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The guitar work on this is all courtesy of Rodney Gene (TexasHeartRush).

I did a version of this song on my first CD about a year ago. That was before I had BIAB.
Since I had played everything on the original version, I thought I might be able to improve on it using the BIAB musicians.
That was working out pretty well. Some nice drums, bass and electric guitars that were WAY better played than what I can do. I recorded some acoustic guitars to give it some sheen.

Rodney had heard the origianl and suggested that if I ever re-worked it, that he might help out.
I sent him what I had, with the electric guitars removed so he could "work his magic".
He asked that I remove the acoustics (so they weren't in his way).
He then suggested that he lay in the bass track as well, so I removed the original of that, too.
Which left the drums and vocals.
He then asked if it was okay for him to "tighten up" the drums - well, yeah! (Not sure what that involved).

After all that, I added in some piano (RealTracks), and voila!



WRONG MAILBOX



Guitars by Rodney Gene (TexasHeartRush)
Bass by Rodney Gene (TexasHeartRush)

RealTracks in song: 1726:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm HonkyTonkJohn Ev 120
RealDrums in Song: NashvilleEven8^1-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

The harmonies are mostly me... with the BIABettes mixed in low.

Crank it up! Hope you enjoy it. Comments encouraged.

floyd
ha, ha, totally fantastic. It amazing how the smallest things can set big events into motion -- especially in a song. Super arrangement and that guy is some kind of guitar player. Great vocals in there, too.

They are bashing BIAB again over at JPF, I ought to send 'em your way!
Hey, what a great track - you guys are really rocking on this one!

Loved the story line and both the playing and vocals were well up to scratch.

As usual, a very professional mix and presentation.

ROG.
so very tight, great mix. and the lyrics tell a wonderful story. from the vocals to the mix to the lyric... A+!
Rocking mix. Great picking and singing guys. Floyd when's the movie coming out? grin
well Floyd,

if that song were a game of billiards, it would have been like sinking every ball on the break!

There are a bunch of ways a song can succeed or fail, and this collaboration has gotten all of them right.

The performances (your singing and Rodney's guitar playing) were not only in the pocket, but they were also very tastefully woven together into a mix that sounds like its supposed to be heard together (not all songs manage to accomplish that)

I was particularly impressed by the clever rhymes and even the way you chose words to create a very unique mood for the song. In spite of the fact that country songs are a dime a dozen, I can honestly say I've never heard anything quite like that. To my ears it is a highly original offering in a genre that has just about been exhausted for fresh ideas.
Hi Floyd and Rodney,



What an amazing piece of music! This has "success" written all over it on every aspect of the song - music, lyrics, production, singing, soloing, backing, mixing, etc., etc., etc.

Rodney: your playing is exceptional. Your tracks enhance Floyd's singing and lyrics incredibly well. To my ears, it's a "hand and glove" kind of perfect fit.

Floyd: I have to say that these lyrics are some of the best I've heard. Full stop (that's Aussie for "period"). They are absolutely brilliant, incredibly creative and must have taken ages to assemble. When I look at what you've written, I see a textbook example of how to use carefully considered alliteration to enhance the singability and memorability of a song. The thing is, when I listened to the song, I only picked up a bit of alliteration here and there and smiled at its quirky cleverness. When I read the lyrics though, I could see that alliteration is the cement that holds the song's brickwork together. Wow!!! And then all those inner rhymes! .... As I've already said, these lyrics must have taken ages to assemble.

I really hope this song goes places for the both of you. Do you have an account on American Song Space? It's free. The site is owned by "American Songwriter" magazine and is frequented by publishers. It might pay dividends to post there as well as here. I once had a song picked up from American Song Space by a publisher.

Ok. It's time to have another listen.

I'm awestruck!!!!!
Noel
Hi Floyd
I remember enjoying your video of this one pre-BIAB. Great song and the guitar playing is great!
Holey Moley. Good golly Miss Molly. That one was a rippa!



Regards,


Bob
hi Floyd and jane that was smokeing good guys super job and production thanks eric
Hi Floyd,
Originally Posted By: ROG
Hey, what a great track - you guys are really rocking on this one!
Loved the story line and both the playing and vocals were well up to scratch.
As usual, a very professional mix and presentation.

I love your harmonies. And Rodney has really "tightened up" the drums. That's such a great sound in my Stax headphones.
I'm just going to my third listen.

Guenter
Thanks for posting it. Great tune smile
Hi, Floyd !

Very pro all through !
I was especially taken by
the superb lyrics, but I
can also appreciate the
immense work you must have
put into the arrangement
and performance alike !
Admirable !


Cheers
Dani
Hey Guys,

Great job, excellent collaboration! Very tight, well arranged, good mix.
I thought it was outstanding! grin

Greg
Great job Floyd!~ And thanks for the compliments all. Its easy to play well on a good written song and this is a fun tune!

