"Destination Unknown" (Rock) - Mix #2 Finally Up!

[Ciodontrax]

Bob, the song sounds totally powerful on my headphones, that's how rock music must sound!
I like your guitars as you know :)

Rock on!

[Bob Oister]

Joad:

Hey, Joad,

Thank you very much, I really appreciate you checking this new one out for me and also your observations and very kind words!?

I always end up with a couple songs on each of my albums that are a little different from the rest and don't seem to fit exactly into my usual Hard Rock/Metal genre.  For some reason this one sort of reminded me a little of 70's Southern Rock, so I think I may have channeled a touch of early Allman Brothers into the little dual lead fills.  Thanks for noticing and commenting, greatly appreciated!?

Thanks again, and have a Rockin' week, buddy!

Bob

 

[Bob Oister]

Douglas Kirby:

 

Hey, Doug,

Thank you so much, buddy!  I really appreciate your detailed input, observations and good suggestions on my stuff, and also your very kind words of encouragement!  Especially, because your song posts are always really well written and performed, and top notch productions!?

I'm grateful for the Halford reference, I did a lot of Judas Priest in my cover bands over the years!?

Also thanks for the input on the bass clarity situation that you, Lynn and Tom picked up on.  As I mentioned above, that all important EQ balance between the bass guitar and kick drum is always one of my toughest challenges to try to dial in to the point where both are clear and present in the mix.  I'm definitely going to make a few EQ adjustments for the remix later this week.

Thanks again, Douglas, I appreciate your time, input and friendship!?

Have a Rockin' week!
Bob
 

[Bob Oister]

bjornpdx:

Hey, Bjorn,

Thank you so much for checking this out for me, and also for your very kind words!?

I truly appreciate your always good input, observations and suggestions, and also your friendship and support here on the forum!

Thanks again, greatly appreciated, Bjorn, and have a fantastic weekend!?

Bob

[Bob Oister]

emeraldsoul:

Hey, Tom,

How are you, brother?  Hope you're doing great!

Big thanks for giving this a listen, and also for your great input, good observations, and very kind words!?

For this new mix, I took good suggestions from you, Lynn and Doug, and tried "massaging" the EQ a little bit on the Kick Drum and Bass, and also a couple other tweaks I mentioned above.  I'm hoping the touch ups and minor changes are an improvement.  I you get a chance to check out the new mix, please let me know what you think.

Thanks again for all your help in the past, and your support and friendship, greatly appreciated, buddy!??

Bob

 

[Bob Oister]

Grem:

Hey, Grem,

How's it going, buddy?  Hope your gearing up for a great weekend!?

Thanks so much for lending your very good ears to this one for me, and also for your input, good observations and encouraging comments!?

I know what you mean about the drum fills.  Not really being a drummer, the drums are always the hardest part for me, and LOL, ? believe it or not, my wife is always on me about the drum fills being awkward and way overdone!  For the main parts of the song I usually just try to play what I'm hearing in my head, keeping a fairly simple, steady beat on either my Yamaha drum pads or my M-Audio KeyRig, and track just the kick, snare and hi-hats first, and then I add the fills and crashes, etc later. 

Sometimes this can lead to some pretty awkward drum tracks! ?  Thankfully, the guys here on the forum (and on the old forum) usually point out where I went too crazy and I try to fix things up.  I'm still on the fence about that semi awkward fill right before the bridge on this one, and might end up simplifying and smoothing it out a bit.

Thanks again, Grem, I truly appreciate you taking time to listen to my stuff and provide excellent input, observations and suggestions, and I'm very grateful for your friendship and support!?

Have a Rockin' weekend, buddy!

Bob

[Bob Oister]

NOTE: Once again, extremely sorry for the late replies due to reasons mentioned above in the first post!  Hoping to be able to be around here much more very soon!?

Thanks again!?

Bob

[Bob Oister]

thegaltieribrothers:

Hey, Paul,

How are you, my friend?  Hope you're doing well!?

Thank you so much for checking this song out for me, and for your very kind, encouraging comments!  I always really look forward to and greatly appreciate your input on my posts, because you've always been a true gentleman, and the quality of your songs is always excellent!

Thanks again, Paul, I'm very grateful for your friendship and support here on the forum!?

Best Wishes,

Bob

[Bob Oister]

Rik:

Hello, Rik

It's really fantastic to see you over here at the new forum!  I hope your health issues are improving and that you're feeling much better and doing great!?

