Retracking of a Blues song-Last one to know

[Anfontan]

I posted an early version of this once, I've finally gotten another try at it. This started as a old school blues song, after laying down the guitar tracks it's more of a blues rock tune now. Lots to work out still, but I thought I'd get it out there for now.

There are a few new guitars that some friends wanted sound clips from that are included here as well.
The intro solo is the Xaviere Telecaster copy, there is a Epi Firebird direct after the vocals, the next solo is my Gibson Melody Maker-it has a single P-90 single coil and it growls very nicely-it's a lot like a Les Paul Jr. The outro solo is my Sunburst Fender Strat in one of the in between, funky positions.



http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9690924

 

[Anfontan]

Time for a Bump.....

 

[ido1957]

I'd say this wankerific! Lots of tasty solo stuff over a slightly different blues pattern.
I kinda favor the last guitar solo tone-wise. The one just prior is good but could use a volume nudge maybe. The intor solo tone is definitely tele-ish!
Mix wise (for me) either the vocals could go down or the rhythm could come up to balance.

 

[Anfontan]

I'd say this wankerific! Lots of tasty solo stuff over a slightly different blues pattern.
I kinda favor the last guitar solo tone-wise. The one just prior is good but could use a volume nudge maybe. The intor solo tone is definitely tele-ish!
Mix wise (for me) either the vocals could go down or the rhythm could come up to balance.

Thanks Gerry, it's taken a while to get back to recording-my old desktop was having issues so I changed to a laptop and things are so much easier and better!
I started out wanting to play more bluesy stuff, but once I started tracking the solos I kind of turned into Mr Hyde!
I threw that chromatic progression in for something out of the ordinary-A Maj, A#/Amaj, BMin, & CMaj. I think the A# would be a pedal tone-a sharped root against A Maj.

The last solo was my Sunburst Fender Strat-it records so well, the one before was a Gibson Melody Maker-one P-90 pickup with tons of attitude!!
That Tele is my latest addition to the guitar harem-the maple top is dazzling.

You are so right-the vocals are Too Damned Loud-I listened to it on my MP3 player at work and-Yow- had to turn it down quickly. That change will be done soon!!!

 

[Anfontan]

Bumping again......

 

[rayc]

In the bulk of the song the snare seems to prominent for the style.
The progresssion is cool - works a little against expectations.
Vox could come down a little.
The rhythm guitar is mainly in one ear - can you stereo split your guitar to fill the other side or add another ?
The solo after the blues harp is nice & dirty. Are you going to Continue with diff guitars or settle on a best?
Nice piece of work.
I enjoyed it & look forward to the remix.

 

[joeym]

Hey guys, trying to log on to Soundclick and it's not working. Anyone else having problems?

 

[heatmiser]

Soundclick seems ok now...

I've listened to this a few times the last couple of days and am sorry I didn't reply until now. I like it. The bass line moves things along nicely. The chord progression is counter-intuitive at times which is cool because I never expect it to walk up the way it does and that adds interest.

The mix itself is maybe a little flat and could be livlier somehow. I dunno exactly in what way though, sorry. I enjoyed hearing you cycle through the different guitars and guitar sounds, but might've preferred a little less of that kind of variation within the context of a single song.

The crash around 3:00 and again at 3:40 really stood out way too much though.

I might bring up some of the guitars and bring down the vocals a tad...

 

[zazz]

dry as a bone... and there are some shocking off chord moments!!

you really need to inject some atmosphere ..its begging for it.

 

[joeym]

I liked it the firrst time I heard it and I still think it's a fine blues tune, Tony.
I dig the harmonica and guitar solos and your voice sounds real good. Off chord moments? Didn't hear any of those. My only nit would be the drums, they're played (programmed?) too one-dimensional, they could be a little more dynamic. Otherwise it's an enjoyable listen to me.

 

[Anfontan]

Wow, thanks to all of you for the comments and listening to this song. I worked on a new mix and hope it's an improvement.

I shortened it a little, the Strat lead had to go-but it was going on a bit too long. I have to head out for the evening, but I will reply to your comments tomorrow.

Again, thanks to you all. New mix below...
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9713807

 

[ido1957]

The snare seems loud and the crashes mentioned above are a bit too. Sounds like you removed some of the leads and I'm missing them :-(
What you did leave sounds excellent Tony!

 

[Anfontan]

In the bulk of the song the snare seems to prominent for the style.
The progresssion is cool - works a little against expectations.
Vox could come down a little.
The rhythm guitar is mainly in one ear - can you stereo split your guitar to fill the other side or add another ?
The solo after the blues harp is nice & dirty. Are you going to Continue with diff guitars or settle on a best?
Nice piece of work.
I enjoyed it & look forward to the remix.

