"Love Is Silent" - New Song by Scandalous Grace

Hi all. We just finished our latest project. A little backstory: 
 
I wrote this song to my son Andrew a few years ago. He is severely affected by autism and is unable to speak. (But he does make a lot of vocalizations. You will hear Andrew's voice in the recording. He did a great job .)
 
Mike and Reece graciously agreed to record the song, and they each deserve a lot of the credit for helping it to turn out as well as it did, providing not only excellent tracks, but also technical advice for things that I didn't know how to do.
 
We sincerely hope that everyone who listens enjoys the song. As always we appreciate comments on the mix. Thanks.
 
You can listen here:
https://soundcloud.com/sean-peifer/love-is-silent-scandalous-grace
 
Sean Peifer: Music and Lyrics, Lead Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Rhythm Guitars, Lead Guitar Solos 1, 2 & 4
Mike Hansen: Electric Rhythm Guitars, Bass Guitar, Lead Guitar Solo 3, BG Vocals
Reece Bain: Keyboards, Drum Programming, BG Vocals
Andrew Peifer: "Expressions of something" (vocalizations)
 
Mixed by Sean Peifer
Co-Produced by Sean Peifer, Reece Bain and Mike Hansen
© 2015 Scandalous Grace
 
Lyrics:
Verse 1
I catch a glance
When your eyes meet mine
I feel I know
You break the gaze, leave me behind
You’re so far away
Even though you're right here
I can be where you are
But I cannot draw near

Chorus:
I want to know you
I want to show you
I can’t hear what's in your heart
But somehow I know
Love is silent, Love it shows
We don’t have to say a word
And somehow it grows
Love is silent

Verse 2
Don’t know the world outside
Or the danger that surrounds you
Are you aware of life or death
Did you know I’d die for you
Sometimes I regret
Many things you miss
But with the joy you share
Maybe ignorance is bliss

Bridge
I hear your screaming
Can't catch the meaning
Expressions of something
That sound like nothing

<Guitar Solo>

Chorus 

Lots of great things to say about this one. I'm sure there are many who can relate to Sean's situation.
I don't really think you could do much better on the mix. Sean has a natural great voice. Nice work done by all. Great baking and guitar work as well!!
My only nit would be those vocalizations. I know what you're conveying, but it kinda threw me off a little.

I don't know Sean....I can't cover the Tommy Shaw part.  Maybe a DeYoung/ Petty version.  

Starise
Lots of great things to say about this one. I'm sure there are many who can relate to Sean's situation.
I don't really think you could do much better on the mix. Sean has a natural great voice. Nice work done by all. Great baking and guitar work as well!!
My only nit would be those vocalizations. I know what you're conveying, but it kinda threw me off a little.

Thank you Tim!  We appreciate your comments!  Sean has worked hard at mixing and I think he's done an excellent job!  We're always up for suggestions, tho!
we're discussing the vocalizations, thanks for letting us know your thoughts on it!

Sounds good.   Well mixed and performed on all fronts.     The only thing, personal taste, is I would make the drums a little less roomy and a little more close mic/dryer kit for this style music.   It is good as is though and really like it overall.
 
Regards

daryl1968
I really like this - good solid song, well performed with a beautiful sentiment. I would love to see the lyrics in the main post for this one.

 
Daryl: Thanks for taking the time to listen and for the kind comments. Per your request, I have posted the lyrics above. 

markno999
Sounds good.   Well mixed and performed on all fronts.     The only thing, personal taste, is I would make the drums a little less roomy and a little more close mic/dryer kit for this style music.   It is good as is though and really like it overall.Regards

 
markno999 - Thanks for the compliments and your comments. I appreciate not only what you like about the song, but also your opinion as to how you would make it better. There has been some discussion about the drums, based on what you said. And we have agreed that, as you have said, it's a matter of taste. So we've decided to leave the drums as is (at least for now). Nonetheless, I still value your input. 
 

Wookiee
There is nothing I want to say about this except much respect to you Sean, Reece, Mike and Andrew.  

Thanks Wookiee - I appreciate your sentiments. Thanks for listening. 
 

Very nice song and I love the sentiment expressed!!!  The performances are good and the vocals are excellent.
Well done!

String Jammer
Nice song and performances. This mix needs some EQ work though. Lots of high siblance in the vocals & high freq distortion in the acoustic guitar and cymbals.

Thanks String Jammer - I appreciate your listening, comments and observations. We'll discuss your suggestions as a group. 
 

Freddy J
Very nice song and I love the sentiment expressed!!!  The performances are good and the vocals are excellent.
Well done!

Hey, thanks, Freddy! I'm grateful for your positive comments. Glad you liked the song. Thanks again for listening.
 

