Am I Blue Enough?

Leon and Peter were nice enough to offer this up to Janice for her melody and vocal. Peter was nice enough to offer Bud 17 tracks of guitar solo and fill choices !! Bud was overwhelmed by the smorgasbord of goodies
So here’s what happened.

Thanks for listening and comments are most welcome!

Leon: Lyrics
Peter: Chords, arrangement, lead guitar (solo and fills)
Janice: Vocals and melody
Bud: mixing/mastering

Vocal: Rodes NT > Scarlett 212 > Logic Pro / Effects: Nectar 2

Solo Guitar: Peter / Effects: whatever the man does…works for us

Bass: RT 1546 CountrySwing Sw 085 / Effects: Waves Bass Rider and Neutron 2

Rhythm Guitar: RT 565 Rhythm Blues Monday Sw 065

Rhythm piano: Super Midi Track 2845 BluesSlowSwingMike Sw 085 ( Logic Pro Grand Steinway) / Effects: Neutron 2 and EMT 140 Reverb sim

Drums (full Kit): RD BluesRock128 / Effects: Neutron 2

Snare: Doubled from RD / Effects: Neutron 2 and EMT 140 Reverb sim

Kick: Doubled from RD / Neutron 2

Mix: Logic Pro X
Mastering: Ozone 8 Adv

Thanks to Peter, Leon and PG Music

By the way, have you been traduced enough?

AM I BLUE ENOUGH
© 2018 Leon/Peter/Janice

AM I BLUE ENOUGH, HAVE I BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH
ARE YOU SATISFIED
DO YOU FEEL JUSTIFIED, ARE YOU THRILLED TO SEE
WHAT’S BECOME OF ME
AM I BLUE ENOUGH, HAVE I BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH

AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU, AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU
HAVE YOU FINISHED WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO
AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU

AM I SAD ENOUGH, WAS I BAD ENOUGH
DO YOU FEEL BETTER NOW
YOU’VE REGAINED YOUR POWER, NOW YOU’RE BACK ON TOP
IS THERE A CHANCE YOU’LL STOP
AM I BLUE ENOUGH, HAVE I BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH

AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU, AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU
HAVE YOU FINISHED WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO
AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU

HAVE I LOST ENOUGH, WAS THE COST ENOUGH
AM I REDUCED ENOUGH
BEEN TRADUCED ENOUGH, NOW YOU HAVE THE UPPER HAND
WILL YOU TAKE PITY ON YOUR WOMAN
AM I BLUE ENOUGH, HAVE I BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH

AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU, AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU
WILL YOU EVER FINISH WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO
AM I BLUE ENOUGH FOR YOU

I listened to this one a few days ago. Listening again now that I have the notes as a reference

Excellent song! Janice and Peter are both perfect as per usual!

Bud, a quick question if you don't mind! I've used that BluesRock128 realdrum set many times. How did you double the kick and the snare?

Thanks Dave. Glad it worked for you.

I use two methods to double the snare and kick. The first and easiest is to triple the tracks and then isolate via eq the snare and kick on two of them. I tried this on my earlier mixes of this song but didn’t like the result.

The second method (used on this mix) is far and away the best but is tedious until you get used to it. Hidden in the BIaB RD folders are audio tracks of each RD and at the end of the the audio file are the sounds for each component of the kit used for the specific RD.

I then cut the snare and kick from the audio file and line them up in the DAW with the full kit snare and kick on separate tracks for individual processing. I’ve done this quite a number of times and for a 3-4 minute tune it takes about 30 minutes. I align the hit and then duplicate it several times and then copy and paste it to the end of the song. If the realdrums were perfect it could be done very quickly but in my experience about 30% of the hits are not dead on the beat and the double has to be ever so slightly aligned or you will hear the difference.

Anyhow I think it’s worth the effort particularly for the snare. I sometimes double a cymbal crash for the outro. I recall floyd originally suggesting a similar method.

Bud

Very nice bluesy song, not only the words but the feel of the music and of course Janice's beautiful vocals on it. Great work!!!

