Barry Seymour

On 9/25/2023 at 8:50 AM, DeeringAmps said:

Barry, I’ve been kind of “lurking” on this one since you put it up. I didn’t have a bunch of “issues” with the original to tell the truth. I think this 

says a lot about getting it “right” at the tracking stage. I realize that sometimes we have to make the “best” of what we have though. 
Your songwriting and performances are excellent as always. Is the final mix “better”? Yes, but it seems you “struggled” to get there. Tighten up the tracking, mix it and move on. 
Not trying to be “critical”, just thinking we all let the “technical” side dominate the “creative” side. 
It’s a “buzz” kill for me….

t

almost forgot 👍’s

I've had conversations with my old band mates (emphasis on the "old," we're all in our late 60s!) about this very thing.  Only one of the horn players is even close to being a professional musician - he still has his chops. The rest are more problematic. (We're not 18 any more!) I have told them my overriding goals are to write songs I want to write and have them play on them. I love these guys and want to give us an EP (at least) of professionally recorded songs, since in the early 1970s we had none of that.  In the end, this means I have to spend a lot of time lining up horn parts. For now, it's worth it, but yeah, it can get old.

This is a separate issue from the mix, which is where I've traditionally needed the most advice and constructive criticism. And I got some good feedback, including on the Facebook forum for Creative Sauce.

A side note; I found some good brass/horn/sax VSTs, which I used on our next song.  In fact, they were scary good, they sounded amazing. Then when the actual horn parts came in I was back to tweaking, adjusting, moving, stretching, EQing, etc. etc. etc. But as I mentioned, having my guys on the track is important to me. So for now, I put in the work.

My conundrum is - do I crack the whip? Force them to do more takes until it's better? I have to think about that one.

2 hours ago, Lynn Wilson said:

This is an excellent example of what I call a cerebral song.  It's very clever on several levels, and your vocal delivers the goods.  I wish I could say as much for the horns.  The arrangement is good, but the performance doesn't quite get past the awkward stage in that one section.  Otherwise, thumbs up.

Yeah, I'm afraid you're right. We've all agreed to avoid overcomplicated runs like that in future arrangements. I don't have a good enough installation of Melodyne to fix that. Plus I'm still unclear as to how to show multiple tracks in the Melodyne editor so I can line stuff up. Gotta go back to Mike Enjo's Melodyne tutorial...

Final Video! Thanks, everyone, for the feedback!
 

Okay, here's a new mix...

• More clean up of timing on the horns
• New vocal - strikes a good balance between the first two takes, plus better sound quality
• Added some sparkly guitar beneath the last two verses to add variety

Let me know what you think.

17 hours ago, hsmusic said:

Catchy tune, been humming the melody all though dinner!

To me it sounds like you used allot of processing like imaging/ spatial/ aural exciter. It might be too much, might be out of phase as well.

This might come in handy- https://mixcheckstudio.roexaudio.com/

I also noticed some glitches/ clipping @2:17 , 3:21 ( sounds like the vocs)

Cook track, enjoyed it.

I do use a plugin called 'Wider' - maybe I'm a bit guilty of overusing it. I'll take a look, thanks.

7 hours ago, Teegarden said:

Exactly, the horns, I really love them! They sound good, nice licks, just some very unfortunate timing issues. Can't you use Melodyne to get them straight? Maybe some other stem separation tool?

The lead vocal could really benefit from de-essing (again maybe Melodyne?) and perhaps some warmth. Other than that I think the feel of the vocal is nice and has the right cool vibe!

I've already spent too much time tightening up the timing for many of the horn parts, but those melismas are a bitch.  I'll take a look with Melodyne... I suspect I'll have to learn more about the upgraded version I bought a few months ago.

I had some weirdness I didn't quite understand with the vocal track - it was getting compressed, and I couldn't get rid of it, even when I re-recorded over it. The solution was to delete it completely and create a new track. Now it sounds 'Normal.' I'll be working on mixing that soon.

Thanks!

On 9/15/2023 at 1:27 PM, Teegarden said:

Love the song, really my kind of music!

Few things I think c(s)hould be improved:

Timing issues keep distracting me from really enjoying the song. 
Sound is a bit squeezed, gives me ear fatigue. Could be a bit warmer. Some de-essing, a bit more depth. 
To make it more interesting you could consider adding a second/third voice while the song progresses over time and some other little different instrumental licks, percussive sounds that keep the attention of the listener. 

I find the overall composition great, especially the chord changes/melody in the second part.
 

Thanks for the suggestions.

If by "timing issues" you mean horns, I'm afraid I've done all I can there.

As for the "de-essing" and the "squeezed" sound, my guess is you refer to the lead vocal. I'll be cutting that track again today. I've not been entirely happy with it.

Beautiful. Very touching. Great writing.

My personal preference would be a softer, subtler reverb on the vocal; when it started, it kind of jumped out. But it settled in as the song progressed.

Fine video.

Hey Lynn!

