michaelhanson

"What was sad was the bass wall was less than half full. 3 basses were American Fenders the rest were junk priced at $199 to $499."

Both Face Book Market and Craig's List in my area have had a serious shortage of good used instruments for months now.   As you say, mostly junk that is advertised for sale right now.   I have had some trades that I have wanted to try to accomplish, but there is nothing to trade for...and what's listed they are only wanting to sell.    

I have yet to listen to McCartney III, mostly out of fear that I will be greatly disappointed.    The best McCartney solo material and Wings material came early, in my opinion, within a couple of years after leaving the Beatles.  The farther away from Beatles influence, the weaker the songs.  Maybe I'm Amazed is still one of my favorite Macca solo songs.   

As mentioned, together John and Paul were the best, maybe ever.   Separate, they were great, but nothing like together.  In my opinion, John had a rough edge, almost chip on his shoulder, style of writing lyrics.   Paul had a melodic, mellow, whimsical style of lyrics.  John pushed Paul lyrically and Paul pushed John musically.  

George Martin called Paul the most talented musician in the Beatles.  Paul gave George a run for his money on guitar.   Some of Paul's guitar solos, like in Taxman, are mistakenly thought to be George.   John my be the most underrated rhythm guitar player of all time.  

Lynn - Great work and great song.  This is mixed well.  You vocals are always very recognizable to me.  

Great song and enjoyable listen.  

Wookie-  Thank you for listening and commenting.  Good to know that this is sounding balanced on your Adams.  

Douglas- Thank you as well for listening and commenting.  Yes, Sean's lead guitar work is always stellar!

Hi Freddy -  Thanks for listening and commenting.  Wow, that is quite a review!  Thrilled that you like the song.

Noynekker - Thank you for listening and commenting.  The acoustic guitar was played and recorded in a room with hardwood floors, that may add to the "bit boxy" tone you are hearing.  I actually love that swish when we all come into the song as well; it was a pleasant surprise to hear how well the timing was on everyone's tracks.   

I get quite a few comments on my mix style.  I have often heard it referenced here as almost a "Live" feel.  I try not to over produce, only add what is needed.  

Any way....really happy to hear that you liked the song.  

Music is actually supposed to stimulate the brain, especially playing a musical instrument.  It's one of the recommended deterrence to Alzheimer's.   

Doing drugs may be the issue.  

This seemed to be going alright until I posted a link to the Beatles.  I didn't realize that John was wearing a bikini on that roof top.  

Lynn-  Hope your doing well through out this pandemic.

Thank you for listening and commenting.  Thank you, yes, the 3 of us have come a long way in the last several years; the hard work is starting to pay off.  

Ed-  Thank you for the advice on the vocals.  I have posted a new version raising all of the vocals just a tad.  Hope this is better.   Sean's lead work is always stellar.

Here is another new song by Scandalous Grace.   All recommendations and comments are welcome.  This one was written by myself and mixed/ mastered by yours truly.   Hope you enjoy  

Performed by Scandalous Grace
Words & Mu­sic: Michael Hanson
Sean Peifer: BG Vox, Electric Rhythm, Guitar Solos.
Michael Hanson: Lead Vocal, Bass, Acoustic Guitars, Electric rhythm, Drum Programming, Mixing and mastering.
Reece Bain  (Beagle): Keys (both piano and strings) and BGVs.

https://soundcloud.com/michaeljhanson/free-16

On 8/23/2020 at 10:39 AM, SteveStrummerUK said:

I think we'd all agree that dings and knocks are to be avoided if possible, but those earned 'honestly' are fine (nay inevitable for the gigging musician).

What I simply just don't understand is why anyone would part with their hard-earned cash for a so-called 'relic', or artificially 'road-aged' guitar.

To me that'd be like purchasing a shiny new guitar, getting it home and taking a sander to it.

Am I missing the point?

I don’t get people that purposely relic their guitars.  I agree, most are not realistic looking and look more like someone took a belt sander to the poor thing.  Kind of like taking a sledge hammer to a brand new car.  

I don’t have an issue at all with natural dings and wear.  

David- Thank you for listening and commenting.  I'm glad you like the lyrics, these were quite personal to me.  Mixing skills have taken me decades to learn, I finally feel like I kind of get it.  

Wookie- May the Force be with you.  I'm always pleased that you listen and comment even though I know this style of music is not your thing.  

On 7/30/2020 at 10:37 PM, Danny said:

These days less said is more unless there are blatant issues. I don't hear anything that bothers me. Another thing I tend to do now is I listen for what YOU presented, not what I feel it should be in MY image, understand?

