You know, I have to say that, if not for Band in a Box, this music wouldn't be possible. I absolutely love it. Okay, enough off-topic talk.
Fair Warning: The following is evangelical Christian music. So, if you are a Christian, this will cause a general feeling of Unfathomable Euphoria, and Open Worship. And if you're not a Christian, you will wish you were!
You've been forewarned.
And, if this music isn't your Style (see what I did there?), I have several new tracks to share. Just ask!
As for the Style used, I'll paste it here:
_FPBNTSW.STY 2 SwFgerpickGuitars wBand[120RS]
Brent Mason fingerpicking swing 8ths guitar w. older fingerpicking guitar, complement each other producing a warm, full sound. Pop swing el.bass & NashvilleSw8 RD. (El.Bass, Ac.Guitar, Ac.Guitar, Drums=NashvilleSwing8^2-SideStck,Ride)
With that, I added:
Soloist: ~1112:Fiddle, Background CountrySwing Sw 110
Melody: ~950:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryBoogieA-B Sw 110
After generating it a couple of times until I liked the results, I exported each part to separate WAV files, and imported them into Cakewalk Music Creator 5, where I mixed them with my single vocal. I only had to do a little volume automation with the RB tracks. In this case, it all worked out wonderfully.
It's very Southern Gospel, which isn't representative of most of the songs I've written over the years. Still, I absolutely love what Real Band has done with it. That violin solo really stirs me!
Thanks so much, PG Music!
The MP3 is posted at Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_6KFlB8KTRATEFKYzFQc08wWEk/view?usp=sharing
Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy it.
Richard Allan Stauch

Hi, Richard.

Nice song! You didn't mention what sort of feedback you were interested in (if any), so I'm going to take a chance and make some un-asked for suggestion. If that's not what you wanted... sorry for my presumptuousness, and just ignore what follows.

To my ears, the vocal is buried in the mix, and the lead guitar is always in front. I'd suggest adjusting the mix to bring the vocal to the forefront, as it's the most important.

The guitar never seems to let up - having it sit out for a while would add some contrast, and make it welcome when you bring it back in again.

BiaB has a harmony generator (Harmony | Audio Harmonies and Pitch Tracking...). You might consider using it to add harmony to your chorus for some extra punch.

Finally, at a bit over 6 minutes... well, I could see as a praise song some people might consider that a bit short, so I guess I should stop while I'm ahead.

Anyway, don't let any of this give the impression that I didn't like the song! I'd just like to hear it with the vocal more in front. Give that BiaB guitarist a chance, and he'll solo in front of you all day long!

I agree with David.
Plenty of room to play around with.
Great effort.
Rob

ditto.


MC5 is a great DAW. I used MC4 for quite some time and then MC5 for a short time before jumping to Sonar.

The mix is fairly loud and present. The comments about the guitar and vocals are spot on. EQ the vox a bit brighter as well as bumping the levels a few dB higher so they will cut through a bit better. Harmony would work well on the chorus.

Bump the vox up to the front.... use envelopes on the guitar and let it play fills and solos. Basically, a rule of thumb to mix by is: If the singer is singing, no one in the band should be soloing. The singer is the star, no one should be in the spotlight when the singer is working it.
The song had a very strong Dire Straits feel due to the tracks you used for the lead and rhythm guitars.

Richard,

Welcome to the Showcase...

David has given you some good pointers. It is sometimes possible to have a lead running under a vocal, so your first move should be to re-balance that... vocal (and lead if you keep it) - basically swap their volumes (so to speak). (Later in the song the vocal seems to get a bit louder).

A good Christian number. I can imagine a choir coming in on the chorus...Good first post. Keep 'em coming...

floyd

Hi Richard,

welcome to the showcase.
I wonder why this is your first post as
you already registered in 2006.
Nice song. David and Floyd gave some good advice.
Enjoyed the listen. I like that Dire sound.

Guenter

I'll have to agree with the others. To me, the vocal sounds very good but is hard to hear. It makes an arrangement more exciting and offers relief to the listener to bring instruments in and out, build and bring down again. That guitar is really sweet but gets overwhelming. I think the song could be very good with some editing. Enjoyed it as is but could be improved! Take care. Greg

One thing you might want to consider is to always use a
reference song. When I get ready to mix I play a similar
style song that I like at the same volume. I then switch back
and forth as I mix and later as I master to try and
approximate the sound of the reference.

Welcome aboard.

J&B

Nice tune and i agree that David has some good ideas that you can use to bring the lyrics forward.

Nice song and arrangement. Well written lyrics. Thanks for posting. Enjoyed listening.


Charlie