Life Gets In The Way (...new Mac Brothers song)

[Buck62]

Here's a "work in progress" that's not quite finished yet.
This one is going to get some new vocals and a harmonica track.... I just sang the lead and harmony vocals so you guys get an idea of the melody goes.

This isn't the final mix, either... it's just a quickie mix for reference.
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/.../singles.shtml
("Life Gets In The Way")

Suggestions? Comments?
Feel free to offer any opinions you'd like, we're still working on this one.

Thanx!
Buck

[tvaillan]

sounds awesome to me!

good vocal job. (i like the mix AND the voice)

being a drum fan, i would like to hear em a little louder .. but that's just my opinion.

The guitars are very tastefully done. Very aesthetic lead. Again, in my humble opion there's just a tad to much chorus on the struming part.

The bottom line is that it's awesome.

to my untrained ears, the mix is great. I'm only hearing it through my pc speakers at work... so i may miss some elements.

I'm gonna have to blast it when i get home to get a really good picture.

[mixmkr]

very nice sound on the instruments. voice maybe a tad crispy. Honestly, I have to say, I wish people would put up final mixes, instead of ruffies. ...so what should we say...?? In progress, it sounds very good...but you're gonna make it sound better...right?

[Chris Shaeffer]

Sweet. I like that song quite a bit.

I think the guitar is a little...something. It sounds great but it is right up front. Maybe that's because I can only listen in the cans at this hour.

OK, a quick, quiet check on the monitors confirms that it sounds fine there. The bass and drums are buried a bit by that beatiful guitar, though. Except during the quiet part right at the end. ?

Awesome solo playing. Nice dynamics. Your vocal performance is very intimate- I like the stlye. I'll be curious to hear how the final performance ends up.

Good song, good working mix. Maybe balance out the instruments a bit, adjust levels for the loudness of the different parts so that the drums and bass don't get lost when the guitars heat up.

Can't wait to hear the final mix.

Chris

[CyanJaguar]

I would like to hear the finished.

I'm hearing some sting intonations there. cool.

the track sounds,as you said, unfinished.

THe space is very questionable, the vocal track sounds very demo for want of a better word.

The song is nice though

[Buck62]

Hey guys....

First of all, thanx for listening... and especially for the commentary!

tvaillan
Wow! We're really pleased that you like the song so much!
You're right about the drum part, it could use a little more presence in the mix. I'm also thinking about cutting some low-end from the bass to give it more definition.
I'll post the remix when I get a chance.
(...and thanx for the props on the vocals. )

mixmkr
Yeah, I hear what you're saying about "final mixes". The reason I posted a "work in progress" is because we tend to remix our stuff a zillion times... until MAC2 and I both make compromises on what we want to hear. So, our final mix is usually the result of several long hours of work and we're very hesitant to change anything after that, because that would mean more bickering over what should be changed. That's why I figured it's better to get opinions before the final mix.... so we know what sounds good to everyone, not just ourselves.

Chris Shaeffer
Yep, agreed... we're gonna fix the bass and drums.
Glad you like the vocals, too... although it's just a scratch-track at this point. But, thanx!
We're probably going to add harmonica to the song before it's done. I agree that the mix needs more balance. The drums seem to fade during the instrumental break. I'll try to fix that.
MAC2 will be happy to hear that you like his guitar playing... he played ALL of the guiatr parts... including bass!

CJ
Yeah, we've got some work to do before it's done.
We're looking for someone else to do the vocals on this song.... someone with more power and range, although we may keep the high-harmony part that I did.
We'll put this one back in the blender and post the remix when it's closer to being a "finished product".

[Meshuggah]

Streaming starts....

I'm gonna be picky..

Kick sounds very "Pantera" for this kind of music..
Sounds a bit scoped somehow.. and very mono.. I think something in the lower mids muddies it up a bit, makes the guitar and vox sound thin..

Very nice song. You're a killer on vox, Buck. I wanna hear the final version.

[langleyt]

I absolutely loved this song! I want to call it a rock ballad which is my favorite kind of music. I really don't think you should get someone else to do the singing Buck; your voice is great. Tell Mac great job on guitar and bass. I'm curious to hear how the harmonica will sound in it though.

t

[Atwork]

Very impressed with the "bigness" and clarity of the overall sound, and the playing.

Agree that the guitar is perhaps a little dominant at the expense of the bass and drums. I like drums loud, though.

Heard the track 1st on headphones and thought, 'Wow, what a big sound'. Very nice.

[Track Rat]

Great sound and tune Buck.

[Buffalo Bob]

Ditto what the Rat said. Very nice recording.

[jgourd]

You guys never cease to amaze me with the sounds you get out of that basement!

[GT]

Long time no hear.

A couple of nits, sounds little hot at about 3:00. Cymbals sound a little thin, are they canned?

Acoustic sounds nice. Song seems to be perfect length.

Great work!!

GT

[Buck62]

Wow!

I'm just checking in for a sec and saw all these great responses!

I'm running late for work (...as usual), so I'll respond later tonite.

