Johnbee58

Thanks all so much. I was getting a bit worried when I saw that there were close to 80 page views and no replies and judging from a previously posted song that was construed as political I was nervous that I offended again. Perhaps you were all taking the time to take the song in to give the best perspective of how you felt. I apologize for jumping to conclusions. Bjorn-This song was meant to address both 9/11 and the flag. As far as abuse, I could link you to several videos of people flying Old Glory and being confronted by neighbors demanding that they take it down. A few years back there was a certain group that will remain nameless that demanded the Confederate flag be banned in the southern US states and later all of the (American) Civil War statues. That offended me in a minor way, but I never thought it would escalate to our own Red, White & Blue being referred to as a "symbol of hate". This country may not be perfect, but it's the one I was born into and when I compare the freedom we have here (and the human cost it took to maintain it) to some other areas of the world, well, let's just say I'm glad I was born here. I know that this forum reaches people around the globe and those from other countries may not share my opinion about the US. I realize and respect that. You each know how you feel about your own homeland. Bjorn-I remember the days and weeks after 9/11. I remember feeling the fear and desperation from almost everybody I saw and interacted with. My daily drive to work every day was about 11 miles and in the months following the attack there were beautiful American flags flying on at least 70% of the homes that I passed. And this lasted a long time. I felt that for that short time we were truly united as a country. It's too bad that it took such a horrible disaster to make that happen and faded away too soon. Now, almost 18 years later we're at the point where overpaid athletes disrespect our flag and our country. Tell me what other country in this world could these people make so much $$$$$$$ doing what they love, playing a GAME?! So, thinking about the pride of so many in flying the flags after the attacks and thinking of the current disrespect, I merged those two concepts of the attacks and the flag into one song. The nuclear power plant idea of the 4th plane was just a theory and we will never know where the hijackers wanted to take it. Most think they meant to take it to Washington DC (White House or Capitol building), but whichever, the brave souls aboard that plane saved lives and I wanted to give mention to that but there's only so much that can be said in a 5 minute song. I wasn't planning on writing a whole story about it. Just a song, so I had to condense a lot of my feelings. I hope I clarified some of the issues you questioned in you post. To all the others, my most heartfelt thanks for your replies and feedback. EDIT-Bob O-Your post especially brought me to tears regarding your father. May God bless his soul and I thank him for his service to our country. ?John B

76 page views and only 1 review so far. I apologize to the forum for embarrassing myself by posting another song on a controversial subject. Admin may remove the thread if they want. ?JB

Hi Starise and thanks for the review. This came from my heart. Not only do I feel sympathy for the victims and their survivors, but I actually weep for the flag. It's not a symbol of hate. It's a symbol of freedom. It deserves more respect than what it's been getting lately. Actually, the bass is the Trilian Bass module, one of Spectrasonics's great musical toys. I've just recently learned how to do slides. It's an awesome thing. ?JB

Very inspiring. Great vocal & harmony. I can tell you feel the tunes you write. ?John B

Heartfelt. Johan would be proud. Great sample too!

Never mind

Catchy in title and tune. I love your vocal style and harmonies. ?John B

Oh, this is beautiful. Well arranged and produced. Your vocalist has a very pleasing voice. Well done. ?John B

A tribute. No more, no less. I hope this isn't too controversial. ?John B

Sometimes music says it better than any words can. Best to your wife and you. ?❤️John B

Nice rocker. I really enjoy the words. Mix sounds pretty bright to my ears. Might want to cut back on some high end, especially on the guitars. ?

