereo sound, while all my other songs have been in mono. It's an experiment and it tuned out alright. I really dig the riffs in this one. Vocals to come later.

"Spring" - Only the outtro of a song I've yet to finish. Really relaxing and mellow.

"Union" - The first potential minute of a song I'm working on. Lyrics are temporary, but most likley will mold into basically the same message. Right now it's pretty generic Anti-War, but after I 'massage' the lyrics hopefully it will be better. Just showing off some riffs (The main riff which I like very much will be sped up later in the song)

"Border Town" - Drums are temporary, but since I suck at drumming, I used a generic beat. No vocals yet, I'm still debating on if I should even put them in or not. Thoughts? I also want to put a solo into that bridge in the middle, but maybe not.

"Loving You" - Very simple, very straightforward. Not much I can say about it. First full song I ever made.

"See Dee" - A poem I recited over music.

"Two of Eight" - Eight acoustic guitars (and me sniffling by accident), mayhem insues. An experiment in layering guitar.

"5 a.m." - A work in progress, based on a poem I wrote. Lyrics we're ****ed up atleast 5 times while singing, but I like the overall flow of it. I want to make it a bit longer in the end though, as well as make the lyrics less dense.

"Relate" - A piano piece I made that is meant to express what a relationship is like. Very empty song, needs some pumping up, but I enjoy it anyhow. My first experimentation with piano. Before this I never touched a damn piano.

"Candle Light" - I never finished this, and not sure I will. It's really mellow and trippy. It's actually the same riff I use in Two of Eight.

"Don't" - Only the Chorus of a song I'm working on. My first experiment in recording drums, bass, guitar, and vocals by myself. The vocals are VERY temporary, and consist of a random sentence I thought of at 3 in the morning just so I could hear what it sounded like.

It should also be noted that I despise my voice, and I in no way am claiming I can sing. The vocals are simply added in as a reminder of what I want the song to basically turn out to be.

Added a cover of BOOM! (System of a Down) More of a re-working than a cover.

Maybe two or three in particular I should check out? I'll be happy to listen but that looks like an hour's listening right there.

Boom! / Fortitude / Unfinished / Border Town

Totals about 8 minutes. The rest if you have any more free time.

I'm currently re-recording Border Town without the stupid drums, tuned to D instead of Drop C, and using stereo instead of mono.

I'm also currently re-recording Fortitude to sound smoother.

Unfinished is getting a re-do minus the main guitar riff at the start.

Also listen with headphones if you got 'em.

Cool, I'll set up my gear in the morning and have a good listen.

Boom:

Cut out a bit at 300-400 Hz on the piano, HPF at around 90-100Hz, add a little 8 Khz. It will sound much more natural and won't sound as "boxy."

Wayyy too much reverb, it adds mud to your mix and makes it unnatural. Cut at least half of it out. Here's how I usually add reverb (without going overboard) - solo the track that you're reverbing, and bring up the reverb level until it is cleary audible. Now back it back down by 3 dB.

Like the tune, there's plenty of room to develop into something longer as well.

Fortitude: Nice hooks and punchy riffs. Production's pretty decent on this one too. Hurry up and get some lyrics and beats in there, can't wait to hear this one finished.

Unfinished "Union": The doubling effect on the voice is VERY annoying, and it makes the lyrics very hard to understand. Fix this.

Border Town: Let me know when you've re-recorded it. The guitars are badly out of tune in this one.

Much better overall than the first recordings you did, you've come a long way! Really looking forward to hearing Fortitude when it is finished, cause the riffs kick some serious nut-sack.

haha, yeah. Bordertown was recorded with a guitar in drop C, but it was also out of tune at the time. I am re-recording it in Drop D.

As for Boom!, It was recorded all at once using my macbooks built in mic. So for the time being, I can remove the reverb from it all (which I did but havent yet uploaded) and it sounds a lot better.

Also, Union, I need some serious help on. I have all new riffs for it, and I love them, but I can't make them flow together. Also, I agree on the vocals. Those are scrapped as well.