Out of the blue a few years ago I met an old buddy of mine who used to be in our touring band. Hadn’t seen him in 35 years. We’ve been kicking ideas around, and I asked him to sing this one, which takes pipes beyond my capacity. It’s probably in demo form at this point, but I’m getting ear fatigue and looking for input.
Dream Girl
Everything was fine, til I opened my eyes, I realized I had been dreaming
Another day, and they all start the same, I call out your name, but you will not answer
Just about midnight when you walk in my dream
Like a vision in the moonlight, but it’s real to me and I can’t let go
I don’t want to face the sunrise; when I open my eyes you’ll be gone again.
Shattered window stares; I can’t begin to care. Nothing compares, when my eyes are open.
Across the Bridge of Dreams, two arms awaiting open
Together forever, at least that’s what I’m hoping.
I really like the minimal lyrics and I dig the music. If it were me, I’d rerecord the vocals because there are times when I can’t really understand what he’s singing. Glad you threw the lyrics in here to clarify.
Very nice vocals, hits me great from the start!
Mixed perfectly, as I can understand your lyrics very well.
Lovely lyrical composition, and very catchy melody.
The electric guitar solo is soooo nice!!!
With respect,
Rene
Thanks. Vocal levels are tough for me since I wrote the words and played them in my head a few thousand times. I’m testing by including the lyrics to see if knowing the words helps the vocal stand out better.
Thanks for the listen!
Nice. Guitars, with the processing, still came thru clean. Man your singer sounds a lot like you. Can’t imagine the harmony you could do together. Loved the harmony guitars. Mad lead at 1:58…congrats there. this could have a hit back in the day for sure. Like to hear some harmony in those explosive chorus parts. Man the outro guitar series was like WTF???
Not much to pick apart here. So glad you are hittin it again. gotta get my sweetie back and then it’s my turn. ha ha She had a decent day today and started eating again. Must have been my morning scrambled eggs this am. I will play this on speakers tomorrow. big thumbs up you two
Vocals are sitting well for me and sound great as do the guitars, nice solos too. Drum fills are a little too busy and machine gunny for me. I was questioning the drum sound but I think if the fills were more tasteful and in the groove it might be ok?
Lovely gritty vibe to this… really enjoying it… only listening on crap speakers but the ‘soul’ is shining on through… still sounding a little like a mix-in-progress but in a great raw edge true-music way. Fab riffs! No trouble with lyrics from a down-underan
Yay!
Nice work with this, Bob… this is really powerful and impactful. The dynamic build is much better now…
When I first heard this track, I actually thought it was you singing!
FWIW, I had no problems understanding the lyrics when you sent me the earlier version without them written out.
Mixwise, just take note of some of the BIG notes from the vocalist. They might need a little more dynamic control, as they are tending to push down the music a bit - possibly an buss compressor thing.
Thanks, Emma. I’m hoping it’s a demo that we can bring to fruition. The vocal is comped phrase by phrase; once Deryle gets the performance and breathing down he’ll be able to be more playful with the singing.
The drums are currently a place keeper that are a touch on the frenetic side. Hoping to get a real drum track in the same vein.
At this point I’m debating if I can use some of the tracks and simplify recording it again. I’m at that precarious stage where I just want it done before I screw it up trying to fix it.
Thanks Sir Andrew.
His voice goes from 0 to 90 quickly. I’ll check the dynamics on the master track. As I mentioned to Emma, the vocal is comped phrase by phrase. I could try automating the record level, which I’ve never done, or maybe using the limiter on each track to tame it a bit before it hits the Schepps Omni channel. My ears need a rest before I mess with any fine tuning.
As always, thanks for your concise input.
Hi Bob Been playing this a few times and trying to figure out why the chorus isn’t as smooth as it could be. Just about midnight when you walk in my dream is awesome. the second line, IMHO has too much going on. Not sure if you need “and I can’t let go” Maybe " like a vision in the moonlight but it’s so real to meeee" The extension on the last line works tho. just a thought. Seems like, right now, It is hard timing wise to sew lines two and three together. the power is there for sure. Yes, the vocal does pop now. great track from an old fart. who’d a thunk
The vocal is comped phrase by phrase, he kind of learned as we recorded it. Originally he did it as you suggested; when we do it for real, we might do the I can’t let go as a background voice answer. How is your wifey?
Hi Bob Roz is slowly comming around. Her temp has dropped to normal most of the day. She has a nasty migraine like headache that only opioids will keep in check. Bloodwork and x-ray Monday and a brain MRI later next week. They are concerned of the amount of floaters she is experiencing. She has been very healthy all of her life. Really suck this series. Your song is a winner. Keep the tweek till it’s finally concrete. thanks for your medical concern
You really took me back to the day, my friend, with this one! I thought the singer was excellent. Such big guitar and vocals and drums. The synth in the beginning was so nice, added a little contrast to the main thrust of the song.
There are parts that are perfect, other parts that might benefit from further mixing/tweaking. But now I’d say 95% there.
Thanks very much. I hope to at least do the vocal again; he learned it on the fly and can sing it more fluidly. We might do the whole thing in a real studio, or use some of the tracks and try to maintain the energy.
StylesBitchley,
Thank you for the review! Now your song: wow, this is really good! Reminds me of a variety of bands that were popular in the 70’s. Very strong vocals and guitar playing! I have no gripes.
Not sure how I missed this before. Good stuff! Have you guys done more since then?
35 years later, he obviously still has some good vocal pipes! Impressive
