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This is a FANTASTIC work of art.

Just wanted to be the first to tell you.

I'm gonna find a pen, and come back and tell you exactly why I think that. Especially to help our cadre of newbs identify and apply all the devices you used.

OK, reading from my notes and transcribing: "Many of the important reasons this is a great song." A showcase!!!

The recording, panning, levels, performances: top notch; Using your own true voice.
There's a universally human theme. The composition reflects the mood of the lament.

I think the bass could rise 3db. The flange guitar in the chorus, standing in for vocal @:44, up 3db.



UNISON!!!! POWER!!! At :45-47 sec......that unison line with the bass and guitar is KILLER. Hook, counter-melody.....something to grab onto. A sub-theme. Excellent intuition there.

Getting right back to the verse @ :50 is genius...when you could have laid on that nice chorus. Unexpectedly brief...and back to work! Interesting. Left me wanting more chorus...couldn't wait for it to happen again. No fatigue.

Love the clean execution and mesh of the guitar R playing 2/4 figure against the piano R. Space, certitude, direction: and the off-beat ride cymbal is GREAT TEXTURE and FILLIGREE!!!

The harmony vox @ 1:38. NEW TURN!!!!! Dynamic build. NICE!!! ...but , wait: is that....

HORNS!!!!! YES!!!!!. A clean, funky, organized, punchy line to add to the mesh and build dynamics and more interest!!!! The picture is now a movie.

Change in feel @1:25. More goodness!!

And the eighth-note, two note angst-inducing, machine-like unison line ...piano R and guit L. Freakin' perfect...organized. Two notes, in UNISON, punching an EMOTION. To the point. !!!!

Shift down dynamics @ 1:38.....poignant bridge. More interest!!!!!

[would suggest the horns accompany last four bars of guitar solo]

Then...a fast, presto-chango from the pity=party in the bridge to REALITY...unexpectedly thrown in my face @ 1:54...like startlingly waking up from a daydream...which I think is what was intended!!!!!


At 3:23...while all the good groove continues to groove...there's this neat little communication between horns R and guitar L: unison for the first cycle...then a call-and-answer in the second. Just perfect enough to add to the groove, without calling excessive attention to itself.

I'm thrilled to hear this. This is high-quality imagination, composition, and arranging. And an effin' great recording.

Zowie Batman!!!!!!
 
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Good tune Kev - no nits from me I think it's all really great!
 
Man, Jeff ... you even got the "daydreaming" section. No one had figured out that was my intention before ... but that's exactly what it was.

Thank you so much for that glowing review.

(and thank you too, I) :)

Kev-
 
WOW!!!! I've only heard a handful of professional sounding mixes on this forum, and I think your song just moved into that list. Really great job! It seems like you knew to put certain parts in... For example, the little upstroke guitar part panned to the left came in at the perfect time. Awesome :D
 
Hey...just listened again. Still lovin' it. Are those real drums? Or great sounding faux?

At 1:54, there's an E7 chord. I think a big D / G# [E7 tritone] in the chord is screaming to be heard....maybe a George Harrison guit-slide down the the D/G# or some other device?

And I also noted that the lyric is really great, too. This is great work...even the day after!!
 
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jeffmaher said:
Hey...just listened again. Still lovin' it. Are those real drums? Or great sounding faux?

At 1:54, there's an E7 chord. I think a big D / G# [E7 tritone] in the chord is screaming to be heard....maybe a George Harrison guit-slide down the the D/G# or some other device?

And I also noted that the lyric is really great, too. This is great work...even the day after!!
Click to expand...

They're real, Jeff. A friend of mine did them for me in his studio to a sketch track and sent them to me over the net. I'm responsible for the final mix, but he did a fabulous job tracking them ... so they were easy to work with.

Kev-
 
squibble94 said:
WOW!!!! I've only heard a handful of professional sounding mixes on this forum, and I think your song just moved into that list. Really great job! It seems like you knew to put certain parts in... For example, the little upstroke guitar part panned to the left came in at the perfect time. Awesome :D
Click to expand...

Thank you, S ... glad you like it. :)

K-
 
Hi

I love the song. Great song, great signing. Just like it!

/Jack
 
Nice recording. Everything has a warm fuzzy iron transformer feel to it. It really adds cohesion to the mix. I'm more interested in what you ran the signal through to get such a wonderful sound
 
jeffmaher said:
This is a FANTASTIC work of art.

Just wanted to be the first to tell you.

I'm gonna find a pen, and come back and tell you exactly why I think that. Especially to help our cadre of newbs identify and apply all the devices you used.

OK, reading from my notes and transcribing: "Many of the important reasons this is a great song." A showcase!!!

The recording, panning, levels, performances: top notch; Using your own true voice.
There's a universally human theme. The composition reflects the mood of the lament.

I think the bass could rise 3db. The flange guitar in the chorus, standing in for vocal @:44, up 3db.



UNISON!!!! POWER!!! At :45-47 sec......that unison line with the bass and guitar is KILLER. Hook, counter-melody.....something to grab onto. A sub-theme. Excellent intuition there.

