Square Pegs

Lennon714

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Description

This song is a few years old I'm very familiar with it and know exactly what I want from it. That's why I chose it for my VERY FIRST GarageBand song. It's intentionally missing a chorus(four verses, a bridge, outro). The vocals are a mess and there are some mixing issues, but I want everyone to give it to me straight. I need to know how I can improve after this first attempt and from what I've read, I'm in capable hands. Have a listen, enjoy, and pick the damn thing apart!

It's just a song about chosing between one love and another and how you know that choice will change your life.

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Lyrics

Square Pegs © 2008

Could you let me know if it's time to go.
'Cause this moment would last if you'd say so.
It's so hard to stay afloat in this ocean.

Square pegs and round holes. Pound me until I go.
It's an awkward situation at best.
'Cause the pegs get shattered and the splinters are lethal.

Did we have a chance? Have we let it pass?
It feels like I'm lost in my own home.
And I'm waiting for armloads of guilt to die.

Solitary, yeah
Solitary, yeah
Oh yeah.

If I walk out the door will I see you anymore?
I Don't want to lose my best friend
But I've got this sinking feeling that I must go.

Square pegs and round holes (repeat)

Song Stats

Hits: 1430
Comments: 61
Fans: 19
Plays: 150
Downloads: 50
Votes: 3
Uploaded: Jan 13, 2008 - 11:14:51 PM
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2008 - 04:41:56 PM Last Played: Oct 24, 2009 - 09:12:38 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Song Actions

Keywords:

square pegs (1)

Hardware:

Fender Telecaster, Yamaha keys, Shure SM48

Software:

GarageBand08

Comments

johnny d	johnny d said 665 days ago (January 13th, 2008)
	johnny d is first hey sounding cool

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 665 days ago (January 13th, 2008)
	RE: Thanks! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Feter	Feter said 665 days ago (January 13th, 2008)
	Square Pegs Coool Rockin my friend ..would love to hear your nice singing and guitar riffs into the middle dunno just my rusty ears ..all in all just great !! welldone !! Check out my latest song called A Night With Feter feat'(Roxylee sloparts crissew johnwhitehead and Yamin AL Yamani )

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Good idea I've played this song for 7 years and I've always done that middle part quiet. I've messed with the dynamics of everything else but not that. It probably is a bit dry. I'll have to tinker with that. Thanks for the tip! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

racerat

racerat said 665 days ago (January 13th, 2008)

bones
This has the bones to be great. You have a couple mixing issues though. Why are all the instruments in the left channel only? The only thing that is in the right speaker at all is the drums.? Oh, and then later an organ comes in on the right a little. Pan the guitar out to center or maybe 10 degrees left off center. Main vocal center. Harmony vocal 10 degrees right. Bass center. It will be much more impactful.

The song itself is really great. You have a strong voice that suits the Alt. genre of the music. The guitar work is strong too. Keep it up!

Check out my latest song called Frank's Song

Lennon714

Lennon714 said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

mix n match
The mixing was my waterloo. I tried 6 different mixes and eventually had to just move on. I'll have to look in to the panning. I did do some crazy panning stuff but thought that I had moved everything back. I don't have any monitors at all so I would mix through my headphones, burn a copy, then listen to it in my car. Probably not the best method :). Anyway, thanks for the advice and I'll get back to this song in a few months once I get the hang of everything.

Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

timothy devine

timothy devine said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

hey welcome eric
interesting panning, makes it feel and sound live
drums are great
Love the stop in the intro
get a catchy chorus, its in here somewhere
why not the title and just add a chord or two to your outro and you have a great chorus

I'd mix your vocal in the center or make a copy and put you voice on both sides and to gain a fatter vocal
you could add a bit of reverb or make it rounder on one side with eq
just some ideas
move the bass to the center more also
turn up the bass MHO
you need some more balance in the mix, a second counter rhythm guitar on in the right ear, you
more bass
a little lead guitar bit some where, definatly in the end
these are my ways and don't reflect on how this sounds overall.
The over all sound of the recording is very hip
I bet out of ear phones with this turned up it sounds different(cant do that now kids and wife are sleeping)

i dig this tune very much and i dig the guitar sounds
your voice works well with this song and you sing it with lots of confidence
Good arrangement, song writing and performances
peace
looking forward to what else you got up your sleeve
tim

Check out my latest song called Mankind Needs a Change/WoodstockII

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Thanks! Those are some great ideas. I'll give all of that a shot. I just updgraded from the Tascam Porta-02 4 track tape so the idea of any EQ AT ALL, and more than 4 tracks (7 with the tape to tape trick) is befuddling indeed. But I'll get it in the next few months. Thanks for listening and offering great suggestions! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

lengold	lengold said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Great first post Eric. Lovely songwriting, musicianship and vocals. Good advice above re the mix but the most important thing always is the song, and this is good. Cheers Len Check out my latest song called Dodgy Doughnut

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Thanks! You're right. You can't polish a turd so there's hope yet! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Thanks! You're right. You can't polish a turd so there's hope yet! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

rsorensen

rsorensen said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

sounding good!
id love to hear a fuzzy distorted driving guitar in there during the verses - a la Weezer's 'Buddy Holly' - it could drop out during the break then kick back in for the last verse. I think you should keep the break quiet as it is. In fact you could start it even quieter and let it build. This has amazing potential. I'm looking very forward to hearing it develop!

Check out my latest song called You Are My Whole Life

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Weezer I'll have to try the Weezer thing. I'm a HUGE Weezer fan, but I've never tried to emulate their guitar sound so that should be fun. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

ajnorth	ajnorth said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Great potential. There's a lot going for it, but like everyone has said there are issues with the mixing. It has the makings of a great song so I look forward to hearing the next attempt. Good start! Adam Check out my latest song called All your games (v2)

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the song! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Monkaton	Monkaton said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Good Effort I liked the song and you're right. Mixing can drive you crazy and after a while you start losing perspective. Put everything in the middle and do a mono version, then proceed from there. Good luck and welcome to Macjams. Check out my latest song called Darkness of the Night

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Mono It would be far less aggravating if what came out on my CD was what was coming through my phones. I'll get it though. I'm having too much fun to give up. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

caroline	caroline said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	great philosophy... good song and i wish you all the best with the mixing bit - i'm a one take and no mixing kinda girl myself (i don't do technicals) - this has the potential to be excellent - good luck and enjoy! Check out my latest song called clink that link mjrf

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	one take Many props on the being a one take girl. It takes a lot to get it right the first time! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

	said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	This is a really cool song. Good advice above... The chord progression with a bit of dischord is really cool and I like the break to quiet part - put a little more "bite" on the lead; solid vocals great first post. . - Harold

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	lead Thanks, lead parts are scary for me. Someone who has never played guitar can come up with better leads than I can. Maybe that's why I hide my leads so much :). Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

dajama

dajama said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

This is a nice song
Good catchy melody, and a strong vocal performance. The song has a strong hook. Like others, I would try copying the vocal track and placing it in the middle. The guitar track in the left could work, although something on the right to balance it out might (perhaps more keys?) could be good. All of this is a bigger issue for me because I'm listening through phones so the quietness in the middle is more obvious. This is a great first post. Welcome to the neighborhood! Peace.

