...or is it a love story? Or...BOTH??

I used comments from the last two songs in mixing this with regard to vocal FX and bottom end. May have gone too far. But if this stinks you're not to blame. Ha!

Either way, this was a lot of fun to work on.

Boo!

Are You Still Here?

****** Song Summary *************
Title: Are You Still Here?
File:Are You Still Here.SGU
Key=G , Tempo 133, Length (m:s)=3:27
Style is _PROXY.STY (Proxy Poppy Alt Rock Guitars)

RealTracks in style: 1522:Bass, Electric, PopPower8s Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 3923:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm AltRockPop8ths2NoteHi Ev 130 (with delay)
RealTracks in style: 3936:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm AltRockPop8sGrittyPower Ev 130
RealTracks in style: 3937:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm AltRockPop8sPowerHeld Ev 130
RealDrums in style:Rock90s^01-a:Closed Hat, Snare , b:Open Hat, Snare

Lyrics: R.W. Davis
Vocals, BGV arrangement: D.A. Hughes
Me: Everything else

I ran down the stairs
And I dropped my phone
I thought I heard somethin’
But I seemed to be alone

The chairs in the breakfast nook
Have moved by themselves
Along with the coffee mugs
Rearranged on the shelves

I know that you’re gone
But are you still here?
You’re so far away
But I feel you near
I smell your perfume
And I feel your touch
I know that you’re gone
I miss you so much

The stereo plays
Our favorite song
It turns on by itself
And it plays all night long

Sometimes I hear some laughin’
And I have to smile
Since I’m the only one there
And I’m in denial

I know that you’re gone
But are you still here?
You’re so far away
But I feel you near
I smell your perfume
And I feel your touch
I know that you’re gone
I miss you so much

Even our dog seems to see you
And barks for no reason
And with the phantom footsteps
I’m sittin’ there just freezin’

Close my eyes and think about you
And wish you would appear
But then I fall asleep again
And dream about you here

I know that you’re gone
But are you still here?
You’re so far away
But I feel you near
I smell your perfume
And I feel your touch
I know that you’re gone
I miss you so much

Excellent song and theme. My retirement flat is actually haunted, but that which I call the kaka-pest can't move stuff around, only snap me awake on the verge of sleeping. I'm going to play it this song just to make it jealous that your ghost can move stuff!

The intro is tastes of The Smiths/Echo & The Bunnymen yet Power Pop.
I think the vocals, overall, are a bit loud.
Good chorus melody, good harmonies, good performances.
It's cool.

I like your song, great uplifting power punk pop
The vocals and bottom end fit the genre, if anything I would high-pass the bass a bit(!) more to get a leaner sound down there.

Yikes! I wouldn't advise tormenting your ghost. He/she might decide to learn a new trick! Glad you enjoyed the tune!


rayc, I thought the same thing, especially in the first section before the rest of the band kicks in. Made some adjustments but maybe not enough. I'm more than a bit of an anglophile so I'm blushing at a comparison to The Smiths or Echo and The Bunnymen. Thanks for the feedback!


B.D., THANKS for the feedback! Yeah, the bass may be a bit thick. At least I didn't hold back. Ha!

Ron,

MAN! you are doing some good stuff.
One of the Best overall POP tracks that has been posted. It really JUMPS out of the speakers (in a good way).
Everything sounds good. Drums, Bass, Guitars, Vocal.
Nice FX on the vocal. Your vocals are so well recorded you could go further in that direction. Even more reverb (but no need to get crazy). And don;t be afraid of a bit of delay...

Excellent.

Keep 'em coming.

fj

Ron, this is a powerhouse pop song!
The vocals are top shelf.
The backing band is excellent.
The mix is a pro mix.
Loved it!

floyd, THANKS for the input! I'll take another look at the vocal FX. Have some ideas for a new workflow that might work out...


Mario, well, THANK YOU! So glad you enjoyed it. I'll give Dusty all the credit for the vocals. The difference between my scratch vocals and his is not insignificant.

Just wow! Really good. Love everything about this. Nice low end and the drums are tight. Vox are amazing.

This is the whole package.

Thanks for the kind remarks, Herb. Glad you enjoyed it!

Oh, yeah, the fun you had shines through this, DC Ron, and it's contagious. Man, I love those harmonies and the meldoy line. I'm not much help in recording but there are some great advice-givers in this forum. How good the song is definitely takes me away from being critical of anything about it. Love it!

