New Mix #4 - 11-8-15 (No AD/HD Percussion! LOL!)
 
Note: LOL, Finally took EVERYONE's advice and dumped my feeble attempts at bongos, congas, shakers, tambourines, sidesticks, etc.!   Also did a little more tweaking on the acoustic guitar timing, so I'm hoping that thanks to all your help, I was able to salvage this one, and I can get back to my usual hard rock and metal!  Whew!!!
 
Thanks again, everybody!
Bob
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Hi again, guys!
 
I just uploaded another Test Mix for an Acoustic song called "One For The Road".
 
If you can spare a few moments to check it out, as always, any and all helpful comments, suggestions, constructive criticism, input and ideas are very welcome, and also greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for any observations, suggestions, comments and ideas!  You guys are the BEST!
 
Bob
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"One For The Road"
 
128kbps MP3 on SoundClick at:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13237848
 
Or... Better Quality 320kbps MP3 format on the Player at: http://www.boboister.com/test-mixes.html
 

Bob,
 
I love this song, the story and the feeling (in the realm of "nothing else matters" BUT...
 
Timing with the bongo does not suit this song, is that a loop yea? I think this should all be tightened up. I think if you found a loop with more bounce and syncopation (less drum hits) then played guitar to lock in and then do vocals to lock in further. Only my 2 cents
 
Also a harmonica may create the ambience that you need too, just a thought
 
Cian

Man, you just keep making good ones, Bob. I really liked this song and the change of pace from your other work. Your vocals, both the lead and bg are really nice, especially in the pre-chorus, great feeling there in your singing. The guitars panned works well to create a nice warm space for everything to settle into.
 
Gotta go along with the comment about the bongos, though. :) It seems that sometimes the acoustic in the right channel gets out of time with the left, but that could be me imagining things. Also, I feel like a warmer, maybe even closer vocal treatment is appropriate in this song, like maybe ease up just a bit on the eq for the lead vocal to be less cutting; there's a lot of space in this song.
 
 
 

Hey Bob, nice melodic tune. I'd lose the bongo track. It doesn't do anything for the track but distract. I think dropping the guitar on the right would also help. Timing isn't tight with the left. I think just splitting the guitar into a wide pan stereo would work nicely. For percussion, maybe try a simple side stick, with a subtle hi-hat. Perhaps experiment with a soft kick drum also, although it might work without it too. I like the string track, but for a little dynamics maybe wait a bit to bring it in til the 1st break.
 
Nice change of pace for you man.

Very nice change up and melodic tune here Bob......lingers on in my head :)..
 
I agree with the others comments as well and Randy nails it on the head.....possibly a much slower paced percussion that accented the beat might work.
I'm listening with the MP3 player on your website and at the 3:23 mark, (just before you sing "And" the sound cuts off.....possibly the MP3 conversion or something in the original recording. Listening on my headphones......I thought the vocals could come up a few dB's......I have to say your vocal recording/performance is very good and very, very clear.....nice mate!!  
  
A personal suggestion here: this tune might do well with an intro bar of the strings only.......just before the guitar comes in but, this is just personal taste.
 
Nice song Bob...very catchy!!
 
   

I can't find the link in the "upper right" Bob.

Note: New Mix Up - 10-26-15!
 
Changes noted in the replies below, thanks to everyone so much for all your great input, advice and suggestions!
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whack:
 
Hi, Cian,
 
Thanks so much for lending your good ears and great input again, I can't thank you enough!
 
This song was another one of my "Lightning Bolt to the Brain" songs that I wrote and recorded completely from start to finish in a grand total of exactly 53 minutes.  It was after seeing on the late night news that a very good friend of mine that followed my last band for more than 12 years, had died tragically in a 3:30am house fire that left nothing but a charred foundation of the family home.
 
I really threw this together quickly and had never used percussion in any of my other stuff, but in my head I was hearing a 1970's "Coffee House" folk percussion vibe.  So, I tapped out the original bongo track on my midi controller, found a fairly steady sounding section, hit <CTRL> L and quantized the daylights out of it. LOL!
 
