https://soundcloud.com/user-770148857/almost-satisfied


1253 bass, 509 dire guitar, dire solo, vox by Sam Ford of fiverr


I made the recommended changes, don't know if anyone actually returns to a thread they've already visited but thanks to all, esp RayC for the help.

Almost Satisfied by Bob Millard

Wanting too much from a woman's a sad fate,
Only the loneliest need to apply,
Is this my chance, at long long last, to set my standards straight?
Or are you the one that I placed on high?

You make me feel as if I'm almost satisfied
Just by standing next to you,
You make me feel as if all my thoughts are lies
Swirling toward something true.

Just can't trust my thoughts or any of my feelings,
At this moment, place and time,
Am I grounded now or fixed upon the ceiling?
Welcome to the Hell sublime.

You make me feel as if I'm almost satisfied
Just by standing next to you,
You make me feel as if all my thoughts are lies
Swirling toward something true.

Very nice lyric and progression. Your guy did a great job delivering them, melodically and phrase-wise. The band kept things close and intimate. Really nice one.

Nice writing on this! And I like what your singer did for you as well. He is maybe a bit too loud in the mix? Not sure.

Good song, enjoyed the listen.

Hello TM ...

What really great song! I like the relatively simple arrangement ... everything it needs and not a thing it doesn't. You're hired vocalist did a nice job for you. I do agree with Dave that perhaps his vocal needs to be dropped back just a tad. Nice guitar solo, too!

Great listen. Best to you ...

Alan

Nicely done - I love the progressions and thought the vocals suited the instrumentation perfectly. It's delightfully calm, and easy to take. I agree with what what Tangmo said early - it is really close an intimate.

Great work and thanks for sharing

Subtlety of the lyrics is cool- is this your write? I also really enjoyed the relaxed style of the arrangement and that guitar solo punching through given all the more attention.
The vocalist does well -excellent phrasing ( on `phones there`s something a little boomy going on perhaps due to the proximity).
Very good songwriting!

Robert

Really cool song!! The band is perfect for the tune, and the vocal is excellent! Really interesting lyric! Very nicely done!! Take care. Greg

Loved this song. Excellent vocal and lyric. Really neat chord progression. Well done

Well written song - the progression and lyric work a treat.
The vocalists seems too close to the mic - there's a bit of proximity effect and some serious sibilant stuff.
He's also too loud in the mix.
The guitar with the chorus effect on it seems louder & drags a bit compared to the sprightly cleaner guitar opposite.
The solo seems almost completely unrelated to the song - the tone and phrasing seem to sit above and not mesh with what's going on with the backing. With that jaunty Dire Straits style guitar on one side something more akin to it would've worked better for my ears/taste. As to the note & phrase choices of the RealTrack soloist - a listened closely a few times and it was hmmm...each time.
Again,
really good song, pretty good vocal performance that needs a little tweaking.
You've the components of a really cool track.

Cool song. Interesting progression / instrumentation. Unexpected solo Overall, listens very well, however I feel it deserves more time in mixing. Enjoyed it!

Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

An interesting song. The melody is especially nice.

I agree with the comments on the vocal. At low volume, the "boominess" is not as noticeable, so I think it could be easily toned down with EQ settings (maybe a deep notch around 400 and a bit of the low end rolled off?). Ray's point about the guitar solo, also. The Herington solos are really nice, but often get busy (taking some of the phrases out can make that RT work better, I think).

That melody is really haunting. It is still in my head minutes after hearing it...

I made most of the recommended changes, don't know if anyone actually returns to a thread they've already visited, but thanks to all, esp rayc. I took out the chorus guitar and just left the dire guitar. I used a Waves S1 on the dire guitar to make up for the missing chorus guitar. I hope the vocal is not too loud now, please let me know. rayc, I never hear the sibilance you often mention on the vocals in my songs. So I wasn't able to fix what I couldn't hear. Do you have really good monitors that pick up something I can't hear on my cheap monitors? Very curious to me. Thanks again for taking the time to review my songs so thoroughly, I appreciate it!

Hi TM,

I love this groove and the melody that you've created for your lyrics... they really shine. You've done a good job!

I'm not a mixing expert by any stretch of the imagination. For me, mixing is like playing a tug-of-war game that I know I'll never win. A long time ago, I learnt that the best I could ever do is to take it slowly, only work on a song for an hour or two with long rests between sessions, and hope!

