Wash My Blues Away (NEW MIX)

Hey Freddy, you really rewrote the book on this song.  The synth bass is rarely associated with the blues, yet it provided much of the drive for this tune.  And, the chord progression was something different than the typical I-IV-V progression we usually get.  The tone of your guitar was thick and just right for this, and you sang it well.  I could see those clouds rolling across the bay.  I applaud you for going outside the box!

prolific and terrific

Good stuff. I liked the chord progression.
I'm hearing separation between the vox and backer.
I think of most rock blues as having a more embedded vox that is screamed out (with verb and delay), both to get on top of the "live" band and to add feeling.
I'm uncomfortable with the Buddy Holly Ooo-ahoo touches (because I'm old enough to have been a big fan) but they might still work if the track has some reverb/delay, which would also mix it into the backer.
Good driving backer BTW, just needs to be up front more.
One man's opinion after all.

Freddy - this is such a cool blues tune - thanks for letting me participate.

Great guitar tones and riff. Sounds very good. Enjoyed it a lot.

Dang SoundQuack won't load. I'll try again later.

Interesting mix. I like the song but I'm not sure about the synth bass. Purely subjective but there it is. I like the feel and everything sounds great.

Nice!!!

Great job, guys!!!!

Cool tune.  Yeah, I was kinda' gettin' the ZZ Top thing goin' myself.  Good stuff, guys!

Just a brief clarification.  Many of you mentioned my use of a synthetic bass.  Obviously  I must have done something wrong because I didn't use a synthetic bass --- just my little ol' Epiphone bass.  This is typical of the problems that I have been having with this song.  I think that part of the problem was that I tried using a lot more compression-limiting than I ever have and this may have fuzzed stuff up.  In this new mix I have taken that out and increased the DR values from 8 to 12 (I am more comfortable with the 12-14 range).  I hope that this helps with the mix.
 
Hey Lynn.  Thanks for the kind words and encouragement.  Ya, I did stray from the typical 3 chord Blues progression. Some of the early electric Blues guys used to experiment with their stuff.  I thought I might try something a bit different.  In fact I remember listening to a couple of songs  from the early '50's that were done only in one chord and they were terrific.
 
Hi Shad.  Thanks for the feedback and offer to do the mix.  I thought that it might be a quick fix -- so, I thought I would try first.  I hope that if it doesn't work the offer will still hold.
 
Hello Robby and thank you! 
 
Thank you Frank and thanks for the tip.  I moved the drum fill up a bit --- I hope that works better.  Thanks again.
 
Thanks Glenn, Thanks for listening and I appreciate the feedback.  This song is a bit of an odd duck and probably doesn't fit any of the normal Blues categories.  It ended up very differently than what I intended when I started.  Let's just say a bit of confusion probably stirred things up.  You are probably right with the Holly-esque hic-up on the vocals but to paraphrase John Lee Hooker --- it was in me and had to come out   ;>)
 
Hey John.  Great to see you back on the forum.  I appreciate your taking time to listen and thanks for the kind comments.
 
Hi Mark.  Your guitar work really made this number.  It is always a treat to work on a number with you.
 
Thanks for listening James and thanks for the feedback.
  
Thank you Chas.  I'm very glad that you enjoyed it.
 
Hey I like ZZ Top!  Thanks for listening and responding Kev.  I appreciate it.
 
I appreciate the listen and the comments.  Thanks Gary.
 
Hi Robert.  Thanks for the feedback.  I'm not sure about the synth bass either --- hopefully, I may have addressed this problem (see my comments above).  Thanks again.
 
I'm glad you enjoyed it Paulo.  I changed things a bit, including the drums, that hopefully improved things a bit.  Thanks for the valued feedback.
 
Hey Scotty!!  Thanks for listening and for the kind words.
 
Duke Rollibard -- thanks Daryl.  Mark certainly did a terrific job in adding perfect fills and accents.  Thanks again.
 
Hello Phil.  I'm glad that you liked it.  Thanks for listening and taking the time to comment.
 
Thank you very much Mark (Courter).  Mark (Cline) did a great job on the fills -- didn't he?  I appreciate the kind words.
 
 

Hi Freddy, good job on this song and production.  Good lead vocal and Mark did great on the guitar licks. 

The bass sounds good - not like a synth to me.  The drums are too compressed and the snare very wide sounding as compared to cracking or popping.  If you lighten up the stereo compression on the kit it might help the drums breath a little.  The lead vocal seems too up front to me.  

I first listen on my speakers this morning at low volume 'cause my family is still sleeping.  I like to check my mixes at very low volume to see if I can still hear all the instruments.  In your mix, at low volume, I could not easily hear the kick and lead vocal seemed to be really up front.  Then, when I put on my ATH M50 cans, the kick was right there and the vocal did not seem as loud.  However, I am wondering if you did your final mix using phones instead of speakers.  You mix seems to translate better in phones to me anyway.  If you remix, try it on speakers at very low volume and then check in cans and speakers cranked up and see if you might like it better.  

I love the lyrics and vibe.  You guys did a nice job on this.  

Rimshot

Sounds great!  Very creative twist.  I like those guitar fills.  Vocals are excellent.  The snare sounded like it was missing the thud frequency, but maybe that was intended.

Hi John.  I used some commercial loops for the drums and have had some problems trying to get them to sound right.  Soooo, I pushed them to the back a bit.  Wrong move!  Thanks for listening and for the feedback.
 
Hello Rimshot. You're right about the drums (see above response).  Perhaps I should search my files and see if I can find a better fit.  I do an initial mix with headphones then I take the song and listen to it on the Bose.  If it sound bad (often the case), I note what I don't like and go back to work on the files.  I would use my computer speakers but they are really crummy (Santa Clause must not have gotten my wish list).  Thanks for taking the time to respond and for the feedback.
 
Hey Geno.  I appreciate the feedback and input.  I am having trouble with the drums (see the above two comments).  Other loop files that I have used from this batch have been OK but I've had a bit of trouble with this particular one.  Thanks again!
 
Hi Warren!  How are you?  Thanks for the good words and you are absolutely right --- Mark always adds to any song.  I should ask him do the mixes also but then I wouldn't learn what I'm doing wrong.  Thanks again.