Hopeful Collaboration

T

The Ghost of FM

Banned
Hi guys and gals!

This song is one I have labored over putting up in the clinic for the past two months as I have been searching through my catalog for a song worthy of Studioviols to add some real strings to.

This song called "Toronto, Toronto", was written about 14 years ago but recently recorded on my current analog tracking set-up which consists of a 16 channel reel to reel and an analog 44 input at mix-down desk.

This song was written by me and all the parts were recorded and composed by me as well.

It will probably have the same "too wide" vocal signature on it that much of my stuff has but, I wanted to have it here for you to critique as a sort of before and after study.

Right now, this is the before version and if SV agrees to lay down some classical strings to this, I can hopefully post the after mix with Pat playing on this as well.

Hope you enjoy!

Toronto, Toronto

As always, your comments are appreciated and welcomed!

Cheers! :)
 
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good riff man!
I like the way the guitars and bass interplay. I don't really think it needs strings but, you never know, the right string part might really be cool.
 
I don't really dig the subject matter...you didn't mention the part about pot being lagal or as near to it as you get without passing out free doobies.Mix sounds great!I wouldn't have panned the guitars so hard but that's just IMPO.Drums sound mint!!What you using?Fade too long...overall great mix and decent song.Good work.
 
That's one hella of a mix and song as well!

Awesome job! Especially that you did all that work by yer self!! I'm impressed by far!

Vocals resemble Boston a bit, great band though!


I would love to hear more of yer stuff as well as take a peek at your studio...
 
Very good pop tune with a catchy chorus.I kept wanting to hear at least a second part vocal harmony during the chorus.Oh well,I sang the part myself.LOL...nice spacious mix....the doubled vocals got out of sync one time..that lead guitar/fill thing during the outro could stand to come forward just a little bit.....maybe back off on the reverb a notch or 2 to bring it forward....other than that,nothing really jumps out as being harmful to the ears.I dig it.
 
Mostly D-Major ... D-minor very, very cool for strings. G-Major walkups ... good.

The mix is very good, you have found a nice warm spot between the ultra hot heat of the FM mix and the new digital generation. Lead vox is of course in your current mixing style quite seperated, and I'm prepared to work with that stylistically, and I need to have experience working in this type of mix. The warming string pads where appropriate will fill the space in the middle quite nicely.

A few collaborative observations :
-----------------------------------------------

At 00:20
'string section' can thicken and join in unison movement and harmony with the 'walkup' turnaround x 2

Room for some bluesy violin fills inbetween a few of the verse lyric phrases.

I'm hearing some opportunity to present the cello moving contrapuntally in scalar fashion against the bass riffs in places.

I hear a mostly violin section strings pad ... way high wash over the hooks.

At 01:47, there's an opportunity for the 'full string section' to walkdown there both times.

'string section' on the walkdown at 03:16 again ...

'they cry at night' could be supported with some 'weeping' section strings, perhaps a 'B' part for full section strings derived from material used for, (and generally there is room for) string section 'pad' to warm some sections in the tune. Using the strings here to draw attention to , and strenghten the 'hook' of both sections.

I think I'll listen to some Boston, the suggestion that this is like Boston ... and now that I'm thinking about it, it's got a bit of that ELO feel in it ... and that's where I'll start my approach.

My collab card is very full right now, and I'm concentrating on demo to artists who are touring trying to engage one for a tour, but this is ON MY COLLAB CARD for sure.

There will be some technical details to work out as I am totally computer based, and we'll chat about that.
 
the mix is excellent..........i mean that.....one of the better ones i've heard here....i'm not sure if it's the analogue sound or what, but it has a realy nice warmth.....no suggestions really.....i'm impressed.........

good song......i love the wide stereo vocal......very cool.........
 
this mix sounds good. yeah, don't like the vocal doubling and general wideness of the vocal, just a matter of taste. everything else comes through real well.
 
That's as great tune Ghost! Very Canadian sounding along the lines of BTO, The Guess Who etc (RUSH, limelight!). Nice clean recording as well. The drum machine gets the job done, but man it would be killer with some real drums. I like wide panning myself so none of that bothered me. I thought the ascending electric riff could be louder.

The guitar solo could be more expressive / intense.

Overall, really liked it.

ps. W.I.S.C, pot is illegal again here. The laws change daily around here, hard to keep up. :)
 
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I like the song. It's smooth and heartfelt. The guitars sound absolutely superb, especially the wide-panned acoustic.

The vocals didn't seem too wide to me. They sounded less wide than the "BocaRaton" song you also have.

I'd definitely would add some strings starting with the second verse. Just some overall variation on the arrangements after the first chorus would probably work. JMHO.

The fadeout is a little too long, but that's my personal preference.

Outside of that, great job! :)
 
Thanks to everybody for the fast and furious responses!

JasonBird - Thanks for checking out the tune. Glad you liked what I have there so far.

jimistone - I was kind of thinking the same thing for the longest time but, then I thought there might be just enough space in it for some additional sweetening with strings and SV is one of the best in that field.

W.I.S.C. - Thanks for chiming in on this! Pot possession is being decriminalized here so its a $150 fine if your over 18 and $100 if your under that age. They figure most kids would be broke after spending all their money on dope and wanted to give them a break?:rolleyes:

The drums were done with a few different patterns from my Yamaha 730 keyboard and augmented with live playing of those same samples on an Octopad from Roland.

