Barry Seymour

Scrambling to get this one out before my shoulder surgery in September.  Looking for mixing advice. Not sure I'm quite getting the polished sound I want from this.

Thanks in advance for any input you may have.

EDIT AGAIN: It's out! Thanks everyone, for the feedback.

On 7/29/2022 at 7:29 PM, Hidden Symmetry said:

Such a cool tune, reminds me of the classic songwriters that i admire.  Performance, arrangement, vibe.. it's all there..Your voice is so good too. the whole track feels nice on the ears! quality material. - great job

Very kind, thanks.

On 7/30/2022 at 10:19 AM, Jim Fogle said:

I'm not familiar with your earlier work but I really like this return to your roots.  I like ballads and you have a good voice for a soft ballad like this.  The song is really unique.  I like the background violins in the second verse. 

Thanks, Jim. Much of my recorded output (since February 2020, when I finally figured out Cakewalk) has been more rock oriented.

Barry Seymour Music on YouTube

I did do more than a few solo acoustic gigs back in ancient times, however.

The strings are the BBC Orchestra Discover plugin, which I found for free.  https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/bbc-symphony-orchestra-discover/ I think it sounds marvelous!

Thanks for the kind words.

5 hours ago, bjornpdx said:

Wonderful song. I was sort of surprised by the 3/4 time at first but it works very well.
I remember a while ago you had some problems staying on pitch. I think that was you. Here your voice sounds really good.

1:22  Seemed like something changed, like mono to stereo?

-Bjorn

Regarding the pitch problems, I just sang, sang, and re-sang until I got them close enough. I don't have the effortless control I did when I was younger.

As for 1:22, yes, I split the acoustic guitar, clipped out the first verse and panned that hard right. The first track stayed center until the second verse, then I panned it hard left using automation. A nice little build on the second verse, without too much work.

You have a good ear!

Man. This sparkles. This soars. Great playing, astounding sound!

Question: How the heck did you put together this 'quick background vid for it this morning to use on YT?" It's pretty cool.

Released!

On 7/25/2022 at 6:20 AM, STEVE POOLE said:

Got a sort of Rocky Raccoon feel to the guitar and this ballad is right up my street ...so good, a real story with great lyrics, super M8 and chorus, very understated message that needs a couple of run through's ..everything a ballad needs. Mix spot on and the vocal is clear ..can't say enough good about this, apart from the fact, I wish I had written it ! ..love it a lot plus I always feel 3/4 suits ballads ( 6/8 ? ) much better so it get my vote @ 10

ATB

Steve

 

 

This was my first attempt ever at recording a song in 3/4. There are no grooves for this in MT Power Drum Kit, so I ended up doing it super-simple by hand. (I'm no drummer.) Thanks for the good feedback.

34 minutes ago, mark skinner said:

Great one Barry ! Fantastic vocal quality on this one (as usual). I did feel like the shaker sounded behind the beat. I've always had to move them a little forward , especially if recording the shaker from the metronome section. I absolutely Loved the lead break nylon sounding acoustic. I would really like to know how you captured and processed it. Great Job on a fantastic song .  Enjoyed it ..   mark

Thanks, Marky Mark. 🙂 Since the shaker was digital, I suspect it was the rest of the musicians ( i.e. me) who may have been off a bit. I'll take a look. It may end up being easier to move the shaker, ha ha.

As for the lead break, it was a steel string, my old Goya, my chum since the 70s! I recorded it on an Electro-Voice ND 457 microphone, another piece of my 'vintage legacy' (read 'old') gear, my favorite live gig rock mic dating from the late 80s.  (I'm not even sure you can find/buy these any more.)  I really struggled getting a sound for the rhythm acoustic guitar that I considered acceptable, but in the end I got it, using my wife's Takamine guitar and an Audio Technica P46 Cardiod Condenser microphone. After that, the usual tricks - BREVERB and TDR Kotelnikov for the audio effects on the rhythm guitar.

Thanks for the kind words.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words. I feel I'm continuing to improve in my efforts to record my own music. I also got some good suggestions from a Michael West on the Creative Sauce group on Facebook, suggestions I've implemented with really good results. He recommended a free plugin called 'Wider' (https://polyversemusic.com/products/wider/) which adds a sort of stereo effect to a mono signal without any phasing or chorusing. The result is really quite striking, taking a voice in the center and moving it to each speaker / earpiece, making it sound closer and - fascinatingly - more intimate. I have a new mix I'll post later today, but I pretty much feel like this is the last piece of the puzzle. He also recommending adding a little more 'beef' to the bass drum kick, which I've done.

I'll have it up soon.

Catchy and sweet. I hear a little Alan Parsons in there. Can't hear anything to criticize in the mix. Neat.

Here's the new one. Some of my friends say this is a departure for me. Maybe more like a return to my roots.

Anyway, mixing suggestions welcome.

On 6/22/2022 at 1:23 AM, Wookiee said:

Good song covering a tricky topic especially for the states, sounds reasonable here, good performance well played guitars and others, clear vocal.
Perhaps it me old tired furry ears but the bass seemed a little lacking, by that I do not mean I could not hear the bass and the kick but there seemed to be some punch missing.  Except for the war drums?

As I say probably just these old tired furry lugs,

Agreed, you're not the first to say so. I very likely will do another mix. Thanks for the kind words.

