Here’s a song I’ve recently “finished” recording. I’m interested in knowing what other people hear when listening to this.
How’s the mix, arrangement, performance, etc. ?
Oh, and what is the song topic about?
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Sounds a bit flat.Need some comp smashing the drums etc .Bit more excitement injected in
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Love, love, love this! Bring back the boogie! YEAH!!! Performances, arrangement, vocals, tones all sound fantastic! The rhythms feel great. Love the lead guitar work and tones too. Harmonies are tight and sound amazing. Top job!
Mix-wise, it is pretty damn good, IMO. Low end is solid, mids are clear, and the top end is nice and bright, but not too much so. Low mids are full, but not muddy. Nice.
A couple of tiny picky things:
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I’d like to hear a little more depth behind the vocals. Some subtle delays and reverbs would just give things a little more “3D-ness”
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The toms are a little too “boomy” sounding. They might need a bit more control in the low mids and lows.
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Personal preference for me would be to widen out your harmonies across the stereo spectrum, as they seem pretty tight to the centre at present. I think that would really inject a bit of a slightly more “modern” aesthetic into the mix too.
Top job, Sir!
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Great groove and sound @Wicked and that solo is very cool. Vocals fit perfectly. As good as the groove is it starts to plod a bit after a while, maybe more changes or modulation? Drums could add some stuff too I think. Awesome as is though!
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I had thought about compressing the snare, toms and kick more…especially the kick.
Thanks @takka360 !
Really glad you like the vibe! While I was recording this I was thinking about the way you add colours and textures to your songs. I wanted to do a similar thing with this song. There were a few extra embellishments that I ended up taking out of the recording because they weren’t adding anything good to the song.
I credit that more with the arrangement and note choices than my mixing chops. Fortunately this song (or at least most of this song) is kind of easy to mix because everything was written in a manner to intentionally avoid parts stepping on each other. I tried to create space for everything. When the drums are having their moment, the guitar backs off…When the guitars are shining, the other instruments are given less animation.
I’m glad you mentioned this. I’m often a bit reserved with delays and reverbs because I worry about overdoing it, but I think you’re right, that some more delay and reverb would give this a bigger 3D image. I’m definitely going to do that !
I was curious what people would say about the toms. I was thinking that they were taking up too much space. Like you said, they’re a bit too boomy.
Ah, this is a good idea! I was a bit concerned with the harmony vocals taking too much space and eating up the power of the instruments by spreading them too wide but since you mention it, I’m going to try that out. The more I think about, the more I think you’re right.
Thanks for your advice, Andrew @ColdRoomStudio !
Your comments will be very useful !!
Thanks @ingolee ! Appreciate the comments!
I’ll throw this song on a CD-R with some other originals and over the next few weeks I’ll play them on my car excursions out in the country and around the city. That usually gives me a feel for the song and if I’ve made it too long and/ or repetitive.
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Blimey are you aloud to go out where you live ,they want to fine you for going out of your front door here now more or less
Well actually, the leaders of the province where I live (Ontario, Canada), have just given the citizens stay-at-home orders (happened about 24 hours ago). The order requires residents to stay home except for essential outings, such as accessing health care, shopping for groceries, or outdoor exercise. Many people are working from home, but if your job doesn’t allow you to work from home and you’re deemed an “essential service worker” then you are allowed to travel to work.
I was thinking of taking a little country drive tomorrow night. If the cops pull me over, I’ll tell them I’m exercising my vehicles gas lines, pistons, and all the other machinations involved in a car. It’s hard on your car battery if you only take short trips or you let your car sit in your driveway too long. About 3 weeks ago I had to get my battery boosted by CAA. During the Christmas holidays I hadn’t driven much and that’s what drained the battery.
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Hey mr W you be rockin. Like the vox up one db in the first verse. Great riff that I have not heard.
Harmonies are awesome. You done good man congrats
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I love this song! 
The overall music elements, but especially the verse guitar riff remind me of Budgie (I’m a huge fan) - “In For The Kill”. I mean that as a great compliment, and wonder if they were an influence for you. The lead guitar solo is awesome! I’m going to study it. 
