Well , its been a while, but I finally got a new track to bash. I’ve been having a lot of computer problems, which took up a lot of time.
You know the feeling you have after a couple of weeks of vacation: all rested and relaxed, you’re in some beautiful place feeling at peace with the world , with your loved ones, and you know the next day is the day you drive (or fly) back home . After that it’s back to the office (or wherever you work), into the darkness and cold of winter…
I wrote this song to remember this perfect moment, to take it with me and help me to get through winter.
When I play it live I get my audience to participate in the chorus (not something I’m prone to do very often, I tend to be the introvert type), but it usually works well. They love it
In the recording I did a lot of backing vocal takes (5 parts on 12 tracks? I’m not sure) . Wonder if that worked.
Hey Evert - this has a great energy and optimism. I really love the acoustic guitar sound. Quirky vocal kind of reminds me a little of Ray Davies… Great syncopation & and a nice mix!
I am digging the groove. The vocal is sounding good. I find that the instruments are a bit of a muddy mess mix wise. I think some judicious eqing could help a lot.
Thanks guys for the compliments. Yes, on doing the car stereo test I also realised it was still pretty muddy. I think somewhere near the end of my mixing spree I decided to beef up the bass a bit and got stuck in the mud… ’
Ray Davies… haven’t heard that comparison before, but nothing to be ashamed of
Thank you for the review! Now your song (listening to the latest mix): Your vocals are good. This song reminds me a bit of the Kinks, which is good. It has kind of a late 60’s to early 70’s vibe for me, including the audio. I don’t think it sounds muddy. Your accent sounds more like it is from the U.K., as opposed to Dutch to me. As an American, I find European accents interesting. I listened to this twice; the intro sounded better on second listen. The melodies are good. Really nothing significant to complain about. Nice job!
Thanks Aaron,
I used to write more complex songs, but the last couple of years I tend to come up with more basic tunes, and indeed with a sixties vibe. I guess as you get older you fall back on your earliest inspirations? About my accent: you’re right. Most Dutch people speak understandable English, with a tendency towards American, overlaid with a terrible Dutch accent. When I was young I lived 4 years in Australia and 3 in England, and I kept the (mild) northern English accent. But it also depends on the song. I wrote a country song once which really needs a Texas drawl or something similar. So I try that, and it comes out as something similar to the Beatles trying to sound American (e.g. Rocky Rocoon).
A bit of clarification on the sound of the acoustic guitar: its actualy 2 different acoustics, both of them doubled. I strung the second guitar ‘Nashville’ style: comparable to the thin strings of a 12 string. I started out just doubling the same chords as the other acoustic , trying to get the 12 string sound. But that didn’t work very well, so I used the Nashville guitar with a capo on the 5th fret to get a mandolin like sound. That with some delay, reverb and extra wide stereo is what you’re hearing.
It is sounding better but still i feel that you could clean things up more. One of the things i am noticing is that you really can’t tell that there are are drums for most of the song. now i am not saying that they should be front and center but they should at least be there if you are listening for it. I am really digging this song.
Your wish is my command .
I gave the drums a bit more room and cleaned it all up a bit more. I also found that some of the problems have arrisen in the recording stage. I should rerecord the bass in places, and tune the acoustic guitar… I´ll get around to that some time. For now I just attenuated the string that was out of tune with an EQ.
And did a bit of mastering as well. Any better?
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