Really great work, Reece. Great concept which came across really well. I think you got the effect you were after. Your vocals come across incredibly strong, perhaps a tad too strong in some places, but they are spot on! I remember when you were soliciting for this one... I'm glad you completed this one and thanks to all those who contributed.!!!

Hi Beagle,

Only thing I can say about it is the lead vocal seemed a tad loud to me, and it almost sounded like maybe you had all the instruments on their own bus and rolled off the high a tiny bit too much? Personally I'd like to hear the music a tinge brighter. I saw Bapu said the bass sounded a bit boomy, but I wonder if you made the whole thing (minus the lead vocal) a little brighter if that would fix it?

Anyhoo ... it's sound really good like it is and I liked the song.

Thanks,

Bub.

I missed the original version (too much Pie chomping!) but what a real delight to hear the new one. The concept is dazzling and the execution all that I would expect from a musician of your outstanding talent. The message really does come through with perfect clarity and the music has so much drive and energy it holds the listener from beginning to end. This is a truly great song.

Best Regards
Malcolm

Thatsastrat


Nice work on your song.
I am glad you are making good use of the voice lessons.
Sounding strong sir!

Thanks very much Bruce!  I appreciate the listen and the great compliments!

jamesyoyo


Cool idea and song, Reece. The last minute when there is the answer/call with the bg singers is terrific. They should come up more.

Your voice is just way too loud on the choruses.

And it is cutting me somewhere in the 2.2k range. Really needs to be tamped down.

+1 on the kick and snare. It could be a cool effect to have them distant like that in the background, but are way too wide presently to pull it off. 

 
James - thanks very much for comments!  I very much appreciate it!  my vocals in the chorus should have been lower than they were the last revision and the BGVs for the answer/call should have been higher than they were in the last revision.  for some reason I have been having a HECK of a time with volume envelopes in X1 in this project and the last export the envelopes on those two buses did not work correctly.  I've uploaded a new version this morning with the corrected envelopes for the vocals as well as dipped 2.2k out of my vocals and readjusted the EQ on the drum bus.  thanks for the detailed crits and if you get a chance to listen to this again, I'd appreciate more feedback on the changes!  thanks again for your help and the great comments!

paulo


This was one of those times where I went to listen thinking - prolly not gonna like this, but you have to give things a chance right ? So, what did I think after listening............?

Well, truth be told I listened to the first version you put up and didn't have time to comment, but later found myself humming the chorus despite myself, so that can only be good.

Came back for another listen last night and just to prove that you can't please everybody all the time, I think I preferred the first version overall. - I didn't keep it for comparison, so I'm just going by memory here.  I guess you made the changes as suggested by others, but for me the vocals are overpowering it now especially on the chorus. The multilingual prayer bit is a great idea and works really well. Drums are a bit too much in the background to me. I get that it's not meant to be a rock tune with pounding drums, but it kind of sounds like they are just being used to keep time rather than as an instrument if that makes sense. That said and in spite of myself, I like it a lot.

paulo, that's a GREAT compliment right there, and I am so pleased to hear that!!!!  (bold above regarding humming!)
 
you're right, I know I can't please everyone and honestly, as I've said today in my replies, the last revision you heard was an export disaster with envelopes gone awry.  I have now uploaded a new version where the lead vox should not be too overpowering, but if you and everyone else thinks they still are then I'll be glad to adjust them some more!
 
I've also readjusted the drums EQ and verb again on this version.  thanks!  I very much appreciate your great comments and glad you like it!

Bob Oister


Hi, Reece,


Fantastic job on this great song with a very nice inspirational message!


Excellent songwriting and arrangement, great performances, and your clean, strong vocals sound terrific.  I missed the first mix, but this one sounds clean, clear and pro sounding.  I might agree with James and Bub about the lead vocal during the choruses coming down just a little bit in volume, but of course, that's always subjective.


Outstanding job on this, Reece, it's really great to hear another original from you, and this is truly magnificent! 
Bob

Bob my friend, you are SUCH the encourager!  I really enjoy that about you!  I've fixed the vocals with this newest version, I think.  I hope you guys have time to listen again and let me know what you think.  Thanks again for the great comments!  I appreciate it very much!

malcolmb


I missed the original version (too much Pie chomping!) but what a real delight to hear the new one. The concept is dazzling and the execution all that I would expect from a musician of your outstanding talent. The message really does come through with perfect clarity and the music has so much drive and energy it holds the listener from beginning to end. This is a truly great song.

