PhonoBrainer

Thanks Paul for the comment! Thanks Douglas, appreciate it! Thanks Bjorn! I was going for a kind of hypnotic heartbeat rhythm, glad it worked for ya.

I don't know where to start. Vocal performance excellent, super emotive and interesting. Snare was excellent, just a perfect tone. Laid-back yet driving groove, really excellent. the mixture of guitars. excellent indeed. The song? Excellent. so if I'm really picking the nits on the nits . . . the initial groove was hard to catch in the first three seconds, something wasn't lining up maybe? And the acoustic/nylonish guitar on the right? in the intro, could use maybe a bit more short reverb? It sounds a tad dry and almost like the sustain has been cut off intentionally? sheesh that was really excellent - great song and great skills. cheers, -Tom

Spring has sprung, thank god. Loved the jam and count me in for the banjo, loved that too. Some timing in the middle with the guitar I think, could be edited away easily. I just loved the sunny melody fitting the sunny scenes. Always a pleasure, I appreciate your compositional range, from avant garde to orch to chill-out jazz like this. You are your own lane. cheers, -Tom

Phil, really great job here. The song holds up well all by itself, my only thought was maybe in the spoken rap sections the vocals could come up just a bit in volume, but good enough as is. If you put that together in just a couple of days, that's a helluva job! Visuals suited the story but the song carries both imho. Nice! cheers, -Tom

Portland, Maine - I bet they've played there! I dug it and the video, nice presentation, made me smile. Good luck with the tomfoolery! cheers, -Tom

Glad I caught this, nice vamp and the vocals weren't Prince lyrics but I still got a Prince vibe. Headphones made me appreciate the mix even more, nice panning! I can't say I could make out all the lyrics, but they sounded angry good. cheers, -Tom

get thee to soma.fm Groove Salad! love the chill! cheers, -Tom

Lynn, thanks! I would have accepted "on hold music" but waiting room, lofty heights for this song indeed! I was going for exactly that mellow thing and I find myself nearly drifting off to sleep when I listen to it. Or it's just past my nap time. thanks! -Tom

Whatever reverb you have on the lead vocal really works for me. The vocal is exposed, especially in the first verse, and I think that reverb is perfect, what are you using? You might consider a slightly different eq approach with the bass guitar? It's a bit indistinct and a bit, sorry to use this horrible term, "muddy"? Everything else (guitars drums vocals) are super clean and so maybe the bass just sounds swampy in comparison. All of those guitar parts really work well together and I love the parts you played, super cool ideas that don't stop coming. Nice! cheers, -Tom

Thanks RR, glad you liked it and yes there is lots of inspiration to be had around these parts. Thanks for the comment and the listen!

Thanks, Gary - mixing is my lease confident part of this for sure. I appreciate the comment!

I think you must have a lot of musical days! Many thanks for the listen!

Thanks much!

Much obliged, glad it's a soother! Watch out for the neuropathy, that's how my feet often feel! cheers, -Tom

I remember this, just a killer song and performance. For my ears there is too much brightness in the lead vocal. It's still a pleasure to listen to. You can hear the noise floor is being compressed or something, got some hiss in the blank spots, check :08 - :013 area in the intro. I don't remember, was your original mix a problem? Absolutely great song and performance!!! cheers, -Tom

Super clear mix and vocal, I dig the groove. Professional! cheers, -Tom

Love the guitar work, the rhythm - vocals are great. I got a Van Morrison vibe. Keep it going! Maybe the bass could come up a bit, but it has a really organic tone. Love that, and the harmonica was sweet as well. You've been waiting for that train for ages now, maybe it's not coming? While you're waiting, maybe grab a weedwhacker and clean up those tracks? cheers, -Tom

I don't know about the mixing software you are into, but I listened on Audeze cans and thought maybe the bass guitar could come up a hair, and the keyboard stabs (prominent around :38 for example) might come down a bit? It's a helluva good song and mix, taking vocals into prog, really great! cheers, -Tom

This one really sucks you in. Maybe at the upper edge of the eq spectrum, things are getting a bit pokey/crisp? I can't really judge much above 13khz but I think there is some icepick potential you could check? If only visually on a parametric eq? I heard the space toad . . . Otherwise super crisp, clean, and separated, mix-wise. Well done! cheers, -Tom

Love the vibe, the tremolo moments, the nice drippy lead tone. I'd love to watch this in a live setting! cheers, -Tom

Love the song, the structure of the parts, the lyrics too! Your vocal has a very genuine quality to it. For me, the drums are letting the side down a bit. They are mixed well back yet they are quite busy. That's an odd combo that might be addressed. But here's what jumped out at me right away, listening to the first section around :30, you have your vocal, and a lot of other elements - buzzy power chord guitar, an arpeggiated guitar, a synth pad doing some little melodic noodles occasionally, and the drums buried far back, along with the bass. That's an awful lot of stuff right away all in competition, and kudos for making your vocal stick out amongst all of that!!! You might drop the big fuzzy distorted power chord guitar out of things completely? Just as a trial? That's a wall of distant fuzz that if removed could let the drums back in, and things might breathe a bit. Believe me I know it's hard to say goodbye to a beloved part, but my vote would be "less is more" in this case. This song comes across as a cool concept, especially with the nifty female vocal coming in - and the lyrics are really quite good, sung with feeling. Nice! cheers, -Tom

Cool tune, I like that dip down of the chords in the chorus, if that makes sense. I thought that was pretty inventive! I agree with Bapu on a different snare. There's something "high school gym" about the snare you have at present, where something less ringy and more woody might suit better. Hopefully, if you are using a drum sampler, that should be an easy experiment to see what other snares you might like. In the 2:21 section, you can hear the hi hat or ride part is perhaps flanging a bit too much, which might be creating a high-end smear which could also be making a mix problem. That by itself could be masking upper snare eq's or even your vocal. As for what could be added, everyone would have their opinion of course, but in your opening 8 bars with just the guitar as an intro, you could bring in a flute or harmonica, something in the upper range, maybe in bars 4-8, something working off the guitar line. I think subtle use of a flute-ish voice along the way in you song could be cool. Maybe an upper register flutey B3? Nice vocal, it does ring of Doobie Bros but I thought the song itself brought Bonnie Raitt to mind, of all things, so what do I know. Vocally you might double your track in the choruses? Or bring in Michael McDonald? nice work! cheers, -Tom

Thanks David, and yes I feel your age, and the occasion to calm oneself in this world of irritating uncertainties should not be passed by. The picture was kipped from the internet, it looks like an artist put some Norway fjords into a Photoshop fisheye lens thing. just a guess. Many thanks for listening . . .

Thanks y'all! Cleaned up the mix a little, and made a video - any comments are most welcome! If you can take your Youtube resolution up to 1440p, maybe let me know how crisp it looks? Experimenting . . . Would love any mix comments or anything else - thanks! cheers, -Tom

Hey Dave, cool tune, it's hard to do pop well these days and I think you are there, via the 1980's - very much dug it! If you are looking for a weak spot, maybe it's the initial intro vocal which is just single tracked and is a bit on the thin side. All other vocals have more treatment (sometimes doubled an octave lower) great techniques, and I love the mix choices all the way through. I don't think LANDR muffed it up too badly, you can tell it's a little louder and smooshed flatter that in could be in a few high-energy moments. hope you keep posting your tunes - very nice indeed! cheers, -Tom