danhazer
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New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
Please take a listen to my wife's new song, "Beautiful." It's a song about the importance of forgiveness in our lives. Michael Fogarty (Michael Japan) contributed the piano, B3 and of course some good advise on the mix, too. A big "thanks!" to him for all of his help. Click here for the link to Beautiful. Thanks,
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RLD
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 10:19:21
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I couldn't hear anything that was off...so that must mean everything is on!...  Sounds great... RLD
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patrickhamm
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 10:20:27
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Dan, to me, the main purpose of the songs forum is to give constructive comments and suggestions, and the purpose of my posts is to make people smile or laugh. I am afraid I have neither to offer here.
All I have to say is that is song is wonderful. Honestly, I enjoy it a great deal!
Truly Beautiful.
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rossipsu1
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 10:23:06
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Very Sweet...it really sounds like your wife could pull off a multitude of differing genre's. Ever roughed her up (vocally, I mean) and had her wail on something with an edge ??
Nothing jumps out as far as problems go, but I'd have to listen on my monitors at home to make a fair assessment. Usually if things sound good on my crap-o-phones, you've done a good job.
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 11:17:19
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ORIGINAL: RLD
I couldn't hear anything that was off...so that must mean everything is on!...
Sounds great...
RLD
Thanks for the kind words. Coming from a guy who's stuff sounds as good as yours, it means a lot.
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ed_mcg
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 11:18:13
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Dan,
Excellent as usual. I just have one comment, and it's my usual one: I could see boosting Amy's voice just a touch; to me she's competing with the rhythm track and especially the snare drum.
This will be a fine CD you're putting together.
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pilfa
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 11:30:33
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Great production as always..... nicely put together. Also a really good song.
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m11
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 11:47:39
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Hi Dan,
very beautiful song. Excellent musicmanship and vocals.
Mixing.. hmmm.. Maybe it's just my personal taste, but:
Compared to what I'm used to hear, the vocals lack some presence. A little cut at 1-1.5khz and a little boost at 10Khz together with a bit deessing would help IMHO.
I don't like the drums. It's not the sound, it's what the drums are playing. Especially the snare. Better at 2:20. Maybe some more variation would help.
hth.
Melf
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 11:56:58
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ORIGINAL: patrickhamm
Dan, to me, the main purpose of the songs forum is to give constructive comments and suggestions, and the purpose of my posts is to make people smile or laugh. I am afraid I have neither to offer here.
All I have to say is that is song is wonderful. Honestly, I enjoy it a great deal!
Truly Beautiful.
Pat, thanks for your kind words. You're one of those intresting people who simply knows how to make good sounding music inherently. It's like an gift you were given. So for you to complement this song in such a way is really significant to me. Thanks again,
post edited by danhazer - 2005/02/14 12:04:55
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:00:54
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ORIGINAL: rossipsu1
Very Sweet...it really sounds like your wife could pull off a multitude of differing genre's. Ever roughed her up (vocally, I mean) and had her wail on something with an edge ??
Nothing jumps out as far as problems go, but I'd have to listen on my monitors at home to make a fair assessment. Usually if things sound good on my crap-o-phones, you've done a good job.
Dave, thanks for the kind words. Want to hear amy sing something with an edge? Click this link to her song, "Compassion." It's an old mix of the song and it has been through several updates, but it's good enough to give you and idea of how Amy can rock. By the way, how's your project coming along?
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:05:33
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ORIGINAL: ed_mcg
Dan,
Excellent as usual. I just have one comment, and it's my usual one: I could see boosting Amy's voice just a touch; to me she's competing with the rhythm track and especially the snare drum.
This will be a fine CD you're putting together.
Ed, thanks for the comments. I can go along with your critisism, but I don't know that boosting the volume is the solution. It's probably a matter of complimentary EQ'ing because I feel the voice is very much out on top. Stay alert, I may have some bass playing for you to do pretty soon on a song of her's. Are you still interested? Thanks,
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:06:40
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ORIGINAL: pilfa
Great production as always..... nicely put together. Also a really good song.
Thank you for the complement. I look forward to hearing more material from you as well. Thanks again,
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sfripp
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:14:32
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Wow Dan!!! I enjoyed the song very much! I can't believe I nearly missed the theme! It was better the third time through.  ....  I'm such a sook!
E6600 Core2Duo, 2gigC4 corsair, Asus P5B, LynxII, 3xWD250Gig SATAII BFD, Dimension Pro, Z3Ta
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:15:03
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ORIGINAL: m11
Hi Dan,
very beautiful song. Excellent musicmanship and vocals.
Mixing.. hmmm.. Maybe it's just my personal taste, but:
Compared to what I'm used to hear, the vocals lack some presence. A little cut at 1-1.5khz and a little boost at 10Khz together with a bit deessing would help IMHO.
I don't like the drums. It's not the sound, it's what the drums are playing. Especially the snare. Better at 2:20. Maybe some more variation would help.
hth.
Melf
I think I pretty much agree with your criticism about the vocals. I am going for warm, and I almost have exactly what I want. I'll look into your EQ suggestion and see if it gets me all the way there. I love the drums, I think they're great. My drummer and I worked hand-n-hand to get that sound and it's exactly what I want. They play a different role than a typical drum part for 80% of the song and that role is to simply provide a rhythmic bed upon which the instruments are supported. I feel I did a good job in representing that feel. Different strokes, I guess... Thanks for your comments,
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ed_mcg
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:18:16
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Are you still interested? You bet! This is good stuff.
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:29:36
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Wow Dan!!! I enjoyed the song very much! I can't believe I nearly missed the theme! It was better the third time through. .... I'm such a sook! Shaun, I'm glad you like it - thanks for listening. Yeah, the theme is very integral to the songs message - I'm glad you caught it. Did you get sappy? Thanks again,
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sfripp
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 12:31:32
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Did you get sappy? Nearly! but I caught it just in time!! 
