Cadillac Express

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Robus

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New song. First mix. All comments appreciated.




Cadillac Express

Lightening falls
On a pool of muddy water
We pop up and we look around
You saw me in the flash of the new world
We just got to make it worth the sound

So we stepped off
And leave our reservations
Two lights running for the dawn
You and me, and the promise in us
A dusty road that leads us on

For what it's worth
I could buy us a river
And we’d cross it
If the Lord has his way
And we’d do those things they do there
We’d be what it is we want to be

We ride this world on the Cadillac Express
We don’t heed much of the rest
The fire in my hair
The moon on your breast
And a veil of thunder to the west

Well light up a candle now
Throw a smile to celebrate
Light up a candle now
You're a picture of
The Book of Love and Fate
And the world never seemed so dear
As late

For what it’s worth I could buy you a river
And we’d cross if
If the Lord has his way
And we’ll do those things they do there
We’ll be what it is we want to be.

(words and music Ray Taylor 2015)
 
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The 1st of sounds just a little off.
There's a little 'essing' on to in the third stanza.
Ray, your vocal style is an acquired taste but, from listening to a couple of tracks, easy enough to acquire.
The bass is just a bit bubbly but that probably is a good thing in a laid back track.
Lyrically "If the Lord has his way"
seems like an unrelated drop in - I'm sure it's not but it just doesn't sound comfy to my ears.
Cool playing & writing!
 
The mix sounds good. My only comment would be it is a little dark. Little air would brighten it up and make it cleaner.
 
Really good mix, in some part the guitar is too discrete and could benefit on a bit of gain just to pop it here and there, in between vocals or end of a vocal phrase.

Also in the first solo part ,piano and guitar would benefit on a bit of gain . the gain on the second guitar solo(end of the song) is spot on gain wise.

I have to say I really like the atmosphere in your mix :)
 
Sounds great to me. Songwriting wise I love the imagery, lightning on the water, we'll cross it if the lord has his way, I know it's not technically mix related but that adds some sheen for me. There are a couple points when the voice goes up in the first verse that maybe seem a little out of place. Maybe I'd take a more level approach there. Whole song's got this cool JJ Cale feel, it's really chill and kind of melancholy, it's really tasteful.

Anyway back to the mix, it sounds good and I can hear the separation in all the instruments which is nice. The fade out kind of ends suddenly though, that could be soundcloud's fault.
 
easlern said:
Sounds great to me. Songwriting wise I love the imagery, lightning on the water, we'll cross it if the lord has his way, I know it's not technically mix related but that adds some sheen for me. There are a couple points when the voice goes up in the first verse that maybe seem a little out of place. Maybe I'd take a more level approach there. Whole song's got this cool JJ Cale feel, it's really chill and kind of melancholy, it's really tasteful.

Anyway back to the mix, it sounds good and I can hear the separation in all the instruments which is nice. The fade out kind of ends suddenly though, that could be soundcloud's fault.
Click to expand...

Thanks everybody. I'm interested in hearing opinions on everything, not just mix. Songwriting included.

Rayc, when you say the 1st of sounds, I'm not sure what you mean. Like, the attack on the vocals? I totally agree my voice is an acquired taste--I haven't yet acquired it myself. ;) I never, ever, thought of myself as a singer, but I've been working to improve lately. My goal is to make just a little bit of progress with each new project.

DM60, thanks. I wonder if the overall darkness could be addressed on the master bus? Or do I need to do more EQ on the tracks? I'm new to all this.

Cookie, I struggled with the levels on guitars especially. I had originally intended for them to be louder. Then, as I kept recording more (and more...and more...) layers of vocal harmony, I kept pushing the guitars lower to make room. Maybe I can bring them back up a little. That clean Strat lead on the right, I hear you saying the level is right in the outro but needs to come up in the solo (and piano too). Cool, I'll put it on the to-do list for the next mix.

Easlern, I'll need to do some automation to handle the inconsistent level of the lead vocal in the first verse, especially.
 
Robus said:
DM60, thanks. I wonder if the overall darkness could be addressed on the master bus? Or do I need to do more EQ on the tracks? I'm new to all this.
Click to expand...

If it were me, I would try the EQ on the master, rather than go in and hunt for it. IMO, I am talking just cut some at the 190-300 area.

Since no one else commented on it, not sure I would touch anything. I would wait until a few others make the same observation.
 