Best Regards
Malcolm

Malcolm - thanks so much for listening and the great comments!  I'm not worthy of your "musician of your outstanding talent" comment, but I thank you very much!  glad you liked it and thanks again!

Hi Beag.    Very cool idea for a song.  I really like your voice.
 Lots of excellent notes from folks here and i've only to add:  The chorus is begging for harmonies...big fat lush dripping harmonies (moving if possible).  But it's just an opinionated guy making more pinions.

:)

I liked the intro very much, and the middle part with Yvonne... she has a very plesant voice... Nice work Reece... Inspired...

Much better. Your voice could still stand to get dropped a half db on the loud choruses. Butnow I can't hear the bg singers at the end?

i totally forgot about doing this Reece! This voice sounds NOTHING like you, when i last heard, which was a demi-operatic tenor voice...it sounds so much smoother and more professional now...by far the best thing I have heard from you, the BV are superb too and a perfect counterpoint to your declamation...like the bass work too. oh, and i CAN hear the BGV fine on headphones on the laptop...

Hey Beagle
 
The bass and percussion are sounding right to me now on my equipment.  One thing that I heard that I noticably liked and hadn't noticed before is the sound simplification/clarity that starts at about 3:10.  I think the tones reflect the clarity of understanding or of coming to an understanding if that is what you were trying for.  Strange that I didn't notice it before.

Bub


New mix sounds good to me. :)

Thanks Bub!!!

gcolbert


Hey Beagle
 
The bass and percussion are sounding right to me now on my equipment.  One thing that I heard that I noticably liked and hadn't noticed before is the sound simplification/clarity that starts at about 3:10.  I think the tones reflect the clarity of understanding or of coming to an understanding if that is what you were trying for.  Strange that I didn't notice it before.

Gary - thanks for listening and the feedback on the bass & percussion!  3:10 is where the key changes, BTW from Cm to CM.  that's exactly the feeling I had hoped to achieve there with that trasition!  thanks for validating it!!

Much better.  I can hear those sweet harmonies now.

ChuckC


Sounds good here Beagle!  Love the vocals, both lead and back up.  She has a nice voice too.   Nice execution and mix.  I am impressed sir!

Thanks Chuck!  I appreciate the listen and the kind words!  I've showed Yvonne this thread and she appreciates the kind words as well!  She is not a sonar user, but she is a songwriter herself and we sing at church together.

Janet


Wow--sounds like you've had as much fun revising this as I always do mine!  lol  Anyway, glad you were finally able to finish this.  I'd totally forgotten about it.  It sounds good to me, and what a cool concept!  

When's the next one coming out?  :)  

Yeah, I had a hard time with the mix on this one.  A big part of the problem I'm having is X1 is not consistent with envelopes in this project.  I'm not sure why.  we have some theories on the X1 forum, but???  Anyway, thank you so much for your contribution on this!  did you imagine this would be the result?
 
I've got 3 originals and 1 cover "in the works" right now.  I'm hoping to have 2 of them posted by the end of the month, but we'll see!  Both are collabs.  thanks again!

No How


Much better.  I can hear those sweet harmonies now.

Great, Rick!  thanks so much for listening again and letting me know!!  I appreciate it!

in X1 the volume envelope and the clip gain envelopes are almost the same thing anyway.  when you add a clip gain envelope on a track then X1 creates clip gain envelopes for EVERY clip across the track with nodes at beginning and end of each clip.

as far as having a good compressor to be sorting it out, yes, I have parallel compression on both vocals, but I'm actually doing the opposite, I'm compressing then using the volume envelope on the output, not the input to raise the output in places where I want more "output."  for example, on the BGV's if the output is level all the way through the song, how do I bring the BGV volume up during the call/answer section where I need her vocals to be "more prominent"?  the way I chose to do that was with a volume envelope.

I think the bass sound a lot. It's still too loud. The toms are causing a lot of rumble when they sound.

I'm not sure I like the snare. That's purely subjective though. It sounds like the snares are too loose. I never liked that sound but again, it's purely subjective. It could come up a bit.

Again, I don't like the subject but like the song. Given that, it's funny that my favorite christmas song is Boney M's "Mary's  boy child".