I Just Don't Want To Hurt Anymore

This WIP is mixed a bit loud - FYI

This is a WIP but thought I'd ask for some comments and input before rerecording. I think when the lead guitar riff ends, I should have gone directly to the 2nd verse rather than the chorus. The other issue I wonder about is the drums - I've dropped the high EQ quite a bit but still the brushes really dominate the right channel more than I'd like, particularly in the choruses. But when I bring the high EQ down much more, the drums start to sound pretty mundane. Open to any thoughts/suggestions. And I won't mix it as loud when I redo it! Thanks in advance.

Alan
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****** Song Summary - I Just Don’t Want To Hurt Anymore *************

Key=Fm , Tempo 70, Length (m:s)=4:47

Style is _MY_AMP.STY (My Woes Blues w Amplitube Bass)

RealTracks in style: 1922:Bass, Electric, TexasBluesRockSlow12-8 Sw 060
RealTracks in song: 2361:Piano, ElectricVintage, Rhythm MotownSlowBluesy12-8John Sw 085
RealTracks in style: 2674:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm Blues12-8Brent Sw 065
RealTracks in song: 1923:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm TexasBluesRockSlow12-8Brent Sw 060
RealTracks in song: 2686:Guitar, Electric, Soloist BluesSlow12-8BrentSimple Sw 065
RealTracks in song: ~571:Harmonica, Background Blues Monday Sw 065
RealDrums in Song: BluesRock128^5-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride
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I Don’t Want To Hurt Anymore
(c) 2018 Alan D. David, BMI / Diana Randall, BMI

(v1)
Red tears spilling out my eyes, from this heart you cut in two
All these restless nights alone, I owe them all to you
You showed your true colors, the day said I do
You ain’t never settled down, and I know you ain’t been true
I could never trust you girl, I’ve come to know your kind
I’m gonna have to make a change, before I lose my mind

CHORUS
It’s time for you to pack your things, I ain’t taking any more
Make sure you got everything, before you find the door
Don’t wanna hear no promises, we been down that road before
I just wanna hear your footsteps, as you’re walkin’ cross the floor
No second chance, no make-up dance, you’re rotten to the core
I just don’t want to hurt anymore

INSTRUMENTAL

REPEAT CHORUS

(v2)
A man can only take so much, before he draws the line
When he’s reached his limit, and there ain’t no nother time
Adios goodbye auf wiedersehen, do I need to make a sign
Be sure to take your cheatin’ ways, don’t leave anything behind
Don’t forget the broken dreams, and the promises undone
No way you coulda hurt me worse, if you’d shot me with a gun

REPEAT CHORUS

Those sound like cymbals, not brushes. OK, maybe brushed cymbals. Heck, it might even just be an opening and closing hihat.

To reduce the cymbals, you could double the section of the track with cymbals with a drum track without cymbals. Then EQ the cymbals down, and bring in some of the non-cymbals track to make up for some of the lost high-end.

If you don't like the brushes panned that far, you could reduce the brush track to mono, either by converting the stereo to mono, or just splitting off the right track. Then you can adjust the panning so it's more centered.

There are some more sneaky approaches, but this might do it for you.

"Adios goodbye auf wiedersehen, do I need to make a sign
Be sure to take your cheatin’ ways, don’t leave anything behind"

HA! Singin' the Blues! An Anti-Love Song... a nice write (well, maybe "nice" is the wrong word )

The BAND sounds good.. The solos are sweet! The cymbals are "weird" - they sound like a reversed sample. Next time I have BIAB open, I'll check that out (hard to imagine they were meant to sound like that).

I enjoyed the song!

fj

The mix & performance sound good on these cheap PC speakers I use...
Everything sounds good...
The only suggestion I might make is choosing the strongest progression of lines on the chorus...
Since each line ends in the same rhyme scheme, you have the opportunity to organize & reorganize the chorus
until you find the a chorus which has the greatest impact...
I've been mentally playing with some possibilities but can't decide...
Maybe others can add their thoughts.