Ray,
sorry - my mistake it should have been "a" as in " a pool of".
The sudden lift to the note & out again sounds a little odd to me.
I listened again & your voice works for the song.
 
Really good mix and as said before, your atmoshphere is unique thanks to the laid back songwriting and your vocals.

Can you seperate the backing vocals from the lead vocal more? For example some EQ cutting or inserting some stereospread or some kind of modulation on them to make them less "distinguishable".
 
Thanks Around. I recorded a lot of vocals, and getting them balanced has been a chore. This is a snapshot of where I am at the moment. I wanted the lushness you get when you have a lot of harmony tracks to wrap around the lead vocals, where are themselves doubled in two harmonized parts. The fact that it's all my voice makes it harder to get that separation. I'd love to have had other voices to record. I'm talking to another poster about a collaboration, so maybe I will.
 
I like it! JJ Cale,Knoffler,Robbie Robertson and a little Floyd are some of the comparisons.
I like lots of backups and I usually pan them 30-35 LR so they are close to the main but don't seem disjointed.
It all seems pretty balanced to me, there's nothing poking out that I can hear.... Good !
 
really nice song,great bit of writing,nice feel and great playing :) .. for me the only thing that spoils it is the vocal tracking .. must be something similar for your daw ...





they really do need tightening up
 
Really good mix. Good lead vocals and everything sounds clean and spacious. My only crit has already been mentioned...the background vox seems to be muddied up with the lead vocals. They need to be distinguished more. Great job though!
 
Thanks Cakewalk and Bruthish. Improving the balance between lead and backing vocals is top of the to-do list, as well as some pushing, pulling, and shifting to get the backing vocals a little tighter. I hear it especially at the beginning of the first chorus. Thanks for the link. I think they're called "stretch markers" in Reaper. I've never used them, but now might be a good time to learn how.
 
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Nice sounds in the intro. I really like your bass tone, its got a nice balance to it. Interesting array of vocals and backing vocals, I think they're well done. I could do without the chorus or whatever modulation is on the lead vocal (or is that just soundcloud playing tricks?). Love the spanky compressed Strat solo. I think the reverbs are taseful and not overdone.

Since you seem to have access to some nice reverbs, try ditching the room mic on EZDrummer and putting your own room reverb on the drum kit. Something about that room mic puts this conspicuous mid-hi "thwack" on the drums. Maybe that's just my own bias, but it might be worth a try.

I think the mix balance is pretty spot on. All of the vocals get a little jumbled together. Maybe some EQ to give each part a little slice of the spectrum.

Nice song, nice groove. You've been putting together some really great stuff, keep 'em coming.
 
Thanks man. I'm also liking the bass tone on the recent tunes. It's a Fender Jazz with flat wound strings, using mostly bridge pickup on this song. I've found a chain that works well for it. It's going through two layers of light compression on the way in. An Empress compressor pedal is between the bass and the amp head, which is a Gallien-Krueger MB500. The DI Out from the amp head goes into an ART PRO VLAII compressor. This chain seems to do nice things for this particular bass, gives it a smooth tight sound that sits well in the mix.

I'm pretty sure that chorus you are hearing is flanging between the lead vocal and the double. I'm fighting that on every song. Doubling vocals is pretty new to me, don't think I have it quite worked out yet.

I'll try to get a handle on that jumble of vocals on the next mix. I need to get some distance from the song to restore my perspective.

That's a good idea about the room track on EZDrummer. I'll try it. The reverb is just the stock ReaVerb plugin in Reaper. I'm using the Abby Road trick that somebody on here posted.

Glad you like them. I'm working on another song right now. Maybe about a week.
 
Great sound loads of atmosphere, as others commented you are getting a great bass tone, the vocals are a bit muddy but it fits the groove, you have put a lot of effort into the drum patterns and they sound good, nice song.
 
Guitars and bass sound excellent to me. Drums sound OK, but a little mechanical. Not real bad, just a bit. Crash cymbals sound a bit disconnected from the kit.

I think the vocals were well recorded. I'm still trying to decide if I like the processing. I suppose for the genre it's pretty cool. Probably just a style thing with me. I like the vocal parts - they were interesting.

Performances good all around. Minor nits. Nice job.
 
That's a real cool jam man. I like that mellow sound. It sounds pretty good to me :D
 
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