An Angel Said - alternative rock

andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

Well-known member
kind of a ballad, in a way. a modern-ish one, maybe?

I debated posting my reason for writing this song, but am opting to do so. After 15 years of avoiding the topic in my music, I decided to write a song relating to my fathers death/suicide. When I was jumbling around with chords and vocal melodies, the line "angel said" came out and I thought this would be a good time to write about it as those lyrics seem to fit (i don't write lyrics first, i wait for some "big" or "important" words to jump at me while stumbling around chord progressions, then I adapt). So, this is my sole tune for that portion of my life. The subject is taboo, and I'd like to not turn this thread into a pity party or anything, so please stick to the mix in the thread? Maybe the reason I'm writing why I wrote this song is for him...and not so much you guys. Oooh, psychology. Anyhow, this one was very emotional for me to write, and even sing or mix, and I really hope that emotion shines through in the performance. I miss him a lot, every day.

To the mix: vocals compressed to hell, again. The 700-2khz range is very boomy on my AT4040 unless I'm hitting the mic just perfectly. Probably my room? The kick isn't my favorite, I'm not sure what it is about it, but I'm just not too happy with it. I hope the dueling/complementing guitars don't sound outdated, but harmonizing them seemed the natural thing to do in those sections. hmmm, that's all i got for now. thanks for listening!



I wish you were here,
not so far down,
I'd turn back time to save you from the ground.

That holds you deep,
a place so sound,
I'd wait forever to see your face somehow.

Your angel said, "I'm not bleeding here, in this space where everything's so clear".
An angel said, "I'm not fading out, we have our reasons, and everyone has doubt".

Save me, I'm far from yesterday. Take it from my hands, and wipe the tears away.
Lately, I miss the good ol' days. The sun is farther now, the darkness can't escape.

By myself, so far from clear, the shadows follow the steps that led me here into this night,
a place so sound, I'd swear that my dreams are sinking in this world.

An angel said "I'm not bleeding now, in this space where time won't let me out".
An angel said "I'm not fading out. We have our reasons, and everyone has doubt".

As I lay here in bed, I regret the things I never said.
 
Heavy subject, great song, but I'll stick to the mix. :)

I wonder if you might try using automation to control the vocals instead of compression? There's quite a bit of color from the compression and I think with a song like this maybe the more natural the better.

Awesome production, the swells and build up and little bits here and there add up, creates lots of interest even where the instrumentation is spare.

The kick seems a little loud on my headphones, I might review the drum levels.
 
easlern said:
Heavy subject, great song, but I'll stick to the mix. :)

I wonder if you might try using automation to control the vocals instead of compression? There's quite a bit of color from the compression and I think with a song like this maybe the more natural the better.

Awesome production, the swells and build up and little bits here and there add up, creates lots of interest even where the instrumentation is spare.

The kick seems a little loud on my headphones, I might review the drum levels.
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yeah they are def colored since there's 2 diff compressors acting on them with small amounts of output gain from each. Did the verse or chorus vocals sound more diff than the other? I do manually edit volume before any comp is mixed in. The comp is just, for me, further glue for those small jumps and for the "flavor" of each comp.

No, the kick is loud, you're right. I just listened again in my car on lunch and I thought "wtf, it wasn't that loud this morning...". It had me thinking I uploaded the previous master track, but I double checked and nope, that's the current one. (last one had even louder kick/bass). ugh. oh well. I really want to just move on from this one and don't want to remix it now. hopefully it won't deter ppl from listening to the whole thing and it isn't much of a setback.

thanks dude
 
Can't really comment on the mix, especially the singing, you're a lot better than me! - I prefer your usual style though; you could add some loud modern guitars way earlier to this and it would sound cool.

Kudos for sticking stuff like this on the forum though.
 
Excellent song. Vocal performance is exceptional. I'm hearing what easlern pointed out on the lead vocal, though the chorus and reverb are more noticeable to me than any compression coloring. Kick sounds okay to me and doesn't stand out. I mentioned before that I was feeling rather than hearing the kick, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I am hearing it now, especially once a while when you do a quick fill. All in all, sounds pretty pro.
 