Alan
An excellent bluesy number. Like floyd I thought the cymbals sounded odd.
When I load the same real track I get quite a different sound.
Perhaps if you have the newest version get the latest update and re-generate the drums?

Peter

Alan,

The song and performance is so compelling that the mix to me here is secondary. Having said that, the mix is fine - it almost has a "live" feel to it.

I really enjoyed this one - another winner!

Bob

Alan, great blues, excellent lyrics!

To my ears, mix is well balanced except, as folks noted for the cymbals... on Intro and Choruses. As FJ said they sound a bit like reversed sample, I can not say it better

Cymbals on Verses sound good to my ears.

Best regards,
Misha.

I loved this Alan. Very cool vocal and backtrack. Guitar was awesome.

Really well done Alan I'm a sucker for the blues vibes, and this definitely scratched that itch. It sounds really rich, and I thought the arrangement sounded really good personally.

Thanks for sharing!

Ok, first off, the song is GREAT and I love your guitar tones. Man, just awesome.

-----Take this next part as I may be WAY off on. I am listening on a laptop and don't have headphones to really listen.-----

To me, the drums sound fine. The cymbals sound a little different, but I don't know if even as drummer I would have noticed it. Listening from the laptop, it almost ads to the groove a little. It's like if you could have an open/close feature on a ride cymbal instead of the hats. I have heard drummers play similar to this OR compression sometimes makes that happen. I'm not sure the case here; but I wouldn't have thought anything of it; listening as I just did several times. I listen without reading comments first and didn't think anything but it sounded great. Then read the comments and went back with the cymbals in mind. I'm still ok with it.

Another thing to consider is, sometimes, something like that ads to the uniqueness of a song. It's gives it it's own character. Just a thought. If you can't get passed it though; you never will. Then it needs to be changed.

Great song, either way, to me.

Hi Alan,
This blues is very pleasant to listen to.
All seems so easy ! But I know that's a lot of work to reach this excellent level. Congratulations. Christian

Holá, hello and hallo, dear Alan,

I cannot add anything substantial to that 'cymbal issue' except that I would consider replacing it - it sounds very artificial to me. Too artificial for that otherwise fantastic blues number: great vocals, like always awesome guitar work, and if that subject isn't custom made for a good moanin' blues number...

Another gem in my personal 'Alan collection'!

Stefan

Great song Allan, vocal is a standout, guitar is nailed, great band here. Cliff

Love the overall sound

everything is mixed well

great write and cool song

Merry Christmas,

Kenny

Well first of all, a good song! Guitar sounds great, playing all the right lines. Did you comp it?

You already have lots of comments on the mix already, bottom line for me is the song is solid, and I enjoyed the listen very much.

Loved the "Adios goodbye auf wiedersehen" line!

Very nice blues with powerful lyrics. Your voice just gets better

Janne

Thanks to all of you! Would love to answer each of you personally but time is is in short supply at the moment. Di and I wish all the talent on these PG Music Forums and terrific Christmas and hope 2019 is your best year ever.

I redid the drum track. Can't explain why the cymbals turned out as they did the first time- I didn't fx them in any way other than the BIAB indigenous PG Dymanics. I used as totally different track. I changed it from a Blues Rock track to Rock Swing track. Sounds quite a bit better, I think.

Merry Christmas to everyone from both of us.

Alan & Di

Some cool stuff here Alan!! I like the opening, the verse vibe, and the mix. The melody and chords switch from blues feel to a happier country feel which hits me kind of strange....not sure it doesn't work but it is hard to tell on first listen. Cool stuff!! Take care. Greg

Sounds great Alan! There are some unexpected chord melody changes in here that really caught my attention! Great job! Thanks, Torrey

Hi Alan,

Wow!!!! What a song. Such skillful lyric and music writing and singing that sits so very, very comfortably amongst the music.

I love the opening phrase... "Red tears spilling out my eyes", that's pretty intense imagery and set the stage perfectly for what was to follow.

I really enjoyed this.

Best wishes to you and Di for 2019!
Noel