BOTTOM LAND

Lead Vocal: Janice
Lead Guitar: floyd jane

Guess the above says it all! Janice and I wrote this dark slow blues tune and used a very minimalist RT band for the backup -- looking for a stark arrangement. I sent it to floyd for an opinion on the song and mix, got a favorable report back and then along came a lead guitar track from him! I got over the shock, mixed it in, and voila it seemed to work extremely well with the plaintive vocal. So here ya go....comments are most welcome!

The RTs:
Drums: Blues Rock 128
Bass: 564 Set 30
Rhythm Guitar: 566 Set 30

Cool song.... nice renditions by all. I love some good blues. Floyd did a good job on the guitar. Personal nits could be mentioned but they are neither here nor there since they are not production or performance issues but simply my personal taste issues and preferences.

I was noticing the sound of the total mix sounded a bit close to distortion in a few places so....out of curiosity, I DL'd the file and opened it in my editor.

wow...it was looking pretty much exactly how I expected it to look. you're running the compression too high somewhere in that project. I could hear it in the sound quality in the first 5 seconds. The picture below is the song in the wave editor. It pretty much stays slammed at 0db or very likely "over" which results in the squashed sound. This also sounds like there's a "rough edge" to the highs on J's vox part. The meters in my editor stayed pegged to 0db or mighty close for the time I listened in the editor to compare the mix to the soundcloud player.




You should always have a visual check of a song file before you cut it loose to see where the peaks are at. You can get the song plenty loud without extreme compression and really, a song like this doesn't need to be compressed. Let it breathe.

This is the picture I try to aim for regarding compression.


The song is "In A World Without You" and there's nothing hitting the tops.


Hey, I'm not slamming you for doing this, simply pointing it out..... I too have had it happen to me. That's why I always look at the wave 100% of the time in my finalizing process. Often I find that the compression is NOT in the final steps but somewhere back in the mix where I turned something up and didn't really check it. I don't want to have a "sonic brick" to represent my music & skills.

When you get the compression ratio's right, the song is plenty loud and has an open feel to the sound quality....I call that "air" and it's what you need to aim for. To much compression and you lose that openness and the sound becomes noticeably squashed.

"Cool song.... nice renditions by all. I love some good blues. Floyd did a good job on the guitar."

Glad you like it Herb. And, yes, he did a good job and heckuva debut!

"I was noticing the sound of the total mix sounded a bit close to distortion in a few places so....out of curiosity, I DL'd the file and opened it in my editor. "

You are, of course, listening to and analyzing the SoundCloud file. SC over compresses with their algorithms to some folks' ears. I've read about it. If they in effect add compression to an already heavily compressed file then perhaps the aggregate would be too compressed. There is intentionally more than my usual compression to this as we did not want an open airy sound. We wanted something gritty, heavy, dank -- that is supporting of the suffocating feeling of the lyric.

Of course I can't control how SC treats it short of remixing just for them with less gain and compression. For reference here is a mono screenshot from my editor (of course a difference in the X axis time scale can make the waveform different in appearance). Yes, it is noticeably and intentionally compressed but not to the degree that your editor showed from the SC file and no evidence of clipping. Interestingly I downloaded my own file from SC and it doesn't appear different from the upload in the editor. Perhaps their compression, etc., is variable based on traffic. Dunno but I always check these potential issues before wrapping a mix.

Edit: FWIW I regenerated the mp3 file with no changes to the levels on my end and uploaded it to SC. I then downloaded it but the waveform looks the same as in original in my DAW.

Down and dirty!!! I really love the vibe, and the music and lyrics work together beautifully. Janice's vocals are excellent as is Floyd's axe (is there anything the man can't do well?). Really love this! Take care. Greg

Hi Janice and Bud,

That's a steady sound for such few real tracks. I got to say the bass guitar has a very full sound. And sets the base of the song. I will check out this RT myself
Very nice guitar fills/solo from Floyd.
Cool vocals from Janice as usual.