Getting right back to the verse @ :50 is genius...when you could have laid on that nice chorus. Unexpectedly brief...and back to work! Interesting. Left me wanting more chorus...couldn't wait for it to happen again. No fatigue.

Love the clean execution and mesh of the guitar R playing 2/4 figure against the piano R. Space, certitude, direction: and the off-beat ride cymbal is GREAT TEXTURE and FILLIGREE!!!

The harmony vox @ 1:38. NEW TURN!!!!! Dynamic build. NICE!!! ...but , wait: is that....

HORNS!!!!! YES!!!!!. A clean, funky, organized, punchy line to add to the mesh and build dynamics and more interest!!!! The picture is now a movie.

Change in feel @1:25. More goodness!!

And the eighth-note, two note angst-inducing, machine-like unison line ...piano R and guit L. Freakin' perfect...organized. Two notes, in UNISON, punching an EMOTION. To the point. !!!!

Shift down dynamics @ 1:38.....poignant bridge. More interest!!!!!

[would suggest the horns accompany last four bars of guitar solo]

Then...a fast, presto-chango from the pity=party in the bridge to REALITY...unexpectedly thrown in my face @ 1:54...like startlingly waking up from a daydream...which I think is what was intended!!!!!


At 3:23...while all the good groove continues to groove...there's this neat little communication between horns R and guitar L: unison for the first cycle...then a call-and-answer in the second. Just perfect enough to add to the groove, without calling excessive attention to itself.

I'm thrilled to hear this. This is high-quality imagination, composition, and arranging. And an effin' great recording.

Zowie Batman!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Jeff,

I personally wanted to thank you for doing such great and in-depth reviews.

Amanda
 
Thanks, Amanda; but there's a selfish motive.

It's always easier to listen to someone else's work with fresh ears, and identify the things that make it stand out, or where it might be deficient. Spending the time analyzing these works gives me better skills to apply to vetting my own stuff more objectively.

I went to music school for a while, and this process was used for one of the courses...Listening and Analysis. We used to have to listen to several tunes a week, and essay....and sometimes transpose, using recall, the progressions & melodies; catalog arrangement highlights, etc. The idea was to train the ears and brain to recognize and identify composition and arrangement conventions, and devices that had musical impact.

So I'm just doing something that I used to do 35 years ago. And the benefit for me is the same: it improves my own skills. All about me!

And it makes me sweat a lot more over my stuff...cuz I expect to get what I give. Scary...but that's how I figure we can all really use the forum as a learning tool. Tuition is free!!!!

Oh yeah...at school, they used recordings of very successful composers and arrangers...classics in all genres. Here, one gets a can-full of awful sometimes....and one can learn a lot from that.....sort of a 'negative space' perspective...or something. :^)
 
Fabulous...in every sense!
Recording, performance, everything. A bit Billy Joel sometimes, but fresh and inventive. Awesome work, Kev!

Joey :):):):)
 
guitar zero said:
Nice recording. Everything has a warm fuzzy iron transformer feel to it. It really adds cohesion to the mix. I'm more interested in what you ran the signal through to get such a wonderful sound
Click to expand...

Hi GZ-

At final mix, I lightly compress everything w/ a soft L2 ... but I take care not to hit it too hard.

But personally, although I work entirely in the digital world, digital can sound too brittle to my ear. So I try to insert some analog warmth into the mastering chain ... employing an M.E. who uses analog equipment.

Brian Lucey of "Magic Garden Mastering" was the M.E. on this tune.

Accordingly, I believe this was used to obtain that sound:

Alpha

Kev-
 
jeffmaher said:
Thanks, Amanda; but there's a selfish motive.

It's always easier to listen to someone else's work with fresh ears, and identify the things that make it stand out, or where it might be deficient. Spending the time analyzing these works gives me better skills to apply to vetting my own stuff more objectively.

I went to music school for a while, and this process was used for one of the courses...Listening and Analysis. We used to have to listen to several tunes a week, and essay....and sometimes transpose, using recall, the progressions & melodies; catalog arrangement highlights, etc. The idea was to train the ears and brain to recognize and identify composition and arrangement conventions, and devices that had musical impact.

So I'm just doing something that I used to do 35 years ago. And the benefit for me is the same: it improves my own skills. All about me!

And it makes me sweat a lot more over my stuff...cuz I expect to get what I give. Scary...but that's how I figure we can all really use the forum as a learning tool. Tuition is free!!!!

Oh yeah...at school, they used recordings of very successful composers and arrangers...classics in all genres. Here, one gets a can-full of awful sometimes....and one can learn a lot from that.....sort of a 'negative space' perspective...or something. :^)
Click to expand...

True. I learned almost entirely by online ... and shitloads of trial and error.

The biggest thing to learn is both the most simple and the hardest to do: Listen critically.
 
joeym said:
Fabulous...in every sense!
Recording, performance, everything. A bit Billy Joel sometimes, but fresh and inventive. Awesome work, Kev!

Joey :):):):)
Click to expand...

Thanks Joey!

That's not the first time I've heard the Billy Joel reference on this piece. :D

K-
 
Always love your stuff K-dub... the vocal just keeps getting better. A very distinctive style. This is really crisp... didn't like the synth brass much though... your vocal doesn't need the support.
 
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