Check out my latest song called Across the Wire (MJRF)

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	balance It does need balance. I may just start from scratch. I don't want to add too much to fix the bleeding or I'll just end up with more of a mess. But thanks for the compliment on the song! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Moviz

Moviz said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

Good first song here
and I can hear the Lennon-ish feel in this great song. I like your vocal and the instruments and volumes. I think the mix is wrong, but you'll soon learn as we all have to here.Your execution is good, but if you follow what Racerat and Tiomothy Devine have to say about the mixing, this song will be really Hot. Do what they advise and then post it again, Welcome to MJ and cheers M

Check out my latest song called A Soldiers Dream (Remix/record)

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Thanks~! Utilizing the pros here is what I'm excited about doing! I know the mixing will improve with a little help. Thanks for listening! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

davisamerica

davisamerica said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

hello and welcome
silly question from me but when you record in gb are you doing it in"mono" as opposed to "stereo"? reason i ask is cos i had this panning issue for a while.. "everything to the left" till some kind Mjammer enlightened me..lol.... if you are recording the tracks in the preset " stereo" your panning attempts are for naught... right then.. agreet with phillip.. this one has bones and has some great possibilities... wish my first post had of been as good!

Check out my latest song called No Son(egobandit band)

Lennon714

Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

Eureka!
That must be it! I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe I did select stereo as my preset. You may have solved at least a fair majority of my problem! I was getting so mad because I know I put all vocals, drums, and bass in the middle. so I couldn't understand why things were going wherever they wanted. Now I have to scrap the two projects I've got going on now, but at least I know! Sheesh. Thanks!

Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

DWL	DWL said 665 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Great song but ... really needs the mix to be central. I liked the guitar in the left channel to start but was surprised that nothing came in on the right. A remix and a repost I reckon :-) Welcome to MJ. Cheers Dick Check out my latest song called Superstar Shangri-La

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Most definitely! I will certainly have to remix this one and get it reposted. Although it sounds like I'll have to re-track, remix and then repost. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

guitapick	guitapick said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	I so want... ...your Tele... ...Cool tune and the lyrics are killer. I can relate...been there before as, I'm sure, many of us have... ...be patient with the mixing. You'll get it. Tough at first. But you've got lots of people at this site who're more than willing to help. Bob Check out my latest song called Outside the Corral

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	haha Thanks! I like my Tele. They really are incredibly versatile. I'll get the mixing squared away and I'll do her proud! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Peter Greenstone

Peter Greenstone said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

Great first pass
I think this is a great tune. I like the melody, the lyrics, and the overall structure. The production does have its issues here and there and I think this could certainly be improved to make it shine to its full potential. I'd like to hear the bass guitar and the drums have a lot more presence in the mix. I hear some mic popping in your vocals that could be eliminated if you use a pop filter when recording. In the meantime though, you can significantly reduce the popping on the existing recording by using EQ to cut out most of the bottom end frequencies on the vocal track.

Generally, it sounds good to the ears but there are surely a lot of little things you can do here and there to get more out of it. I like your performance and the inflections in your singing.

Really nice work. Keep playing with it.

Check out my latest song called From Nothing

Lennon714

Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

pop
Those pops drove me nuts. I did have pop filters on my mics until my daughter got to them... no joke. They are now "hats" and are in terrible shape. But listening back to the tracking after I did vocals I see that I needed them badly. I tried automating out the pops but it sounded goofy so I just let them stay for now. Thanks for listening and for the compliments

Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

lavalamp	lavalamp said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Telecaster Lennon Love that Telecaster sound, man. Everything is in my right speaker, though. Except a drum. Take it off STEREO and which it to MONO. Trust me. As Racerat said the song is great and your vocals, too. Take whatever advice he gives. He semms to know what he's talking about. Dave Check out my latest song called Googolplex Times Zero

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Mono Yeah, I was tuned in to the mono/stereo mistake earlier. Yikes. I'm excited to go home and fix everything up. Thanks for listening and for the compliments! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

michael2	michael2 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	great song only gripe i have is that everything is panned to one speaker. i love your voice and the whole vibe (gtr sounds awesome). actually I would like to hear some more bass in the mix. i do like the non-standard arrangement though (no chorus). nice when the harmonies come in at the end too. great job, welcome to MJ. Check out my latest song called Stars and Dust (space challenge)