Nice sentence:
''The heat's been pressin' me down like God's own hand''

Regards,
Rob

Thank you Greg. Mr jane nailed it with those fills and the turnaround. Just what my sparse RT "band" needed.

Nice collaboration. Excellent vocals and guitar on this. Enjoyed listening.

Charlie

Hi Bud and Janice
Well the song maybe "Bottom land" but i is top drawer in my book. That lad can play the guitar hey...a tman of many talents!

Janice and Bud,

Wonderful vocals as usual and as I read the lyrics I was impressed with the rhyme ridge and lineage then Janice sang heritage. Still good tho LOL.

Floyd on guitar eh and Tom mastering, what a turn around.

nice ending.

As usual I enjoyed

Alyn

Thanks Rob. I agree re the bass. It was a big contribution to helping a three instrument rhythm section work. Glad you liked that line. We came close to titling the song God's on hand.




Thanks Charlie.

Hi Janice and Bud (and Floyd and Tommy),


great collaboration again.
Excellent vocals and guitar on this.´
What a listen!

Guenter

Hey J & B,

Nice gritty blues! Good job Floyd on the guitar! I could listen to Janice sing all day! I'm not really hearing the over compression thing on my end.

Good Job,

Greg

Hi, Bud, Janice and Floyd !:))


Have I ever heard anything
that professionally made before ?
I don´t think so !!!:))
When one runs out of superlatives
there is just exclamations left like
WOW, OOOOH, & WOOOOOOW !!
What great singing and playing
and mixing on a superb tune !
Just great !!!:))

Cheers
Dani

Hi Janice and Bud,

Is this song awesome-plus or what!?!? I don't know what to type.

Even though the song stopped playing a few minutes ago, in my mind, I can still clearly hear Janice's sublime vocals and floyd weaving his way around them with the all skill of a gold-medal guitarist. Music doesn't get much (if any) better than this. For what it's worth, the arrangement is a perfect showcase for Janice's and floyd's talents.

I can't sign-off without commenting on the songwriting, too. It's top-notch all the way; excellent melody, excellent lyrics. I'm with Alyn in that I also looked at the words before listening and thought, "What a great rhyme; ridge and lineage!" Then, when "heritage" came along, I was pleasantly surprised and thought, "Wow! Another great rhyme. I think I like this one is better!"

Rob and Anne-Marie have already commented on this, and I agree. The simile, "The heat's been pressin' me down like God's own hand" is outstanding, incredibly visual.

I also really liked the way you took the traditional blues framework for the lyrics and tweaked it so that it became your own format but still recognisably a blues format. So, instead of line two of a verse being an exact repetition of line one, it was only a partial repetition at the back-end of the line two; very creative and it worked very effectively.

Alright! It's back for another listen! So much talent in so few people!

All the best,
Noel

Thanks Josie -- yep Blues Man Jane surprised us big time!



Thanks Alyn -- we appreciate the comments. We change lineage to heritage because heritage was somewhat more singable. And, I felt that if folks in the bottom land were making that statement they would be more likely to use heritage....but I did like lineage

WOW that was nice. Loved the vocal and guitar. So lucky to be so talented. Thanks for the song.

Janice and Bud,

This is absolutely my fav blues song that y'all have done. The song, the vocal, the playing are all excellent. Those soulful licks by Floyd (he's just full of surprises) really compliment Janice's soulful interpretation of the lyrics. The mix has a good balance and the arranging is right on.

That said, I also totally agree with what Herb said about the processing on the mix. It has that noticeably over compressed sound (which I have certainly done - so I'm not throwing stones at you in any way shape or form).

To me, Janice's vocal and the music create a dark blues mood strong enough to not need to be processed/compressed as hot as a pop song. It's easy to get all caught up in the loudness thing and over do it. JMHO.

Overall great job.

Josie

Great collaboration, Janice as always the vocals are superb, and I love the guitar work on this, this is somewhat of a departure from your normal type tune Janice kudos for nailing it. thanks for sharing!

Thanks Guenter! We appreciate your comments, always.




