Friends, Romans, Country Hicks, Lend Me Your Ears

[chrisharris]

I'm nearing the end of a Project, and I had planned on "padding" it with this song. I posted a (longer) version of this a week ago, then yanked it because it was just "too damned long."

It's about a minute shorter, and many thanks to "Kramer" for that suggestion...although it was a MOTHER to do because I don't have the tracks anymore - computer was stolen about 3 months ago...not backed up

Lemme' know if the edit is super obvious. (Mildly obvious, I can live with)

POINT IS: Pretty much all I can do is EQ and/or spot compression, but I'd appreciate some of you with fancy analyzers (or good ears) giving me some input.

Yes, I agree the drums suck.

(btw, if anybody out there has seen a 4 year old "emachine" with about 120GB worth of wav files, I'd REALLY like it back- no questions asked).

Oh yeah, if you read this "Crawdad," I know it's not REALLY country, but it's not "jazz" either!



OUR SONG - OUR SONG - OUR SONG -OUR SONG - OUR SONG
www.nowhereradio.com/honestmango/singles

[fenderlikingood]

but i have no mixing advice,(trust me, you dont want to borrow these ear's any way)

it sound's awesome to me!!! your voice man!!! gimme

clean as a whistle !!!!!!

thank's for the listen.


signed........ your feeble eared music junkie
RICK

[King Elvis]

OK, I am lost, which song is it??? I am listening to Bottle of Wine and this thing is great. I am in Texas too so I get to hear a LOT of country music and I gotta say that this has all the honesty that country is lacking these days!!! I dont hear an edit in this one. As for the drums, what can I say, I am no drummer and so I use a machine...so shoot me. I am not a purist in that regard. Nice and clean...great song, great recording!!

I got me a farm and I got me a fiddle
The King

[chrisharris]

Hehehe...Man, it's the one called "OUR SONG"...(the last one, I think). (take a glance right above the link...I wrote it about 5 or 6 times, because I always do the same thing).

But I've never been so glad to create confusion in my life, SINCE I TOTALLY AGREE THAT BOTTLE OF WINE IS DEFINITELY WORTH A SPIN.

hehehe...thanks.

[King Elvis]

I-45??
What part of Texas are you in??
I gotta say it again...Honesty Man!!! your stuff has it. Is this a band effort or do you do it all yourself?? Sounds great to me!!! OK OK I still dont hear an edit in this song either so I would say you did it right!!

Its a girl my lord in a flat bed Ford...
The King

[jjtcorsair]

Awesome job... I like the song, you're right in not being able to categorize it as country. It reminds me of the one ballady love song that a lot of rock bands would put on their albums in the 80's (not a slant!!!).

The one general compaint I have is the reverb, it's kind of tinny. But then again maybe the whole thing is a bit high middy sounding . Maybe back off on the 2k-4k range a bit.

Is the edit on "I didn't ""do"" in the second to the last chorus? If it is then it's a pretty good edit. If it's not, then theres a little squiggy there.

Nice job.

Jon

[mkg]

Good song, Chris. The intro is very cool, and I especially liked the line, "...over the edge and under the gun..." The lyric is intelligent and heartfelt, a killer combination.
I couldn't tell it was edited, good job there.
It's very good just as it is, but I couldn't help but hear a Sweetheart of the Rodeo pedal steel in there.
Very fine work, indeed.

Mark

[chrisharris]

KING - I'm a little reluctant to say EXACTLY where in Texas I'm living, due to the international stigma associated with the town...but I'll say this...a lot of people think that our town motto should be

W.e
A.in't
C.omin'
O.out

Actually, it's a cool little town, and Crawford Texas is about 20 miles closer than where those lunatics were located, but you never hear Pres. Bush say he's from...(wherever I'm from). Thanks for the listen...It's all me (the good, the bad, and the edits). I'm still in a band, and we gig in Houston on the weekends since the other 3 guys live there (thus the I-45 reference), but I'm the only one recording right now.

