Hi all, here's a new one . . . Mix advice, oh yes please!!!
 
please scroll down a bit, it's the first one on the right in the "Electronica/Fusion" player.
 
http://www.songsbytom.com/
 
 
I nominate this one for:
      1. most heavy-handed use of symbolic sound effects
      2. gratuitous use of echo/delay
      3. funky drum loop abuse in a major dirge
 
thanks for the time and the listens! 
-Tom

Very cool Tom - I really like the underlying groove and piano arpeggio going throughout most of it.
Mix-wise, the 'dirge' as you call it overwhelms the drums to my ears - up the drums and take the organ and shtuff down a hair :)
Nice though

Pretty cool Tom! This could really use a melodic lead guitar or synth and really wail on it, and there's a point where I thought you were going to go somewhere else and didn't.
 
Really nice piano throughout.
 
Regards,
Dan

Good delays parts on vocals.. well done arrangement with groovy rhythm parts .. a bit melancholy but beautiful song. Sounds nice
 
 
 I fixed a typo 

thanks y'all. 
 
Daryl1968 - I admire your work very much, the Staypress songwriting is fantastic!   I agree, the drums take a backseat, particularly in the middle of the song. The primary drums are of course just a four bar loop (Phil Gould's library) which I sliced up a little here and there, and overlayed some fills from AD2. Sometimes the drums sit lower primarily due to my shame in relying on one loop only! Although it is a very good one, I love the Phil Gould touch. I'll take a look at the parts where I can make the drums stand out more.
 
Dan - I admire your compositions and mixes in the extreme - you are completely right, I also saw the need/potential for a guitar solo . . . or some dominant lead part . . . but the truth is, this tune is probably the least favorite that I've done and I didn't feel like investing the time. Plus I'm kind of a dodgy keyboard-fingered guitar player at best. That's probably the real reason . . . many thanks!
 
Makke - thank you very much! I was going for "beautiful" and I think it ended up "beautifully sad" which is not everyone's cup of beer. Glad you liked it, thanks!
 
-Tom
 
 

Cool track Tom. Saw Phil Gould with level 42 a couple of times, great player. I didn't get 'sad' particularly, more a sense of urgency from the groove. Piano is quite beautiful.

I quite enjoyed that Tom, mix wise I found it got a little woolly in places, some of the instrumentation got lost, so a little cleaning perhaps some surgical EQ in place but other than that good tune, thanks for sharing.

Oh and I had to turn it down.

Very cool! It was like a story music piece and a journey into unknown. Mix was balanced on my system.

Very cool tune Tom........I like all the instrumentation and of course.....da bass!!! :)) Very nice journey with the different instruments that fit really well. Your mix is excellent.....good stuff!!
 
I also listened to Love's old sweet song.......my dad (RIP) used to sing that very often to my mom and us.......brought out fond memories and thought these type of songs had passed away with my dad's generation.....not so. Thanks!!

JamesG of Nettlesmith - wow you are a really lucky guy to have seen Phil Gould in my opinion. The best I could do was catch Level 42 as the opening act for Madonna in 1985. I cared not at all for the Material Girl, just went to see L42. The opened up to a capacity sports arena crowd, a crowd that was definitely not there to see them. L42 funked it up pretty badass but most people in the crowd were teenybopper girls dressed in that streety - fishnet -arm stockinged - poofed-out hair with the absurdly oversized bow -and-don't-dare-forget-the-rayban -sunglasses kind of look. They were not impressed with Level 42. After a few songs, Mark King said to them all "You guys look like the kind of crowd that really knows a good time! And this isn't it."
 
Anyway, sorry for the digression - glad you liked my song, many thanks!
 
Wookie - thanks, I appreciate the feedback! Seriously, one of my goals is to produce a song you don't have to turn the volume down on! Hopefully, a little less so each time as I try to learn what I am doing here! many thanks.
 
Mesh - great story about your Dad, really cool. I play some piano in restaurants so I have a deep appreciation for a lot of those older standards, and that's a REALLY old one! There is a nice version of that tune in the movie "Awakenings" if you ever see it, 1981 I think that came out. Also, glad you liked the tune . . .
 
-Tom