Appreciate that Greg!! I think the compression thing is SoundCloud artifacts that may come and go. Ironically the Ozone preset that I started with is called "Gentle Tube" :-)

Great blues!

I like the variation on the way you have approached the rhymes and the lyrics. Job well done all around.

much enjoyed

Why thanks Dani! Didn't know you were a blues man :-)



Having you compliment both our rhyme structure and writing means a lot Noel. We know you are very knowledable about that. BTW, floyd mentioned to me last year that opening up the second line a bit in our 12 bar blues tunes might be a good idea!

I'm glad the simile worked for you. It came to me during a strenuous mountain bike ride in dark woods on a hot humid day. Thanks again!!

First thing... I want to thank Janice and Bud for letting me be a part of this.

Absolutely Love the writing in this song. There is SO much detail and imagery and history in 4 very short verses. It is an incredible write. With the perfect melody to carry it.

The vocal is AS GOOD AS IT GETS. Period. NO ONE could do this better. Period.

The production is superb. The fullness of sound from drums, bass, rhythm guitar and vocal is truly amazing. "Air" is not a visual aspect of music, it is sonic. Ears, not eyes. There is an incredible amount of air in this. It is a pure pleasure to listen to...

I am humbled that J&B would use my guitar track in this (I'm just filling in while Tom is on vacation...). I originally did this for practice - to see if I could record a lead guitar that might fit in a mix. Never done this before. First real lead I've ever done.

Awesome in every way, guys (do more of this!!!)

floyd

Thanks! Very happy you liked it.



Thank you very much Josie. Floyd did a heckuva job - or as he put it "filling in for Tom while he's on vacation." As I mentioned to Herb I still think any issues of over compression are SC artifacts. Floyd and I have exchanged the file many times w/o hearing this.....but we are not exchanging them via SC. I almost quit using SC a few months back when suddenly ALL our tunes there sounded squashed. We're on vacation but when I get home I'll make a .wav file available on DropBox for anybody who might care to hear it as it came out of Logic Pro X.

Thanks again for the kind remarks,

Bud

I am a big blues fan and this is as good as it gets!

All of the accolades that I was going to say already have been said.

I bet that if you sent this in to Alligator records they would sign you immediately. This is as good as any artist they have and they have some top blues people over there.

This is a keeper for sure!

PS - if you put out a blues CD please let me know ASAP!

It occurred to me that I ought to acknowledge mention of my guitar part - who knows if I'll ever do that again...

(Keeping in mind that this is the Janice & Bud show and they deserve accolades galour...)



Thanks, Herb!



Greg - HA! Love that! I've never seen my name in context with a guitar referred to as "axe"! A highlight! Thanks!



Thanks, Rob!


this is too much fun... cherry picking reviews like they do for bad novels!


Thanks, Charlie!


Joanne - appreciate that!!!

Thank you.....and the two of us are enjoying and amazed at the songs you are creating so rapidly....keep 'em coming!



Thanks gruve.....we very much admire your writing and it's cool to know that you like what we did here.

Time for some more cherry-picky those reviews!!!
I had so much fun last time, I thought I'd do some more....


HA! glad ya noticed, Alyn!



Thanks, Guenter!!!



Thank You, Greg. Nice to hear that from a guitar guy!


tee-hee




(had to dig for that one!).... Thanks, Dani!



Noel... I always love reading your review... none any more than this!
(I'm giddy...)


Janice and Bud - Y'all are the best!!!!!!

Alligator Records? Wow, that is cool praise my friend. We've bought from their catalog for many years. Thank you!

Thanks Blues Man Jane.

I want to start by saying that your title would make a good name for a Mall store that sells skinny jeans to high school girls.

I'll continue by echoing the positive comments on everything from the clever lyrics to Floyd's unexpected but awesome blues guitar playing.

But what I really want to know is whether you had a specific application in mind for which you crafted these verbal images. The use of biblical terms like Jerusalem and God's hand... especially when considered in light of the other points you made about tombstones, lack of green leaves, family lineage, blood feuds and murder... all these things stirred associations in my mind of the generational conflict in Palestine.

