Angels Falling - My Newest Track

Guys & Gals,

I would love some feedback on the tune; http://soundcloud.com/joshua-barnes/angels-falling

Lyrically, does it connect?

Melodically, does it have you wanting more?

Mix wise - well, it's not really mixed well; I already know that. : ) I'm looking for some feedback from you singer/songwriters out there. How does this set in your ears if you're 30 and over?

I was inspired at Shawnee Days! I loved it! But, I wrote this song about 3 months go. : ) Thank you very much for your feedback. The guitarist on this track is also from Olathe. A real treat of a guitarist, very bluesy...I think we work well together..

I hear influences from Bad Company and Foreigner. The intro sounds a bit close to VanHalen too. Overall I though it sounded like you hit the mark with a good song. The mix need some tweaking though. The vocals seem to washout somewhat. Otherwise great potential.

Very nice song!! You do need to work on bring the vocals to the front of the mix though. Maybe pan them also, just a tad. Other than that the instrumentation sounds great. Very Nicely sung, but get those vocals nice and clear and clean. Blessings, John

Thank you guys; this song has been under development for quite some time; it might actually make it into an indie film on propaganda in the US. So that's cool. It's not totally done yet, but all good things!

Fox; the dry vocals were basically because anything I tried to put on there seemed to either take away the intensity, or displace it from the music. So - it's sort of on purpose, but not intentional.... : ) 

In this particular song, I sang it phrase by phrase, in a loop to make sure the pitch was pretty tight and I double tracked the choruses.

Overall, one of the easier productions, in terms of time at the console. Getting this particular song in tune helped me to learn something about the way I've been singing in the past. I push WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY too hard in front of the mic. Which is what gets me locking down my throat and swerving my pitch all over the place.

The vocals need to be wetter, I would throw some verb and delay on them. But I like um wetter than most. When that second electric comes in, 1:30? It feels like the vox may need a little comersate boost. The level is right on for the double vox part.

Wow Josh. This is some balls to the walls stuff. Very well done.. You asked about the lyrics connecting. What I can understand sound like great lyrics but most of it I can't understand, That's not necessarily bad, just the way it is. 
Only nit is, at around 1:30 when the heavier guit comes in, I thought it was too loud. 


as far as the voc wetness goes, I like it dry mostly but it does get tiresome, it does need some wetness. More like delay I think.
Nice stuff man.

Hey Josh
GREAT tune... in your vocal range with a powerful delivery.  IMO I like the dry vox. When you did that vocal howl I was getting a Robert Plant vibe. Funny how people hear different things to me the chorus and arrangement of the tune was total AC/DC.  I know its not a finished mix but on my end the guitar had a lot of low end boom making it a smidge muddy. But, It's probably my old ears since I'm the only one who has said anything.  I like the raw vibe of this piece and I'm looking forward to hearing the finished mix.  KUDOS my friend!

Kev

hey Josh nice to hear a proper song from you, not just acoustic and vox. i LOVED the inro and was a touch disappointed when the main riff came in, but i soon adjusted, it's a great guitar tone, and boy, we knew you could sing, and this suits your voice perfectly. i like the dryness of your vocal here. as others have said, your best song for a while; when you first came on here you had some awesome stuff and seems you had a bit of a dry spell (hey, we have all been there!) but now you're back!

Paulo - thank you! It's a journey and with some of these songs I often wonder how well they would all fit into an album; but my style is starting to take shape. I appreciate your kind words.

TheBand19 - thing is, wet vocals are easier on the ears; they also hide stuff. But, I also think that you MUST pay attention to the lyrics better the more dry the vocal is. I'm not saying I don't want to effect the vocal, I do; I'm just also surprised at how meaningful the very dry vocal sounded. IT's all about the entire canvas, not just the reflections in the water. thank you for listening and being willing to comment.

Philz - I think you're right. This mix needs to be worked up from the ground up. It's not bad, but it could be a lot better.

Timidi - thank you. very much!

Drumstix - there is a couple of AC/DC notes in there...that's for sure! Believe it or not, the very original version of this had a very foo-fighters feel. The guitarist I started working with absolutely changed the vibe; but I think, very much for the better.

RSP - what are whisper tracks and how do you comp them? I assume it's a lower volume to give it some breadth?

MGH - of course you know that I love your feedback in particular, but it's been awhile because i've been struggling with the art side of my music. I want to create music that I like, that's consistent and has a mass appeal. when you have a hot rod for a voice the temptation is to go do what others have done (cornell, plant, perry, etc) but I've been learning the art of restraint. What the result has been is that, though I've been writing ALOT more, I've been unwilling to take it all to full production because, I'm still not sure my style is fully mature yet. But - I'll say this, with the addtion of this guitarist I'm working with - that can and I hope will, immediately change. What we have here with this song is a direct product of my song writing skills and his instrumentational skills as an artist. I think it's a thing of beauty and I'd like do 100's more like it. It may not all be rock or hard rock, but I expect it will be GOOD!

Bapu - Free eh? I'll take that!

Are you whispering the entire melody or the tonic center? Or what? Sounds like it would thicken things up a lot!

For this song, try doing the lyrics of the chorus in the something along the lines of a whispered falsetto. Keep it soft and breathy and follow the melody. Like I said, experiment. I think you might find that it can work better on certain lines better than others, or it might work good on the whole chorus.

Randy

Hey, Joshua,
 
Killer rock song with great guitar sound and powerful "in your face" vocals!
 
Excellent songwriting and arrangement, and from the dry vocals, I'm kind of getting a White Stripes vibe, especially during the choruses and later verses.
 
Randy's idea about using a whisper tracks is a great idea for this type of song.  I usually pan the whisper track way off to one side and then bring it up to where you can just about hear it, and then back it off a little.  It works great as an almost "subliminal" effect to add body and depth to the main vocal.
 
Great song, buddy, nice work!
Bob