The fade was left long on purpose so that if SV wants to do some stuff at the end of the track, there will be some room for him to work with and then afterwords, it can be trimmed properly.

frank_1 - Thanks for giving the tune a whirl and glad you enjoyed it! I was never much of a Boston fan but, it could well halved snuck into my sub-conscience and contributed to the vocal styling?

Kramer - Thanks for your advice on the mix. It is always appreciated and welcomed.

You have a sharp ear! There were indeed some flubs in the performance and I should re-track it to make it perfect. The ideas of a vocal harmony in the chorus is also a great idea! Feel free to add your part and give us a link to listen!:)

studioviols - I assumed your card might be full at this time and just wanted to fulfill a promise I made to you to give you something to consider. There is no rush at all and when-ever you have the time and inspiration to do something with this, I will feel honored and pleased to see what you have done with it.

The parts you described doing so far sound very interesting and all things that I would never have come up with on my own. This is the beauty of collaboration!

Feel free to PM me about any technical details about bridging the digital analog issues we might run into on this.:cool:

powderfinger - Glad you enjoyed the track and liked the sound quality of my humble and aging analog set-up.

I know almost all of you guys track digitally and I feel like a dinosaur at times trying to keep up the fidelity compared to the many fine works I hear here in the clinic!

erichenryus - Thanks for checking out the tune. The vocals are too wide. I agree. I have been in a weird mixing mood lately and I have done this mixing faux-pas on several of my songs.

I think I can blame my monitoring system in the studio for this because when I listen to the mix in there, it doesn't sound as wide in that very dead room as it seems to sound everywhere else.

I have been scared to mess with the set-up in the studio as I have finally started to get a fairly balanced sound and don't want to mess that up with a major re-positioning of the speakers to hear the stereo sound-field better.

I am using a pair of JBL L110's which are identical to the 4410 studio monitors except for the tweeters which on mine are a weaved, soft-dome and on the 4410's a titanium dome. They are not the world's best monitors for imaging but for spectral balance, I love them!:)

Emeric - Thanks for checking out the tune and glad you liked it and the mix.

I think those Canadian legends you mentioned snuck into my mind over the years and affected some of my writing influences.

As for the herb-superb, I don't smoke it no more. It's Scotch and Rum these days!;)

Cheers! :)
 
Hey man............

This is a superb song.
Shades of "straight from the heart" I think thats what it's called anyway. You know, Rush song?
I really like the Bass sound you got going here. I guess it's got to do with analog recording but everything has a very warm and inviting quality to it.
Your lyrics really paint a picture of the town!
Very good Ghost, Me LIKES very much:D

Dan
 
oh yeah I hear the Boston thing and a bit of 'Tull in the vox

great tune

the acu guits in the intro are a bit thin for me, I would try a clean electric double behind them, low in the mix, to thicken the acu up and with the right mix would be barely heard

as to the strings, I definitely hear an organ pad a la Boston rather than strings

when you come back in at 3:26 a break in the beat would go a long way, then bring it back in with your fill at 3:50

enjoyed
 
Skipping all other posts

Heres my impression. Good tune, nice song with a good melody on top of the chords. Drums weren't distracting and the bass drum was punchy, always a plus with my taste. Vocals had a nice position in the recording. The bass guitar track at first seemed to upfront and not bassey enough but I got to like it as the song went on. Being from the USA, I can't imagine writing a song about where you live.......I need to move to Canada, a country with no enemies, lol Thanks for the post.
 
Most definitely I could hear strings on this piece man...this is great!

how did you get your bass sound so clear and sharp?
Mine always sounds like mud........:confused:


Good tune man....
Very cool...
 
Very nice laid back groove. I'm thinking i'd like a little more level in the bass. I like the ride of this tune.

The vocal panning is rather interesting, i guess i hadn't noticed that it was becoming your signature style ghost.

Very nicely done, very clean mix and well recorded, performed all around.
 
Ghost,
I have not been a fan of your "signature" vocal panning, but I like it here. :) It seems to fit. I think maybe because nothing seems to be sitting on top of anything. The acoustics sound very nice out there! This sound almost makes me see two guitarists/singers on either side of the stage. Works here for me. I think this is your best mix to date IMO and the song has a very cool feel to it. That kick sound is nice and the playing is tight. I mean you are right on those beats. That always helps the clarity too. I think sometimes people forget (including me) that getting a clean mix starts with tight playing. I also thought your drum sound worked better on this song that some of your previous. Good sound choices and programming.

Excellent work!

Oh, bring up that lead guitar at the end a little and maybe pull a few more lows back into the bass, if you can without conflicting with that kick. Had to say something :D
 
N-I-C-E !!

I Dl'd this yesterday and forgot to reply - I like this a lot. The wide vocals are cool here. The drums kick ass - kick and snare are totally in the pocket. (So you actually 'play' this Roland unit?? Response like pressure sensitive keys? The snare has different pressure hits on it - I likes!!!!!) This is you singing? Super cool voice. So I have two crits: 1.Wailing guitar needed here - this is a Stadium-volume-lighters-flickering-head-nodding-groove-bending-concert-ender!!! 2. Needs some deep low-end. There's a lot of high-end stuff happening.

It'll sound awesome with phat strings added. No bout adoubt it! I'll wait right here until it's done!! Cool groove-ologist-masterwerk!~Milan
 
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