JJ- I appreciate the careful listen, and I think I agree. I've tried cutting there, and the vocal just kinda' disappears...(anybody seen my wavs?). IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS A BETTER EQ...As for the edit...it wasn't there...but thanks for pointing out another impossible problem to fix!!!

MKG - Thanks...I appreciate the lyric comment...I'm all about words. (I'd kill to have a steel on there too...GOT ONE?).

[B.SABBATH]

sounds good.. maybe a bit too much reverb on the drums.. I hear it a lot on the high hat.. As the song is playing I find myself annoyed by the high hat.. I like the tune though.. I think I heard the edit but it's not too bad.. nice vocals.

[chrisharris]

Sam - SSsssooooo....you think you hear the edit, eh? Well go out on a limb like MKG and PROVE IT

(bear in mind, no matter how you respond, I'll lie and tell you it was somewhere else).



(damned hi hat that I can't fix)

(damn)

BTW - The FUNERAL/DEATH MARCH/GOTH/OMG I'M IN HELL thing is interestingly heavy and cool. Not my genre...and yet I listened to it 4 times...no, make it 5. I'd download it, but I'm afraid my kids would try to have me committed.

-chris

[elephant]

good song sorta eagles a little

the whole song has great stereo separation except the lead vox.
I don't know if it's this damn mp3 format but the lead vox has an unnatural chorus effect and is dead mono

can you add a stereo reverb to it?

as to the edit, my guess is at the end I think 317 or18?

[Kramer]

Now I was able to get through this version of it Chris. The tune is actually growing on me now that Ive listened to it a few more times...It's gettin some life in it now(not so much a flat liner anymore! )

so you live down near wacko,oops I mean waco....I used to work for a Utility Trailer Manufacturer down here in the deeeeeeep south and they had a plant in Waco also...so I knew about waco before david koresh put it in the news.

[chrisharris]

Elephant. Thanks for the listen. I was hoping the vocal thing wouldn't be that noticeable...because I can't fix it. Not that it CAN'T be fixed, but I can't. (note to self: NEVER use chorus on a lead vocal). It's kinda' funny, you missed the edit, but thanks to your comment, I noticed that errant kick drum at 3:17. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about the edit...this is getting depressing. Apparently, the edit is the smoothest part of the song.

Kramer - I was kinda' hangin' around to see if you'd comment, since you started this whole mess. Thank you for getting through it again...sincere.

(I'm not saying where the edit is yet, because I'm finding out where all the farts are).

[mkg]

Chris, an excellent player named Earl Foote not far from you (Houston area I think, but don't hold me to it) downloaded one of my mp3s and put a very cool pedal steel on it. He's on mp3.com listed as Murray & Earl. I bet if you contacted him you guys could cook up a collab.
We Ain't Comin' Out...got a laugh outta that, hadn't seen it.

[Kramer]

Originally posted by chrisharris
Kramer - I was kinda' hangin' around to see if you'd comment, since you started this whole mess. Thank you for getting through it again...sincere.

LMAO!!You dont want me to lie do you? I love the other 2 tunes you posted but this one just didnt hit me in the same place as those two did....It seems like you have a strong sentimental tie to this song....am I right?I have a lot of tunes that I am married to, but others just dont see what I see/hear in them.

This is not a bad tune at all....I was really just comparing this to the others you've posted and to ME this one just sounded a little weaker(in a commercial sense),But thats just my opinion and it's obvious that others like it so my opinion doesnt really count for a lot eh?

Stop blaming me for being the reason you edited this song!

[chrisharris]

I'm not blaming you (even though it's totally your fault)...I'm thanking you.

And yes, I've had this song longer than 2 of my children.

LOL

[King Elvis]

Well...I didnt hear the edit, I guess I am gonna have to listen again tonight without the 5 beers to see if I catch it!!!

