This is the second to last song that is going onto my collaboration album. The song was selected by my good friend Karen Wilmot who you some of you may have heard me refer to as “Cuzzie”.

Karen and I had a duo in about 98/99 called “Alice Band”. We did the pubs and private functions, dressed up in Abba wigs, drank tequila and generally had a ball. Karen left SA in 2000 and has not really come back and so a wonderful period of my life gave way to an equally wonderful period of becoming a wife and mother.

Anyway, this is long story! Cuzzie asked to sing Beautiful Scars for the album and tried with no success to record some vocals in her little beachfront flat in Oman. She then went to Bali to run some workshops and I asked her to try and find a studio there to lay down the tracks. She found a little studio in Bali and laid down this wonderful vocal for me.

The song is a deeply personal song about growing up in that dreadful bush war in Zimbabwe in the 1970’s and how all of us who lived through that time have end up with beautiful scars. The scars have made us what we are. We cannot regret what has happened. It just is. I wrote the song last year but battled to put a melody or chords to it so I asked a woman called Cheryl Teal, who I had met on the internet, to help. Cheryl wrote the music for this song.

I was not really happy with my first attempt at mixing this song and asked Herb to listen to the mix and see what he thought. He offered to do a mix, which he has done over the last few days. In the meantime I made a few tweaks to my mix.

So the long and the long of it is that there are two versions of this song and I am not going to say who mixed which version (although I am sure you will be able to guess!). We would love your input on which mix you prefer and why.

Have at it (as Floyd would say).


Beautiful Scars with Karen Wilmot MIX A

Beautiful Scars with Karen Wilmot MIX B

BEAUTIFUL SCARS WITH KAREN WILMOT FINAL MIX

Lyrics
Born in '64 'neath the shadow of a war
Fear was written on my page
Silent spaces silent prayer waiting for the news
the names of the unlucky few

Beautiful scars and Jagged imperfections
Hidden down in the pocket of a coat I don't wear
Beautiful scars and Careful redirection
Covered over in colours A sketch no longer there

My past with tales Retold stacked wooden Russian dolls
I know if I take a look pressed in a dust poetry book
Show up in print I am a frame I'm living in

Beautiful scars and Jagged imperfections
Hidden down in the pocket of a coat I don't wear
Beautiful scars and Careful redirection
Covered over in colours a sketch no longer there

Through the chaos and tears hands reach across the years
Never knowing whats in store
It's not finished yet there's nothing to regret
And there will be a thousand more

Beautiful scars and Jagged imperfections
Hidden down in the pocket of a coat I don't wear
Beautiful scars and Careful redirection
Covered over in colours a sketch no longer there
Covered over in colours a sketch no longer there
`

Nice song!! I like the 2nd mix better. The first has a little bit of a retro sound in its production (brighter with more verb) and is nice but the second one really captures the richness of the piano and the voice more. My two cent! Enjoyed it! Take care. Greg

Mix A was "brighter" (more trebly) which was distracting to my ear.

I prefer Mix B for that reason.

I enjoyed the B3 organ at about 2:30. Nice touch.

I love your voices and tight harmonies. It was difficult to distinguish who was carrying the melody at times, a good thing.

All in all, an excellent rendering of a beautiful, well-written song.

Thanks for the story behind the song. That clarified things for this loyal fan.

Would have loved to hear your duo. Perhaps SJ will afford me that luxury soon.

You go, girls!

(For the record - In my generation (read old fart), "girl" was not a macho, sexist, derogatory term for your gender. You know me better than to think that. Often languages defy my inertia and meanings change while I remain steady, stagnant.)

I agree with my good friend Don. Mix also was a better all around mix to these old ears. I also liked that B3 organ sound.

Very nice song! Well written. I agree, I like Mix B better. Thanks for sharing this one.

Steve

I always thought this was one of your best writes and really enjoyed the vocals Karen did for you. Both mixes were good and are very capable productions on their own. No need to pick a favorite.


Charlie

Well, Karen did a great job on the vocal. And you and Cheryl did a great job on the song.

My take on the mixes - As they stand right now, I'd go with B. That said, with the right tweaking I think Mix A could be a super mix.

