steve@baselines.com

19 hours ago, mark skinner said:

You did a Great job of explaining !  and I get it. There are a few phrases in the song that sound a little too emotional. I totally agree. I will take your comment to heart in future songs.  To be honest ..  I think it was just my "weak voice" singing at 5am that was misconstrued as emotion. Working long hours and totally burned out afterwards, I got into the habit of doing daw work early in the mornings before work. Retired for 10 years , but still on the same schedule.      I really need to do vocals later in the day.   

It's always tough to give feedback of that sort - the song is obviously good and you don't want to be a downer to somebody who works so hard.  Your response is exactly the intended response (about future songs) - I do the same thing - it's good to get the suggestions that you can take forward with you, especially if like me you are working in sort of a vacuum now all alone in the studio!

And if I tried to sing in the morning, I'd end up sounding like a pissed off turkey squawking at cars going by - in order to get anywhere close to being able to hit any notes, I need to be up for a few hours at least!

Great old time rock (for me anyway) - brings back great memories from the stuff that came out in the 70s hayday - and that is a compliment!

4 hours ago, Old Joad said:

Cool song, I enjoyed the video?

I left my comments on your YOUTUBE channel.

Thank you!  I'm going to be using You Grow to get it (the song) on playlists on Spotify starting the 12th.  You Grow worked really well for my last release.  I think I might make a post here about it so others know my positive experience.

Nice rhythmic uplifting feel with those splendid acoustic guitars.

Very cool - that droning piano or whatever it is is really fun through the whole thing.  A truly fun listen.

Love the whammy bar!

I really liked this one - the great acoustic tones and the interplay with it and the electric are stunning.  Catchy beat that keeps things moving, interesting lyrics.  If I had to pick one thing to comment about it would be the amount of emotion put into the vocals.  Don't get me wrong, it is really nice.  I don't know if I can explain this, but I will try - while listening I thought of Paul Simon singing this - he has the ability to maintain the sadness of a song without showing it in his singing - I hope you know what I mean.  He somehow reigns in his emotions with his tone, and by doing so he somehow makes the song all that much more emotional.  Maybe American Tune is an example of that.

10 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

Comment on YT

?'s ?

t

Thank you Tom - and thanks for subscribing to my YT - much appreciated!

16 hours ago, Kevin Walsh said:

This is a really good song with interesting changes that keep you engaged all the way through.  (You seem to channel Jeff Lynne to my ear.) Nice job following the changes with the vocals  Great performances all around with a beautiful video, great job Steve!

Thank you Kevin!

I loved it - the attitude, tone, harmonies, hand claps and a modulation that works.  It made me think of a video I found yesterday.  It was of John and Yoko and a bunch of kids looking at the construction of a new house they were going to buy in the country near the water.  This song would perfectly fit the mood of that video I think - at least I can see it all coming together in my head!

Nice job - I like those synths in the middle.

Superb guitar tone, nice song and vocals.  If you are looking for suggestions, I'd do something with the drums.  Maybe a touch of reverb.  Are these live drums or midi?  Sounds like you used a click track?  If these are midi, then I think maybe look at adjusting some of the volumes to add punch to the snares, and some minor adjustments on the fills?  Not sure, but it might work out well.

7 hours ago, jack c. said:

thank you.you have some of the best voice presentations!jack c

Wow thanks Jack - that means a lot to me!

Steve

On 4/8/2024 at 1:21 PM, mark skinner said:

Fantastic song and presentation of the lyrics !  I really liked the uplifting energy it had all the way thru. The ending was nice as well. I was wondering how you were going to pull that off.

No crits or suggestions ..   That was a Nice listen.    Loved it ..    mark

Thank you Mark - appreciate your time!

57 minutes ago, jack c. said:

 

Yeah - but I think I kind of undid what Nectar did a little except around 300hz. - I didn't even realize this till I just went back in and looked at both

11 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

When do we get the video?

Oh, and I’ll echo the comments above. 

t

I wish!  I've been trying to come up with video content, but it is not my strong suit - usually I just try to find video content from Youtube and piece it together.  It's a long hard slog usually!

12 hours ago, KSband said:

Nice, I could never write that many lyrics.

Usually lyrics are very hard for me - on that particular one, I would take lunchtime walks with the earbuds, listen to the music and try to find words that fit.  It took me a couple of weeks to finish those.  Out of all my songs, I think the lyrics on this one are probably the best I can do.

15 hours ago, Rikfr said:

Hi Steve, nice one, reminds me somehow of Syd Barret era Floyd.

 

Rik

Hi Rik - I would have never thought that, but I'll have to go back and listen for it - thanks for the comment!

17 hours ago, jack c. said:

beautiful voices.how did ya get those wonderful voices?jack c

Thanks Jack - On the main vocal I used iZotope Nectar.

I also sent it to three busses - about a quarter of the full signal: 

Reverb:  UAD Hitsville on the Grapevine setting

Delay: Cakewalk Sonitus Delay 1/8 on left and 1/5 on right

Reel ADT: Waves on the subtle vocal ADT setting

On the final vocal buss, I put Waves Vocal Rider

Cheers!

20 hours ago, Old Joad said:

Cool song, you managed to get Hemingway in the chorus.??

Thank you - yes, all of a sudden that phrase popped into my head at the right time - sometimes that happens!

Well, the drums just didn't fit, so I got rid of them.  I've started generating images to go along with these releases using AI rather than searching the net and looking for other people's graphics.  So far I am happy with the results.

https://baselines.com/?p=6992

TIA for listening!

Mission accomplished - great groove, not loose or lost ?

You got some of the good ones from Bandlab there.  Nice work.  I like how that guitar comes in at the end and mixes in with the synth.  Good work by all!

I'm back - I just listened to the versions you have side by side.  For the remastered one, the vocal is much more present in the mix.  I like how that sounds when it comes in.