E6600 Core2Duo, 2gigC4 corsair, Asus P5B, LynxII, 3xWD250Gig SATAII BFD, Dimension Pro, Z3Ta
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avvie
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 19:10:06
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This tune would have no problem competing on adult Top Forty radio. Great tune!
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DarrylCoy
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 21:46:29
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Dan,
The performance and production are nailed. Your songs are some of the best mixes/pre-masters I've heard on the forum. Amy's vocals sit nicely in the mix.
On the flip side, the drums in the verse seem too redundant. I would cut the first two measures, but that's my opinionated opinion.
You and your wife are a good songwriting team. Regards, Darryl
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robert messick
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/14 23:08:01
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 01:01:27
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ORIGINAL: DarrylCoy
Dan,
The performance and production are nailed. Your songs are some of the best mixes/pre-masters I've heard on the forum. Amy's vocals sit nicely in the mix.
On the flip side, the drums in the verse seem too redundant. I would cut the first two measures, but that's my opinionated opinion.
You and your wife are a good songwriting team. Regards, Darryl
Darryl, You have always been too kind and I appreciate you very much. Thanks so much for your review. Regards,
post edited by danhazer - 2005/02/15 01:09:22
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RRabbi
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 07:09:29
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can I ask what your technique was for her bgv tracks? sounds really good....
Dave :)
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 07:37:30
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very nice! Robert, welcome to the forum. Thanks for listening to "Beautiful."
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 07:41:47
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ORIGINAL: RRabbi
can I ask what your technique was for her bgv tracks? sounds really good....
Dave :)
Dave, first off - Thanks for listening. As for the bgv's - You need a very special piece of equpment to get bgv's like that. It's pretty hard to find. It's called a good singer. Seriously though, it's a simple two part harmony that Amy doubles for thickness. Then all I did was apply a roll off and pan them a little. There's not any other processing not even so much as compression. Thanks again,
post edited by danhazer - 2005/02/15 07:49:57
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Sonic
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 10:51:54
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I really like this track... and I dig the supporting role the drums play.
To get picky...
I think the vocals sound a bit thin. Not that they don't work, but thet could use a bit of 'beef'. Also, they chorous tkaes a while to come in, and then it doesn't come in enough. One more verse/chorous would be great(IMHO).
Nice work! I wish I had a partner with such talent to collaborate with!
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 11:26:29
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ORIGINAL: Sonic
I really like this track... and I dig the supporting role the drums play.
To get picky...
I think the vocals sound a bit thin. Not that they don't work, but thet could use a bit of 'beef'. Also, they chorous tkaes a while to come in, and then it doesn't come in enough. One more verse/chorous would be great(IMHO).
Nice work! I wish I had a partner with such talent to collaborate with!
Hey thanks! I'm glad you like the track. Thin vox: Man, why are vox such a pain to work with? Anyway, yes. I thinned them out ever so slightly by putting a dip at 270 Hz. About -4 or -5 dB, I think. There was a bubble popping up through the mix in her voice at that frequency. It's hard to go a long with the comment about the chorus not arriving soon enough since it occurs only 38 seconds into the song. I can, however see why you'd say that it doesn't come in enough. Your music rules, by the way. Thanks for listening,
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Sonic
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RockMaestro
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 16:11:33
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Great song there Mr & Mrs Monaghan. Although I've come to expect nothing less from you Dan. I would liked to hear a variation in the instrumentation or dynamic in the different sections of the song. The bridge that ends at 2:46 is a pretty good example of this, but I think you could do something like use your marching snare pattern in the verse and then just a hit on 2 and 4 during the main "life used to be beautiful" theme. And maybe something too like making the piano more prominent in one section and the guitar more prominent in the other. Keep rocking man!
post edited by RockMaestro - 2005/02/15 16:22:37
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danhazer
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 16:58:15
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ORIGINAL: RockMaestro
Great song there Mr & Mrs Monaghan. Although I've come to expect nothing less from you Dan.
I would liked to hear a variation in the instrumentation or dynamic in the different sections of the song. The bridge that ends at 2:46 is a pretty good example of this, but I think you could do something like use your marching snare pattern in the verse and then just a hit on 2 and 4 during the main "life used to be beautiful" theme. And maybe something too like making the piano more prominent in one section and the guitar more prominent in the other.
Keep rocking man!
Peter thanks so much for taking time to listen to "Beautiful." I'm glad you like it. As I explained to Melf earlier about the drums - They have a different purpose than a typical drum part for 80% of the song and that purpose is to simply provide a rhythmic buttress upon which the instruments are supported. So while I can appreciate that someone would think it's neat to vary them between verse and chorus, that's just not what I wanted. It was a very deliberate production decision for this song - I stand by it and I'm happy with it. Thanks again for listening,
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Blades
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RE: New Song By Amy Monaghan - Beautiful
2005/02/15 17:25:18
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Dan, Great song, nicely recorded and mixed. I actually listened to this all the way through, which is pretty rare . Anyway, I will pass the link aong to the guy who leads our youth mass (for which I'm the drummer)...he likes to hear good stuff coming out, and is also a great songwriter. Anyway...if I had a thing or two to pick on, I think they are at mix level. I get the drums. I think the snare may be just a LITTLE too chunky in the low mids (not the mid lows ). Not too loud, just eating a bit too much down there and making that vocal hard to place JUST like you want it. The vocal. I like the dry sound, but it seems like this might be just a hair too dry and not blending into the rest of the tune quite right. These are very little nit-picks...left as it is, it's fine - those would just be a few things I'd adress if it were my mix. Great job.
post edited by Blades - 2005/02/15 17:33:11
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