Everything sounds and seems great to me, but I’m not objective enough to analyze it at the moment due to emotional infatuation 
, which is an indicator this is one great rockin’ anthem!
I have to say, the words are a bit hard to make out at times due to the dense mix (?), so if you care to post them at some point it would be interesting to me.
To accept your challenge, there is a clear message of power dominating “the people”, and a frustration with our (in)ability to set things right. I find it interesting - and I don’t know how purposeful it was on your part - that “Save Our Soul” is a very “collective consciousness” invocation (i.e. “S.O.S” but singular and not plural), whereas you contrast that with “rescue me” and “save me” which brings it back to the personal perspective. Wondering if that was your intention (literary device) or it just happened to turn out that way?
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You’re in UK (England), right? It does seem to be very strict there from reading the news media. Pardon me for quoting a controversial figure, but “the cure can’t be worse than the disease.” 
Indeed. I don’t know how long the car sitting is problematic, but I would think 1 week or 2 max might be a good guideline. I did look up the battery thing, as it happened to me last winter, and it suggested driving at least 20 minutes after you start the car. The start up drains the battery, and it takes that long for the alternator to recharge it. I don’t know how that works in the context of multiple ‘stops’ though. I do try to map it out to take advantage of a longer drive at the end when possible. I welcome any mechanic’s input on these issues as well.
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Yes in England, in a place called Ramsgate on the south coast
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Wow, looks like an interesting place. Very close to the cliffs of Dover and the Chunnel.
The policies in UK have seemed very regional and local, such as the border of Wales where one side was very locked down and the other was party open, literally right next door.
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Thanks Paul @feaker !
I’ll give those vocals another check and consider bringing them up when I do a remix.
Thanks @Stan_Halen !
I was hoping you would listen to this song because I wanted to hear your opinion, since we have such a similar taste in music and our musical influences are so much alike. Really glad that you like it !
Budgie’s, “In For The Kill”, yes! I hadn’t thought of that riff until you mentioned it. I agree, it does remind me of that riff. I haven’t heard that Budgie song in a long time. Now I want to check it out on youtube!
I did get into Budgie back in my first year of high school. My older brother had one of their albums. It was the album with Breadfan, I Ain’t No Mountain, I Can’t See My Feelings, Zoom Club…Actually, I just googled their catalogue and it looks like the album that my brother had was “Best Of Budgie” (released in 1975…NOT the “Best Of Budgie” that was released in 1981). Apparently they released two different “Best Of Albums” 6 years apart. 
I’m pretty sure it was 1981 when I got into that album. That year was also the introduction of Lynard Skynard, Molly Hatchet, Black Sabbath, Ozzy and a ton of other bands…Oh and I remember my brother driving around in his old Mustang cranking out the J’ Geils live album, “Full House”…I remember the smell of weed/ hash and beer and songs like Whammer Jammer…And phrases like, “Take out your false teeth, mama, I wanna suck on your gums”. 
It was only a short time after that when J’ Geils came out with their new poppy sound on the album Freeze Frame. I had zero interest in that album though. I really loved Sabbath, Ozzy and Skynard…and I still do, to this day. J. Geils was just a fun, sign of the times’, short-term, fun listen. I still like a lot of those Budgie songs too. Their sound was really prehistoric but they had some very cool songs! Whenever I hear those songs it brings me back to those days.
Glad you liked the guitar solo. I was fighting with myself when I was writing it and recording it. I couldn’t decide how much bluesy it should be…I wanted to mix a few styles. At first it was too bluesy for my taste…then I added some different note choices. I wanted a slight classical influence and I wanted a tiny bit of aggressive shred. I was trying to get a bit of everything but I quickly realized that I couldn’t expect to fit too many styles into a 40 second solo. The most important thing I was trying to accomplish was to make the solo feel as if it was a song within a song. I don’t like to write guitar solos as “jam pieces” or just “shredding” for the sake of showcasing technical ability. I feel the same way about songs and arrangements. I would prefer tasteful simplicity over pointless complexity…BUT, I realize that sometimes you need to exploit your technical ability too because people will assume you don’t have the technical skills if you don’t flash them once in awhile. Eventually, I’ll write an instrumental or 5 that showcase much more technical ability…but I don’t think I would want to write too many songs like that…I’d probably always want to incorporate some catchy melodies, rhythms and grooves.