[chrisharris]

King: Here's a clue. I tried to cover it with a drum fill that is so incredibly fake, it would be physically impossible to play for all but an octopus on crystal meth. I'm pretty sure Sam heard it.

MKG - Earl's taking the project - seem's like a cool guy. I can't wait to see how he covers up all those "slide" licks that I played with my acoustic guitar and a cigarette lighter. Thanks for the reference.

(Anybody Read King's Review of "BOTTLE OF WINE" [supra])...BAHAHAhaha...



...stayin' alive, stayin' alive,
-chris

[alibish]

Wow. I love your voice, and those sweet harmonies. Beach Boys-y, and very very nice.

No criticisms, but a couple of suggestions (feel free to ignore them )

The wee "call and answer" harmonies on the right hand side, during the verses, could maybe do with a subtle double-tracking, just to pin them down a little. They sound just a bit less committed than the rest of the vocals.

I really like the way the guitar solo echoes/mirrors the left/right harmonies.

I'd cut a bit of low end from the last line you sing - it comes across as a wee touch boomy.

Maybe roll off a bit of low end from the acoustic on the right, and add a wee bit of air?

And it's probably because I'm listening on headphones, but I'd like to hear the bass a bit more.

Very, very nice.

Alastair

[powderfinger]

the edit is not super obvious at all. i couldn't get a good read on where it was until you mentioned the over-do drum fill, even still, i'd have a hard time saying where there's a massive edit........

i'm not saying it would work on this song...it probably wouldn't, but have you ever heard 'broken arrow' by neil young (from his buffalo springfield days).....it's a really cut up song and takes sound effect breaks in between the verses, it seems like it would just be terribly disjointed, but it turns out to be terribly cool......hearing stuff like this always makes you think that a song can be edited in a cool way.......i always just seem to use an obnoxious crash or some feedback or harmonica.

[King Elvis]

Hey!!!
I gave a good review of Bottle of Wine, just did it on the wrong post....oops I did it again....

[CyanJaguar]

THe singer has a nice voice, and the song is pretty good.

THe overall sound is a little rough around the edges. I think the vocal is a tad too loud.

Funk on!

[chrisharris]

KING: You're now my official hero. Thanks for the inadvertent/on purpose plug of "BOTTLE OF WINE," the song on which my 12 year-old daughter, JAIMEE, sings so wonderfully!!!!!!



ALIBISH - Man, after listening to the way you tracked your acoustics (i.e., PERFECTLY), I'm pretty sure you're right on the money about the boominess of that guitar on the right. I actually did that on purpose to try to add some momentum...Used my Rosewood backed acoustic...didn't EQ it (did that rhyme?). I Hope it didn't add mud. Good ear on the low end of the last line too...I actually had already notched the lows about -15db, because for some weird reason...the vocal just had been tracked super loud for the last line only. As for the remainder of your comments, I'm stuck with one stereo mix...(but check back later and see if there's a cool steel part added). You listened carefully...that's cool.

Powder- Have I mentioned that I like 'DRIVIN'??? Cool song! Thanks for the comments.

CYAN- I guess I can notch it between 2K-4K after all!!!! (note to self: make vocal disappear). Thanks for the listen.

[chrisharris]

Just wanted to update this by letting ya'll know that a guy named "Earl Foote" was cool enough to add some Pedal Steel licks to this song.

He sent me an mp3 of the steel track, and it sounded GREAT. Of course, there were some sync problems due to the file format conversions, and I've never tried to mix a steel in my life, (and I don't have the original tracks...blah, blah, blah...)

He told me this was just a test to see if I liked it (I did), so he wasn't expecting me to post this. (That's a disclaimer for Earl's benefit).


It's here:

www.nowhereradio.com/honestmango/singles

(If any of the steel sounds off, it ain't Earl's fault).

[powderfinger]

chris- sounds awesome......if there were any serious sync problems, i sure didn't hear them......he did an amazing job, it fits in great.......oh, the wonders of high tech colaborations.