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Hans,
COOL fun groove, melody and story.
You seem to be hiding behind processing again. Your last track had a strong vocal that wasn't so FX laden.
I saturate my voice in tweaks and FX but that's becasue I have a weak and unpleasant voice. Your natural voice is strong and clear as well as having presence...bolster it with a thickener, and some EQ, send it to the same reverb you send the solo to but keep it minimal.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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A what a wonderful song, Hans. Love the emotion in your vocal. Really cool the way you brought the sax in. It sounds like the guy was standing there off-mic then sauntered to the front to do his thing --very well. Top-notch production, and no one can sing it better. 
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Loved the groove Hans. Very different feel to this song in a good way. Sax was cool. Another super vocal and lyric. Well done..
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We always enjoy hearing John L sing the blues  The arrangement on this tune is standout. The stops, the builds, etc., really keep you engaged. Your vocals were really good ... no matter how you did it! Your almost Elevating Blues lyric elevated our mood on a hot, hot day. And, yep, the blues can make you happy. Thank you. Enjoyed it! 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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I would think a very nice lead guitar would fit in here. :-). I may know someone who could add a bass track as well :-). Maybe on the next one.. ;-)
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Hello, David, Dave, Janne, Derochette and Mike D, Thanks for dropping by and commenting the song. I will discuss each post individually, so dont worry. The overall impression you gave me is the song sounds good. That is the nice part for me! Nice blues! I didn't expect the strings, which were a nice addition.
Clever idea, well done.
Sax sounds good, as does your voice.
I like the occasional breaks - really effective.
Thanks for reminding me to comment on SoundCloud - not a habit I've developed yet. Hi David, thanks you gave your opinion on SC too! I hope you can make it a habit. I do it with all the songs I like. About the strings, well I like strings, or synthesizers with aan orchestral sound and it felt ok to do it in this song. You can't do it with all Blues. Ask Dave! And it is interesting many posters, including you, mention those breaks. In earlier songs I used them more often, because it gave accents. The downside was it breaks the tempo of the song as well. In this song it was more functional, indeed. Very good, Hans, great vocal as per usual, and great sounding track too.
Well done!
Hello Dave, I'm glad you didn't mention the amount of fx I must have used in the vocals. As far as I know I didn't use much. Maybe i was a bit hoarse or something, but you had no problems with the vocals, and the other instruments. Thanks! Good classic blues. Your songs seem to have a twist in the end, usually positive, cats come home and elevators go to the sky that's good songwriting, hopefully I will learn that way too. Good vocals, sax fits very well. Janne Ha Janne, I had to smile about you mentioning these 'happy endings' in my stories. some years ago I saw a very nice documentary about Paul Mc. I heard he always did that in his songs. I looked at my songs and saw most of them didn't have these 'happy ends'. In the catsong it was by accident that kind of ending. I nearly had finnished the song in where the cat was dead, but then he entered the house live and sound. So I had to change that end. And in the blues it was intended to have that ending. I am still having a very good marriage. I have a very good imagination too... If you have that too you will write the stars and the moon into your pocket! Hi Birchwood,
The sax is excellent. The melody very catchy and well performed. The composition is excellent. Well done.
Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash Hi Derochette, it is nothing compared with your complicated, but very nice sounding music. I only think my vocals are more present than yours ;-) Great song all around as usual!
Mike B. Hello Mike, I was hoping you would come around too on this kind of song. After all, it's more your natural habitat! Thanks! Have a very pleasant day, Hans
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Hello Will, Misha and Ray, Took me some time, but hear are my reactions to your nice and kind posts. I think the post from Will is very good. You give compliments like 'a pleasure to listen to', where Misha and Ray say -kind of- the same, but continue on other parts... But before you reply in an angry mood to my post; I'm just saying, ehh, teasing. Yes, that's the correct word teasing. But thanks a lot for listening, leaving a comment on SC and your post here. Hi Hans,
Great song! I'm in love with how your vocal/voice sound... it is just such a pleasure to listen to.
I think you did a very good job with this track!