That's depressing, man. Sorry.

But to the mix: I think when everything kicks in it's a bit bass heavy. I'm not sure if it's the kick, the bass guitar, or a buildup from both, but I'd examine both and try to clean up the low end a little. The rest of it sounds balanced.
 
i clocked this on your SC before logging in here,listened on loop then grabbed a copy ... songs superb .... i hate you! :P
 
Solid. We've already discussed the song, but you've done some remix since I've heard it. Nice. Love EVERYTHING. I'd even leave the kick heavy through the hard part...
 
andrushkiwt said:
No you didn't, liar! I have downloads disabled ;)

Thanks cake
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Doesn't mean he can't grab it. With a modification of what I do with Amplitube...Route the output of your browser through output 3-4. Route output 3-4 on your interface to inputs on your interface, and record in your DAW from those inputs. We ARE recording engineers...we can come up with ways to record things. :)
 
BroKen_H said:
Solid. We've already discussed the song, but you've done some remix since I've heard it. Nice. Love EVERYTHING. I'd even leave the kick heavy through the hard part...
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Hey thanks. I couldn't add the end section because I really ran out of processing space. Its unfortunate because I think the middle heavy part is the best part of the song, if I can say such a thing about my own tune. So hearing it again would have been cool. I don't like this ending as it is, but hopefully others will.

I just checked at home again and the kick sounds good in my HD280s. But it was too loud In the car. I did a small cut in the low mids where you pointed out. Thanks again
 
BroKen_H said:
Doesn't mean he can't grab it. With a modification of what I do with Amplitube...Route the output of your browser through output 3-4. Route output 3-4 on your interface to inputs on your interface, and record in your DAW from those inputs. We ARE recording engineers...we can come up with ways to record things. :)
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I hate you.

;)
 
BroKen_H said:
Doesn't mean he can't grab it. With a modification of what I do with Amplitube...Route the output of your browser through output 3-4. Route output 3-4 on your interface to inputs on your interface, and record in your DAW from those inputs. We ARE recording engineers...we can come up with ways to record things. :)
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Analog gap, bizatches!

Anyway, I'm hearing the compression coloring too. It sounds like you're swaying back from the mic pretty severely on some notes.

I'm also hearing a click on "your angel said" at 0:55 and 2:40

The kick tone is OK. There might be a better option, but it could also be over-analyzing.

Nice work!
 
VomitHatSteve said:
It sounds like you're swaying back from the mic pretty severely on some notes.

I'm also hearing a click on "your angel said" at 0:55 and 2:40
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I def stepped back on the loudest notes. My room isn't ideal, like most of ours probably, and there's a nasty resonance when I sing loud and close, so I back off a few inches. This is the first track I recorded where I stood at least 8" away the entire time. The louder parts about 12-16". The "ahhhhhhhhh" after the first verse, in the background, was from about 3 feet out.

I need a nice room to record these vox, they'd be so much better. I should also update my current pic in the "show me your studio" thread so you can see where I have the mic positioned. It's in the damn closet now, but not IN-IN the closet. More like, the closet door is open and the mic is facing out. It looks like i'm singing to a coat, as the mic is in front of clothes, but facing outwards to the room.

The click is probably sloppy vocal editing. my bad. good catch
 
My only nit pick comment would be you could have more of the hit on the drums. Usually between 4K-5K. Just boost that a touch on the drums to catch that hit a little harder. Overall a great piece.
 
sloop said:
My only nit pick comment would be you could have more of the hit on the drums. Usually between 4K-5K. Just boost that a touch on the drums to catch that hit a little harder. Overall a great piece.
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funny, i think i notched the snare around there for a resonant sound. maybe not. you mean on the snare bus (snare top, bottom, fx) or drum bus (which i don't actually use/have)?
 
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