NSD - New Song Day - Pagoda Tree

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chili
  • Start date Start date
Chili

Chili

Site Moderator
I've been working on this song for the last coupla years. It's gone through many transformations and I think I'm stopping with this one.

It's long, over 6 minutes. I hope it holds your interest. It's different from what I've been doing lately.
All comments are welcomed so TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK.



Shake the Pagoda Tree

I set my sails
In the wrong direction
With the sun setting behind me
And a lack of confidence

Pressed through the night
Forever in the dark
To the island of the lotus
And all its promises.

Shrouded in mystery
Diffused by the fog
The cliffs were high
And too damned hard to climb

On top of the hill
The edge of the precipice
Stood one lone tree
A treasure seeker’s find.

[Chorus]
Stand underneath
Look up at the Pagoda tree.
Shake it with your all
And watch the riches fall

Bask in the bliss
The moment, the esprit
When you stand underneath
And shake the pagoda tree

Lost in the haze
Trapped in this myth
Golden flowers all around me
I was high and loving it.

Memories come and go
Fused with my fantasy
I saw you standing there
Shaking the tree
 
I like the dark feel and the bongos. And the way you used 'precipice'. And the way it took one minute and fifty seconds for the drums to come in. Shake yer tree.
 
My first thought is what a great song. I really enjoyed the listen. I didn't find it too long at all. I really liked the build ups, downs and everything in between. A real nice arrangement in my opinion.

My only little nit would be I felt the vocal could come up, just a small notch. Just to sit them perfectly on top of the backing. Other than that, it sounds awesome to me.

Thanks for sharing. :thumbs up:
 
There's a ton of shit going on here and I couldn't imagine even trying to mix something like this myself.

I found the mix overall to be a little too bright maybe in the 12-14k range somewhere...it's wherever your voice, the cymbals, the acoustics and the sparkly synth stuff intersect. It gets a little jumbled sounding rhythmically without the drums during the 3-3:45 acoustic solo, but it locks in a little better when the drums come back for the next bit. I like the guitar part that starts there, but a few bum notes (ie. 4:09) stood out a bit.

Definitely something different from you. I think you could maybe strip it down a little in spots to give it more focus - keep all the parts, just don't feature so many of them all at once so often...that's what I'd do anyway...thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks for the comments everyone.

Hey Pete, I will look at the bright spot, I think I bumped it globally at 4k or so. Probably what you're talking about. As far as stripping, it down, that was a previous version and I kinda like this arrangement better. Lots of automation going on, but I can look at cutting out notches and avoiding collisions.

Mr. Clean. The vox were up then down then all over the place. :) I got tired of tweaking back and forth and just left it where it is now, slightly buried. If others agree with your comments, I'll revisit.

Thanks again, guys!!
 
Excellent.......just a great song in every respect. Lot's of experience and talent in singing......playing......recording and writing is the reason this stands out. Ok....so......I'm not even worthy of making a suggestion........but........the vocal really is a bit low in the mix. A few mixing minutes from perfection I'd say!!
 
Overall I thought this was really good. Very complex piece of music.

I thought heatmiser's comments were on target. There are a few instruments that are pretty bright. It's not that they cover the vocal, but they "take attention away from the vocal." It's just a bit hard on the ears. But that's a pretty minor complaint and easily addressable.

Very well performed.

You could probably turn up the bass track just a smidge.

I'm hearing a bit of fret buzz on the acoustic guitar solo that comes in at about 3:00. Not too distracting tho.

Minor nits. Very good.
 
This is brilliant. I'm really enjoying it as we speak.
I do agree that the shimmery glassy pad could be dulled a touch. I wouldn't mind the vocal coming up a little touch before the drums come in, but I wouldn't fight over it.

There's a massive Brian May vibe to those vocals before they get a touch more aggressive. Very nice sounding, indeed!

Is there room for a high-pass on that lead acoustic? It sounds a little bit full to me in the context.

Overall this is really impressive though. Enjoyed every second.
 
