thepogue


kk I'm back off the road and got my studio ears on...

as stated above many times this is a well lubed machine so I'll cut to the chase and tell you what I think doesn't work too well...

@ :30  your using a falsetto vox in "it has a rhythm you can feel" and although the pitch and notes are dead on it's not at all convincing to my ears...the lower of the vox there I'd push forward and maybe double up then brush back that falsetto one so it can be felt but not demanding of my attention...it (the higher notes) comes across a bit better @ :44ish when you have a go at it again as that section is phrased with a lil "schtick" or so it seems...so it does work a bit better there but it still kinda reeks of "guy doin girl part"...now if you could have someone sit in to throw the real deal in there...(Fvox that is)..I fully hear what you where shooting for and I think it would be a home run. This all once again happens next verse...but here the funny thing is...when you do the "La la la la la's" @ 1:50 it works very very well..why?...its the same tone? IMO It's because this section is spoofie and jovial...so your vox there works better than a fvox!!..and I LOVE the way it drops into the next part @ 1:58 that very serious sounding "oh oh oh ohsss".....its like sugar then salt!!...I love to hear gears shifting like that..that is a piece of greatness hidden there!

I was thinking of those Bono falsettos on tunes like "Lemon" when I did them. He was doing that octave falsetto a lot back in the early 90s. It is kinda cheeky.

Now back up to 1:33ish....you stop this section with a double snare hit followed by the obligatory U2 double guitar gangle...I think that's much like having 2 punctuation marks at the end of the sentience...I'd like to see them hit dead on..or nix one or the other..and have a wee bit of dead space there for a breath..this song is soaked with great lil jingles and gangles...a clear breath i believe would work well here.....I think I do a pop-pop snare quarter note or half note of silence then kick it in again

Tom, you usually can see my breaks coming a mile away...so I changed it up slightly with this one

The above vocal parts for me are really deal breakers sorry to say...easy fixes (for my ears) but I can't get past them....of course once I do there a gemstone..I know this..I just can't look beyond.

The 1:33 deal is like adding more or less ketchup to a burger..no more than that..but again for me...I'd work that to my taste and I think this song would enjoy the space.

From 1:58 I'm not sure I could give this tune any higher marks and that includes all the vocal parts...really really brilliant!

A++ all the way round and I think tunes like this stand tall in a world of very ordinary noise.

Great job! 

Rock the arena!  Everything said above.  A well done project, great radio mix!

Daryl

 
James, awesome tune my friend.
 
I love all the guitar work, but to me the standout performance that drives the song along is the bass guitar line. It's often the one instrument that goes sort of unnoticed in a mix, but in many circumstances, the song wouldn't be half as good without it.
 
I'll wager that if you posted a mix where the bass just followed the root note of the chords, this would still be a cracking tune, but nowhere near as good
 
Steve
 
 
 
 
 
No Bapu-related opinions were sourced for this post
 
 

Scottytunes


This song has a lot going on. Everything  seems to have its place. I'd say it's another tremendous effort, although effortless for the Yoyo.

I wish it was effortless....then I might finish more than a tune a month!

jamesyoyo


The bass though, Steve, does really follow the chords I was playing. Perhaps they can't be heard?

Oh yes, I didn't quite mean it like that James - I guess I didn't explain it too good!
 
What I meant to say was that the bass doesn't just constantly play the root note (like a pedal bass) - the fact that it's 'walking' around and is quite complicated really adds some dynamics to the song.
 
I don't know if you're familiar with English punk-era bands The Stranglers and The Jam - they both had very talented bass players (Jean-Jaques Burnel and Bruce Foxton respectively) who's parts were often quite sophisticated.
 
Just off the top of my head, check out The Stranglers' Nice and Sleazy and The Jam's Eton Rifles to see the sort of thing I'm getting at.