Another tale of lost love featuring _REMEX+ multistyle. Lots and LOTS of guitars and a lot of fun to use the multistyles to build the arrangement. Let me know what you think!

A Shower of Stars

Title: A Shower of Stars

Key=E , Tempo 75, Length (m:s)=3:29

Style is _REMEX+.STY (Remex Modern Ctry 16ths Multi)

RealTracks in style: 4020:Bass, Electric, ModernCountry16ths Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 4027:Guitar, Electric, BackgroundSoloist ModCountryGrittyBrent Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 4021:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ModCountryBalladPower1 Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 4022:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ModCountryBalladPower2 Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 4023:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ModCountryBalladPower8thsMute Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 4024:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ModCountryBalladHeldPlus Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 4025:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ModCountryGrittyArp Ev16 075
RealDrums in style:ModCountry16ths^03-a:Open hat, Sync-kick , b:Ride, Sync-kick

RealTracks dry except the drums are processed with Studio One's S1 Drumgroup FX chain
Vocals processed with Waves Butch Vig Vocals for EQ and compression and Waves CLA Epic for delay and reverb. No delay/reverb on vocal hamony track.

Mixed in Studio One
Mastered in Lurrsen Mastering Console(!)

*******************

A shower of stars
As I sit in my car
Waiting for you to arrive
Although I’ve gone miles
I will stop for your smile
Cos it’s the end of the drive

Sometimes
I find it fitting that I’m just sitting here

I look for your laugh
In an old photograph
Cos it makes me still believe
That although you’ve gone
Across the Rubicon
I didn’t think you would leave

Sometimes
I find it fitting that I’m just sitting here

I park at the lake
And I put on the brake
Rememb’ring when you were here
But the reflections
And the recollections
Still don’t make you reappear

Sometimes
I find it fitting that I’m just sitting here
Sometimes
It’s so unseeming that I’m still dreaming here

I should put my car in gear
And get on out of here
I should drive, I should drive
While I’m still alive
But I’m scared to drive away
Not knowing if today
Is the day when we find
That you have changed your mind

A shower of stars
As I sit in my car
Waiting for you to arrive
Although I’ve gone miles
I will stop for your smile
Cos it’s the end of the drive

Sometimes
I find it fitting that I’m just sitting here
Sometimes
It’s so unseeming that I’m still dreaming here

Ron,

Hard to believe no one has commented on this.

VERY nicely done!
A good BAND - punchy guitars and drums. Simple - and all that is needed - quite Full.
Good Song! Excellent Pop elements. Catchy.
Solid Mix.

Very nice vocals. Crisp, clear, easy-to-understand. Engaging. (I thought they could use a bit more reverb - they are so clear, they would easily handle that)
And Really nice BGVs.

I like it!

Let's hear some More!!!

fj

Hi Ron,
I think this is a well written and mixed pop/rock song with really good vocals.
Could you share with us the RealTracks you used?
Especially the drums with those great fills!

DC,

This is well done, as Floyd said.

To his question, I believe I commented on DC songs a few times in the past but never got a comment back on one of mine as forum etiquette might have it.

But I will try again in case I am mistaken.

Good job.

David, THANK YOU for the listen! You're right, I was guilty of not commenting on reviewers' songs when I was last posting. Busy time then, different time now. But I do remember listening to many of your songs, so I know you have a sense of humor about things. I'll do better!!

B.D., THANKS for the comments! All the real tracks including drums came from the _REMEX+ multistyle, substyles a,b, e and f. [img]https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tkqnj9kscdq9bz3nii7oq/Shower-instruments.JPG?rlkey=tkja1gesnjv2oalgp0x9apz63&dl=0[/img] (I must not be loading images correctly since I can't see this) You'll see the guitar tracks in _REMEX+ are nearly consecutive, so I'm certain the cohesiveness of the guitar sound is not accidental.

fj, THANK YOU for the detailed input. The vocals are as you note pretty dry with just a bit delay and reverb. I fiddle with this part of mixing the most, and if I re-mix, it's to make the vocals clearer. But I may have to go the other way in this case. No doubt I'll dial it up in the next mix. Never, ever done...