Starise
No I wouldn't edit it out. I'm not sure who it was I heard. I want to repeat that I certainly respect and understand your reasoning for doing what you did in adding those vox. I think in the context of the song it fits well. :)

Thanks for the comments Starise. We discussed this as a group and considered your earlier comments, and have decided to keep Andrew in the song. I do appreciate your opinion, as I can have tunnel vision when it comes to my own stuff. But I'm also glad that you followed up with this. I think context is really an important consideration for others who might hear the song and not understand the backstory. That's something to consider. 

markno999
Sounds good.   Well mixed and performed on all fronts.     The only thing, personal taste, is I would make the drums a little less roomy and a little more close mic/dryer kit for this style music.   It is good as is though and really like it overall.
 
Regards

Thanks so much for the listen and the suggestions, Mark!  we're taking your suggestions and others' into consideration!  I appreciate your time and comments!

Really nice song! Maybe it's my high frequency hearing loss, but I didn't hear much in the way of sibilance, or maybe  you posted an update? Whatever, this is nicely done.

One more thought, just to think outside of the box.
 
Can Andrew do high pitches too?
 
Have you thought about pulling his singing, cause that is what I call it, pure singing, into Rapture as a wave file and maybe playing around with it in there?
 
Or maybe converting it to midi, and using the file to drive another instrument.
 
Depending on how many different parts he can sing, or how many different files you have, you could build an entire piece around his voice.
 
It would take some time but I think it would be very interesting.
 
Also, you have maybe seen this.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKDXuCE7LeQ
 
Jesse Q. Screed

Really good song.... and yeah, I get a bit of that Styx vibe too, and I've always liked Styx.   
 
Mix-wise I like Mark's suggestion for a little more close-mic'd sound on the drums if possible, and maybe a little more space around the lead vocal.   A slight mix-swap if you will.     Minor points though - great song!
 

Good job on this. Andrew should be very happy with the song. All the best. 

kevinwal
Really nice song! Maybe it's my high frequency hearing loss, but I didn't hear much in the way of sibilance, or maybe  you posted an update? Whatever, this is nicely done.

Hi Kevin. Thank you for taking the time to listen and for the compliments. I have posted no update as of yet. So this is still the original. We are going to be working on it though, when I get time. But I appreciate the fact that you like it as is. 
 

Jesse Screed
Hello, I can relate to this song.  The back story ties it all together.  I would definitely keep the vocalizations in it. I think the way you mixed them in is very creative, almost synth like.  In fact I would put more in.  I mean that.  Between 2:09 and 2:30 is good. Maybe figure out how to put a little more tail on the first one.   Put it in more and don't tell anybody and see what the comments are then.The rest of the musicianship is good, that goes without saying.
 
The fact that you spent that much effort to tell the world about the relationship with your son is super.
 
I bet Andrew is Perfect!!  And you are most definitely an awesome caring Father!
 
Jesse Q.Screed

Thank you Jesse for your comments. Your comment about me as a dad is definitely more important to me than the song. I'm not a great dad, but I try, and in a way I can't explain my sons, and most importantly my faith, have made me a better dad. Andrew is a great kid, unfortunately facing the obstacle of autism, which is not a good thing, and in many ways overcoming its limitations to teach me things about who he really is. And love, of course, is greater than any disease or difficulty. If you love your kid nothing can really stand in the way of that. 
 

bapu
Vocals remind me of Styx. Lead vocal was just bit dry for my taste. A small tad of delay would have been nice.
 
Great song and mix. Keep 'em coming you scandalous gracers.

Bapu - Thank you for listening. There seems to be some Styx vibe here. It's a good thing that I like Styx. :) Perhaps the vocals being dry is according to taste. I tend to lean away from too much in the way of effects on vocals. (Although, in the bridge there are a few effects on the vocals, including some delay--that was on purpose). I know that Reece suggested that I add more reverb with this as the result. If you can imagine, the vocals were more dry in previous mixes. We'll discuss this suggestion among ourselves. But most of all, thank you for a balanced critique (which I always appreciate). A suggestion for improvement followed by kudos always seems helpful to me. 
 

stevec
Really good song.... and yeah, I get a bit of that Styx vibe too, and I've always liked Styx.   
 
Mix-wise I like Mark's suggestion for a little more close-mic'd sound on the drums if possible, and maybe a little more space around the lead vocal.   A slight mix-swap if you will.     Minor points though - great song!

Stevec - Thanks for your comments and suggestions. As mentioned above, I like Styx as well, so I take this as a great compliment. And I really do appreciate your balanced critique with the compliments. We've discussed what Mark suggested. We're going to be working a bit more on this mix when I get some time. Not sure yet what changes will be made, but I appreciate your input. 
 

Rimshot
Good job on this. Andrew should be very happy with the song. All the best. 

 
Hi Jimmy. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the song. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what Andrew thinks of the song. He's unable to express it anyway. But he seems happy and healthy in general. I'm good with that.