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Hi Folks. If you can not tolerate slightly depressing song, I suggest moving to the the next post. Inspired by a recent song by Ray & Torrey, I decided to write a song long due. ...Once I met a man from former Soviet republic. From our casual conversation, I understood that he was collaborating with Nazi during WWII. It was not what he said...but what he didn't say that made me quite uncomfortable. For a long time, this subject had hunted me, so finally I was able to express it musically/verbally. Critique is always welcomed. Thank you for listening!
Distant Echoes
Lyrics: Humid July Breeze as a breath of obsidian night Ghost from the past Standing by fence and casting long shadow He looked at me with sarcastic grin, Devils dancing in his watery eyes I could swear I've heard legions marching Ripping throats... achtung! Many moons had passed Memories are fading of those- Who stayed forever young And those, with beating hearts Keeping to themselves I turned around and walk back home Could not fall asleep in my bed I can swear I've heard song of a hot wire* humming in my head Butterflies are flying on wild clover field like the ashes twirling and falling on burning...and crumbling Berlin That gangrenous wound will never heal spreading sweet scent of death... Seems like history is moving squeaky wheel While we forgetting our past. Things used: BIAB: 366: Bass Electric 686: Organ RealDrums: CountryEven16 1004: Guitar, 12 string 2495: Pino Electric 2890: Accordion 3242: Vihuela parts of Hitler/Stalin speaches. Recorded and mixed in Cakewalk.
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love your songs,
you were inspired to write this and it's strong
Butterflies are flying on wild clover field
like the ashes twirling and falling
on burning...and crumbling Berlin
could quote the whole song but these lines and images
struck a chord with me
nice mix and choice of instruments
Kenny
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Misha,
The jaunty music makes a good contrast with the serious subject; some telling images in the lyric and your ever theatrical delivery is entertaining as ever.
There are some places where the vocals might need to come forward (or the accordion move back )in the mix for clarity, otherwise sounds good to me.
The use of those speeches sends shivers.
Robert
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IMHO You are becoming the resident poet here...
No one else (to my knowledge) writes the way you do...
Each work could well stand alone without any musical backtrack...
Yet you seem to choose musical tracks to emphasize your carefully chosen well-written lyrics...
For "Needle In Hay" you created a funeral dirge...
For this piece, the music reminds me of the Russian & Cossacks music from WWII documentaries & movies...
Well done Misha... I really admire you work!
Jim
†=☮&♥
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Misha,
This song is incredibly creative... Your mix is tremendous - excellent job!
Bob
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On Memorial Day, I watched Ken Burns' The War (12 hours) and this song was like a soundtrack to it. Great job with a difficult subject.
Windows 11, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 2i2, Sony Acid Music Studio 10, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
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Good write, interesting arrangement, well sung. I really like the song.
The drum breaks were especially effective, as are the fragments of the speeches.
Since English isn't your native language, it's a bit hard to make out what you're singing. I think the balance of the mix is good, but perhaps you need to can do some selective EQ cuts in the other instruments, or perhaps boosts on the vocal to make the consonants more distinct? Just a thought.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Hi Misha,
It is a very, very good song and a good production as well.
I wouldn't mind if you did the singing in Russian language - it might make the song even better.
Thanks a lot for sharing!
Will
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Kenny, Thank you for listening and nice words! ---------------- Robert, Thank you for listening and honest review! I will try to play with vocal balance to get it even throughout the tune. ---------------- Jim, thank you for listening and kind words! I believe you are generously overestimating my abilities  ---------------- Bob, thank you for listening and your feedback here and on SC! ---------------- TuneMonger, Thank you for listening! It is a very powerful film, I watched parts of it. ---------------- David, thank you for listening and for honest thoughts! I believe, you are absolutely right. I mix on headphones. They are a very nice set, but a bit on a high/neutral side. When mixing, I should probably compensate for average, more bass oriented monitors so the mix is not muddy. ---------------- Will, thank you for listening and kind words! Hmmm, you gave me an idea, I might just try that one day.
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"That gangrenous wound will never heal
spreading sweet scent of death...
Seems like history is moving squeaky wheel
While we forgetting our past."
WOW. THAT is powerful!! Another amazing write.
The backing tracks are the perfect vehicle.
As others have said, the vocal could use a bit of something to pull it up out of the track a little in spots.
Quite a song! Excellent work.
fj
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My father and six uncles fought in WWII. Janice's father was a marine in the south pacific during WWII.
We will never forget. Hopefully your song will remind others not to. Powerful lyric!
Beyond the message the song is creatively composed, well performed, and the mix sounds really good on the monitors.
Thanks for sharing!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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An important subject tackled personally and powerfully. Something about that upbeat, happy sound of accordian in a minor key is always unsettling to me. I think it captures "...sarcastic grin, Devils dancing in his watery eyes..." brilliantly.
Oh well. We're all just following orders anyway, even in disobedience.
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AND AGAIN you nail it.
Deceptive backing, escaped NAZI, chance meeting, the ghostly voices of dictators/mass murderers/totalitarians bind together to remind me that the world does seem interested in avoiding the same mistakes.
Lyrics and delivery are very well thought out.
there's probably a good case for some automation of your vocal line to rid the backing - though I had no problems listening/reading/understanding.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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Lyrics paint a powerful picture, scary at places, true work of art. Your voice is excellent for the song. Great arrangement and mix, the backing track and your musical style reminded me of a band called Gogol Bordello.
Janne
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Misha,
Really nice! Very creative.
I really enjoyed the production!
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FJ, Thank you for listening! And special thanks for that: "The backing tracks are the perfect vehicle." I had doubts about the "happiness" of the tracks for the subject, but then the song evolved and I felt I should leave it the way it is. -------------- J&B, Thank you for listening and your nice feedback! WW2 chewed my family tree quite a bit. The subject is a giant bruise without boundaries. I am very curious if people who promote nationalism understand what it can lead to, or it is just a game to them? -------------- Tangmo, Thank you for listening and nice comments. This is a very interesting thought: "We're all just following orders anyway, even in disobedience." -------------- Ray, Thank you! "Deceptive backing" this was not intentional, but I like how you described it The only hope is that those with influence step up to cool things down. I took your advice and inserted vocal rider on vocal bus to even things a bit. -------------- Janne, Thank you for listening and kind words! I remember some years ago I watched movie Everything Is Illuminated with Gogol Bordello. My mother in law played on couple of soundtracks for it. ------------- David, Thank you for listening & nice comments here and on SC!
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Hi Misha,
Man, what a powerful song! You have such a way with words, it's a true gift.
Also like your vocal delivery and the production.
Very good indeed!
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Cool song!! Quite intense! Some wonderful lyrical images.....sometimes darkness must be brought to light. Really good job!! Take care. Greg
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Misha
Very emotive, and a powerful write. I liked the mix and all your production choices.
Excellent work all round.
Peter
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Dave, thank you for listening and your generous feedback!
---------------
Greg, Thank you for your time and positive comments!
--------------
Peter, Thank you! Still needs a lot of work, but I appreciate your kind feedback!
Misha.
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