Hi Bapu, 

I did not want to in any way diminish the production or the feeling and message of the song.  For that reason, I did not want to get into details.  

Technically, since you asked, here are my comments Ed.

The drums overall EQ seem not as crisp as they could be.  They have a muffled sound on my system.  
The lead vocal is perfect in EQ so I am comparing other instruments to the lead vocal.  
The rhythm section seems a bit soft overall (kick and acoustics might come up a tad).
Your stereo imaging seems spot on.  This seems overall to be a mix level point if you want to understand what I am trying to communicate.

Again, overall, I love the tune and lead vocal.  The backing tracks are very good and if this was to be a final mastered mix, the comments I have made above might be relative.  For producing a song for this forum only, I think what you did was very good.  

Please know that my comments are meant to share my thoughts with you.  The song itself stands on its own and the lyrics speak worlds by themselves.

All the best. 

Rimshot

It can be very difficult to describe what one hears in a meaningful way, so often I use terms that have fairly specific meanings in a general sense.

As you know, dynamics are not just a matter of over compression or even levels, though those are certainly key. Dynamics is keeping the emotion within the performance... emotion that comes with the way (intensity and speed) a guitar string is played for example.

In this the compression/level envelopes used tend to deaden that impact. The guitar is clear, but too even, and too loud. Robbies vocals are pitch perfect... but again too even. Guitar and vocals compete for dominance. Only robbies vocals should dominate... all else supports that. This isn't a rock song, its a ballad.
 
By way of example, there are a few live recordings of Simon and Garfunkle performing "for emily , whenever I may find her" that provide a good example of what I mean (simon on acoustic). 
 
In retrospect, this may also be a performance issue, but it sounds more like mix to my ear. There is a lot of noise on both robbies vocals and the guitar... actually, when the bass comes in as well. With robbies vocals, the noise sounds like mic distortion (to much gain or an unflattering mic - but knowing what I do of robbies equipment it seems unlikely that the mic is the problem. So perhaps there is too much gain on it. But....
 
But, there is the same noise on the guitar. And a similar noise on the bass when it peeks. It could be clipping, but it sounds more like intermodulation distortion.
 
EQ wise, the mix is too mid heavy. Again, it is very clear, but it is a bit harsh. This is the richness component. It seems to me you have pulled too much off of the sub harmonics off the guitar (and even a bit off robbies voice) that then makes the sound a little brittle to my ear.
 
I feel it is these things that are perhaps causing the affect of the song to be weakened for me.
 
Hope that made sense, and helps a bit. Please do recall, much of this is subjective. When I comment, most often I am not trying to tell you what to do, but tell you what I hear.
 
Cheers
Shad

Thanks for the replies Rimshot & Shad.

Oh My God! This was mesmerising. I've heard some good stuff on here, but this really stood up to them all. 

It's seldom I get shivers listening to a song, but this stopped me in my tracks and really blew me away.
Well done to all involved in this. The lyrics, the arrangement were fantastic, and Robby you vocals where wonderful as usual.

Now I'm off for another listen.


Mark.

Great job, guys! Sorry I had to back out for now, but maybe I will get to it later when I'm not so out straight.

Robby,
I'm blushing again!!! 

Loved this song! Very nice and thought all the instruments sounded well placed in the mix. Performance is excellent and love the tone of the guitars and vocals.

I did not feel very enthusiastic about that synth solo sound thingy in there. The choice of sound kind of felt a little "pick-this-preset-and-pick-it-fast-and-get-it-over-with"-ish to me, but the melody it self was quite nice. Also, some back up vox answers at around 3:11 came jumping out of the speakers to attack me. All of a sudden they just popped out of the mix! No biggie though, ALL vocals sound ACE throughout the song. Just those two answers sounded outside of the rest to me.

But kudos to everyone involved, I really enjoyed it and this, IMHO, is very radio ready. The lyrics are very good and easy to understand, even for my Norwenglish


Get it out there and get rich fellas!!

Ed: I've been reading over the comments...especially Rim and Shad's. Though I don't quite agree with them in how they may have explained what they were hearing, I think I sort of hear what they are saying. Me personally....I didn't feel the need to comment that in depth. Not because I didn't care, but there was nothing that blatantly stuck out to me as "yo dude, what were you thinking?!" I try not to comment in depth unless there really is a need.

But in reading their comments and listening again, this is what I have to offer since you seem to be interested in things a bit deeper.

I think the drums sound fine on my systems here but are a bit low. When they are low, they are not going to lash out and be as crispy as they could be. I don't think a crispier drum sound would compliment this particular song and didn't feel the drums were muffled at all as Rim had mentioned. That's not discrediting his opinion, I just don't hear it here. I will say this...if you're using that Steven Slate stuff, stop using it. It turns things that were once crisp, into cheap, analog sounding garbage. The dude needs to get his drum modules fixed before he embarks on processors and mixing consoles. I don't care who he's paid to endorse his stuff...it sounds like @ss to me and ruins everything it touches.