I love the production here. The music is very slick, very polished, impeccably produced, it sounds like a cross between Toto and Pink Floyd. The swell before one of the verses was stunning, the guitar work is impeccable. And the overall sound is amazing. The song is well written, with clever and insightful lyrics.

But the vocal doesn't quite blend in, to my ear; it sounds like it's sitting on top of everything else. The esthetic feels different. Whereas the music is sophisticated and well produced, the voice sounds a little raucous and casual.

Maybe adjust the EQ, make the voice sound richer?  Cleaner? Bring it down just a tiny touch so it rides in the mix, instead of on it?

Great song, BTW.

Here's another effort from me and my jazz-rock band Sunstone. I think it's pretty polished, but there's always something that can be improved. Let me know your suggestions, and thanks!
 

On 8/17/2023 at 5:43 PM, Kevin Walsh said:

Man, this is a very nice recording! Great vintage vibe here, love the smooth tune, really nice performances too.

Yes, "vintage music,"  or, as I call it, "music." Haha.

Thanks for the kind words.

22 hours ago, bjornpdx said:

Sounds real good, Barry, and I like the story behind the song too. You and the band should play it at your high school 50th reunion.
-Bjorn

 

Thanks! Terrifyingly, that's coming up next summer! But I'm the only band mate from the class of '74. The rest are 73 or 75.

That's How It Goes (Blackcurrant Tea)
(c) 2023 Barry Seymour

I forget where I put the matchbook where I first wrote your name
That was the day long ago when the spark turned to flame
I vaguely remember when we tore the world in two
(But now it) all runs together, all I remember is you

(Don’t) know how I got here, I don’t know the name of this road
My heart is an ember, my head is primed to explode
The cool morning fog is so sweet in the street by my house
But the blur in my eyes and my brain gives me worry and doubt

Blackcurrant tea, a sugar or three, berries and grains for a start
Tending the garden, walking the dog, quiet in my heart
Fingers on strings, tingling things, the poetry comes and it goes
Stars overhead, an unmade bed, that’s how it goes

Breakers crash on the shore, it’s too rough to swim
Currents under the water, they’ll suck you in
This town is a ghost on a Tuesday, no one’s awake
I’m starting to think that this might be a mistake

That's how it goes, ups and downs, highs and lows
No one knows, where it comes from or where it goes

Near the end of a road, so long that I forget where it starts
(At this) point in my life, it’s just songs for a trembling heart
One foot in front of the other, day after day
Don’t know where I am, where I’m going, or where I will stay

Blackcurrant tea, a sugar or three, berries and grains for a start
Writing a song, I’ll sing before long, I play my part
Fingers on strings, silvery rings, enlightenment comes and it goes
A voice in my head, the last thing she said, that’s how it goes

3 hours ago, Supa Reels said:

Good song ... needs a remix ...

ATB

Steve

Yeah, it's a work in progress. Some of the horns have to be replaced, and then I have to smooth everything over.

10 hours ago, Wookiee said:

Nice bouncy tune, mix works well here playing sound good on all instruments, Vox clear and present, nicely done sir.

Thank you, sir. Your help has been invaluable to me over the past three years. I think I'm getting there!

10 hours ago, mark skinner said:

 Barry , all of you have every reason to be Very proud of this. Excellent production on a Well written song.

It doesn't sound like any of you have lost their edge.. 

I had to back up to that short solo section around 1:45 , 3 times before I got to the end of the song. 

 It  sounds like a "classic"                                Good Luck with it ..     mark

Thanks Mark, I'll pass that along.

What did you mean "you had to back up" to the solo section?

22 hours ago, jack c. said:

great sounds.turn down snare.really great.jack c

Thanks, J-Man. We're not done with it, so I can use that good advice.

EXCELLENT! Great sense of urgency. Great playing, great singing (keep those two background vocalists, but tell them to get different shirts) and a fine mix. Great guitar playing - searing and hot. And a great mix - everything was exactly where it needed to be.

Your 'limitations' in the video department forced you to get creative; the resulting video REALLY captures the whole devil theme.

Great stuff. (HOT stuff!)



 

EDIT: The song is released, along with a video. I took inspiration from @Lynn Wilson and put myself in there, for better or worse.

2 hours ago, jack c. said:

sounds real fine.jack c

what are the vst plugin horns???????????

Those are real horn players! Check 'em out in the solo section of the video.

I'm done with this one; no feedback needed, necessarily, but darn I'm proud of this one!

I wrote this in 1972! Played it with my high school rock band "Sunstone." Now we're recording again for the first time and we FINALLY did this one!

Nice, very ethereal. Normally I find the over-use of stereo effects annoying, but you really make it work here; very tasteful.

Great song, great mix. I hear nothing but greatness here.

I'm curious what AI tools were used? Can you share?

Great singing; your voice is very rich and warm, very inviting. And this is a great mix; you don't need a crapton of tracks to make it work.

I would second Teegarden's advice; if possible, I'd like a chorus, or some variation in the harmonic progression of the song. But that's just a personal preference; this works very well.

The ether is strong with this one.

Could be on my Calm app. Very nice.