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Tell Her She's Okay


Sailor55

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I thank you one and all for the great feedback on this tune. It's very much appreciated  'Tell Her She's Okay' has passed through many iterations and several re-mixes.  I didn't start out as a duet. It once had somewhat different lyrics and just the male part. It morphed into a duet when a great singer (Raquel) became available to me.

The song is now mixed and mastered to an integrated loudness of -14 LUFS.  It was much louder at one time (about -8 LUFS). When you looked at the final stereo mix in Cakewalk (SONAR at the time) it resembled the proverbial 'sausage' (i.e. squashed into a long rectangle with a taper at both ends).  There are some who'd say 'who cares what it looks like', and I would agree.  Ultimately, my ears were the final arbitrator.

Now that streaming services normalize the power of their signals, highly 'peak-centric' music is suffering.  Instead of being louder than other mixes they're now reduced to a common loudness. Any lack of  dynamics then becomes quite apparent. The loudness wars seem to have come to an end. Believe me, I've found that as hard to accept as anyone else, but here's the thing: when I remixed this to a lower loudness I began to hear many subtleties that were never previously evident.   An overall loud mix that still exhibits good dynamics is terribly hard (impossible?) to achieve.

But once again let me say thanks to everyone for the positive vibe. A lot of work went in, but the bottom line is, the song was meant to be fun.

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Really enjoyed this it's a great song, not the stuff I would normally listen to but that the thing about these forums don't know what your gonna get till it starts  ... mix is well light (toppy) but I take your point about LUFS and streaming ... bitch of a thing. I bet this is best live ... well done sailor (sorry couldn't resist) :$

Best Regards

SPAK

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I don't think the mix is bad, I just think absolutely everything is too dry. Like you really took it to heart when you read the admonition "don't use too much reverb" - so that is personal taste, of course, but I think your mix basically is great! What about one reverb on the master bus (something I've never done myself) and put everybody in a medium-sized room, with ample pre-delay, and hpf below 500hz?

 

Yeah, personal taste, I know. 

 

Great tune, great bounce, awesome vocals, really listenable arrangement choices!  I think the mix is just dry, that's all. Interesting - usually the issue is a reverb swamp! Not here.

cheers,

-Tom

 

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I'm still not quite sure what the song's about, but it is a fun listen for sure. That lady can really sing! Whatever you did with her voice in a couple of spots, it sounded a bit like the Andrews sisters from the 40s. Really  liked the "she's nothing more than flicker on a movie screen" which is pretty much our reality nowadays.
I liked the song very much.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks everyone for the chance to bump this song.  Many years ago, a young man (not me, of course) might waste his valuable time with Pictures of Lily.   In my youth, it could have been Swank or Cavalier magazine. But we've come so far, haven't we? Now its possible to kill hours upon hours with animated strangers performing (for a fee, and in private) whatever suit's ones pleasure. The song's protagonist doesn't think that's such a bad thing. Nor does he know he's addicted. He respects the lady and would like to tell her so in person. Never gonna happen.  - D

Re Dryness: blame Steely Dan.

 

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