PhonoBrainer

The last time I jaywalked across Miramar Blvd I was sober, it was 1987, and there were three lanes each way doing at least 55 mph both ways. Not good as a sobriety test. I'm sure, however, that Robertos was involved.

Hey Andrew, great Q's! Could you share what you are mixing and monitoring this baby on? What speakers or headphones are you using? And the wisdom is so very finite . . . 😩

You are the Universe. I want to attend the church where this is the liturgy. I counted the dreams, I got a few more than 9, so that's gravy. The gated guitar around 6:30 scared my houseplants, but I dug it. Something new around every corner, none of which are 90 degrees. cheers, -Tom

Wow. It just so happened I caught this one with me good headphones on, lying on the couch. My immediate response was to close my eyes and drift. Great work, nice panning, super calm, suitable for yoga or meditation session. Not a crit at all, but another choice would be to add back a little more low midrange to the piano? It sounded like an upright floating in space. If I'm in space, how about a grand??? I mean, I'm dying out there in the cold vacuum, throw me at least a six footer. 😅 So nicely done, thanks for the voyage! cheers, -Tom

It's introspective, it's rubato, it's having a conversation with itself. It's a pleasure to experience. Love the mix clarity. Wish it was longer! cheers, -Tom

That was great from every perspective. Maybe the vocals could be .25 db louder. Maybe the bass .5 db louder. Maybe not. Freakin swampy greatness. Say "hi to Amos Moses if you see 'im. cheers, -Tom

What??? A conversation on getting old??? In THIS forum?!? "Piffle!" I say. I say again, "piffle!" Meanwhile, the Perspective Department reports that the seminal "Sweet Dreams (are Made of This)" by the Eurythmics . . . was released closer to the end of World War II . . . than today.

Who will invent the hydraulic speaker stands that lower to a convenient speaker removal height? @BostonDynamics might as well make them sentient

I feel like the mix needs to catch up with the performances, only because the energy of the performances are at a really high level. This is a great song, reminded me of the almighty Elvis Costello in the lyrics dept. Keep it going, bring this one home! Some drum fill timing issues perhaps? You are going to have so much fun I bet in the final stages. I'm looking forward to hearing the results! cheers, -Tom

Thanks, Steve, glad it worked on your end! I'm never sure if the visuals and references have hit the Goldilocks zone, so I appreciate your comment! Thanks! It was us! It was all of us! Said the dinosaur. Thanks for giving it a listen, much obliged.

It's got rock writing chops, I liked the guitar, and the smooth and nicely intune doubled vocals! I'm missing bass guitar in the mix, is there one? For the genre, that's mandatory, I believe? the drums have excellent fills, love the hi hats and fast cymbals. The snare and barely-there kick drum need to be put through the biggerizer a few times. Guitar tones and performances were killer! And with those excellent vocals, you've got something to build better low drums and bass around. Very. Cool. Song. cheers, -Tom

great chops, was that bass fretless? dug it. I did get some buzzing in right speaker around 3:25 but it might have been a hard-panned brass instrument? I couldn't tell. Those drums are so fresh sounding, I can hear the skins. Not bad for a 20 yr old recording! cheers, -Tom

I mix a lot on good headphones at first, with car listens. Car listens are always a brutal experience. These headphone mixes have taken care of the most detailed editing. Clicks, breaths, plosives, pops, weird resonance clashes, I hear them better on headphones. Then finish up on good monitors, on low volume, where I get the bass right (as my skills allow) and then give volume a good crank up on the monitors, to check for overall balance/tilt issues. I do periodic earbud checks, I think that's a must these days. Unfortunately.

Sounds better than most of the movies getting greenlit these days. I'm interested!!! Just pop 'round my place whenever it's convenient so we can discuss terms.

The effects on the guitar are lovely! The whole thing harkens back to a simpler time. I listened on decent headphones, and the mix was clean and clear, I could hear everything just fine. I started wondering how the song might change if the bass notes sustained throughout most of the measure, instead of truncating halfway through the measure. Or if there were more going on with bass fills or drum fills occasionally? But that might evict us from the 1949 feel. I'd also vote for a tad more reverb or thickening delay on the fiddle. A very pleasant offering, to be sure, thanks! cheers, -Tom

Is that THE Gary Brun?!? Nice to hear you, hope all is well? Loved the song, and to hear a different language was a treat. Just the emotional content carries through even if I can't understand the words! Very together vocals, with super tasteful guitar work. Mix-wise it could be a bit toppy, just a bit too much energy coming through at the level of cymbals and occasional sibilance on vocals. Do you have a master bus compresser boosting up everything? Are you using a multiband compressor on the master bus? If so, maybe experimenting with less upper eq band compression will get you closer to a balance? This opinion should definitely be verified with others, because as we all sit around getting older, our hearing tends to rot. I dig the tune! cheers, -Tom

Thanks Noynekker, I was struck by your use of the term "wistful" - a wonderful description to read. That catches it in large measure. I will definitely pass your vocal comments along to my son, many thanks! Roger that, Nigel! Although, another message of this song is praise for those kids/young adults who have achieved a personal escape velocity from the planetary gravity of the GenZ mindset. Your comment was much appreciated, thanks!

Well, horses for courses, I believe the saying goes? the real question is, do you think it's worth it? That personal muse provides all the answers you should ever need. I've heard a number of your tunes here, and liked them all. Does it matter what a bunch of tossers think? Likely, not really, no. But you did graciously invite some critiques so I'd say for me, I found the musical parts and the arrangement very interesting, lots of great instrumentation choices, a hooky melody, with a lot of potential for mixing, and I think there is room in this world for this wonderful music! I also thought the music was much, much more interesting than the lyrics. Your inventive song structure could be used to say something a little off the well-beaten "love" path? Something more powerful or opaque? Just a thought, worth what? Probably not that much. If it is speaking to you, never mind the background noise, go straight at it. cheers! -Tom

Some trains leave the station early?

I feel like I've been in that band. Lyrics great, vocals great, horn lines work a treat. Are the horns going into a plate reverb? They sound smooth up top, very very nice. Here's hoping you get your lottery reunion. cheers, -Tom

I checked out the video and was glad I did. That vocal and piano combo really work well. Not the best advertisement of the Frank Conroy Basketball Camp and he takes longer to shoot that last one than Giannis. The vid was excellent as an invitation to dive more into the ep. But even without the vid, the sparse clarity of the mix was awesome. cheers, -Tom

Just a big "ditto" for the pro mix and the performances to match. The video was pretty slick, too, although seriously? The dude would rather be an incel neckbeard gamer than to be with his girlfriend? Okay, zoomer! great tune, hope your album smashes more than the dude in the vid. cheers, -Tom

What's not to like here. It never got boring. Something new always around the corner. Loved the horn soloing and the recording of them as well. I turned it up loud, which would reveal a crappy mix. It was wonderful on my system. cheers, -Tom

That's a really interesting mix of vocals, it works and holds interest, how the lead is helped by bgv but then the bgv's throw in an occasional aside. Pretty inventive. Mix is very together, and I like the lead guitar tone. For my money, the intro acoustic guitar was mixed a bit on the tinny bright side, which didn't put the best foot forward as an intro. But the rest of the mix felt quite right. cheers, -Tom