I haven't heard the final version till now. The guitars are now more squished/compressed than I left them / handed them over haha! (Might be 2 BUSS compression) laugh As a tone sensitive guitar player its not my choice for 'tone' per se as it loses natural bite and dynamics to some degree. I notice a couple peculiar guitar track cut/paste creativeness in the end of the tune from what I think were original practice takes. Hmmmmm... smile Clever Floyd.

Actually the bass line was great fun to write and play. There is more happening here than can be heard. Cool stuff either way. Keep up the good work Floyd!

Cheers!~
Actually going back to my original sent tracks, they were over compressed by error. I remember sending the wrong tracks during a busy week and having to re-render a couple days later. This is not the way they were meant to be heard. It would be great to correct this. 'Tone' is SO MUCH for country guitar and this is a classic 90s tone in its original form.

Its difficult to make this tune sound less than great though this version just sounds like Stereo Buss compression took the guitars tracks over the top. My fault with the original tracks. crazy

Cheers~
Wow!

later,
Yep, super job all around. Amazing what a little "tightening up" can do. wink

The only nit I'd have is the line "put a letter in the wrong mailbox", not because it called Ye Olden Times (before email) but because it called to mind someone mailing a letter.

Something like "slipped a love note" would have clarified it.

But again... super job.
Mean.
Floyd: What version of BIAB do you have? Is it the audiophile edition? I am just looking for another reason as to why your stuff sounds sooooooo much better than mine! (Ha ha)
Originally Posted By: Kemmrich
Floyd: What version of BIAB do you have? Is it the audiophile edition? I am just looking for another reason as to why your stuff sounds sooooooo much better than mine! (Ha ha)


I think he must have gotten the TALENT IN A BOX upgrade that I haven't been able to find anywhere

;(
Kevin - thanks for the good words.

I was not aware of JPF. I popped over there. Interesting site. I actually know one of the "big guys" - from years ago. The BIAB discussion seems a typical rant by people who don't really know what they are talking about (except that 90 dB guy - he seems very smart!).

I'm using the "regular" version (2013). (Couldn't tell how serious you were about that... you're stuff is always good - there just needs to be MORE of it!)
"He then asked if it was okay for him to "tighten up" the drums - well, yeah! (Not sure what that involved)"

Guitars by Rodney Gene (TexasHeartRush)
Bass by Rodney Gene (TexasHeartRush)


RealDrums in Song: NashvilleEven8^1-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride (200 + edits, creating a real drummer feel for verses, open hats for chorus and pre-verse energy vs. closed hats for dynamics and vocal support, adding cymbal hits, inventing/creating the 'right' fills in the right places to support each p[art of the song...and most of all MULTING the KICK and SNARE in about 100 places using real drum samples) I also 'created' certain fills with BFD samples (such a drum snap at 30 secs and all 'stops'). They were thickened and EQd to sound punchy.

Still the coolest part of the tune is the bass. When you hear a full, tonally, phrase correct bass (without BIAB warble) it just makes the rest sit right IMO.

FLOYD: Hey buddy, you must remove that 'breath' at the start of the song! Ha! laugh .
I would love to hear this tune with a different 2 BUSS mastering. Something with greater transparency to maintain the dynamics to a greater degree.

Cheers!~
Before I forget.. A BIG thank you to Rodney for his help on this - he really helped make it something special. Apparently, we need to talk about some stuff...

ROG - thanks for the nice comments. I've been working on a song that I considered seeing if you would want to do a vocal for...

Lawrence - thanks. appreciate that.

Josie - thanks for listenin'. A movie... hadn't thought of that, but there's enough action there... hmmm...
Originally Posted By: TexasHeartRush
RealDrums in Song: NashvilleEven8^1-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride (200 + edits, creating a real drummer feel for verses, open hats for chorus and pre-verse energy vs. closed hats for dynamics and vocal support, adding cymbal hits, inventing/creating the 'right' fills in the right places to support each p[art of the song...and most of all MULTING the KICK and SNARE in about 100 places using real drum samples) I also 'created' certain fills with BFD samples (such a drum snap at 30 secs and all 'stops'). They were thickened and EQd to sound punchy.


Dang -- that's a lot of work!!! I guess that is what it takes to get that super pro sound, though. You are certainly driven to be the best you can be. I wish I was 1/10th that motivated.
Rodney -

I went back and forth about removing that breath. I'll take it out on the next pass.

I'll email you later about a new mix.

MULTING is a new term to me - can you explain that a little better - I'm sure everyone here would be interested...
Originally Posted By: floyd jane
...I'm using the "regular" version (2013). (Couldn't tell how serious you were about that... you're stuff is always good - there just needs to be MORE of it!)


Oh, I am serious. Of course a lot of it is that your songs are always super well written. Since your songs are interesting that makes them sound better already. Well 50/90 is starting soon, so I'll (hopefully) be writing a lot of stuff. I might be going for more of a stripped down sound, though (ala The Lumineers), so I don't know how much BIAB will be involved.
Originally Posted By: Pat Marr
well Floyd,

if that song were a game of billiards, it would have been like sinking every ball on the break!

There are a bunch of ways a song can succeed or fail, and this collaboration has gotten all of them right.