Thanks Ray, I will work on that snare, and the peogression is different for blues-a chromatic walkup of Amaj, A#/Amaj, Bmin & Cmaj-it's been in my head for years and I decided to finally use it. For now I have gone with a single rhythm guitar-my 74' Fender Strat.
That solo is an Epiphone Firebird Studio model that I recently installed mini humbuckers into-I had to make my own mounting rings but for me the effort was well worth it!
I cut the final solo (74' Stratocaster) on the newest mix amd faded out with the Melody Maker.

Soundclick seems ok now...

I've listened to this a few times the last couple of days and am sorry I didn't reply until now. I like it. The bass line moves things along nicely. The chord progression is counter-intuitive at times which is cool because I never expect it to walk up the way it does and that adds interest.

The mix itself is maybe a little flat and could be livlier somehow. I dunno exactly in what way though, sorry. I enjoyed hearing you cycle through the different guitars and guitar sounds, but might've preferred a little less of that kind of variation within the context of a single song.

The crash around 3:00 and again at 3:40 really stood out way too much though.

I might bring up some of the guitars and bring down the vocals a tad...

Thanks heatmiser-I did a few changes on the next mix, the vocals lost a few dB's and guitars adjusted as well.

 

[Anfontan]

dry as a bone... and there are some shocking off chord moments!!

you really need to inject some atmosphere ..its begging for it.

Thanks zazz-it's a work in progress and you are correct-I had 2 rhythm tracks that have timing issues together, I was too tired when I mixed it and forgot to remove one of the guitars! I only have the Strat rhythm on the next mix.

I liked it the first time I heard it and I still think it's a fine blues tune, Tony.
I dig the harmonica and guitar solos and your voice sounds real good. Off chord moments? Didn't hear any of those. My only nit would be the drums, they're played (programmed?) too one-dimensional, they could be a little more dynamic. Otherwise it's an enjoyable listen to me.

Thanks Joey, I believe I used a cheap Nady ribbon mic for the vocal and the harmonica solo-the ribbon gives a cool old vintage vibe-I use it on mandolin, too!
When I played the drums I did it very simple and basic-thats all I can do with my abilities, so I can see that your comment is very correct....

 

[Anfontan]

The snare seems loud and the crashes mentioned above are a bit too. Sounds like you removed some of the leads and I'm missing them :-(
What you did leave sounds excellent Tony!

Thanks for another listen and comments Gerry-I'm sorry that I cut the Fender Strat solo on this mix-it always sounds so good in a mix! It's been with me for 30 plus years now-it's still in the mix though, it's the rhythm guitar.

I may have to re-do the snare and the crashes, it seems that when I uploaded the MP3 to Soundclick the drum levels raised somehow..

 

[Anfontan]

Bumping time again!

 

[Anfontan]

Hey guys, trying to log on to Soundclick and it's not working. Anyone else having problems?

Hey Joey, I noticed the charts in Soundclick were totally screwed up last night-I had several songs that said they were 999,999 out of 18,500 songs!!!
Today the song was at #18---freakin' crazy!!!

 

[Chili]

I listened to this one the other day and never got around to commenting. Sorry!! Good to see a 2nd mix up.

I vaguely remember this song. I think it's good, but needs a lot of work on the mix. Drums most notably. Comments already centered around the snare and crash cymbals. I think you need to find a better balance between the kick, snare, bass and vocals. Weren't you using ezdrummer before?? This isn't ezd, is it?

Some good ol sweet blues jammin goin on there. Love that kind of stuff.

Cool man!!

 

[Chili]

Hey Joey, I noticed the charts in Soundclick were totally screwed up last night-I had several songs that said they were 999,999 out of 18,500 songs!!!
Today the song was at #18---freakin' crazy!!!

Ah, if you check the soundclick charts right after midnight east coast time, they are doing the calculations for the day and you'll see numbers like that.

 

[Zaphod B]

Hey, Tony, nice tune. I do like the unexpected progression in there; it's a nice change of pace for what would otherwise be a "regular ol'" blues tune.

I'll not comment on the mix because others have done that and I know you're still working on it. Except to say that the cymbal crash right before and at the end of the harp solo (which I like a lot) is taking my head off. Also, the crashes don't seem to be decaying in very natural sounding way.

Good guitar tones. The Strat at the end sounds great. The other solos sound good, too, but I think they're a tad overdriven. Nothing to be done about that unless you re-record and at any rate that's a matter of taste.

The only other comment I'll make concerns the rhythm guitar. The strumming kind of reminds me of old-skool country strumming which is cool but strikes me as maybe a little at odds with the overdriven sound used on the solos. If it were me I'd use a little more edge on the rhythm and maybe less of a laid-back style. Still, though, if it's accomplishing what you want it to, all good!

Nice work.