This is really good. I haven't heard anything from a while and I think you've upped your game.

From a mix perspective - the vocals seem a little thin and low in the mix to me. More body, more level. The whole mix is a little bright to me, but not too bad. I could live with it.

The acoustic and electric lead guitar parts are kind of wongo to me. You clank some notes and flub some lines. The rest of the track is so slick, those playing errors jumped out to me bigtime.
 
Sounds great, cool song, real nice groove, captures the mood and emotion well.

I agree the vocal could come up with a bit more low end.

Really enjoyed that!
 
Thanks for all the comments, ya'll. But still wondering if anyone thinks I should bring the vocal up a little. No one really said anything about it yet. :rolleyes: :D

I've got some mixing to do for the kid's school band, but after that, I'll come back to this and work in some of the suggestions given.

I'll be honest, I was a little nervous posting this one up. I gotta over any kind of jitters a long time ago, but this one was different and I wasn't sure how it would be received. I'm glad you all like it. I truly appreciate the comments.
 
Really cool - it reminds me of Roads to Moscow by Al Stewart - has that kind of breadth and elaboration. I agree with Greg re the solo - just a few things that may be intentional but comes across as slight stumbles & they stand out because of their surroundings.
I like the vocal level as is - taste is personal.
A BIG project very well executed.
 
I really liked this, very atmospheric. I liked the delay on the vocals. I was trying to figure out how to say what I thought about the vocals, and then I saw Greg_L's comment...that's exactly it. "Too thin, too low." It's like the song is calling out for the vocals to be a little deeper, richer, fuller, cuttier. A little louder too. I would have no idea how to go about doing this myself...Really, though, fantastic work! It really communicates something.
 
Whoa!
ChiliDude...very nice. The ebb and flow really keeps the listener with ya. Well played all around. There's a lot going on in here and I think they come together well.
As was brought up, I think the vocals could be filled out too. Maybe a slight bump in the lo-mids, a volume bump... I dunno.
I didn't hear the high's standing out like was mentioned but my computer speakers suck so I got nothing there.

Dude, I just wanted to pipe in and give ya props. This is really good stuff.

:drunk:
 
Hey. Thanks again, Ray, Jessica and DoggieDude!! I appreciate the listen.

Ray, at first I was confused with your Roads reference, but after listening and reading the lyrics, I now get what you're saying and I take that as a huge compliment. Thanks man!!

Hey Jess, "atmospheric" was a word I had in mind with the synth pads. Thanks for connecting with it.

DogMan, thanks bruther; as always. :)

Still busy working on other mixes, but I'll get back to this over the weekend.
 
Listening on my dark-sounding 4.1 computer system, and things don't sound overly bright here (surprise!). I do know the wonky low end on my 4.1 system pretty well, and the bass and kick sound great together here. Mainly from the first chorus onward the low end is solid.

Agreed that the acoustic solo, while awesome, needs a little more conviction. And a little less compression. Although that's a nice sounding compressor you have on it. Of course I wouldn't know how to tame an acoustic solo other than by squishing the hell out of it with a compressor...lots of transients there that would vex me for sure. Nice playing, and that's a good sounding acoustic.

I have to say I was reluctant to click when I saw that it was 6 minutes...I've fallen out of love with longer format songs lately. But this is done right, you've kept it interesting for the duration. I was afraid of a 3-verse 3-chorus slog fest. But I like the structure, and I'm jealous that I can't really pull off hand percussion like that :)
 
Last edited:
This is really good chili. I've listened a few times over the last week, but never got chance to comment. Good strong melody, good lyrics and an interesting layered arrangement - I enjoyed the listen.

Vocal level seems fine to me, I don't know if you've boosted it based on previous feedback. The only thing that stuck out for me was that the sound of the atmospheric pad and the reverb on the drum maybe 'date' the sound a touch. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd personally be tempted to try another patch and dry the drums a little.

Good work and well done in not kneeding the mix to oblivion after working on it so long :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top