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Posted By: Rustyspoon# Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 12:20 PM
Hi Folks.
If you can not tolerate slightly depressing song, I suggest moving to
the the next post.
Inspired by a recent song by Ray & Torrey, I decided to write a song long due.
...Once I met a man from former Soviet republic. From our casual
conversation, I understood that he was collaborating with Nazi
during WWII. It was not what he said...but what he didn't say that made me
quite uncomfortable. For a long time, this subject had hunted me, so
finally I was able to express it musically/verbally. Critique is always welcomed. Thank you for listening!

Distant Echoes

Lyrics:
Humid July
Breeze as a breath of obsidian night
Ghost from the past
Standing by fence and casting long shadow

He looked at me with sarcastic grin,
Devils dancing in his watery eyes
I could swear I've heard legions marching
Ripping throats... achtung!

Many moons had passed
Memories are fading of those-
Who stayed forever young
And those, with beating hearts
Keeping to themselves

I turned around and walk back home
Could not fall asleep in my bed
I can swear I've heard song of a hot wire*
humming in my head

Butterflies are flying on wild clover field
like the ashes twirling and falling
on burning...and crumbling Berlin

That gangrenous wound will never heal
spreading sweet scent of death...
Seems like history is moving squeaky wheel
While we forgetting our past.

Things used:
BIAB:
366: Bass Electric
686: Organ
RealDrums: CountryEven16
1004: Guitar, 12 string
2495: Pino Electric
2890: Accordion
3242: Vihuela

parts of Hitler/Stalin speaches.
Recorded and mixed in Cakewalk.
Posted By: 44kfl Re: Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 01:19 PM
love your songs,

you were inspired to write this and it's strong

Butterflies are flying on wild clover field
like the ashes twirling and falling
on burning...and crumbling Berlin

could quote the whole song but these lines and images

struck a chord with me

nice mix and choice of instruments

Kenny
Posted By: Robertkc Re: Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 02:30 PM
Misha,

The jaunty music makes a good contrast with the serious subject; some telling images in the lyric and your ever theatrical delivery is entertaining as ever.
There are some places where the vocals might need to come forward (or the accordion move back )in the mix for clarity, otherwise sounds good to me.
The use of those speeches sends shivers.

Robert
Posted By: Jim Re: Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 03:16 PM
IMHO You are becoming the resident poet here...
No one else (to my knowledge) writes the way you do...
Each work could well stand alone without any musical backtrack...
Yet you seem to choose musical tracks to emphasize your carefully chosen well-written lyrics...
For "Needle In Hay" you created a funeral dirge...
For this piece, the music reminds me of the Russian & Cossacks music from WWII documentaries & movies...
Well done Misha... I really admire you work!
Posted By: rsdean Re: Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 05:22 PM
Misha,

This song is incredibly creative... Your mix is tremendous - excellent job!

Bob
Posted By: TuneMonger Re: Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 05:52 PM
On Memorial Day, I watched Ken Burns' The War (12 hours) and this song was like a soundtrack to it. Great job with a difficult subject.
Posted By: dcuny Re: Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 07:24 PM
Good write, interesting arrangement, well sung. I really like the song.

The drum breaks were especially effective, as are the fragments of the speeches.

Since English isn't your native language, it's a bit hard to make out what you're singing. I think the balance of the mix is good, but perhaps you need to can do some selective EQ cuts in the other instruments, or perhaps boosts on the vocal to make the consonants more distinct? Just a thought.
Posted By: Will Josef Re: Distant Echoes - 06/02/19 08:39 PM
Hi Misha,

It is a very, very good song and a good production as well.

I wouldn't mind if you did the singing in Russian language - it might make the song even better.

Thanks a lot for sharing!
Will
Posted By: Rustyspoon# Re: Distant Echoes - 06/03/19 10:00 AM
Kenny,
Thank you for listening and nice words!

----------------

Robert, Thank you for listening and honest review! I will try to play with vocal balance to get it even throughout the tune.