Ron...the mix is out of the park...clean and crisp...super vocals and harmonies...ghosts of older British recordings in this one for me...great pop/rock sound!

marty, well...that's the nicest thing I've heard all day. So glad you enjoyed the tune and that the fun shone through.


firesong, the British sound wasn't strictly intentional, but a likely influence, as I spent WAY too much time soaking in UK pop/rock back in the day. Glad you liked it!

What they said!

Fun bit of pop. Upbeat mix, excellent vocals (as usual).

Nice payoff for the lyric in the chorus, and catchy, too.

What more can you ask from a pop song?

Thanks, David! Am never QUITE sure a passage is catchy enough until I get confirmation. Glad you enjoyed it!

Ron,

Great song! Love the groove and a very cool vocal.

Bob

THANK YOU, Scott! The vocalist is consistently great but he really crushed this one. Helps that he loves the song, I think. Glad you enjoyed it!

Yes very 80s! Reminds me of the Smiths and bands like that as well.

Well done though.

I love that 80s sound.

Great job.

Fun!

This is the type of music I love. Good work. Excellent vocal and harmony.

I agree with Ray: I would bring down the vocal volume a touch.

Catchy as heck.

Thanks, David! The Smiths still sound fresh to me. Don't think I can listen to Girlfriend in a Coma without smiling must a LITTLE bit...

Ezekiel, thanks for the kind feedback and input on the vocal level. I fiddle with vocal level endlessly. It's always my final edit. Then it's my first edit when I re-mix. Ha!

Can you write one next time with a guitar that sounds like this????

Hmmm. Such a great song, and the guitars are sublime. The tremolo would be easy enough to add to the FX chain. But don't think there's a Johnny Marr guitar RealTrack in BiaB. He definitely has his own style and a distinctive way of layering guitars. Will have to ponder this a bit. THANKS for the suggestion, as devious as it is...Ha!

You should google this song sometime and how many tricks he used to get THAT sound.

It was more hardcore than Jimmy Page. Like he had four vibrato amps going at the same time, in different rooms, with one in a cardbox box, I think, and a few different delays, or something crazy like that.

It is insane what he did.

But, it is one of the the most classic openings of all time.



https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-secrets-behind-johnny-marrs-tone-on-the-smiths-how-soon-is-now

That's an interesting Guitar World article, and love the producer's somewhat peeved corrections. The cascading tremolo effect might be fun to emulate. And maybe the howling electric slide. The trick would be sounding 1/10 as cool without being derivative of this very iconic song. Something to think about. THANKS for the suggestion, and the reminder that the big boys have a few more tricks up their sleeve than BiaB. Ha!

Really cool song. Loved the drums and bass lines. So was mixed really well. Super vocal and lyric. Well done

DC Ron,
A tight rockin' sound! Guitars are wonderful and the vocalist gave a super performance!
Mix sounds pretty good to me! The repeating Bg Vox are effective!
Thanks, T

Scott, thanks for the listen! I don't always get it right, but if I get the drums and bass in the right place up front, everything else can be tailored to fit. I can confirm the lyrics and vocals are top notch, since they are not mine. Ha!


Torrey, glad you like it! I compose these arrangements on guitar before porting them over to BiaB. But most of them keep a guitar-centric flavor. The opening is a mono BiaB track panned left with a 1/16 delay panned right. It sounds cool in small doses for these staccato stabs. The other guitars have a nice bouncy play off each other and are panned hard left and right. The outro is done the old fashion way. Kinda.

The repeated BGVs are another example of the "save a little for the end" philosophy discussed in a recent Songwriting topic. It's there (and not earlier) for building a more dynamic arrangement. FWIW, on this song it wasn't even my idea. That was a vocalist improvisation, though I was on it like a chicken on a June bug. (This is Google-able. Ha!)

Glad you liked it!

Hi DC.
This races along nicely.
When I first read the lyrics I thought it was going to be slow and sombre.
Nice surprise.
I agree with Ray that the lead vocal is a tad loud

Vic

Vic, thanks for the listen and comments. I'm conflicted about reading lyrics before listening, though I usually can't resist. Glad you were pleasantly surprised just the same! This song is an example of what I think of as a "sad song sung happy". Many of the lyrics I get are dark, and I would get bored making them all minor key dirges. So would listeners.

Gotcha on the overloud vocals. There are some techniques I've used before to head this off but I've gotten slack with them of late. Back to work then! Ha!!