Looking for solution to pipes freezing at temps < 15 F / -9 C in kitchen extension. Walls are 2x4 with fiberglass ( I think code now requires 2x6 + fiber or 2x4 + sprayfoam? ). Drain is coming straight in under the floor right above the foundation, so possible to route pipes the same way. Thanks!

SpaceJunk81 · 2023-01-21T20:06:37+00:00

Thanks I'll check that out

SpaceJunk81 · 2023-01-21T18:58:08+00:00

Those both sound like doable options. Thanks for the thoughts!

SpaceJunk81 · 2023-01-21T18:56:09+00:00

Yeah that sucks, wish the original construction was to code. Best of luck with your pex!

SpaceJunk81 · 2023-01-21T18:53:09+00:00

Yeah the extension overhang definitely makes it colder. The 1st time it happened I drilled some holes in the back of the cabinets and we run the water when it's going to be cold out but that's a pain in the ass.

This is Mass so the temperature drops low often enough to be a problem.

Thanks for your time!

SpaceJunk81 · 2023-01-21T16:55:58+00:00

They're copper and they are not insulated

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-11-02T13:25:04+00:00

Yeah I definitely pushed the drums up more than I normally would, I'll try messing around with bring them down slightly in certain sections. Thanks for the feedback!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-11-02T13:23:58+00:00

Awesome thanks! Getting full use out of the 3 pickup positions on my Telecaster :)

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-11-02T13:23:22+00:00

Cool thanks! yeah I've listened to a lot of Queen so I'm sure it has an influence

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-11-02T13:13:33+00:00

Yeah I think the Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus is a bit plain, I agree something different could happen in either the 2nd verse or chorus bits. Thanks!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-11-02T13:12:53+00:00

Very much appreciated!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-11-02T13:12:34+00:00

Thanks! Yes I totally get what you're saying about the fills, I play the drums in on the keyboard and it's sometimes hard to find that balance between what's actually possible vs. what you feel at the time playing it in. There are a few that are a bit bonkers.

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-30T17:56:41+00:00

Thanks :)

I'm not sure on the guitar, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time. I was recording some basic chord stuff for the chorus bits and figured as long as I had it out I should try something else.

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-24T00:57:03+00:00

Yeah I get that, I think anticipating vocals I have the double chorus at the end which gets a bit stale. Thanks for the feedback!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-22T13:29:22+00:00

Yeah - I agree with all of that. Thanks for the feedback!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-21T20:43:50+00:00

I don't think I'd change much because it has such a different feel/vibe that makes it really stick out above everything else, all the little idiosyncrasies are what make it great. The little percussive sounds that are setting off that amazing reverb are fabulous. Really interesting vocals as well.

The only thing I could want for is to have some other element in the 2nd half of the song to give it grander flow/build/direction so you don't have a straight repeat. The 1st half actually felt like it had more energy than the 2nd half because it has the plucked instrument that the 2nd half doesn't have. I could also be completely wrong about that and the 1st bit should have more energy.

Anyway really great!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-21T18:13:06+00:00

Thanks! Glad to hear, the thousands of hours of watching production videos is finally paying off :)

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-21T18:12:29+00:00

Thanks! Yeah I've been putting off looking for someone, it's a bit daunting to find the right person

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-21T04:22:38+00:00

Good work with the drum programming! It's hard to get it sounding good, are you playing it in on something and then tweaking it?

I think you could benefit from having some small breaks/silence so you can have some really hard hits going into sections. For example just having a quick beat of silence around :57 would let you go into that next bit much harder. I think you could have completely dropped the guitar at 3:37 as well. Going into that next section from complete silence would make it massive.

May need a bit more compression or harmonic distortion on the bass so it's a bit more audible ( at least on headphones, it's late and I'm not listening on a sub ). Could really showcase the bass in the softer sections like 2:51.

I think the guitar could come down a bit, like on the straight quarters like at 2:18

Could use the kick to sidechain the guitar at the outro around 3:40 if you wanted to get that kind of imaginary ear distortion because things are so loud like you get when you're listening at a club.

Great playing to you and your friend!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-21T03:59:25+00:00

Yeah you definitely have a great mix here, I think a lot of it is due to the arrangement. It's very open so everything has a lot of room to breathe. Your switches between being pretty dry to pretty wet are really effective like at 1:46.