For this new Mix #2, I took your advice and simplified things with a light shaker and a much more subdued conga track.  I'm hoping it fits the mood of the track a bit better.
 
I also split the clips and tweaked the timing of my hastily recorded acoustic guitars to try to lock things in a little better.
 
Thanks again, brother Cian, greatly appreciated, my friend!
Bob
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kevinwal:
 
 
Hey, Kevin,
 
Thanks so much, buddy, I really appreciate your good input and very kind words!  Especially about the "feeling" in the vocals, as you can see why in my reply to Cian up above.
 
Yes, Sir, for this new mix I redid and greatly slimmed down the percussion track, and did some chopping and nudging to hopefully fix up the timing issues in the acoustic guitar tracks.
 
I'm really grateful for you taking time to help out with this and offer your observations and good suggestions!
 
Have a good one!
Bob
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Randy P:
 
 
Hey, Randy, How are you, buddy?  It's really fantastic to hear from you!
 
Thanks so much for checking in on this one for me and for your excellent input, observations and ideas!  I truly appreciate your input, especially because way back when I first joined the forum, your killer Rip Roren stuff on Soundclick, along with that of a few of the other original core members of the forum at the time were part of the reason that I decided to stop lurking and actually sign up to the forum!  I also seem to remember a few cool collabs that you did with Larry, James and a few others here at the time.
 
For the new mix I took your good advice and held back the violin track for a while to let the opening guitars breathe before bringing it in later to build some texture and dynamic change.  Great idea!  Sometimes I forget that removing elements can help out a song just as much as adding them.
 
As I mentioned above to Cian, I threw this whole thing together from dead scratch in less than an hour, after some shocking news, and this was my first ever attempt at a hand percussion track because I'm usually trying my best at hard rock and metal drums.  So, I also tested out your side stick, hats and soft kick drum suggestion, but I couldn't seem to get it to fit the '70s Coffee House vibe that I was going for, so I ended up redoing the percussion with just a quiet shaker and some slower, very laid back congas.  I'm hoping it glues thing together a little better without being a distraction.  I also split the acoustic clips and did some slipping and sliding to try to tighten up the timing and lock things in a bit better.
 
Thanks a bunch, Randy, I really appreciate you stopping by on this one, and always value your opinion highly!
 
Have a good one!
Bob
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Mesh:
 
 
Hey, Mesh,
 
How are things?  Hope you had a great weekend!
 
Big thanks for your good input and help on this one!  You, Randy, Kevin and Cian gave me exactly what I needed to try to get this hastily written and recorded song into much better shape!  You, and the rest of the great people who participate on this forum are truly the best!
 
As per your suggestions, for the new mix I redid the percussion with a much slower tempo and added a very quiet shaker to accent things a little, and I touched up the guitar timing a bit to lock things in better.
 
Thanks again, Mesh, I'm always grateful for your input, friendship and support!
 
Have a great week, buddy!
Bob
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Rimshot:
 
 
Hey, Jimmy,
 
It's great to hear from you, buddy!  Thanks for trying to check this out for me, and I'm sorry you're having problems trying to listen.
 
If you're trying to listen on the Test Mix Page on my website, and you're on your mobile phone, my flash media player is probably not showing on the phone and you can listen on the SoundClick link instead.  (I'm actually in the middle of revamping my website and hope to have the new, improved version up in a few weeks!)
 
If your listening on your computer, the media player on my Test Mix Page is right under the Bright Yellow "TEST MIXES" text, directly to the right of the White Text that says:
 
"NEW TEST MIX UP ------------------->
Check Out "One For The Road"!"
 
Just click on the photo of my ugly mug standing in the sunset with my guitar, or on the list of test mixes below the photo.
 
Please let me know if you have any more problems!
 
Hope this helps, I always look forward to and greatly appreciate your input, observations and good suggestions on my stuff!
 
Have a good one, Jimmy!
Bob
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I really like this as a song and recording Bob - the harmonies are superb.
edit - First listen 10/26, so I guess I'm listening to the new mix.

Bob, hi. Nice big acoustic sound - love it. This tune has a really nice melody and your vocals sound great. I do think there is a timing problem on this one - the shaker?
 
All in all, as always - a superior tune.