It wasn't until the last stanza when you mentioned a trailer and rows too long to hoe that I thought of the poor deep south rural bible belt, which I suppose is your intended application for the song.

I feel like there's more that you didn't say, and I want to hear all of it.

hi Janice&bud great vocal I think you could sing anything janice hey Floyd nice guitar chops and tone enjoyed thanks eric

Hey Pat, I parsed out your comments in order to better respond.

“I want to start by saying that your title would make a good name for a Mall store that sells skinny jeans to high school girls.”

Now I gotta carry that image around! Janice and I are mountain bikers and we have a trail on our property that drops down from a low ridge to some dark bottom land. Around here bottom land was desired by Native Americans and settlers as it is rich but with a creek nearby this time of year it is incredibly hot and humid, i.e., “dank.” A few weeks ago when Janice and I were on a hard training ride through there I commented that I was suffocating in the bottom land. Voila, something that might stimulate my relatively rare songwriting.

“I'll continue by echoing the positive comments on everything from the clever lyrics to Floyd's unexpected but awesome blues guitar playing.”

Thank you and I’m sure fj will be pleased with that!

“But what I really want to know is whether you had a specific application in mind for which you crafted these verbal images. The use of biblical terms like Jerusalem and God's hand... especially when considered in light of the other points you made about tombstones, lack of green leaves, family lineage, blood feuds and murder... all these things stirred associations in my mind of the generational conflict in Palestine.”

I was thinking of oppression in general and how many millions cannot escape from it. The imagery just comes from my life’s experiences. Jerusalem Ridge is the title of my favorite bluegrass fiddle instrumental. It’s up tempo but ethereal and a bit spooky in melody. The sunken graves and the field stone — Janice and I are history nuts and we ramble around the countryside a lot and hike a lot. We often find old cemeteries where the graves have sunken in and they are marked, if at all, with flat field stones.
The heritage/lineage and the blood feuds were to reinforce the oppressive conditions in which the song’s subject was living. It brought to my mind images of worldwide conflicts and strife and generational/cultural/religious/tribal issues, etc.

“It wasn't until the last stanza when you mentioned a trailer and rows too long to hoe that I thought of the poor deep south rural bible belt, which I suppose is your intended application for the song.”

Yes, Appalachia would be a good fit metaphorically. The last verse can speak to how in America in many, but certainly not all, situations you do have an option of leaving. “Stick out a thumb.” It may not be a great option but you likely will not die for trying it.

“I feel like there's more that you didn't say, and I want to hear all of it. ;)”

That’s the best I can do! I genuinely enjoyed reading your thoughts. I know I tend toward more vague “connect the dots” lyrics and it is humbling to think that someone would pay that much attention to them..thank you very much.

J&B

J&B,

Thanks for taking time to offer a meaty reply. That kind of communication is highly valued and rarely found in online communities. I appreciate the level of commitment each of you bring to this community, in multiple ways. You participate in the music, and in the encouragement and in the human dialog. You are a big part of the reason why I check in every day to see what's new. Thank you very much for being value-adders.

Nicely done!! Great blues vibe!

I will just give a big +1 to the above. I could not have said it better!

Thank you! It was fun. Still amazed at blues man jane.

Hi Guys!

Been AWOl from the boards for a few weeks ... serious health issues and family member with cancer plus a deadline for the two novels I am writing. I'm also putting together a website. Okay, done whining and making excuses ............

Terrific song and performance. Janice's voice always shines ... more proof here. And Floyd on lead guitar .. I may have to think about selling my Tele! I'm not sure I can withstand the competition!

What's not to like about this? Well, just one thing ... it came to an end! Kudos to all involved ... great stuff!

Alan

Outstanding song and performances. Great work Janice and Bud. I loved the guitar work Floyd. Thanks for sharing.
SD

Thank you Alan. It was an interesting project and floyd's guitar really nailed it. Glad you liked it!

Thanks! Pretty amazing track from Mr jane for sure.