Where I Need To Be - Final Mix 21 Aug 2013

"Oops, looks like we can't find that page!"

sorry Ed... I tried...

got another link? 

Those guitars are entirely too loud and are swamping everything else.

I believe there is a good song underneath it all!

I like the delivery/phrasing of the lyrics. You could loosen up a bit as Frank mentioned. Reminds me of Dylan just a little. 

Maybe I'm biased because Ed and I are close friends and we work together a bunch, but what I hear is a great lyric with a good melody and a decent delivery.  I think it's a personal message type tune where melody sort of takes a back seat to the lyric and story.  I felt the vocal delivery was kinda' Dylanesque, and thought Ed did a pretty good job with it.  So, I may be in the minority there, but those are my thoughts.

Mix wise I thought the guitar was needed more body and less top end to it.


Overall- very well done.

I like it, even the vocals! Good job Ed (I'm wearing my tee shirt that says "give me Ed till I'm dead" in a show of support) I put the shun in addiction...

Very Dylanesque.  I like it.  I could almost hear a B3 in the background a la Like A Rolling Stone.  

I liked the music underneath, and the lyrics were real nice, but I felt the vocals didn't sit right somehow. They felt like they were delivered exactly the same way with each word, and not much variety.

You have a nice voice babu, but I don't feel you are pushing it to its full potential. 

I hope you are not offended by this as it is not my intention.

Mark.

It's really great to hear you singing and writing from the heart.


best regards,
mike

notnat


I don't know James... I think it's mainly that C-note on the B string, that is sticking way out there... I'd try to notch-filter that note... otherwise the mix sounds ok to me... I'm not excited by the melody, or the somewhat stiff delivery, but all-in-all, it was not bad... I like the lyrics... I didn't know you were a gypsy... nice job Ed...

Frank, 


Thanks for the honesty. I really do appreciated it. For me it's never frowned upon. I feel that if I post a song here it is my responsibility to be open to accepting everyone's opinion on what they "hear".


As a beginning singer I realize that my delivery is stiff. And I know that since I "wrote" the melody in real time (not mapped out on a instrument first) it is probably not my best or most interesting melody.  Someone said to me (privately) that I sound like I'm singing as if I am listening to myself and not just "going for it" totally from the heart. That is pretty accurate for me.


To be honest I was singing from my heart but my tool (vocal ability) is not yet honed and I know that. At my age (just turned 60) I may never get a honed voice but I'm grateful I have the ability to put out there what I can do without being too embarrassed (even before the comments).


As far as being a gypsy , that is how I described my father who quit school in the 10th grade and was a practicing alcoholic up until the day he died at at age 67. He never not have a career. We moved numerous times until I was 16. I went to seven different elementary schools in California, Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois and.... I went to two of them at different grades. So I see that as being a gypsy child if that makes sense.

Thanks for sharing your heart ED.  Better peeps than me here to give you advice.

Nice stuff Baps. I agree with some others, has a Dylan vibe. But, you sing better than him (or he didn't have Melodyne).
That's an acoustic (left)??  I listened the other day and was going to say pull down the electric guits..?
Well, whatever it is there on the left, It's still (new mix) a little jangly and loud for my taste.
But then, I always think guitars are too loud..


Well done though Mr. Ed..

Ed, this sounds far superior to your first mix.  You obviously produced this with love, and it shows.  I find it interesting that you used EZ Keys, as I have been pondering that program for a while.  The ribbon mic sounds good on your voice.  It seems super smooth, especially through the Grace preamp.  Did you have to EQ it much?  I'm just curious because a ribbon mic is one of the tools missing from my mic locker.  Well done, and it's good to hear an original from you.

Really like the melody and the vocal. The acoustic is a little loud for my taste as mentioned by others. Also would rather hear the drums done differently. All in all, very good.

jamesyoyo


Those guitars are entirely too loud and are swamping everything else.

I believe there is a good song underneath it all!

I wonder if you've listened to the new mix yet?


Oh yeah, Philz was wondering if you were ever going to listen to I Ain't Workin' No More?

The new mix seems more balanced.

How about pulling the guitars back on the chorus and letting the piano breathe a bit in those parts.

It may not be that the strummed guitars are too loud... it may just be that they are omni present.

Maybe pull the guitars back at places and then pop them up where the strumming propels the song.

On the other hand there are places where the piano parts seem busy where I am listening for some sort of chordal pad of whole notes. Those parts are on the verses where I am listening for some sort of chord bed to frame the vocal help it sound harmonious.

The bass is playing a great supportive part... there are times where I might try to see if the piano could support the vocals in the same simple way but with simple chords rather than just bass notes.

The turnarounds and intro sound just right. The piano parts and the guitar mesh nicely there.


That's the place to bring the guitars up t where they already are... to ramp up some excitement after the verse.






I like the use of reverb. 


I personally, like to place my pop combo mixes in one room... that's from my interest in live music listening of pop combos. 


I think this song could gel up a bit if the reverb used on the different instruments seemed a bit more similar. Am I making a fool of myself here? Are they all the same reverb on a bus? Or are you mixing and matching?


I like to use some reverb as an effect and then some master reverb as glue. I'd be interested in more "glue" but I think that you may also want to tweak the effect reverb to make it all work smooth.



You know I hate saying this stuff so do me a favor... don't pay attention to anything I just wrote. ;-)


Hugs and pancakes.

best regards,
mike