Thank you so much for giving this a listen for me, and also for your very kind words!?

On this one I used my PRS Paul Allender Signature Model for all of the rhythm and lead guitar parts.  I find it to be very versatile with the multi EMG coil-splitting configuration, so it provides a lot of variable tone options for different types of tunings.

Thank you again for taking time to check this out and commenting, greatly appreciated, Rik!  I'm looking forward to hearing some great new song posts from you here on the forum!?

Have a Rockin' weekend, brother!

Bob

 

[Bob Oister]

HarryC:

Hey, Harry,

How's it going, my friend?  Hope you're gearing up for a rocking weekend!?

Big thanks for giving this song a listen and also for your very kind comments!  I truly appreciate it, and it's always great to hear from another hard rocker like you.  You always do a dynamite job on your song posts!?

Thanks again, Harry, I'm very grateful for your input, support and friendship here on the forum!?

Have a good one, buddy!

Bob

 

[DeeringAmps]

Hey Bob,
I missed the first mix so I can't comment on the changes. But I can say this, I love that "in your face" (or should I say chest)
kick drum. I can hear the "Southern Rock" influence, but tonally this is "modern" rock all the way (not a criticism).
Lynn commented on the change going into the solo; I'd call it a "middle eight", but I think I counted 9 measures there; well done!
There were a couple of times I sensed some Eddie V coming in the solo, but you kept it to a nice ascending melody line: less is more ofttimes.
You've obviously spent a lot of time honing your skills, craft and promotion; 3 albums on CD Baby is a testament to hard work.
"brain bolts", I love that; I think I've experienced it as well, just wish they'd come more often...
The one thing that has evaded me is the "craft" of songwriting, scheduling time, sitting down and "honing" the craft everyday.

There are several hard working young artists I follow on the forum, (at age 67, everyone under 50 is a kid) I only wish the modern
"industry" was geared to the Ertegun, Wexler, Davis school of music production/promotion vs. the pure "bean counter" business
it is in the modern era. Those men "shaped the times", this new breed just copy the latest "trend", and consequently music languishes.

Keep on aRockin' Bob,

Tom

[SteveC]

Classic.    Bob.     That is all.     ?

Sounds great!   Nice punchy mix for an all out rockin' song.

 

[Bob Oister]

DeeringAmps:

Hey, Tom, how are you, buddy?  Hope you're having a great week!?

Thank you so much for checking out this mix for me (and also my 3 albums), and especially for your very thoughtful, insightful and encouraging comments!  I truly appreciate your good input and observations because of the excellent quality of your song posts, and also because you've always been a true gentleman ever since I first joined the old forum back in 2008.?

LOL, ? I really appreciate the kick drum comment!  After multiple decades of playing "live" in many large nightclubs and outdoor venues with huge "old school" PA systems and amps, I'm used to a "cannon" kick drum and a "shotgun" snare drum.  I know for recording that sort of goes against the grain, but I really try to work hard to get the big kick to play well together with the bass and deep drop-tuned guitars for a little extra punch.

I totally get and couldn't agree more with your reference to the original roots of the rock music industry.  I bought and read Clive Davis's first book way back when I was in high school, referencing when he was head of A & R and then president of Columbia Records, it was a great and very interesting read.  The three gentlemen that you mentioned were really pioneers who helped lay the foundation of the early rock music business by signing, producing and managing the very first "rock" bands and steering them into becoming major hit makers who influenced just about every band to follow.  For the past 20 years or so, since the advent of MP3s, downloads, file sharing and streaming, it seems that the record industry has been run by bean counters who are only looking for sterile, cookie-cutter "Pop" artists that they can exploit for a few years and then move on to another.  LOL, ? I'm not ranting, I'm just agreeing with your comments about the current situation because unfortunately, we all know "it is what it is"!

Thanks again, Tom, I greatly appreciate you taking time to check out the mix and your input and comments!  Looking forward to hearing some more of your future song posts, my friend!

Have a good one!
Bob

 

[Bob Oister]

SteveC:

Hey, Steve!  How are you buddy?  It's really great to see you back on the forum!?

Thanks so, much for checking this new mix out for me and for your input and very kind words of encouragement!?

I truly appreciate your input, observations, comments and support here on the forum.

Thanks again and have a rockin' weekend, Steve!

Bob