Long time, no Post: What I Sing to You

So, despite a lot of work and being an energy free zone on top of that, I managed to finish a new tune. This is a pretty old school tune. I'm still learning so I'm not really ready to do "And You and I" quite yet. And, since I've done a love song, I figured I'd kill that bird as well. Don't have anyone to sing it to, but at least if I meet her, I've already checked the love song off the list of things to do. So, anyhoo, it's just a fairly rootsy, hopefully heartfelt tune.

[EDIT: Final Mix based on comments, old version removed]
http://soundcloud.com/music-by-clarity/what-i-sing-to-you
 
 
As with all of my stuff, don't judge based on modern pop standards.

- I don't use any sort of pitch/timing corrective tools at all, automated or manual. I'm not trying to see how good I can make crap sound, but trying to learn to get it down really close to right and only use the standard EQ, comp, and ambience tools in the mix, and as little of those as I can get away with. There's a little automation involved, to whack a couple sibilances, and bring up a few things in the choruses, but nothing that couldn't have easily been done manually on a console based system.

- I'm not mixing it to sound louder than anything else on ear buds. I'm mixing it to sound good cranked up on nice speakers. At least that what I think I'm doing, let me know if that's not the case. But anyway, nothing on the master bus. It's mixed like it should sound and with a pretty good bit of dynamics.

Inclined to agree with Bapu on all counts.  Nice song.  You will definitely have a woman falling into your arms after singing this one to her.

My other comments should be read as possibly being a matter of personal taste-
I kept thinking that I could hear this further up tempo than where it is.  The instrumentation was fine, except I felt that the drums were too present for a love ballad, and the percussion feel could have been 'softer' (if that makes sense), and more laid back on the verses, building into the choruses.  But it's YOUR tune, and if this is the way you felt it that's the way it should be.

Either way, it was a good song and well played and sung.  I enjoyed it.

The tempo, yeh it could have been a little more up tempo. But it's because it wasn't a planned song. It was built around the left hand side guitar part, which I just improvised. So I didnt' really know what it was going to be at that point. Just shows yet again how important it is to work out the content and structure and tempo of songs before you press the button.

Though I would say that I really didn't want to make it a ballad per se. It was more supposed to be a passionate love song, not a ballady type love song. I'm not sure I could bring myself to do a real love ballad. I'd be probably too self conscious of the potential cheesy factor. I took sort of I guess the Nevermind approach, and made the instrumentation rougher in order to counter-balance what would have otherwise might have been really sappy.

Definately Neil Young vibes and some of Rolling Stones. Grew up with this kind music and it's in my veins. Great vocal and lyrics. No nits.

Yeh, it probably has more of the loose feel of Big Bro. & the Holding Company. Though, in their case they had the excuse of being on a lot of acid :-)

Just goes to show, as in fashion, you keep something long enough and it becomes radical again :-)

I would bring the vox a bit more and lower the left guitar a bit.  You have a nice voice and it fits this song very well.  In some spots is out of pitch.  You could bring the organ a bit more towards the end to build up the song more.  I would say that is also sounds like the Grateful Dead.   I like the song and it brings back memories.

OK, based on comments here and elsewhere, I did a final mix. I updated the first post to point to this new version. Basically it's just 'punched up' a fair bit, with some other refinements.