Josie

Joanne,

As Charlie fogle I do not wish to choose between mixes as both have their merits, but I lean sightly to mix A.

But a beautiful song, wonderfully done,

I mentioned to you that during the production period for my rendition of Fancy Underwear that the closest person to a nephew that I had, had been tragically killed in a car crash. Well his family; grandparents and mother, escaped that war also but came to the UK.

Alyn

First of all... what a beautiful song! A good write - one that makes you "think" about what is being written - which is good in this case.

The vocal is super - and should be "the star" of whatever mix you choose.

The piano is "a bit of a problem" in both mixes. In B it is too dark and "heavy" - though only slightly. In A it is a bit too bright (and slightly distracting from the vocal) - You did not list the tracks used, but... when featuring a piano (like this) the MIDI SuperTrack pianos are well worth a try as they allow more control over the piano sound (VST). The reverbs added on top of the piano RTs can sometimes give an odd, hollow sound. However... I liked the way mix A used just the piano for the whole first verse - that is very effective.

The reverb on the vocal is more intimate in B - though it could use just a little more. The vocal reverb in A lost a bit of the intimacy - but that might be because there are 2 versions to compare.

The volume of the vocal in B causes all the other instruments to sound too low - or too far back. (Adding a bit more reverb to it might help it sit in the mix better and, therefore, bring the instruments forward - but that is just a guess).

The addition of the drums in A was nice. The bass, however, overwhelmed the song/vocal and seemed the wrong style. It needs to be more subtle - which it seems to be in B. It seemed even more out of place in the following verse (in A).
The bass in the bridge (of A) did work.

The organ in B was nice. The pickup (of the organ) after the pause was "a bit less than smooth" - should be an easy fix. However, I preferred the acoustic and strings treatment in A - the pickup there could have been smoother, too - again, the bass is too agressive...but the drum re-intro is good. I did like the organ being prevalent in the last chorus of B.

Both mixes have some good ideas.

floyd

Greg - Thank you for listening. We appreciate it.

Donald – your enthusiasm always has me smiling. Thank you! I don’t know how long it will be before Cuzzie and I will be able to perform again together. I miss it so much, but, on the bright side I may never have come across this wonderful software and this wonderful forum if I was still playing the pub circuit!

Hi Mario – Thank for listening and commenting. I think the B3 fits nicely.

Steve- thanks for listening. I am glad you enjoyed the song.

Charlie – Thanks! Sitting on the fence is also okay.

Josie – Thanks. I do miss Karen’s voice. She has a wonderful tone.

Alyn – I think you did mention that the first time I posted this song. It was a horrible war and the result has been scattered families. Many many people “escaped” to England, the States, Canada and Australia but still yearn for the old country.

Floyd – Thank you thank you for your very detailed review. Every single point is carefully noted and Herb and I are going back to the drawing board together produce one stellar mix that is the best of both and hopefully produce a winner for the CD.

Jo, with your mastery of BIAB/RB, consider making a backing track that includes Karen's vox then, on SJ, add your part live. A cyber duo!

I agree with Floyd, in retrospect, your lovely voice should be dominant in the mix.

Do it again after applying these valued suggestions.

Hi Joanne,

I already praised the song the first time you
published it.
Your idea to " produce one stellar mix that is the best of both" is good. Please consider to use the harmony mix of B and the piano and drums of A.
I'm looking forward to the end result.

Guenter

Thanks for the comments.

Interestingly enough, I sent a long and detailed email to JC before I saw Floyd's post. We nailed practically all of the same points. Comments on the bass line for A was spot on. That was an "ok" track but I got lazy and didn't work on it or search deep enough to find a better one with a more likeable groove. That may have been fixed with the latest mp3 I sent to JC. It also addresses some of the other issues. None of the changes are really very drastic.... some more so than others but some are very subtle, such as bumping the vocal buss by a dB and reducing the verb by 10%...the lead vox is now a bit more "in your face and close up"...... but the changes are for the better I think.

We're working together, as Joanne mentioned to produce the best version we can, whether it ends up being mine or her's on the CD project doesn't matter, the important thing is that it's top quality all the way.