5 hours ago, freddy j said:

I am far from being a "mix master."  Therefore, I won't comment on the mix but the song in total ---WOW.  Musically the music is powerful, a wee bit angry and urgent. Your vocals are absoflipinlutely great.  The lyrics are excellent, in your-face and demand to be listened to.  The message is spot on.

I'm glad that you have it on YouTube and hope you get a lot of views.  I recently read that it is estimated over 400 million guns are on the streets in this country.  That is more than our population.  That is all wrong!

Thank you. Very kind.

On 6/19/2022 at 5:22 AM, Bajan Blue said:

Completely agree - YouTube, iTunes  and Spotify are the main ones we use - nothing else seems to get any traction these days.

we have been really concentrating on YouTube lately and have managed to build up a following - hard work though!!

Nigel

 

Yeah and every time you put up a track on SoundCloud - every time - some account with a picture of a cute looking chick likes your track within minutes. Go to that account and you see a pitch to let them 'submit your tracks' for you to artificially gain (buy) followers. Gah.

Final release is done. I worked hard on mastering this.... finally getting the hang.

12 hours ago, whoisp said:

Its come a bit of a minefield hosting music for feedback, cakewalk forum, Bandlab, Facebook, YouTube, slaps and twitter etc.  

Too many choices. All I know is I'm close to maxing out my free Soundcloud account...

2 hours ago, Bruce Olsen said:

Jeez, that's good. Love the vocals and guitar. Great lyric.

Love the entrance... bam! 

Lead-in to the solo kicks *****.

Maybe look for a way to change the energy between verse and chorus, so the listener feels the energy build. Maybe start to ramp it up in the chord change at 0:46 . You sound almost like Lou Reed when you're at lower volume: 1:12-1:13 is an example of that, or "guns" at 1:50. I might like to hear verses with you singing at lower volume.

I'm a drummer so there are also some things I can see to change it up. I'd add 4 bars of drums at the end of one of the choruses if you can find some big-***** drums like Taiko. Also layer them in with the cannons or thunderclaps or whatever they are (which are really great).

PS. Soundcloud played San Francisco Days right afterward. I'm in Pasadena now but lived in SFBA for decades and you got me all weepy 😞 I've been all those places...

Then while I was writing that it served up A little Bit. Both of those are great, and I feel the same way about LA.

 

And yes, the lead-in to the solo does kick asterisks 😞

Thanks for the kind words, on this and the other songs! Yes, I miss San Francisco. At least the San Francisco of the 70s, 80s and 90s. :'-(

I've added some more controversy to the ending... mastering it now. New mix soon.

I fiddle a bit with it, but couldn't find anything I wanted to change on the outgoing solo. I boosted the snare a bit and added more thunderclaps at the end.

I'm also trying hosting this on Bandlab; let me know if you can't get to it.

https://www.bandlab.com/post/745c6f14-bced-ec11-b656-2818789a16d5

5 hours ago, whoisp said:

When you say "war drums" i was expecting some war drum beat to come in a push instead of the same 4/4, just an idea, not a criticism. I think on some of the cymbals clashes i would try and hit the kick at same time has clash to give it more thud, maybe.  The breaks with the rhythm riff, i probably give it a bit more crunch saturation because its the weapons of war that need some destruction i think. On the lead solo at end all the backing instruments stay the same level and panning, i would swish or wave them about, maybe give some width (EQ) so lead comes down the middle to give more dynamics, again maybe bit more destruction sound on lead guitar and maybe its begging for tad of delay, which you could automate when you hang off those notes because that's a great led work and some great lyrics. So maybe worth bit more experimental on production. 

 

Good ideas. Perhaps at the end it's time to set a few more things on fire! LOL.

Hey Kirb! Nice recording. I like how the bass almost seems like a lead instrument as well as the bass, underpinning everything.  It's higher in the mix than I'm used to, but it works.

Everything is nicely balanced, nothing collides with anything else. Sounds great!

Side question: just how many Westerly Sessions were there?!?? 😁

Beautiful song! Wonderfully written and heart-touching. The vocals are flawless - the fast passages (melismas) are not always to my liking, but here they're done very tastefully. Love the piano, love the subtle swells underneath as the song progresses. The only suggestion I have would be to minimize or clarify some of the stuff on the low end; it just sounds like a big rumble to me, doesn't seem to add anything to the song.  It first came to my notice around 2:47.

But a stellar piece of work! Ms. Lynn should have quite a future.

Great groove, love the sound of the electric piano. Great balance throughout, the bass is rich without being overpowering.

Somewhat off topic, how do you do a video like this!?? You said it was a 'quick video.' What the heck, man, how is something this polished a 'quick video?'

Very fun. Just liken when I listened to "Atom Heart Mother" while perfectly straight, the room started spinning. 😄

Production is faultless, but I had trouble understanding the words! Not sure why.

Compositionally, I'm not a fan of the bass and guitar playing the same melody throughout, but that's an artistic choice. It was executed flawlessly.

Fun stuff!

EDIT: I've released the final version. Thanks, everyone, for the feedback.

Hey everyone. Here's a new one. It's more hard charging than a lot of my songs, so I might need some guidance on how to make it powerful without clipping / overdriving.

It's political, and it has a few salty words, so get your pearls ready for clutching. 😉 

Comments / suggestions welcome.

Final Cut is out! See the first post.

https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/aluminum-stan