The performances (your singing and Rodney's guitar playing) were not only in the pocket, but they were also very tastefully woven together into a mix that sounds like its supposed to be heard together (not all songs manage to accomplish that)

I was particularly impressed by the clever rhymes and even the way you chose words to create a very unique mood for the song. In spite of the fact that country songs are a dime a dozen, I can honestly say I've never heard anything quite like that. To my ears it is a highly original offering in a genre that has just about been exhausted for fresh ideas.




Hey, Pat.... did we have 5 bucks on that game?

I appreciate the fact that you appreciate the "word quality" of this song. There was a time (mid 90's) when this would have "fit" with what was being done in Country music. Not so sure now....

Anyway... thank you for the very kind thoughts (and where's my 5 bucks?)

floyd
Joanne - glad you enjoyed it...

eric - thanks for the listen.


Bob - seems like you may have liked this one. If I can get that 90dB thumbs up, I know I'm on the right track (But, apparently, it's gonna be a very long road)
Guenter - thanks, as always. Rodney has explained some of the drums. Perhaps, we'll get some more insight from him on that...

Dennis - thanks.

Dani - I appreciate your kind words...

gotta go... back to this later....
Originally Posted By: floyd jane
Rodney -

I went back and forth about removing that breath. I'll take it out on the next pass.

I'll email you later about a new mix.

MULTING is a new term to me - can you explain that a little better - I'm sure everyone here would be interested...


Hey Floyd, its all 100% good. The breath thing a production call and my ear is really sensitive to detail like that!

'Multing' is tedious work usually reserved for the assistant engineer! Ha. Ever wonder how they get GREAT big punchy polished modern drum tones?
Once you have a basic drum track (kick or snare usually but cymbals also) you add a 2nd (or 3rd even) track of JUST kick or JUST snare etc. You place each kick by hand to 'double' the original kick or snare.
This new MULT kick is usually of different EQ tonal quality to add thickness, snap, attack etc. Whatever you need for the sound you vision.
This is done on modern country, rock, pop etc regularly as far back as 20 years ago using drum machines as mults. (We did this in 1986 actually)

Now today with new programs like Slate Drums (Which I recently bought) you can mult form the start. Very advanced and incredible sounding drums. So well recorded.

For this song, we needed mults for ALL of the stops / starts (drums start / stop often here) and all of the breaks.
Here is the difference:

This is from the actual song: All setting equal except the mults.
Notice the original drums have a bit of a 'flabby' kick and plain snare? That is the original unaffected BIAB recordings which are great for a certain feel. Then hear them 'punch'? That is with the kick and snare mults. Everything is bigger and tighter. Bass sits better and sonically fits in the right place.
* Mult Sample* http://www.golproductions.com/multexample.mp3

For some music like Jazz, a soft ultra dynamic drum sound is best. Mults are never needed. But for modern bands like Nickelback, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Train etc... the recordings have been supported.
Basic production technique. Generally there is more that goes into great production than meets the ear.

Hope that helps!~ Cheers.
Greg - appreciate the nice comments.

Danny - I like your assessment. I also like that, for a change, I gets to say... I appreciate the listen and the comment (you ARE often "late to the party" - oh, oh, oh... just had a song idea!!!!)

David - thanks for the analysis... who knew that "tightening" was so much work? The song originally started with "Carol put a love note..." but for the payoff line, it doesn't sing well - "letter" has a much more sing-able quality at that point. It's one of those "little things" that people often overlook...

RichMac - thanks.
It’s all been said.

All I can add is that this is one of the most professional tunes that I have heard on this site. This air-play ready IMHO.
Mario - a big thank you. that is a very nice thing to hear.


Rodney - thanks for taking the time to explain the drum process. I, for one, really appreciate it. I'm kind of surprised that no one else has said anything about it....



Noel - I didn't forget about you!!! Just want to make sure to say A Big Thanks to you... Few writers use the power of alliteration - more ought to. There are times that I really "get going" and have to pull back a bit because it can get out of hand. But if you can get it in there without it being blatantly noticed (until a closer look) then... you're using it in it's best form.... I appreciate that you notice such things....

Kevin - if you come this way again... I've been thinking a lot about your question... and I've had a number of thoughts... it may take a bit of time to "write it up", but when I do, I'll throw some thoughts up here... also, thanks for the Lumineers link - I watched the whole thing and really enjoyed it
An absolute "big studio" pro sounding production on my monitors. Wonderful expo on how RealTracks and, well, real tracks can work together. While well aware of the risk of being redundant, I've gotta say that the lyrics are an absolute clinic in song writing. There enough clever lines, rhymes, alliterations and more in this one song to populate a dozen folk's best efforts -- yours truly included. Throw in great vocals and guitars and you've got one heckuva song. This tune has commercial appeal in spades. It can be enjoyed on so MANY levels. Makes me wanna burn my drawing board instead of going back to it......
Floyd,

We have already talked, but great piece of work.
Your lyrical story really stands out in this piece.
Thanks for sharing.
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