"Twilight Rain", a soft spacey rock tune

Very nice smooth sound. I like the blend of acoustic and electric guitars though i'm not liking the compressed acoustic so much, it just sounds too smashed almost keyboardy sounding. I remember you are a simon-Patrick/seagull player like myself-did you use that acoustic here? I like the movement and the changes, instead of holding the chords you do that nice ascending riff reminds me of holdsworth. Vocals sound great and the layering is tight. My only beef is the guitar solo-the muted stuff doesn't seem to jive, I would have gone with a Steve Howe clean jazzy approach tone wise but that's just me. I like the second solo with the distortion better than the first. On my third listen and this really sounds nice. How many songs do you have in your catalog man?!

Strat
 
I really like the vocals. I like the sound, like the tasteful arrangement, and the singer's style - he doesn't try to do too much and yet there is plenty of expression.

I like the clean trebles of the rhythm guitar. I like the smoothness of the bass. Has a fretless feel almost.

The only comment I really have is I wish the guitar solos had a tad more brightness. Great solos btw.

Really like the blend at the end.
 
Oh, but that is some sweet vocal! I don't have a lot of notes, except maybe that everything feels like the compressor is pumping fairly hard, especially on the acoustic rhythm track. It does help the layers mesh well, but it gives it kind of a late 80s feel. If that's what you're shooting for, then good on ya, you nailed it. I wouldn't classify this as complaint; just something I noticed. Kudos on how solidly the backup vox blend; it's utterly seamless. You manage to have significant density yet still each part is clear. One thing that's jumping out at me is the big windchime you have going seems a bit fat in the mix; it's a terrific effect, but is sitting in a place where it's mildly distracting. What a terrific piece though; the hook is superb, and your arrangement is spot-on. The performances are all first rate as well. Memorable stuff!
 
nice, guys, i appreciate the comments...

i've been out of town, had a death in the family and had to fly back east from salt lake and deal with all that...
so i've been out of pocket.

i'll reply individually shortly...
 
stratomaster
thanks for listening and commenting!
i did compress the acoustics, not so much on tracking, but on mixing..
i tried it without compression, and it sounded good for the acoustics,
but stepped on the electrics, which i really wanted to be the primary sound here.....
so production decision, boom, moving on......
i used a Taylor 414 full sized auditorium on this one, i DO have a Seagull, but did not use it here.

steve howe approach on the lead would have been totally right on, i'll have to consider a new approach to that one.

songs in catalog?

well, i have 11 songs off the "Trouble" album (out of print, thinking about re-releasing that one), 11 songs off the "The Time is Magic" album (cdbaby, i tunes, amazon), and i have 8 instrumental-only songs and 6 vocal songs in the can right now, waiting for the right project.

i also have about 25 finished songs in demo format, that i've shelved for one reason or another, these are all on old cassette tapes and whatnot.

i have about 196,423 left in my head right now.

heheh
 
ibleed
thanks man, for listening and commenting..

i'm the singer, i play all the instruments and vocals.

the bass part, yes, i tried to make it smooth and bend into certain notes,
just for that affect of sounding almost fretless.

those solos, i tried to brighten up, and did brighten them up from the original track,
but it seemed the more i added treble, the more in your face it got, and the more it took away from the intimacy of the backing tracks, which i didn't want to happen.

always compromising, when i move to production.
 
Really nice melodies, top composition, vocals are outstanding. Agree with the Yes comments. Very good at all.
 
Just needed a little Wakeman pomposity! - Actually no it doesn't.
It's close to the edge but I won't push you.
Cool stuff.
 
Llarion
thanks phil, for the comments...

compressors, not really getting hit too hard, but definitly smoothing out the levels.
it's more the way i play the parts, as any signal processing.
on typical rock stuff, i just dig in, but on this recording, i hit the strings soft and smooth, all very steady level wise.

i don't know what a 'late 80's feel' is exactly, could you give some examples so i can study what you are hearing?
appreciate the comments, glad you dig it


bulls hit
thanks man, for listening and commenting too...
 
rayc!!

wakeman pomposity!!

LOL, yeah....
i could just roll some heavy chuch organ samples on top of it...
and boogie into a little bluegrass ditty.
that'd be cool.....

heheheh

thanks for listening man.
 
Hey Gonzo, it sounds great. Incredibly clean sounding recording, and the vocals are so solid and pitch-perfect, makes me jealous! Not only jealous of the talent, but of the signal chain that you must be using to get such a pristine sound.

There was some sibilance on the vocals that stuck out to me on the S, T, and D sounds. I listened on monitors last night and it was much more pronounced. Today on the laptop it's less pronounced, which makes sense I guess. Anyways, I'm a little late to the party here to be making suggestions. Honestly though, I think that most home recordists would kill to be able to end up with this high quality of a recording. And I dig the Yes vibe.
 
Really like your tune. Relaxes me : ) Right off the bat, I thought "Yes" but that's already been stated. Not a bad thing at all. Great job on the mix.
 
Llarion
thanks phil, for the comments...

i don't know what a 'late 80's feel' is exactly, could you give some examples so i can study what you are hearing?
appreciate the comments, glad you dig it

It made me think of the kinds of mixes that you'd get from LA session work in the 80s, Toto, Bruce Willis' first solo release... At the same time, it hearkened Yes, and even Supertramp. Understand, I meant that as a compliment. I love a smooth, refined mix.
 
tadpui

thanks man, kind words, appreciate it.

that signal chain, really, I mostly used low end mics (sm57, ADK Hamburg, AT4033) into a ART DPS, which cost me $219.

heheheh

into a DBX MC-6, and into the Maudio Audiophile 192 soundcard.


the sibilence, is always a bit of a compromise, if i want the vocal to be crisp, it almost always means living with some sibilence because of my mics and voice.

i DID use a de-esser on the vocal buss during mixdown.
but i went easy on it, it took too much of the good stuff away, right where the SSS's were peaking.

thanks for listening and commenting
 
No kidding? Well I guess it just goes to show that the hands of the performer and engineer are the most important things. I was honestly envisioning some Rolls Royce caliber equipment when listening to those vocals. It's refreshing to know that equipment similar to my own has this kind of potential, thanks for sharing.
 
Cos I'm following you on SC i forgot to comment in the thread ...


really enjoyed the listens (been back a few times) thanks :) <- see,simple comment cos nothing stands out ;)
 
suddy
thanks man, glad you could relax!
LOL
me, i have a hard time relaxing these days, too busy at work, too busy with chores, just too busy.
not enough recording......


Llarion
I guess i've studied more '70's era mixes than 80's, i spent a lot of the 80's actually gigging on the road, so really didn't have much time to just get into the 80's thing....
i was busy playing cover tunes!!
LOL
but our songlist was all over the place, so it was a great time for developing chops.

appreciate the conversation on this....




tadpui
yep, the tools are often overrated.

i'd love to have better tools, though, who wouldn't?
things would sound better, eh?


cakewalkkaked
thanks man, simple comments are great!!
means i don't have to pull my hair out figuring out what to fix again....
LOL
 
Soundcloud just doesn't seem to play this track - SC has been annoying this way for me. Some tracks tonight have played without issue...
 
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