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I’m a bit surprised that you hit the nail on the head with everything you said. 
The things you’ve mentioned are exactly the things I was thinking as I was writing the lyrics…and it’s the way I view the lyrics now, while listening back to the song.
I think the lyrics were inspired by all the Democrat VS Republican fighting, particularly in the USA and especially with the US federal election that was happening at the time. I wrote these lyrics in the midst of all the fighting and chaos of the election, at the beginning of November 2020. The lyrics don’t point to any leaders specifically but in general, to all leaders current and past.
The lyrics are about feeling anger and helplessness in a world spinning out of control, with everyone fighting. This is not really an unfamiliar feeling for most of us who have been around for more than 25 years. It seems to surge when the political climate gets heavy or man-made and natural disasters come to our attention. I’ve written similar lyrics in the past about that feeling of doom but when I was writing the lyrics for this song, the drama of the election was very forefront on my mind. I was also thinking of many of the disasters and problems that the world has faced recently. When I wrote the first line I was thinking about the massive fires that Australia and California have experienced a short time ago "lyrics : “You look around and what you found is a world burning down”…At the same time I was thinking of the election. In my mind they were mirror images…they represented the same thing. Destruction, loss, devastation and sorrow.
I also mention a “war in the streets”. That was a bit of a reference to the protests in the streets throughout 2020 and throughout modern history, but it was also an image in my mind of the people fighting the government/ the people in power.
Ah, I was curious to see if anyone would notice this!
I chose the words “Save Our Soul” for 2 reasons…At first I chose it because I could avoid those damn “Sss” sibilant ssssounds ! So many esses! But I was unsure of singing that phrase without the “s” on the end. …But then, it hit me…I WAS talking (singing) in terms of our human collective consciousness. I was speaking about our collective Soul, as one species…maybe even further, all life on earth. So then I felt confident about leaving the “s” off the end of “soul”.
BUT, then I started injecting myself into the lyrics unconsciously. When I realized that, I had another long pause, filled with doubt about the consistency/ inconsistency of the lyrics…Then I realized although the bigger picture of the song is about “all of us as one singular whole” and the struggle that is a constant for our human race, it was also about my own personal struggle and internal war. Both are never-ending and both seem hopeless at times. So, yes, there is definitely a dual aspect happening in the lyrics.
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Ha, I do remember a live J. Geils album, though I can’t seem to identify it now. It’s not the same one you reference I don’t think. It had the song “House Party” on it (IIRC), which was the high point of the album, especially at a party. 
And the intro, at least to one song, was Peter Wolf shouting "We gonna blow … your … face … oooouuuutttt! Another had a ‘rap’ thing (before anybody really did that) about Rapunzel and “the wurple gurple with the green teeth”. 
When I read that it made me think of a trench-coat for some reason … 
Cool, I’m glad I picked up on it. I didn’t think about the sibilance aspect, but that makes ssssssense. 
Opera singers will transform vowel sounds so they can modulate from one to another without weirdness. Not exactly the same, but still gettin’ jiggy wit it. 
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Haha I didn’t realize that I sounded like a Flasher ! 
I almost always, 98% of the time have a vocal melody written (or a solid idea of my vocal melody and vocal rhythm) before writing lyrics. So often times I have to compromise the lyrics to make them work well with the feel of the song, my voice and even my vocal range. Certain words, vowel sounds and consonants, have to be reworked for the specific melody, vocal range, vocal affect and style of the vocal line that is created for the song. This is a pretty big thing that I focus on when creating my vocal parts and lyrics. It feels like it’s a lot of struggle/work finding the perfect pairing of vocals and lyrics but it’s a big part of writing a good song.
If I had to choose between a great lyric VS a great vocal line, I’d choose the vocal line/ melody/ phrasing every time.
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great song, great message. Mix was simple yet elegant and tasteful!
Could benefit with some width probably.
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