Commenting on stuff like this is so subjective, who cares how *I* would do it? It's about YOU and how YOU did it, ya know? Trust me, if I hear something for you to fix, I'll always mention what it is and how to fix it.

The only thing that sort of offset me a bit is the lone guitar to the left in the beginning to the middle until more instruments join in. It sort of made the mix sound a bit lopsided to me because there was nothing in the right like the dominant acoustic to the left. It did eventually even out, but I don't know if I like it like that. It just seems like the right side is missing something for a bit. But it's still good because you built up the mix gradually.

I'm weird with stuff like that. Like some of the old Beatles mixes annoyed me with their panning. The thing with them though, they always had a ton of stuff filling everything up. But other than that, this was really good man.

One other thing that I just heard. Some of the vocal harmonies seemed to land on the same notes....like you guys may have been unsure of what they may have been. It can be quite challenging not to land on each other, trust me, I know! 😃

Danny- Thank you for elaborating more on your thoughts on this song, much appreciated.  I understand what you mean by the lone acoustic at the beginning.  I guess I was going for something really intimate, just me and my acoustic to start off the song.   The plan was to gradually bring everyone else into the song, as it progresses, so hopefully that worked out.   I agree, that some of those Beatles mixes are really annoying.   😀   I know that it was directly attributed to the limited number of tracks they had to work with and the times.

Musical- Thank you for listening.  We will definitely check the highs if any one else is hearing this as well.

Douglas-  Thank you for listening to this song as well.  I love Sean's vocal sound, his voice fits this rock style of music very well.  Sean is also VERY good on guitar and I struggled a little to keep up with him on this song.  Thank you for your comments on the mix.  

Keith-  Thank you for listening, even though this is not your cup of tea.  I understand and can struggle with that myself sometimes.   We discussed the timing issues as a band and we are just not hearing them.  I assure you that next time I pull the song up in Cakewalk, I will through the nodes up on the tracks and recheck any timing issues, if they are there.  I do appreciate you pointing out what you hear; it all matters greatly.  

Starise- Nice to hear from you as well!  The lyrics to this song are very personal and I struggle with them myself.  Every time I have listened to the song over the years, it has made me reflect.  

Yes, the Petty reference to my style has come up very often.  Sean, upon hearing the final mixes commented to the band that it sounds very Beetle-ish, as well.   I will take those two comparisons any day.  Both Reece and Sean have added so much to the song and I am grateful to have them as friends and partners.

Douglas- Thank you for listening and commenting.  This song seems to have come together really well.  I would love to find a station that would play the song.  We have one local connection in Dallas that tends to play very old Christian music, but I may send them a copy anyway,  seeing as they played one of our songs on rotation for several months, a while back.  

Thank you for listening and your comments.

Danny- So nice to see your name pop up on my thread, it has made my day.  I hope your doing well, brother!  You said little, but it spoke volumes to me.  

Here is a second new song by Scandalous Grace that we are finishing up the production.   All recommendations and comments are welcome.  This one was written by me a while back and I have made a few changes, additions and turned this into a band song.  

Performed by Scandalous Grace
Words & Mu­sic: Michael Hanson
Sean Peifer: BG Vox, Electric Rhythm, Guitar Solos.
Michael Hanson: Lead Vocal, Bass, Acoustic Guitars, Drum Programming, Mixing and mastering.
Reece Bain  (Beagle): Keys and BGVs.

Harry, thank you for listening!  Glad to hear the mix is sounding balanced to you.  We appreciate your support.

Here is a new rocker written by Sean Peifer and preformed by Scandalous Grace.   It's taken us some time to get some of these songs out, but we are finally finishing up several now.   This one is very close to done... looking for feedback on the mix, song, anything you wish to give advice.   Let us know what you think.

Performed by Scandalous Grace
Words & Mu­sic: Sean Peifer
Sean Peifer: Lead Vox, Electric Guitar, main Guitar Solo.
Michael Hanson: Bass, Electric Rhythm, BGV, Mixing/mastering.
Reece Bain (Beagle): Keys and BGVs.

A very sad day indeed!

I have uploaded a new version of No Longer Blind in which the ending now has a guitar solo.  Thanks to everyone that made this suggestion, I think it adds a very nice touch to the ending of the song.

If you get a chance, please listen again and make any additional comments.  

Thanks, Mike

Hi Lynn- Thank you for listening and commenting.   Yes, We will be adding a little love to the ending

Tom-  Thanks for coming back around a second time and giving this another listen.  I'm still undecided on the Kick, but we are working on and outro solo to update the song.