Thanx!
Buck

[Gidge]

here we go......

nice intro....VERY nice.....

background vocals rock....gels just right......

songwriting, arrangment, performance, recording, everything about this is top notch.....

I cant say anything bad about this......

AWESOME! I really wanted to find something wrong with this to help you out, but sorry, no dice......

[Buck62]

Yo guys! (...and gal )

Muchas gracias on your critiques of our latest tune!

langley...
We're still unsure as to who will get the nod for lead vocals, but my harmony parts will stay on the song (...and thanx for the compliment! )
The harmonica is definitely going to add a nice touch. I'll make sure to post the updated version.

Meshuggah...
If I ever heard a Pantera song (which I'm not sure I have), I might agree with you.. but I can't say. The drums are an electronic kit... Yamaha DTXpress.
This isn't the final version, so I'll keep your suggestion about the lower-mids in mind on the final mixdown.
Thanx for the vocal compliment, too!

Atwork...
That "bigness" probably comes from that boomin' bass guitar and the extra bit of thump on the bass drum. "Bigness" is something we failed to achieve on our first CD, so we're making up for that on the second one... heh heh.
The drums will come up a bit for the final mix.... thanx!

Track Rat, Buffalo Bob, and jgourd...
Many, many thanx... my bruthas!!!

GT
Good ears!!! You picked out the e-drums, despite my efforts to make them sound as real as possible... props to you, bro! ....and thanx for the nice words.

Gidge...
My brutha, if it makes it past YOUR ears with that kind of impact, then we definitely have got something good going on here!
It's gonna get even better.. so keep an eye out for the update.

Buck

[beezelbubba]

My first impression was that the riff sounded like"Blue on Black"by Kenny Wayne Sheppard.No insult there.
Then the lyrics kicked in,in the first verse,reminding me of my rapidly disintegrating marriage!Very potent!
A couple musical notes:
1:Excellent guitar work,through and through!I would arrange everything around the guitar!
2rums and bass could come up to the level of the gtr and lead vox!
3:Is the lead vocal you?I like it!
4:The harmony vox,though well done,sound like Axle Rose to me.Never a good thing,IMHO!I would tone them down a tad.Just a thought.They sound ok as they are.
5:Pretty god damn good,for a right wing Copper

[beezelbubba]

By the way,I have no Idea how the smily face ended up in place of the "d"in drums.I don't know how to make those things work.Could anyone tell me?

[Buck62]

You know, beez... that's exactly what I thought of when MAC2 first played the guitar riff to me... Blue On Black.

I hear what you're sayin' about the levels.... it shall be done.
MAC2 will be pleased to hear that you liked his guitar work.
Thanx for the vocal compliments, too.

Hey, some of us Republicans used to be hippies at one time.
My hair was longer than my two sisters back in the early to mid-seventies!

Buck

[SirRiff]

Greetings,

Hey Buck, if i knew you were that good, I wouldn't make fun of you so much in all those other threads.

DAMN GOOD SONG.

this is the first time ever i have ever even considered downloading an "amature" song to listen to ...

Love those vocal harmonies

yeah the picking is very Blue on Black like, but its a very good style for the both of you, so run with it.

not my style, but i really really really like it.
I even like the lyrics! I never like lyrics!

NICE WORK

SirRiff

[beezelbubba]

Originally posted by Buck62
You know, beez... that's exactly what I thought of when MAC2 first played the guitar riff to me... Blue On Black.

I hear what you're sayin' about the levels.... it shall be done.
MAC2 will be pleased to hear that you liked his guitar work.
Thanx for the vocal compliments, too.

Hey, some of us Republicans used to be hippies at one time.
My hair was longer than my two sisters back in the early to mid-seventies!

Buck

You sound sexier to me every time we talk,you sweet little thing,you !!

[Buck62]

Hey Riff, Thanx!

...and that's okay, you can still mock me... I'm a big boy, I can take it.

Make sure to check out the "final" mix of this song... it's gonna get even better! Really glad you enjoyed it, though.


beez...
I had two dudes whistle at me from behind when I was 18, because they thought I was a chick.
I cut all the hair off the next day.


Buck

[beezelbubba]

Originally posted by Buck62
Hey Riff, Thanx!

...and that's okay, you can still mock me... I'm a big boy, I can take it.

Make sure to check out the "final" mix of this song... it's gonna get even better! Really glad you enjoyed it, though.


beez...
I had two dudes whistle at me from behind when I was 18, because they thought I was a chick.
I cut all the hair off the next day.


Buck

WUS!I endured that for years!

[drstawl]

A really well crafted tune.

I listened on both MDR-7506 and the Events.

That slide lead was pretty nice.

Is there supposed to be a bass track on this?

Sounded a hair light in the low end.

[Buck62]

Sorry I missed your response for so long, doc!

Thanx for the nice commentary on the song.

I'm a bit perplexed that you can't hear the bass. Maybe it's because it's so tight with the acoustic guitar that it seems like it ain't there? I don't know. I thought this tune had some decent bottom... at least it sounds that way at this end.

Hmmmmm...