Thanks Freddy and Amiller. Nice to hear from you. ?JB

Yeah, but for once it would be great for me to come up with a great song and a great recording. I have many songs that I'm proud of, but most of the mixes suck big time. ?JB

Mr. Anderton-I'm honored. The guru of home recording (I bought one of your books way back in 1988 in my tape days) took the time to listen to my little song. Thanks so much for your suggestions, Sir.? The above is not meant to minimize the efforts from all here who offered feedback. You're all appreciated and I will look over this wealth of information, for sure. ?JB

WOW! This is a lot of advice. It'll take me a while to go through everything here, but I appreciate you all giving me your suggestions. ?JB

Thanks for all the above suggestions. Somebody above wanted to hear an example. Here's on of the best: https://johnbowen.bandcamp.com/track/the-twilight-side-of-morning In my opinion, everything is wrong with this mix. As you can hear, in the last verse I have string ensemble, but then, a few months after I did the first mix, I bought NI Strummed Acoustic Guitar and added it. Even though I tried to adjust everything, it still sounds like the strings and guitar are competing with each other and both are losing terribly. This is a prime example of the "claustrophobic" effect in my original complaint. Also, I think the vocal track sucks. Last year I submitted it to Recording magazine for Marty Peters to have a listen. He said it doesn't sound all that bad to him, but I might want to try another microphone other than the Avantone CV 12 I used on the track. I think you can access this link without a subscription. If you can, have a listen. The notable thing here is that I presented the song to the mag prior to adding the acoustic guitar. https://recordingmag.com/readers-tracks/john-bowen-twilight-side-of-morning/ So you can hear a before and after mix. Thanks again. Hoping to hear your views on these mixes. ?JB

Bristol Jonesey-My instruments are all listed in my sig. What I get from this is that the culprits are the virtual instruments. I guess that means I'm stuck with the results because I can't afford the real expensive sample libraries. Thanks ?JB

When I compare my mixes to professional ones, mine sound claustrophobic. If I'm listening on headphones it always sounds as if everything is too close to my head no matter how much reverb or delay, panning or anything I use to try to create dimension. It sounds as if my listening environment is within a small pup tent and I'd like it to sound as if I'm in a much larger room. When I listen to pro mixes it seems as if there's plenty of room for everything to spread out as if my listening area is a much larger room. Instruments that are panned left or right are better defined than on my mixes. I've been wondering why this happens. I use almost all virtual instruments but my vocals are just as claustrophobic than any of the instruments (in fact, more so). What could cause this? Could it be sampling rate or resolution? Pros probably use 96.0 where in mine that would be impossible to do due to computer limits. (I mostly use 44.1) Or is it something in the mix I'm doing wrong? (Plug ins?) Or is it just the nature of pro audio vs amateur? I'd appreciate any suggestions. ?John B.

Just keep Sonar on your system. Nothing has to change there. You can use either because they will both be there. Nothing you do with CbB will affect Sonar or vice versa. I guarantee you'll want to stick with CbB once you pick it up. ?John B.

I really wish you would post the lyrics because there are a few lines that I can't quite get but the ones I can understand I can definitely relate to. My middle seems to be growing to (almost) whale size and I can trust my mind, but not my body. I'm finding that when you get past 50 you can't count on everything working correctly when you need it to like you can when you're a young buck. Take note you "youngsters" and gen X ers. Your time will be here before you know it. Love the bluesy style, as usual. You sure can sing the blues, Freddy! ?John B

Thanks, Wookie, Paul & Lynn ? I have a few confessions to make about this tune- 1. I never owned a collection of baseball cards. I wasn't really into that. Just lyric fodder. 2. I never had a tree house. I would've been too chicken s**t to climb it. Besides, the house I grew up in had a very small back yard, nowhere near big enough for a tree. Just my Mom's "wash line props" 3. I never owned a Yamaha Motiff, nor a bass guitar, (but I would've loved to). 4. I never owned a stamp collection and.... 5. I never had a friend who treated me that crappy. They wouldn't have been a friend of mine long if they had. But it was fun for the song's sake. Thanks again! ?JB

Well, I'm working on two projects right now so I'm not in the mood for a learning curve. I'll stick to what I have until I'm into the next writer's block. Thanks so much for the heads up on this. ?JB

I seem to remember this video on the old forum, but if it was 6 or 7 years I'm probably thinking of something else. Either way it's a great tune and video. Speaks volumes about where we are as a people and a civilization. ?John B.

I heard of Vangelis. Weren't they the "Chariots of Fire" Guys? Creates a very nice and peaceful atmosphere. Film documentary type. Nice. ?John B