----------------
Jim, thank you for listening and kind words!
I believe you are generously overestimating my abilities smile
----------------

Bob, thank you for listening and your feedback here and on SC!
----------------

TuneMonger, Thank you for listening! It is a very powerful film, I watched parts of it.
----------------

David, thank you for listening and for honest thoughts! I believe, you are absolutely right. I mix on headphones. They are a very nice set, but a bit on a high/neutral side. When mixing, I should probably compensate for average, more bass oriented monitors so the mix is not muddy.
----------------
Will, thank you for listening and kind words! Hmmm, you gave me an idea, I might just try that one day.
Posted By: floyd jane Re: Distant Echoes - 06/03/19 10:11 AM
"That gangrenous wound will never heal
spreading sweet scent of death...
Seems like history is moving squeaky wheel
While we forgetting our past."

WOW. THAT is powerful!! Another amazing write.

The backing tracks are the perfect vehicle.

As others have said, the vocal could use a bit of something to pull it up out of the track a little in spots.

Quite a song! Excellent work.

fj
Posted By: Janice & Bud Re: Distant Echoes - 06/03/19 12:54 PM
My father and six uncles fought in WWII. Janice's father was a marine in the south pacific during WWII.

We will never forget. Hopefully your song will remind others not to. Powerful lyric!

Beyond the message the song is creatively composed, well performed, and the mix sounds really good on the monitors.

Thanks for sharing!

J&B
Posted By: Tangmo Re: Distant Echoes - 06/04/19 03:28 AM
An important subject tackled personally and powerfully. Something about that upbeat, happy sound of accordian in a minor key is always unsettling to me. I think it captures "...sarcastic grin, Devils dancing in his watery eyes..." brilliantly.

Oh well. We're all just following orders anyway, even in disobedience.
Posted By: rayc Re: Distant Echoes - 06/04/19 05:51 AM
AND AGAIN you nail it.
Deceptive backing, escaped NAZI, chance meeting, the ghostly voices of dictators/mass murderers/totalitarians bind together to remind me that the world does seem interested in avoiding the same mistakes.
Lyrics and delivery are very well thought out.
there's probably a good case for some automation of your vocal line to rid the backing - though I had no problems listening/reading/understanding.
Posted By: jannesan Re: Distant Echoes - 06/04/19 02:03 PM
Lyrics paint a powerful picture, scary at places, true work of art. Your voice is excellent for the song. Great arrangement and mix, the backing track and your musical style reminded me of a band called Gogol Bordello.

Janne
Posted By: David Snyder Re: Distant Echoes - 06/04/19 04:04 PM

Misha,

Really nice! Very creative.

I really enjoyed the production!
Posted By: Rustyspoon# Re: Distant Echoes - 06/04/19 11:51 PM
FJ, Thank you for listening! And special thanks for that: "The backing tracks are the perfect vehicle."
I had doubts about the "happiness" of the tracks for the subject, but then the song evolved and I felt I should leave it the way it is.
--------------
J&B, Thank you for listening and your nice feedback! WW2 chewed my family tree quite a bit. The subject is a giant bruise without boundaries. I am very curious if people who promote nationalism understand what it can lead to, or it is just a game to them?
--------------
Tangmo, Thank you for listening and nice comments. This is a very interesting thought:
"We're all just following orders anyway, even in disobedience."
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Ray, Thank you! "Deceptive backing" this was not intentional, but I like how you described it smile
The only hope is that those with influence step up to cool things down. I took your advice and inserted vocal rider on vocal bus to even things a bit.
--------------
Janne,
Thank you for listening and kind words! I remember some years ago I watched movie Everything Is Illuminated with Gogol Bordello. My mother in law played on couple of soundtracks for it.
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David,
Thank you for listening & nice comments here and on SC!
Posted By: BlueAttitude Re: Distant Echoes - 06/06/19 08:46 AM
Hi Misha,

Man, what a powerful song! You have such a way with words, it's a true gift.

Also like your vocal delivery and the production.

Very good indeed!
Posted By: Greg Johnson Re: Distant Echoes - 06/06/19 04:53 PM
Cool song!! Quite intense! Some wonderful lyrical images.....sometimes darkness must be brought to light. Really good job!! Take care. Greg
Posted By: PeterF Re: Distant Echoes - 06/06/19 07:17 PM
Misha

Very emotive, and a powerful write. I liked the mix and all your production choices.
Excellent work all round.

Peter
Posted By: Rustyspoon# Re: Distant Echoes - 06/07/19 11:22 AM
Dave, thank you for listening and your generous feedback!
---------------
Greg, Thank you for your time and positive comments!
--------------
Peter, Thank you! Still needs a lot of work, but I appreciate your kind feedback!



Misha.
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