On to Shad's comments (again, not trying to discredit)....there is no such thing as a "mix with too much mids sounding harsh" Mids are boxy and make things sound congested and dead, not harsh. That is not the case here on my systems. Harsh sounds come from high end. The high end in this mix is due to the brilliance in the acoustic guitars....which are a bit too loud level wise, but still not a problem. They are dominating the mix, but I didn't feel they were competing with the vocals.

However, because of the brilliance in the highs of these guitars, I can see where it may come off sounding like competition on some systems. Also, the lead vocal and back-ups you are working with are what I would consider "thick vocals". These types of vocals sometimes need to be thinned out and the highs need to be accentuated a bit more so they are not lacking expression. You were on the border line here in my opinion of mid range congestion.

The vocals in this are sort of like our Janet placing her huge piano in a mix with smaller instruments. When you have something that is thick, you either need to thin it out, or make the other instruments sort of match it without competing. Less highs in the acoustic guitars and a little more brilliance in the lead vocal with a bit more brilliance and high pass on the back ups so they cut through, and this would take a turn for the better production wise.

Your bass....well, you know my take there. I absolutely hate the sound of any drive on a bass, especially yours. I love it when your bass tones are clean, pristine and have that new strings piano sound. The distortion on your bass degrades the quality of your tunes in my opinion even though you seem to like this sound. It just gives you this sub low mud and drive that degrades fidelity to my ears. This is the only instrument in this song to me that has a driven sound or "noise" so to speak, that I didn't like.

But I've been mentioning this to you about your bass tones since I was in the CHB. I didn't feel it was worth mentioning again because it's a sound that you seem to like...so I have stayed away from commenting on your bass tones in songs. I always like your playing, but bass sounds with drive are just not my thing brother. They make me cringe to be honest and unless something is a nu-breed sounding metal or alternative tune, this type of sound is just something I just can't handle. You have the bass of God over there...I'd try to deliver that over messing it up with drive that can at times, make it sound worse than something we could buy at Sears or K-Mart.

I know that sounds harsh and honest when I tell you, I don't mean it to be because I love you and respect you. But over-driven bass...when not done right, just totally ruins music to my ears to the point of me either stopping playback or totally trying to ignore it like I would the vocals of Glenn Danzig or some sort of death metal screamo band. That's how much it annoys me man. You're a great player....with greatness, comes great tone that people wish they could have. Think about that in the future bro...but if you are sold on this drive, as well as the Slate plugs....well, you're right where you want to be my friend.

Again, nothing but respect and love...not trying to upset you, but this is what I hear on this end. Curb the highs on the guitars, drop the levels a bit....control the thickness on the vocals a bit, thin out the back ups and make them a bit more airy, raise the drums, ax the Slate stuff as the analog sound is just bad in 2013 in my opinion.....since no one has it down anyway in plug format (or just start using tape) remove the drive from your bass and go back to that nice, thick tone you used to have with the "ping" of new strings. The above changes the sound of this mix ten-fold in my opinion and would push it to the next level. Just my honest opinion though...for what it's worth brother.

You've come a long way with this stuff and have improved on some things by leaps and bounds. On other things, you're losing a little ground in my opinion but of course that will always be subjective. I know you don't always like the sounds and productions I come up with and we've clashed heads a few times in the past....so maybe my opinion may not be valid at all. If so, please forgive me for saying anything. I'm not trying to make you sound or think like me....I just think some of the things I've suggested here will make a difference for the better regardless of what your personal preferences may be. :)

-Danny

Excellent tune Philz. I love the message even though nobody got it.

Ed did a great job with his playing and mixing. Well done!

Robby, your an excellent vocalist. Take my name out of your signiture. Your being exceptionally rude.

Hey Danny,

Thanks for the input. As you and I have discovered, some of the "buzz" you mentioned is probably the combination of the 12-string and the bass.

I'll take a B+ from Danny Danzi any day of the week, brother.

Sounds great. Melody, voice, instruments and production.

Thanks Philz... my wife's nephew (by marriage) just went back to Afghanistan after Christmas... 3rd or 4th tour. A special song honoring special people and their families.
 
Well done!
 
J

Rimshot- Thank you again.

Shad- Thanks for expanding on your remarks.

Paulie- Thanks for dropping by and for the kind words.

Mark- That is very high praise indeed, especially coming from such an accomplished composer as yourself.  Made my day.  Many humble thanks.

Very touching lyrics! Nicely sung and produced. I won't add any more comments to the track as there were many comments before, but those strings or synth could sound a bit more orchestral. That would add a nice soft ending and melancholy feel to it.

Mooch- Thanks for the kind words.

Scotty- Thanks, man, yeah, would have loved to have had you along for the ride on this one.
JamesG- Thanks for the comments.  I had thought about a military style snare, but couldn't find a pattern I really liked.

Marius- Thanks for the kind remarks and comments.  Yeah, the synth solo leaves something to be desired and is not up to the rest of the song.  I just wish I knew what to do about it.  We almost had real strings there.

Robert- Thank you.  Glad you liked it.