I read your reply to rayc above and the vocals didn't stand out too loud for me at all. I enjoyed the lyric and music journey that you took me on.

Also, an approach to de-essing that might work for you is shown in the below video clip. While this clip uses Reaper, the approach would work for any DAW. (The Reaper EQ and Compressor plugins are freely available from www.cockos.com). This approach could be set up visually and then there is no need to hear it.



Direct link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGPJ1Uiyqz0&rel=0&width=960&height=540

I'm looking forward to hearing more of your songs!

All the best,
Noel

I really like the progression you used here, and the melody was quite good too. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Tunemonger,

That vocal sits in the mix much better now. Guitar solo sounds better too.

I do hear the sibilance at this end that Ray mentioned, you can hear it on any word that starts with "s" or "f".

I'm listening on a pair of Sennheiser HD598 headphones and also have a decent set of studio monitors here. If you are using cheap monitors to mix with you are fighting a losing battle IMHO, you should maybe consider making that your next studio purchase.

Like Dave, I'm using a pair of Senheisser cans. I don't have my recording gear hooked up to the internet.
The new mix seems much better though the Waves plug has given the rhythm guitar a chorus effect to create the stereo image and that takes away from the spritely, nimbleness of the rhythm playing. I'd suggest generating a very simple strum from the same set of RTs to balance the original rhythm but it's not essential - just my preference.
I also reckon you could pop the solo up the middle as the mix leans to the right in that section.
The REAPER de-esser treatments in that video work a treat BUT the 1st one can be hard to dial in. I used it for three projects before dumping it for the treatment demonstrated after the 9 minute mark. It I use all the time now. It's VERY easy to recognize a sibilant waveform after just a few minutes - that speeds up the process a bit. ALWAYS be careful when de-essing - no matter what system - as a little too much will make the singer sound like they have a lisp.
Oh, doing that sort of detailed editing - it's probably best to work with headphones and review on monitors. There's also the pencil technique which, when combined with a spit screen, reduce "plosives" quite a bit.

Oh, sibilance - I'm CLEARLY oversensitive to it.

nicely done I love the simplicity of this a wee guitar great lyrics like a very. Very good jam session I wanted to get grab my guitar and mike and join in.

Thanks

We enjoyed this. The smooth well phrased vocal works well
for both the write and arrangement.

This is our first visit so whatever tweaking you did must have worked
as we think all is sitting well in the mix.

Nice!

J&B

I enjoyed it.

What more can I ask from a song?

The simple arrangement worked well.

Tunemonger and Bob,

Great vibe and feel to this one . . . the lyrics are stellar. It’s so, so good as is . . . but, and it’s a subjective thing, but I’m wondering if a change in sound or tempo heading into the chorus might give this an extra kick, and help differentiate the chorus must a bit more from the verse. Just a thought—use or lose as they say. Regardless, terrific offering, and love the solo. Stellar.

My best to you,

Deej

Hey, there, 'Tunemonger', Mr. Ford...

When you have a song with lyrics like these...

"You make me feel as if all my thoughts are lies
Swirling toward something true."

...that imply that something transformative has happened/is happening/will happen inside a person's heart, you get the feeling that the songwriter knows things about himself that others could take heed of. It's the poetry of sudden insight that in a flash of recognition reveals the possibility that one could become better at loving someone.

Mr. Ford, I think you have a quietly resonant, expressive voice that focused my attention on the lyrics, because it sounded like you were thinking out loud about something you had not ever spoken aloud. It's the voice of what's inside slowly working it's way to the outside. It's a compelling vocal quality that I think would 'work' in almost any musical genre, such as the lovely song, Another Lover, that I listened to after Almost Satisfied.

'Tunemonger', your music as rendered from the Real Tracks is beautifully understated! It's an open road that stays straight and true from beginning to end, with Mr. Ford's voice cruising confidently down the centerline.

This song explores old territory in a different way, which makes it quite unique.

- bluage -

Hi TuneMonger,

everything very nice with this one. Love that 'modest' arrangement and that atmosphere it creates, very well-sung, good write. Really enjoyed the listen a lot..

Take care,

Stefan

I liked the chord sequence and melody. Simple arrangement works well. Enjoyed the listen.

I didn't hear the original...
But you've done an outstanding job on this version...
I enjoyed the listen!