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	Thanks A chorus just didn't work with this song. I said all I needed to say and the outro worked for what it needed only as an outro. I don't think I'm Bob Dylan or anything, but I do enjoy the ol' goofy song structure. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

michael2	michael2 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	perfect as is. i am a big fan of not sticking to convention. whatever the song needs, right? great stuff though.looking forward to hearing more from you. Check out my latest song called Stars and Dust (space challenge)

pablatone	pablatone said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	very good song you can hear that it wants to be great. I think you should bring up the kick, snare and bass. Put them right up front. Hope you get some monitors soon, you got tons of talent. Check out my latest song called I got a gal

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	monitors I hope I pick some up soon, too! The song does want to jump out of the speakers and really move people, I just need to give it the right tools to do so. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Aaron David

Aaron David said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)

Great start
This a is a great start... definitely shows potential.

I definitely agree on the comments of Racerat and others on the mixing. I've done some reading before that talk about how your brain perceives sounds/music. Apparently, your left ear is more prone to pick things out in a music track, whereas your right ear is more prone to blend the sound. With this as the case, if you want something to be noticed, pan it a bit more to the left and make your background sounds a bit more to the right. In your song, it's a bit of left ear overload :). Like racerat said, pan your vocals in the middle of you mix (in other words, don't pan them, lol) , pan your guitar a little left, other instruments a little right.... it doesn't take much (only 10-15 either side) so widen out your sound.

If you want to pan something completely right, a cool technique I've been messing with lately is record to seemly identical guitar tracks, pan them to extreme opposites (100% left and 100% right) and blend them with reverb into the background. I only use them in parts where I want to build it. Even though I'm playing the same thing in both tracks, no-one's perfect, and the slightly different between the two different recordings actually widens the sound and makes it seem bigger. Give it a try sometime :)

Check out my latest song called Hearts Alive

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 664 days ago (January 14th, 2008)
	panning Thanks for the vote of confidence. That's certainly interesting about which ear perceives which sounds. I've definitely got my work cut out for me, but it's something I love doing so it should be a lot of fun. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Willywagga	Willywagga said 664 days ago (January 15th, 2008)
	Cool song Really good though like others have already things need to be centred particularly the main vocal. It's a little displacing as it is. But really great voice and great lyrics. Check out my latest song called The Jes on Sea Road

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 663 days ago (January 15th, 2008)
	thanks Yeah, I'll have to keep an eye on that mono/stereo switch. Thanks for the listen and comment! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Ibstrat	Ibstrat said 663 days ago (January 15th, 2008)
	I don't know anything about mixing- but you've got talent.This is a great song! Check out my latest song called Blues in Bm

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 663 days ago (January 15th, 2008)
	Mixing You don't know anything about mixing? That makes two of us! Thank you for the compliment. I love songwriting and I'm so glad I stumbled across this site because it really is oozing with talent and I have yet to see snobbery, which is amazing when you think about it. The mixing will come around. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

rtcooper	rtcooper said 662 days ago (January 17th, 2008)
	STARTERS Sounds like early Elvis Costello and THAT'S Cool. But, it seems to have forgotten about the right channel. Gonna Re-mix using whole spectrum/envelope? Check out my latest song called Intimate Anyway

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 661 days ago (January 17th, 2008)
	Thanks! I love Elvis Costello, and really, who doesn't? Thanks for the compliment. I will be re-mixing this song later. I recorded it right when I got everything set up just to see what GB was all about. My band, the Ex-Kings already recorded a version close to this so I will get back to this song, just not any time real soon, you know? Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Bob Rodgers	Bob Rodgers said 661 days ago (January 17th, 2008)
	This is a great song and very good songwriting, nice break in the middle, I loved the guitars and vocals! It's already been said about the mixing and good advice from everyone, look forward to hearing more of this song! Check out my latest song called In My Mind

