Letters to Johny by Miira

I have started this year by collaborating with a talented Finnish singer/songwriter Miira. Before sharing her take on my song, I would like to introduce her with her great bluesy song, Letters to Johny, for which I made the backing track with BIAB. I used the audio chord wizard to find the chords from the original version and then I used instruments from _RELIVE style as such with only small modifications to the pan/reverb/tone settings.

I received her vocal track with effects, so you may notice some reverb differences with other instruments. I hope that doesn't stop you from enjoying her excellent song and beautiful voice.

Style: _RELIVE.STY

564:Bass, Electric, Blues Monday Sw 065
2733:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm BluesSlow128Mike Sw 065
2674:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm Blues12-8Brent Sw 065
2734:Organ, Rhythm BluesSlow128Mike Sw 065
RealDrums: BluesRock128^1-a:SideStick, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat

Vocals: Miira (more her music on YouTube, there you can hear also the original version of this song which really inspired me to do this backing track)

Mixed in Adobe Audition 2017, NI's Transient Master used to reduce some reverb differences.


Janne

Hi, Janne !

Superb tune and vocal !
Love those original chord
progressions too !

Cheers
Dani

Thanks Dani for listening and giving such a nice review

Janne

Lovely song and well produced. Great vocals and that very nice key change towards the end.

Nice listen. Enjoyed that thanks.

Excellent tune.She has a lovely voice. Well done

Lovely voice and song. Great big production sound. I loved it.

Hi Jannesan

Another great song. A beautiful vocal, really very talented girl.
Excellent sound

Sergio

Janne,

I enjoyed your collaboration.
The chorus is really upbeat and catchy - a contrast to the moodier feel of the verses. Terrific vocal and some interesting chord changes there ( so the chord wizard really works!).
It would be nice to see the lyrics.

Robert

Really nice tune. Good vocals and Harmonies. Great production.


Enjoyed my listen.

Charlie

Thanks Mike, Scott, lambada, Sergio, Robert, Charlie for your kind words. I'm glad you have enjoyed the high level quality of the BIAB band which really makes her lovely voice and the strong song shine.

Janne

Very nicely done Janne!! Really nice production and mix. Enjoyed it! Take care. Greg

Thanks Greg for your kind words, although I was only a delivery man here, Miira and BIAB did practically all the hard work

Janne

Hello, Janne

Really nice tune. Good vocals and Harmonies.
I enjoyed your collaboration.
The chorus is really upbeat and catchy.
It is very interesting to use blues chord progression and pops chord progression together.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best Regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi Janne,

You've done a great job!

I have to say that Miira is a terrific singer! She nestles into your backing really snugly, like a hand in a custom-made glove. I love the way the melody moves against the rhythm and blues. Your mix has definitely brought out the very best in both the music and the singer.

As I listened, I got thinking and that led to the below comment. I've included it simply as food for thought in case it's useful information.

I don't know if it's my hearing (this is quite possible), but it seemed to me that the bass guitar and the organ were sometimes having a bit of a fight with bass note clashes. I had a look at the notation for the organ (RT 2734) and while it looks like it should be alright, the organ sound seems to have a 16' voice added which adds notes into the mix that are one octave lower than those written. I found myself thinking that it would be interesting to try an EQ effect on the organ track that is either a 'low shelf' or a 'highpass' filter set at around 150-200 Hz. Removing these lower frequencies would reduce the potential for bass-note clashes. While such a filtered track mightn't sound as good solo'd, it might work better in the mix.

Overall, there is absolutely no doubt that your adventure with ACW and fitting vocals to a BIAB backing has been an outstanding success!

At the end of the journey, I found myself thinking, "He's done a REALLY great job with this!"

All the best,
Noel

Thanks Shigeki for you nice comment, very interesting observation about the chord progressions

Janne

Thank you Noel, your comments are always so encouraging thanks for appreciating my work, and especially Miira's singing and her composition.

Good point about the organ, I didn't pay attention to that, but I guess I have to start practicing my ears to notice this kind of details :-)

Janne