Ha!

Ron,

Great song and a great vocal. Love the arrangement and drums.

Bob

Hi, Ron.

Nicely done - sounds great.

Hello DC Ron,

This is really high quality pop music.
Vocals, chorus, guitar, drums, etc. all play their proper roles.
It feels so good to listen to it.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best Regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Ron, what a great song!

Your vocal is perfect for this song.
Great lyrics.
The backing band is spot on for this pop song.
I also liked the chord progression.
Everything is mixed to perfection.

Thanks, Bob. Those drums had a big impact on the melodic phrasing for this one.

Thanks, David. Glad you enjoyed the listen!

Thank you, Shigeki! So glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for the listen, Mario! Like a lot of BiaB users, I write on one instrument (guitar), move the chords to BiaB and start auditioning styles until I find one I like. Then sometimes I'll bounce back and forth between a couple, or combine elements from different styles. But this was the rare song where I got to this style and just stopped cold. It was all there. When it works, it just works.

Hi DC Ron.

This is excellent listening. You've done a great job with everything.
I love the clarity of mix.

--Noel

Really well done, DC Ron. Excellent lyrics and so well sung. The harmony is superb. Good production and a wonderfully curated band. So much to listen to and all so pleasent to the ears. Very engaging melody and lyrics.

Noel, so glad you enjoyed the listen! Takes a lot of restraint for me to keep a mix clean. Ha!

Thank you, Marty. I'll have to credit PGMusic with the lovely _REMEX+ MultiStyle, as there are no other instruments on this track. My job was just to conduct the band in support of the song. Glad you enjoyed it!

This has a great Jackson Browne vibe to it.

Excellent write and vocals wrapped in a nice dynamic open mix.

As others mentioned the drums really punch through well.
One of the better by far use of BiaB drums we've heard - they are all we use.

This is one of those tunes for which we had simply rather listen to again than parse it all out.
It's a terrific production.

Enjoyed it!

J&B

Very nice pop song, reminded of bands like Barenaked Ladies and Lightning Seeds, so no wonder I enjoyed this so much. And when using 'stars' in the title, the lyrics cannot go wrong, nice wistful romantic scene, liked the use of the Rubicon Very good production, really powerful drums. Great singing, those backing vocals sound excellent.

Janne

You're way too kind. I wore the grooves off of Jackson Browne's first album when it came out. Thank you...glad you enjoyed the tune!

Janne, that's some pretty high praise! Love those bands. So glad you enjoyed the song.

OP updated to provide more detailed info on the tracks and mixing/mastering approach used. Also added the lyrics.

I really like the simple band arrangement though that does allow the VERY clicky kick to stick forward like a metal track.
The cymbals get a little BIG at times.
Very cool harmonies.
A bit of sibilance that could be a result of the vocals being "Butch"ered, (sorry - bad pun and def not butchered).

Ray, thanks for the listen and the feedback.

I resisted using the Butch Vig plugin for years because of the cartoonish interface. But once I tried it I found the layout allowed me to get to the sound I was looking for very quickly. Any sibilance is on me though and not the plugin. Sorry to be "Vig"orous in my defense of the plugin.

Ha!

I agree with the other comments, good song, good mix, good vocals (love the harmonies!)

Hey, nice strat in your profile pic, love the colour. Lace Sensor pickups? Would like to hear it in action sometime.

As others have said, great production, DC Ron! Consider changing the title to "The End of The Drive".

Dewey

Thanks, Dave! The strat is a 30-ish year old Peavey Predator AX. The pickups are the original vintage wound single coils with no-hole covers. The look was almost certainly inspired by Lace Sensors, as they were quite popular back in the day. I like the four pickup layout and the neck is killer. Will certainly get it on a future track.

Thanks, Dewey! Your suggested title was my 2nd favorite for sure. A third was "Still Dreaming Here". They each put a different spin on it, don't they?