Will Hi Will, this is a very nice reply on the song. I read it to my wife and one of my sons. They also think your compliments are very nice. but at the same time they became uneasy. They never said these thing to me. You see what bad people these Dutchies are? And I have to live with them to make these kind of songs! Thanks Will! Hans,
Successful tune for sure. Free flowing. Very nice and unusual chording. Neat stops and harmony magic. Solid write in all respects. The only minor thing I believe is vocals are a bit over fx'd. For example you sax parts are way dryer than vocals. I personally like saxes more "airy" than vocals, but that is only my opinion. In any case A+ for creativity. Thank you for sharing.
Misha. Hi Misha, I sent you a private post as well, but you must be so busy you haven't noticed it. But it is about the fx-discusion. i also sent it to Ray. He answered. But you lent your wife to him (for singing). No way my wife would have done that (but she can't sing). About the 'airy' sax: I raised the amount of reverb, but more is not what I like. I want it to feel that sax is near you. But it's a matter of taste. But thanks a lot for your nice and well substantiated comment. Hans,
COOL fun groove, melody and story.
You seem to be hiding behind processing again. Your last track had a strong vocal that wasn't so FX laden.
I saturate my voice in tweaks and FX but that's becasue I have a weak and unpleasant voice. Your natural voice is strong and clear as well as having presence...bolster it with a thickener, and some EQ, send it to the same reverb you send the solo to but keep it minimal. Hello Ray, have you read the comment from Will? Are you sure you only have an unpleasant voice? No Ray, I like teasing you, but you have done a lot for me, like listening to my vocal tracks of my (possible) new song. And that I really appreciate, like the discussion in the private post too. So thank you all and have a very nice day today, Hans
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And finally, last but not least; Marty, Scott, Janice and Bud and Scott again, Very nice responds from you. They gave me a good day, thanks to this (otherwise I could have a nice day as well, but this is much safer). A what a wonderful song, Hans. Love the emotion in your vocal. Really cool the way you brought the sax in. It sounds like the guy was standing there off-mic then sauntered to the front to do his thing --very well. Top-notch production, and no one can sing it better. Hi Marty, Thanks for this to-the-point review! Still I think you and I have to sing some kind of duet. And the sax; yes I too had that feeling. Some songs give the feeling you're close to them or a band. We have quite a few musicians in our BiaB forum who achieve this. And I believe it is growing. Are the recorded instruments of BiaB improved? Are we improving? Who knows? But in this song the sax came close to that, I agree with you. Loved the groove Hans. Very different feel to this song in a good way. Sax was cool. Another super vocal and lyric. Well done..
Hi Scott, I'm happy you liked it. And I am proud of your compliments on the lyrics too. It is always a lot of work to make them. not only in a language that is not your own, but in general. I think next time I should make a song with a great guitar solo. Are you in? We always enjoy hearing John L sing the blues The arrangement on this tune is standout. The stops, the builds, etc., really keep you engaged. Your vocals were really good ... no matter how you did it! Your almost Elevating Blues lyric elevated our mood on a hot, hot day. And, yep, the blues can make you happy. Thank you. Enjoyed it! J&B Hey Janice and Bud, I'm so happy you mentioned John again. I missed him lately! What kind words you wrote. I read them to my wife and my youngest son (the older son just became a father, so no time for chit chat). My wife was very pleased. She is calling me John now. My son said something else, but calling me John too. I think he is jealous... But I was very pleased with the serious parts of your review. I hope Janice will use that elevator-stuff also in her lyrics. While going up! I would think a very nice lead guitar would fit in here. :-). I may know someone who could add a bass track as well :-). Maybe on the next one.. ;-) Hi again, Scott. I am very flattered that you offer your services and those of a bass player. I will accept your offer of course (without a smiley ;-)), although you gave some sleepless nights. I had to think what kind of songs that must be. And... I am already working on a song but there the solo was given to a fiddler. Ray was teaching me on my vocal fx in that one. So I have already one Spirit level around. I let you know soon! and what about Robert? So, thanks everyone and have a nice weekend soon, Hans
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
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