Hi, LPJB - team !:))


If you ask me if you are
blue enough, the answer
is - yes ! Love this tune
and Janice´s superb voice
on the splendid work of the
rest of the team !

Great music !

Cheers
Dani

Thank you!!

J&B

J&B,P&L,
Everything sounds very comfortable here... loose in a tight way,like the band warming up for a gig.
I could listen to Peter`s alternate lead takes all day- bet it was tough to choose.
I was going to say nice simple repetition on a theme for the lyrics until you sang "traduced"... scurrying off to the dictionary for that one!
I`m always struck by how little processing there seems to be on Janice`s vocal tracks & since that`s not the fashion now, wonder if you learnt what works from the simpler bluegrass band days and still aim for that sound with all the vocal bells available now on the DAW.

Robert

Thanks Dani! Glad you thought it was blue enough (:

J&B

Thanks for the info on doubling the kick and snare, Bud!

And now you mention it I do recall someone else talking about doing it like that before, might have been Floyd. And I remember thinking, "man, I've got to try that on my next song", but being old I promptly forgot all about it :P

Wow! Now this was blue! I would say that was blue you two but there was three, so I guess I'll sound sounds blue to me you three.

Is it blue enough?

That is one of those great eternal questions. Most of them cannot be repeated here on this here forum on a Sunday.

However, when you hear a woman sing THIS blue, it almost always makes you want you to hear her get more blue, as it is with most good things, so I guess I would have to say, honey, it is BLUE but not blue ENOUGH in the sense that you have me wanting MORE blue, and then some more, and then some more after that.

And ain't that what it's all about???

I better stop now.

What a tune! This is a great piece of music right here. It has a strong mood, and wonderful groove, and the vocal delivery is on point. Within about 5 seconds it had my foot tapping. Honestly, there isn't a thing I'd change on this one.

Great work, and thanks so much for sharing

Dave
Thanks for those comments. It was a most enjoyable project.

Peter

Great effort by everyone involved!! I always notice how well the vocal is captured in your recordings (Another great one by Janice). Bud, you made great choices picking the wonderfully played parts by Peter! Nice bluesy vibe going on here! Thanks, Torrey

Great work and performance as usual.
Super blues vocal and great guitar playing.

Sergio

Thanks
Nobody sings them like Janice.

Peter

Loose in a tight way is a very accurate description of the sound that we seek. It’s gratifying that you feel we achieved it.

Yeah, traduced sent us to the dictionary also. I kept thinking of transducer

Your comments about the vocal processing are spot on. Yes, the processing is very similar to our analog recording in the bluegrass day. I use virtually the same eq, compression and reverb settings. And very little of them. I do add a little tape saturation, again, to simulate the analog days. Sometimes if the song is more rock oriented I add a little delay. And that’s it, we don’t own melodyne or any of the more aggressive processors. Thanks for mentioning that!

Bud

We’re gonna stop our spinning heads long enough to say “Thank you!”

Well I have no idea what "traduced" is but I know this is a great sounding track! Close my eyes and I'm right there in the room with Janice and her band. I was ready to leave a tip. (Just kidding. )

Seriously great job y'all!

Leon, Peter, Janice & Bud,

A stellar piece! Great write and melody. Janice again breathes life into a song like no one else... Another great, great performance.

Bud, the production on this one is really exceptional. The separation and placement of each musical component is perfect - the lines are so crisp and clean with a "live" feel... You really outdid yourself.

Great job all!

Bob

Leon, Peter, Janice, & Bud.

Not sure the band name is gonna work. But, MAN! everything else does!

Gorgeous vocal. A surprise to no one. Janice is in her element here.

Beautiful guitar work. Smooth, tasty. Fit perfectly.

A really nice Blues write.

An impeccable mix. One so good, you forget to think about it as the music just takes you away.

Y'all are making terrific music.

Leon & PB&J? Nah. LPJB. No.

Traduced. Maybe.

fj

Thanks Dani.

Peter

Josie, it’s great to hear from you. Thanks for commenting about being right in the room. That’s exactly what we work for!

J&B

Everyone involved with this just raised the blues bar again. Janice's voice is so danged good and when she gets great material like this to work with ... well, you know it's gonna be better than great. And this is!