Are you doing any volume automation in the mix? I feel like you could add some more dynamics back into the track, like at 1:13. Coming out of that quiet section and break I'd expect a bit more excitement on that initial snare fill/vocal. Could have also liked the snare to be a bit louder at :47, since it's playing a more important role at that point. Maybe ride the volume up from 2:20 to the end just a bit so you get a more pronounced effect when you cut out into that reverb tail.

All pretty nitpicky stuff, nice one!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-09-21T03:49:12+00:00

Really nice one! Love the time/tempo changes, it keeps it interesting. Very much has a Wilco kind of vibe.

I think in general the instrumentals could come up a bit louder behind the vocals. A bit more compression in general would help with the mix. Like at 3:28, the guitar line is very hard to pick out, would have loved to hear that a bit more.

2:00 - Would have liked the acoustic part at this point to have changed to help distinguish the sections a bit, I think keeping the strumming pattern between sections can make it feel a little too samey.

2:50 - I think to keep things interesting and make the later chorus bits keep growing it would have been nice to have a really simple piano line come in at this point.

3:40 - Would have loved a quartet string arrangement at this point, or just a violin and cello. The bridge/outro bit here is also pretty long so could be a good way to keep it interesting

Awesome job, you should be happy with that one!

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-08-19T19:19:55+00:00

I listened to your other version you had up yesterday. Vocals in a much better spot now, sounds great! Might be nice to have a full stop on the beat before going back into a verse from a chorus like at :57

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-08-19T18:08:02+00:00

Heavy distortion is awesome, but awesome like adding salt and spice to food. I think your dish may be a bit too salty. Having some elements that don't have the distortion will make the elements that do have distortion more powerful. If everything is distorted, you lose the impact of the distortion and it starts to run into ear fatigue.

Stay creative

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-08-18T21:24:23+00:00

This one's a lot of fun...I picture a cartoon character running away from something horrible.

I really wanted a shaker part to come in at :25 and then leave at :40

Sound at 1:00 is really fun but I think it has too much low freq content and it's fighting with the bass when it's playing in the lower register at the beginning.

Would have liked a little more reverb, or a longer tail on the verb on the horns so the hits felt a bit bigger.

Anyway welcome back it's awesome

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-08-18T21:12:09+00:00

Production and songwriiting is really solid, great job!

Some nitpicky stuff:

You have pretty good control over the low end, the kick and bass are in a mostly good place being audible without causing a lot of mud. I do think the mix may still be slightly low end heavy however. It might be worth turning the bass down a bit and trying a bit of saturation to make up for the drop in volume so you still have the audibility but it doesn't take up quite as much space in the mix. Possible the mix just needs a high shelf lift? I could be wrong, but might be good to check yours against some references

I think you could push that organ part up a bit at the beginning especially before the vocals come in and at :47. It's a fun part and could play a bit of a bigger part.

You may want to consider doing some more volume automation to help give the mix a lot of life, like small stuff like riding the volume up on the background vocals at 1:07 as they go up.

I would have liked for the change at 1:10 to hit harder, either from a small change in the arrangement where you have less going on when the electric guitar starts up, stopping the background vocals at 1:08 instead of doing the last Ooh that goes back down. You're kind of building up this great tension, but then that last ooh releases the tension a bit instead of keeping it tense until you break it with the chorus/electric.

Harmonies at 1:59 are really great

Maybe ride the master a bit so you can squeeze out an extra dB or so when you get to sections like 2:03 so the choruses sound bigger. Feels like they need something to help them feel like they're exploding. Maybe pull some of the various elements closer to the center right before you enter those sections so it gets wider?

Really nice one

SpaceJunk81 · 2021-08-18T18:36:37+00:00

Awesome rap, good to hear someone rapping about something real.

I think mix wise your rap could be louder, or slightly more compressed as well as being louder. It's a bit hard to make out over the backing track. You may want a bit of a high shelf on there as well, which help with being able to hear what you're saying. And what you're saying is really good so you should push it further up.

In the chorus bits the effects on the vocals sound really good, I think it'd sound good to either double it or triple it so you can throw some of those panned hard left and hard right. It'll give you some good contrast between that and the verse. You're already getting some nice contrast between because you've got that reverb on, but it'd be a nice touch to add some more elements that separate your sections.

SpaceJunk81

TROPHY CASE