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 661 days ago (January 17th, 2008)
	Thanks Bob! I'll get a remixed version someday. I've already got two other projects running so when I run out of other ideas I may revisit this song. Until then, thanks for listening! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

jiguma

jiguma said 661 days ago (January 17th, 2008)

Like Philip said ..
.. great bones! Needs a chorus, and the mix is pretty average - you'd get a huge improvement just by returning everything to the centre and slowly and slightly panning each track until it sounds right. Bass and drums could stay in the centre until you sort the vox and instruments out. I'd be leaving the vocal pretty much centred also - so that leaves the guitar and organ - one slightly left, one slightly right. A second guitar track would also help balance things a bit. See how that sounds and go from there.
This song is definitely worth some more work!
Neil

Check out my latest song called Under My Skin

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 661 days ago (January 17th, 2008)
	Thanks! It seems I recorded it in Stereo so all my tweaks were for naught. I will get another version of this put out, but it will probably just be a totally redone version rather than just a remix because there's enough to fix. Thanks for listening to it and for offering the tips! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

jiguma	jiguma said 661 days ago (January 17th, 2008)
	Hmmmm I record a lot of my tracks in stereo (all except bass in fact) in Logic and it doesn't present any panning problems at all. Just make sure you don't pan right or left during the recording process for each track - keep it centred and stereo should work fine. Cheers, Neil Check out my latest song called Under My Skin

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 661 days ago (January 17th, 2008)
	argh! Don't tell me that! :). If that's not the case, I have the problem of finding out why my pan controls won't obey me. Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

sschedra

sschedra said 655 days ago (January 23rd, 2008)

Good job!
You have a gift for putting together songs. I see almost everyone has given feedback on production so I don't have to. Your playing and singing are swee-eet. I really like your song writing style though and I look forward to more of your work. I share your frustration with the tech details. I always hear it perfect in my head. Now if we can just develop an interface . . .

Check out my latest song called Never Say Goodbye (So They Say) - Bond Challenge

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 655 days ago (January 23rd, 2008)
	Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I know what you mean about hearing it in your head. It's extremely frustrating because I hear arrangements in my head that I can't even begin to put together. So what I put down is usually "close enough". Anyhow, I'm actually re-recording this song so I'll have a better version up soon. Thanks again for listening! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

	said 532 days ago (May 26th, 2008)
	Cool! Very nice... agree with feter about the mix and sounds. Cool work

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 531 days ago (May 26th, 2008)
	Thanks I'm revisiting this one every now and then. One I start working on new projects I start losing interest in older ones so it's taking long than it should. Someday... :) Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

awigze	awigze said 108 days ago (July 23rd, 2009)
	Eric I decided that when I check out a musician, such as yourself, I will go to their first post and just listen - not for criticism - but just to be able to say, ya- I heard that! Andy Check out my latest song called We got to Jive in Blues by (Feter)

Lennon714	Lennon714 said 108 days ago (July 23rd, 2009)
	haha. There's plenty of room for criticism on this one. I'm looking to redo this one... some day... Thanks for visiting the oldies! Check out my latest song called Anarchy, Inc.

Heroin_Marys	Heroin_Marys said 96 days ago (August 4th, 2009)
	the lyrics of this song remind me of this homeless guy I used to work with. Well, I guess he wasn't homeless. He didn't technically own a home, though. He WAS a bit on the nutzo side. Took a WHOLE lot of acid one night - trying to dispose of the evidence. Went in to a coma and was never the same when he woke up. Intense. Check out my latest song called Bad Robot

Fan List

Artist Info

Name: Eric VanAusdal

Tobin Mueller was kind enough to interview me for the MJ blog, which can be read here. Bob Dorsey (five_extra_arms) was kind enough to make my new avatar. An all around swell guy, if you ask me. I am also a proud member of the radical supergro... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

The terms alternative rock and alternative music[1] were coined in the early 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired music genres which didn't fit into the mainstream genres of the time. At times it was used as catch-all phrase for rock music from under

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