Shuffle blues of any kind is such a sweet sound and this one is a perfect example of why. loved it! Tip of the hat to everyone!

Alan

Thanks Robert. The alternate takes will be in the "special outakes" on the album version!

Peter

What a great collaboration!

How you can all work together so seamlessly is a mystery to me.
A real old time world weary feel topped off by a laconic blue Janice.

Cheers.

David
Thanks for that most interesting review.

Peter

Thanks a lot Deryk.

Peter

What a awesome collaboration. Loved the guitar. Reminds me of Randy Napolean's work with Michael Buble.

Super vocal Janice. Just love this style of blues.

Backtrack was so cool. The walking bass line wow!!. The mix so good. blend so nice but ever instrument identifiable. Well done..

Thanks Torrey it's a pleasure working with Janice & Bud.

Peter

L,P, J&B

Really bluesy!!!
Everything works: music, vocals, lyrics
Great job guys!

Rob and Anne-Marie

Thanks Bob and we really appreciate you mentioning the production. A live feel is precisely what we hoped to achieve!

J&B

Thanks Sergio.

Peter

So, so good!!! Wow! You are blue enough for me.

What a fabulous song! from the write to the performances to the production, everything is superbly done!

What a treat!!!

Congratulations to all!

Hmmm....yeah, Traduced will work!

We appreciate every sentence you wrote. Mentioning the write, guitar, vocals and the mix in such a positive manner hugely validates what we were hoping to achieve.
Thank you!
J&B

Thanks Josie.

Peter

Al, we are so sorry to hear about your situation and wish y’all the very best.

Thanks for the wonderful review! Our heart is really in shuffle blues!

J&B

Thanks! I think a common love of the blues and fun and fruitful communication is how it happens. Or at least that’s our story and we’re sticking with it.

J&B



Thanks Scott, yep, Peter put a lot of soulful playing into this one. Glad you liked the mix and the bass. I tried a lot of Bass RT’s before settling on that one.

Thanks Bob - Bud sure knows had to enhance a mix.

Peter

LBJ - and Peter!

Thanks for the nice comments.

Peter

Janice was the perfect choice to pose the question. Her soulfully bluesy vocal drips with emotion. Good lyrics and guitar work. The mix is impeccable from start to finish. Each collaborator did his/her part to perfection. Great job! Tom

Thanks y’all for the listen and the nice words!

J&B

As always, everything is well done!

Your mixes and arrangements are always uncluttered and natural. They stay out of the way and let the vocal shine. Not a lot of flash, just solid playing backing an excellent singer.

It sounds like all you did was turn on a microphone and capture an amazing performance.

Which, of course, it was.

Thanks Alan - hope things are settling down.

Peter

Thanks Rich.

Peter

Thanks Scott - Bud is a mix wizard.

Peter

Your reviews are always a treat. Thank you!

J&B

Appreciate the review.

Peter

Thanks Tom.

Peter

Thanks David.

Peter

Tom, thanks a lot for the great review. Praise from you regarding the mix is extra special and we are most appreciative!!!

J&B




Man, you couldn't be any nicer to us. What you described regarding the natural and live feel is exactly what we strive to achieve. Thanks!!!!

Hello, Janice & Bud, Peter & Leon

It's a super collaboration between the two songwriter teams
Janice displays her true worth in this tune.
Bluesy, really bluesy!
Peter's genius guitar support is wonderful.
Neutron effect is also satisfactorily demonstrated everywhere.
I think that it is very well mixed.
All are really comfortable!
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Thanks for the great review. Glad you liked the blues!

J&B

A great collaboration. Everything works perfectly. The guitar, drums and vocals are stellar. Top notch arrangement and mix. Loved this from start to finish.

Thanks Charlie. We much appreciate your kind words. Great to hear from you!

With Janice singing and Peter playing guitar, could you possibly go wrong?? NO!!!! Really cool bluesy vibe. Love Peter's guitar tone on this- sounds just like the solo on Chained Lightening off Katy Lied! This is one classy and sweet production!! Take care. Greg