For diversity's sake - a happy song!

A

ashulman

New member
Holy smokes theres a lot of angst in this forum! I keep posting these cheerful ditties and I feel like I'm completely out of touch with what everyone is listening to. Well I just have a couple more happy ones to flush out of my system and then we get to some darker stuff which I've been working on lately. These are mostly older tunes I wrote before life beat me into submission. Here's the latest, its called Hold You.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=2716&alid=-1
 
Good tune Alan, I think I hear shades of ol Jimmy B. in there. I needed a pick-me-up today, thanks man.

bd
 
nice tune. I like the vocals up like that, although there's some peaking going on in spots. The playing was good. Needs some lows on the guitar and bring up the drums and bass. Drums are a bit thin. Kick drum needs some meat on it. eq similar to what you used for "Too Late" would fit well on this one.
Ken
 
Absolutely nothing wrong with a happy song! :D No use in always being doom and gloom all the time.

I like this. Has a nice pop sound to it, but with a country flare. Some of the guitars sound like they could be mixed more out front. They are kind of buried back there. Also, the drums could use a bit more beef on them (I seem to be saying that a lot lately ... where's the beef? :D )

I like the solo and the overall tone of the song! From strictly a songwriting point of view, adding a bridge may get this song a bit more off the ground -- just a personal aside there.

Nice work overall.

:)
 
Jeez, I must have country in my blood because thats what everyone hears in my stuff! I'm just a city boy from Philly.

bdbdbuck - Your name always cracks me up. Reminds of a simpler time when I thought Gil Gerard was a good actor. Thanks.

Toki987 - I don't know what happened to the guitar because it sounded fat when I recorded it but I did a bounce with the acoustic and suddenly it sounded thin. Digital recording isn't supposed to do that! Oddly, I mixed the tune around the drums and bass so I must have fell off track somewhere.

boydrj - I thought I had a bridge in there! I don't know what to call it. I thought of adding another verse at the end but decided not to mess with what I wrote 10 years ago. I think the early Beatles and Ramones had it right - say what you want and get out before they ask you to. As it is, I think another section might be too much for a 2:30 song to handle.
 
ashulman - you got country all over your voice man. But it's good 'ol school country like Johnny Cash and that's not only great but rare as well.

This tune is OK, I think it needs a modern update, the drums aren't doing it for me. An acoustic version would be interesting as well. I'm feeling acoustic today. ;)
 
lynx - Nothin wrong with the Man in Black but I'm still stumped where that twang came from. Could be years of singing Springsteen songs (he's got a little drawl). Wait until you hear my next post, its about as country as I ever got.

You intrigue me lynx because I like your stuff and I respect your opinion. Do you think the arrangement could be more dance-oriented with techno drums? Or a straight 4/4 acoustic version? I'm troubled because I liked this song and wonder now if I'm too close to it.
 
(OK listening for the forth and fifth times since you made me feel all warm inside :))

I think the piano sound is pretty weak (kida 80's Casio-ish) and I love piano. If it were me I'd ditch it and pan an acoustic guitar in there, I know you have some great sounding acoustic guitar on your stuff. Maybe a high harmony in the chorus could liven that part up a bit.

Anyways, just a couple of suggestions on the tune, your mixes are 10 times better than mine so I couldn't help you improve that I'm afraid.
 
Funny you should mention the piano, because it IS a piece of crap Casio! Damn. Originally that part was a slightly distorted electric guitar. I need to think about it a little. Maybe another acoustic would work. The high harmony is a good idea.
Keep the advice coming, I need it!
 
I'm thinking They Might Be Giants, so I'm totally OK with the Casio. I'd even mix it louder :eek: :D

The electric guitars are very thin. Could use more beef. And I'd emphasize the acoustic guitars. Strum 'm happily, record 'm twice and pan them to the left and right (80%, 20%).

I'm with Lynx on the extra harmony (I'm a sucker for harmonies). Watch the intonation though! :)

Bass could use some more beef too! :)

Cool song! Good pop! No need for a bridge, IMO.
 
I guess I mean 80/80. :confused: :D

I'm dutch, I'm weird.

60/60 is OK too....you know what I mean.

*starts practicing one of Tom's tunes again* :)
 
Ha... a Neil Diamond fan? Similar progressions.

Snare drum sounds a bit funny... vocals could be a bit more accurate...

Solo in the left there... bit loud.

Much too happy there :p The fade sounds like the fade of that "You're not the boss of me" song... the "life is unfair..." thing...

Some good suggestions already in this thread.

Good luck w/it


Chad
 
Mr Shulman!

I too think the mix is generally too thin.
A strong acoustic guitar presence might fix that.

Good song though, I liked it.
Could you perhaps slow the tempo?
The vocals might be easier then as well...

Good Work altogether A.

Dan
 
Part - Not sure what song you are talking about there. I'm wracking my brain. I don't know if this is surprising but I find this to be a pretty tough vocal in the verses. Probably because I'm jumping thirds in spots. No excuse but I'm not a good singer so it doesn't help when I write tough intervals.

Gave no thought to Neil but I admire his writing of course and I do tend to churn out these tunes in a tin pan alley kind of way. I should say though that listening to some folks on the forum has inspired me to try to be a bit more ambitious. But you have to know your limitations.

Hevy - I did speed this up a tad from my original idea to make it more exciting. Don't know if it will help with the vocal unless I slow it down to Perry Como speed.
 
I'm happy

Thank you for mixing the vocal way out front, good vocal mix.
ok ... I'm happy :-)

Drums seem louder than the guitar-keyboard.

HEY ... I ain't skeered ...

Nice backups, crisp, well-performed.

I'm gonna see about getting you a nobel prize for proper vocal mixing !

I think you should get the drummer like ... real drunk ... or something. j/k

You can bring the instruments up a db or so, maybe 2db in places and this will give your mix overall more volume.

Nice tune, cute, unpretentious ... sincere

Cool.

0:48, 0:55, you can bring these fills up a bit please, slap them with delay , to fill in these spaces.
 
Studioviols - The drums are programmed so they are stone cold sober.

My first vocal mix here had the vocals buried and I got slammed and promised to not make the same mistake twice. I think they are a little loud but many people like an up front vocal mix. I don't like my voice and can't sing but I figure if Lou Reed and Neil Young don't care, why should I?

I thought you were going to say it needed cello (LOL)! Seriously, I have a couple of things that I'd like you to hear to see if you could imagine adding something to, if that offer still applies.
 
Hey Alan,
....Nice pop here man. The vocs were a touch too upfront for me. I like vocs more "in" the mix than so up front, but obviously thats preference. There might be a hole between the guits and the bass that could use a little filling. ...either a fatter guit, or a fatter bass. I like happy tunes from happy people:D ...and this was a cool one. I like the arrangement btw... ...simple, straight-forward, and conducive to this kinda pop. Cool!
g
 
Candidates for strings

I've got some collaborations on my list for this board at this point, but please, select three of the songs you hear string parts in the most and I'll listen to those and select the one that really speaks to me. We'll plan a collab for that.
 
Good job, HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!!!!!!

Good song, very upbeat. Variety is good. This totally has a country/pop vibe. There are a couple of spots where the voxz seem a bit flat. Nothing major, all in all a great sounding tune. The keys where a bit funky sounding to me. But overall nice job.
 
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