Something a little different from Christiane and me, sort of a 70s soul vibe:

The Blue Line

The band:

Drums: Soul70sEv16^1-a:ClsdHHtSn, b:BusyBss, also see (*) below
Bass: 1433:Bass, Electric, JazzFunkGroovin Ev16 110
Organ: 2619:Organ, Rhythm Funk Ev 100

I'm playing the guitar parts

(*) For the third chorus I needed something different for the drums, so I used EZDrummer2 to build that 8 bar segment

Mixed with reaper using plugins from Waves and iZotope, mastered with Ozone 8 and LMC

EDIT: Uploaded a new mix, and also uploaded to soundcloud.

The Blue Line (2018, Christiane Spruit)

New day dawn
in the limelight
Sun will drag the gloom behind the blue line

Buildings high
at the skyline
waiting for the people to get online

Chorus:
I guess it's just a feeling in the city
People come and go and passing by
I have pondered for a while, but found no answer
Don't or do I feel alive?

Busy Bees
they get the honey
Wear a decent dress to get the money

Camera eyes, mesmerize
a company that offers you free wi-fi

Chorus

Buildings high
scrape the skyline
Sun will drag the gloom behind the blue line

A neon sign
advertise
Selling you a dream in supersize

Chorus

Outro vamp: Don't or do I feel alive

All comments welcome!

Dave and Christiane,

I'm doing my best to type in real-time while the song is playing....

What a great opening!

Now Chris is singing and I'm stunned by how outstanding this production is! Chris's vocals sound so-o-o-o good! Wow!!!! Her singing style and this genre go together like coffee and cream.

Now it's Dave's turn. As I type, he's on lead guitar and the only thought that's in my mind is "This guitar sound, this performance, they're the stuff of skilled professionals!"

You've both done everything right with this one! To my ears it's top shelf all the way; music, performance, production and mix.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this.

All the best,
Noel

P.S. I just read your mention of reverb. I'll leave that to others with more experience than I have. In all honesty, I was so captivated by what I was hearing that I stopped having any critical thoughts about beat 2, bar 1.

I have to agree with Noel. This song starts great and just continues to improve.

You really have delivered extraordinary quality throughout.

However, that guitar line could not have possibly been delivered better. What a team!

What a cool song. Loved the way you panned the instruments in the mix. Loved how it jumped from speaker to speak. Such a cool vocal too. Your guitar was just excellent. Love the sound of your strat. Wah was pretty cool too..

This song has such a great groove to it! And the vocals suit the feeling of this song so perfectly. Thanks for sharing!

Dave & Chris,

I know Noel already said it, but it bears repeating...

What a great opening!!

Drums sound great! I love a "leathery" snare and this one POPS!

Chris' vocals and harmonies are outstanding.

Delicious guitar! Sweet!

A nice change up at the end to make it even MORE listenable...

Excellent all around. Great listen.

fj

Dave & Chris

Amazing work - everything comes together - excellent vocal and lovely harmonies, clever production (nice drums) and some blistering and tasteful guitar playing.
Great song.

Peter

Noel and Floyd said it best!

Great intro followed by an outstanding groove!

Those guitar chops are top shelf for sure!

Super vocals also.

This is a keeper.

The opening is killer and sets up a great grooving dose of the blues. Superb vocal and harmony along with some masterful playing make this production a real treat for us blues lovers. Well done both of you. This is the real deal, Tom

Dave & Chris,
Loved this! The feeling is more "up" than some of your work and the vocal treatment (with those two harmonies coming in and out) works well.
There`s energy in all the tracks and the guitars are stellar.
Very, very good.

Robert

What a great track. Very smooth and yet powerful.Top marks for the production.
I want to hear more of this. Excellent stuff.Rob

Thanks for your very kind words, Noel! Always appreciated

I decided to leave the reverb the way it was, may be a bit too much but I like the way it sounds.

Wow - what a tune As others have pointed out, this is spectacular. It starts off great, and just keeps getting better. Both your vocals, the tune, and the groove are on point. I wouldn't bat an eyelash hearing this on the radio.

I wouldn't change a thing here - thanks for sharing!

Dave/Christiane, this is fantastic!! Everything about it sounds great! Everything you produce ALWAYS has top level vocals and guitar work! You should try to submit this for a film soundtrack! I can totally hear/see this picked up for something like that! Good luck with it! Thabks, Torrey

Thanks very much, we really appreciate that!

Thanks, Scott!

During the chorus I doubled the wha guitar part with a straight guitar and panned them. BTW the wha pedal is a Dunlop Cry Baby pedal that I've had forever, must be 30 years old at least. It's the only pedal I own actually.

Dave & Chris,

Of all of your songs, this is a new favorite for me. I really love what you have done here. The song is excellent and the arrangement, tracks, guitar and vocal are standouts.

Much enjoyed!

Bob

Strong stuff you two!

- Clever write and delivered with an outstanding performance. Great lead and harmony all through with the killer outro to ice the cake.

- Guitars that bring a lot to the arrangement but never too much. Exactly the right touch for us and, man, played so well.

- All the backing tracks and the comped drum track were hitiin’ the note.

Lastly, but not least, the mix is perfecto.

Kudos!!!

J&B

Hi, Dave and Chris !


I gladly join in
with the orthers
pointing out the
professionalsim with
producing this tune,
the tune, playing, singing
and mix !

Really a very good
production !

Cheers
Dani

Thanks, Ember

Christiane just did a video for this song, I'm unable to edit my original post so I'll add the link here:

Well, that's my sort of thing! I love everything about this track, especially the guitar parts - excellent! I love the engineering and mi: nice and tight and chunky. Super vocals, especially the harmonies. A knock out track!

John

Thanks very much, Floyd! Drums are processed through iZotope Neutron.

And yeah, that bit at the end is the best part of the song for me, thanks for mentioning that

Awesome you two.

Dave you have a big fat, warm smooth sound on this.

EXCELLENT MIX.

Love your guitar man.

I appreciate that, thanks, Peter!

Thanks very much, Mario!

Thanks, Tom! Loved your latest!

Thanks very much, Robert!



Thanks Rob, I'm happy you liked this one!



Thanks for stopping by, Deryk, I appreciate it!

Awesome comments, thanks, Torrey!

Thanks very much, Bob!

Thanks for mentioning the outro, that's my favorite part of the song

For the guitars, one of the things I've learned in my old age is that less is more, especially when working with a vocalist. I always listen back and ask myself if the guitar is adding anything to the song, if not, it's gone.

And thanks for the comments on the mix also! Makes my day to hear that from someone like you

Thanks, Dani! I enjoyed your last one also, great song!

Always nice to get compliments from a fellow guitarist, thanks, John!

Thanks, David!

Guitar is a Strat through S-Gear, but I also do some processing after the fact. Always trying new things to try and get that ultimate tone, sort of a Holy Grail thing I guess

Great vibe, great solo, great vocal!! Love the wah guitar. I really like the way the kick drum works here....great pulse for the song. Great job guys!! Take care. Greg

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment, Greg, I appreciate it!

Happy you liked it!