Forever

[RexRed]

Here is a new song for your listening pleasure awesome Cakewalk peeps!

This will probably be my contribution this year to Valentine's Day.

So, Happy Valentines Day!

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[Ruralrocker2010]

Your harmonies are GREAT. Is that just you singing?

At first, I thought the bassline, or low end was male "mmmms"...and I thought dang, that's super cool. Inspiring work.

 

My only crit is that your opening melody cadence is a bit jarring with the placement of the syllables of 'forever'. The "ver" lands on an off beat in a way that makes me think it's out of time and then the rest of the line finishes without me feeling comfortable. It feels rushed, but the melody is great and the lyrics interesting. It's a small thing - but it stood out to me.

[mark skinner]

 Rex , Beautiful lead vocal tracks and harmony ! Huge vocal space. Are you hard panning harmony's ?  I've heard this vocal spread on quite a few of your songs with extensive harmony's , and have wondered about your panning to achieve it.  I was a little let down by your choice of the instrument in the keys break. I don't think it "lifted" that section as well as it could have.  Still Loved the song and performance ..            mark

[Paul Bush]

Great post Rex ,You really worked hard on these vocals and it shows ,  just beautiful harmonies , super song

cheers paul

[RexRed]

Hey Ruralrocker2010, I have noticed that problem with the timing and I have been baffled as to how to fix it.

Everything seems to be lining up with the measures. I have just resolved to let this fall under the category of "syncopation".

There are low Ooos sung sporadically through the song and the bass guitar is very faint and a "phantom bass", just to balance out the high frequencies and add some power to the low end.

There are also some chord issues that have perplexed me as well that I could not resolve in this song.

I may revisit this song again someday and try and figure it out.

Mark Skinner, as for my harmonies, I do pan them for clarity sake and for the stereo spread effect. 

It may not sound very natural, I don't know. It does give them a separate place in the mix to stand out.

I usually pan the low voice left the mid voice right and the high voice left depending on the pitches in the melody line as long as the harmonies are not the same octave on the same side. If they are octaves I put them on opposite sides.

This approach helps them to not cancel each other out as much when played in mono.

I hope to one day address the flaws or maybe another mixer/master person may have a go at trying to get my songs into shape. ?

Paul Bush, thank you for the very nice compliment I hope the work outweighs the unresolved problems this song has presented.

As for the Rhodes solo in the center of the song, I just wanted a change from the usual guitar solo I put in my songs. It has a soft and intimate tone, easy on the ears and I thought it was okay.  Again, I may one day make another version of this song and try and raise it up to a different level.

Thanks for the honest critiques and compliments! They are very helpful and also flattering to my work!

Much love and have a great week peeps!

RexRed

Edited February 15, 2023 by RexRed

[bjornpdx]

Rex, while listening to this great song I got a nostalgia wave for 70s music, songs by James Taylor, Jackson Browne and others probably well before your time. I don't know, they're just well crafted songs that hit that emotional spot in your head. So,  well done with that but I did want to hear something more engaging in the solo, maybe a more melodic line.
-Bjorn

[michaelhanson]

Really great song and performance!  I thoroughly enjoyed this.  Love the harmonies. 

[AndyB01]

Lovely work as always - have to agree on the Rhodes solo, didn't really work for me. Perhaps a more sustained EP tone would have worked better or if it was a bit busier - IDK, these things are always a question of taste and it's your song at the end of the day.

You still did a great job and I'm still a fan. ?

Andy

[Miguel Carzola]

Beautiful all around, Rex.