"In The Mean Time" examines the elusive perception of time, specifically as one gets older.
Featuring Orange Tree Samples' Evolution Strawberry Guitar on the rhythm part as well as the 2nd electric guitar. For the lead, I used my old standby, MusicLab's RealLPC and AmpliTube 4.  Also used in the song is Toontrack's Superior Drummer, Scarbee's Rickenbacker Bass, and of course my vocals on Camel cigarettes and Celemony's Melodyne Studio.  (Scroll down the song page for the lyrics)  Comments, compliments, suggestions, critiques are always welcome. Enjoy!

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13407158

Very well done Leee, just the same as always, mix well done, sound quality excellent, playing done very well. Vocals Dylan like, very well done. You do very nice stuff in all aspects of the creative process.

desertbluesman

Thanks Harvey/DBM.  I always appreciate your responses to my songs.  You're probably my #1 supporter...at least the most consistently responsive. 

Hey -- very well recorded and a good demo of your song.  Liked those guitar sounds.  Good job on this presentation !!
 
Allan
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Thanks Allan, I appreciate your feedback.

Nice one Lee, got a Tom Petty vibe going on in your vocal. Like the intro very much, and the changes are cool.

I am getting that Tom Petty on the vocals, all sounds to be there in the mix, thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys, yeah I get a lot of Dylan and Tom Petty vocal comparisons.  Today I got a Randy Newman comparison.
But as I responded to the person who made that comparison, I don't set out to emulate any particular singer, but whenever I try to add some energy to an otherwise naturally weak vocal ability, that's when my vocals start sounding a little like Dylan or Petty.   If I were to put no effort into adding any energy, I'd probably sound more like a "talk/singing" Lou Reed.....which I'm told only works for Lou Reed.

Listening to this was a real learning experience for me first and foremost. And that doesn't mean I wasn't listening to the music. By that, I mean the "AIR" in between everything listening to it seemed very close to JUST RIGHT in the mix. And I am no Mix Expert at all. But I am trying to learn with my own musical records. 
 
I'm sorry, I apologize, I shouldn't be mentioning me so much, but I mention that ONLY TO SAY THANKS as to how you have helped me just listening to HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE where recording goes, or that is the type of music I like to play and record for myself. 
 
This sounds really good! The song and music were EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
As a guitar player and someone who records their own music I can't get over the AIR in between every instrument, you can hear everything and it's not muddled together. 
 
Great Song! And I rarely comment on a MIX, I'm still learning, or trying to learn for my own music. 
Great Mix! And the air in between the instruments I think is something everyone should strive for when it comes to recording so you can hear everything. 
 
Thank you! This was an enjoyable Song to listen to, and a learning experience all at the same time as to HOW YOU RECORD & MIX your music. 
 
 

Thanks Serious_Noize, that's very kind of you to say.  I'm very much like you when listening to other people's songs from this forum and other music forums.  They often seem to have that magic "X" factor that crosses the line from a song I might create to a genuine professional sounding song.

I've been writing and recording for almost 40 years now, but it wasn't until the last few years that I've been making a serious effort into learning how to mix and master like the pros.  And I humbly say that I've seen a big improvement in my songs from those I recorded a few years ago.   I've read countless books on music production, as well as watched many video tutorials.   I've learned how to separate each instrument, either by panning, or by EQing, and give each instrument it's own space.   I put a special emphasis on the blending of the kick drum and bass, for me that's my starting point. 

I'm still far from being an expert, a lot of my projects are just a lucky hit or miss kind of thing, but at least now I know some tricks of the trade to guide me.   This song for example was part skill and part luck.  The two guitar parts (not including the lead guitar), I randomly searched and eventually picked two different sounds from the Evolution Strawberry Guitar, and they blended really well together, and I panned them 30-L and 30-R, so the blending is a bit more noticeable.
   
I also rely on presets a lot.  I've gotten pretty good at mixing, but mastering is still something I need to have more experience with.   I use iZotope's Ozone 7 for mastering, and again they offer a lot of presets  (some I use as is, and some I tweak), but I find the right touch of compression (something that was a complete mystery to me several years ago) can make the song have that X factor.   Ozone's many modules may seem overwhelming at first, but by trial and error, I've learned a lot about mastering from simply using that software over and over again.
But I feel I still have a ways to go to make my songs sound as good as many of the songs I hear from this group.

But thanks again for your compliments, it tells me I must be doing something right!