As we post up new versions....I'm letting JC handle that on this song.... keep the good and valuable advice and opinions coming.

Well, even though I'm fairly early to the
party it looks like all the bases have
been covered. As has been alluded to
it seems like a melding of the mixes
would yield what y'all are after. We
enjoyed the listen! This project has
been a blast watching it grow.

J&B

Excellent write, excellent performance.

I listened to Mix A for a few bars, but found the piano too bright and switched over to Mix B.

As floyd mentioned, I thought the vocal was too forward in the mix, and I would have liked it softened with some reverb.

It might be worth thinking about the vocals from a dynamics perspective as well. The entire song feels like it's sung at the same volume. It makes sense to punch the chorus up to that level, but given the personal nature of the lyrics, you might consider holding back a bit on the verse, both in volume and intensity.

Just a thought.

+1. This is what I was thinking. Great vocals and the mix is somewhere between the two. It's going to be good. Tom

We're still working behind the scenes... working on a blended version of BOTH mixes.... with tweeks to both, and all that other stuff....

Thank you so much to everybody who listened to both versions and provide input. And a very BIG thank you to Herb for putting up with 1000 emails back and forth and seemingly going in never ending circles. I think we ended up with a great mix that will hold a very proud place on the album.
(PS I have updated the original post with the link but here it is anyway.

Final Mix

"By Jove, I think she's go' it, Mister 'iggens!"

Still a bit bright to my ears but I'll assume it's me. Too many years working in high ambient industrial noise.

Your lovely voice was certainly more "out front" and easily distinguishable, as it deserves to be.

Well I skipped directly to the final mix.
Lovely song, retro sound!
Beautiful vocals too.

Rob

Josie,
Great song and performance. You can't make this stuff up. It obviously comes a true life experience. The best kind of music.
Thanks so much for sharing.
SD

Hi Josie,

I enjoyed the listen a great deal. Your song is terrific and really suits Karen's vocal style. She chose well.

When I saw "Final Mix" tagged on the link, I wondered if I should make any comments. Then I saw Herb mention (a couple of posts up) that...



For what it's worth, the vocal track sounded a little on the hot side of bright to my ears. The less bright vocals in version B vocals appealed to me more. From what I could tell (in the spaces between words), the backing sounds fine. I'd imagine these comments are a personal preference thing but I pass them on in case they have some value to you and Herb.

All the best,
Noel

• previous song: Just A Little After Midnight

Thanks to all who are still listening and commenting on this final mix. I say final but that, as we all know is relative.

All of this mix was stamped and approved by Joanne. Here;s what we did.

JC sent me the comped vocal track so that it was the mix she wanted. I put it into a new track and assigned it to a "mute group" with my vocal tracks so I could A/B between them. I adjusted my mix to be as close to hers as I could get. I exported 2 copies..... one with her vox track and the other with mine..... marked them A & B and didn't tell her which was which.

She of course figured out which one was which and said she liked the B mix, which happened to be mine. She asked if I could do what I do to make the vocals "cut through a bit more" by boosting the highs or cutting the lows. So, I added Ozone to the lead vocal track. It was a preset from another project with a female vocalist. I shut off the modules I didn't want before I ever hit play. The track was sounding the same to me so I soloed it and bypassed the plug on and off.....on and off during the singing, and there was a barely perceptible upper mid bump with it on. I exported that and it is what you hear in the final mix version.

JC has both of the waves for the final mix..... the first one and this edited one. I think they are both worthy to be used so whichever one she chooses, is fine with me.

Note: they are so close in EQ that listening to one behind the other, you would never be able to guess which one was which. Well, I'll say 99% of the listeners.

It was a complete pleasure to work with Joanne on this project and this song. The lady has a great project going here and I wish her, and it, the utmost success. Just proud to be a part of it. Thank you Joanne for including me, and all the folks that you did, on this project.

Hi Josie.
Sorry I didnt catch this one earlier.
Great lyrics backed up by a lovely folk feeling.
Nicely done.
Rob

Came back for the Final Mix. Saved my pick for my favorite and this one is it.


This one is radio ready and quite relevant to today's world.


Charlie

Thanks....

Hi Joanne and Herb,

I like the final mix.

Guenter