This forum is the perfect companion for an already great product. After the helpful critiques on my first post, I started re-mixing many tunes. The biggest problem was the lack of deesser. This song, which has an awful lot of Ss, was 2nd on the list. Having said that, try not concentrating on the Ss, and let me know what you think.

12 Bars Blue on SoundCloud
12 Bars Blue on YouTube

RealTracks in song: 2730:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm BluesSlowSwingMike Sw 085
RealTracks in style: 1924:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm TexasBluesRockSlow12-8Sol Sw 060
RealTracks in style: 1923:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm TexasBluesRockSlow12-8Brent Sw 060
RealTracks in song: ~576:Guitar, Electric, Soloist Blues BB Ev 085
RealDrums [in Song:BluesRock128^5-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride


Flight 507 flew in from Dallas.
Sue stepped off crying. She said, "Who's Alice?"
I said, "She's just someone who's no one, so don't get so upset.
There's hardly any mem'ry left inside me to forget.
When I miss you, I drink the stew inside these 12 bars... blue."

She said, "Don't tell me you've lost your memory.
I heard the dirt from her husband Henry."
I said, "You don't know what you're saying. Her husband Henry's dead.
Some red-hot barmaid, Dinah, might o' blasted off his head."
She said, "It's true!! So that was YOU when those 12 bars blew."

I daresn't doddle, but doodle little.
I'm fit for bottle, but not for fiddle.
I'm not in shape for haulin' [*****], so let those Mounties come.
I'm dining in my glass. You know I'm not just acting dumb.
She told the screws, "I've got good news. He's playin' 12-bar blues.

Judge said my travel he's gonna limit.
When I smell trouble, I double back in it.
My life's a nutshell in a cold cell. I still say, "Alice who?"
There's 12 bars out my window ---and 12 on them, too.
I think of Sue, and drink to stew, behind those 12 bars. Blue.
I think of Sue, and drink my stew, behind those 12 bars. Blue.

I didn't hear the first one but this one jumped right out of my monitors from the first note. Not a trace of the SSSSSS'S that I could hear just some incredible clear high tones. I would have mixed down a little more with a low pass filter but that's just me, for this song the tone is great. Jumps out and grabs you by the neck and wont let go.

Nice work

Rick

Haha. Thanks, Rick. I'll listen to any sound suggestion you have, sir. Do you mean just the vocal track or the final mix>

The song is very entertaining - perhaps you might like to post lyrics as well for us lazy listeners.
A very nice blues and well produced.

Good work.

Peter

Well done, Marty.

The vocal sounds really good and sits in the mix well. No need for de-essing on this one...no explosive sss's

Cool song. Good band. Good mix.

fj

Haha. Thanks, Peter. Just edited this with your suggestion.

Thank you, floyd. I'm grateful for both your guidance AND inspiration. .

The whole mix is good. The mix is "hot" and that's usually hard to get to, a lot of songs are somewhat dull sounding right out of the home studio. Keep working at it, you got the talent and the vision part down already. No bad stuff that I could hear, a final low pass filter sweep would just be me doing my thing.

Rick

What are you mixing inside? There're some cool tutorials that can help with most DAWS.
Cool song & well sung.

Hey Marty,

Man, I just love the blues, so of course I love this! Very good writing, especially for blues where the lyrics can tend to get a little generic.

I dig your vocal, works well for blues. And nice job on the bass also, I assume that is you playing?

Good stuff, looking forward to hearing more.

Thanks, rayc. Admittedly I don't know what I'm doing in the digital world of recording, but I'm using Cakewalk. I've learned a lot from YT so far, but the feedback and posts in this forum are very valuable also. Thanks again!

Hey Dave!

Know what you mean about a matchbox holding my clothes at a quarter to three. Yes, I did the bass. Thanks. Let's jam!!

Super clever lyric. I think you milked that title phrase about every way that Dinah mighta stood still for. Band and singer sound good. And that's entertainment.

Hi Marty,

Those 12 bars haven't prevented you from making an excellent Blues!
The lyrics are very funny (and a bit sad) and clever made. I can agree with Tangmo on that.
The lead guitar did a swell job.
Really like this one. Can't wait for another and you don't have be sitting behind bars for that one,

Hans

Thanks, Tangmo. Diana found you most entertaining, and I appreciate the encouragement.

Thanks, Hans. Yeah, the only one with a happy ending in that story is the lawyer. Still, some of the best blues was written without bars, and from behind them.

Blues is right in our wheelhouse and we are always ready for it

No disappointments here.

Well done!

Effective RT choice to support the really good vocal.

Nice bass too!

J&B

Excellent tune Super vocal and lyric. Guitar was excellent.

Thanks, Janice & Bud. And I love the way you guys wield your wheel house.

Thanks for listening and commenting, Scott.

Marty,
Great stuff! Arrangement & vocals sit in place to my ears. I thought it was done very well. I listened to a couple of your other songs as well, a random choice, and they were all good! You should share more of your tunes with us Enjoyed this! Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Sure, I'm game. Give me a shout!

Love the rhyming, like Dave said, blues can often sound pretty vanilla. But this was told with a flair for words.

I'd be happy to listen to more like this anytime.


Bob

Marty,

Really nice mix on this—real clean and engaging. The guitar solo is very slick, and the lyrics and vocal keep the listener listening, which is what any good song should do. This one is no exception. Like others, I didn’t notice an issues with the Ss. Well done!

Regards,

Deej

Thanks so much, Misha. That's very encouraging. More to come.

Thanks, Bob! I'll post a tune soon where the lyrics are pretty much just the titles of blues songs.

Thanks, Deej. It seems I usually spend more time on the solos than anything else --except the mix, of course.

hi Marty very well done excellent mix and vocal sounds great thanks eric

Thank's for listening and your encouragement, Eric.

Nice writing...
I especially liked your play on words...
There's 12 bars out my window ---
and 12 on them, too.
I think of Sue, and drink to stew,
behind those 12 bars.

Very creative...
I enjoyed the listen!

Marty, I love the blues so, well let me put it this way, if I had heard this in a record/CD store I would have immediately bought it!

This is some excellent kick @ss blues man! Great vocal! Super chops. Excellent mix.

You should do more like this.

Great song! Nice vocal performance.

I'm a lyric man, and really enjoyed these. "When I miss you, I drink the stew inside these 12 bars... blue." What a gem!

Thanks, Jim. Creativity is a stream with many tributaries, and sometimes one runs through us. I can honestly say I don't know what I'm doing when it happens. But that way I can hear it later and say things like, "Oh, that's cool. I didn't realize that when I (wrote or played) it."

Thanks again for your kind words, Jim.

Thanks, Mario. Try to stop me --hehe. I was once in a band we called Blues' Branches cuz every song stems from the blues.

Thanks, and I can tell that from your name, Ezekiel's Storm. I would've answered earlier, but I've been busy on your SoundCloud channel. Then I went to CDBaby to download Ghosts That Never Lived. You've made my day in many ways. Thanks.

Some mighty fine blues Marty!! Clever lyrics with an excellent vocal!! Thanks, Torrey

Thank you, Torrey!

Hi BabuMusic,

sorry, can't hold this one back: You don't need a de-esser, 'bause this one kicks S by itself !

I like the Blues so much that I can even enjoy a mediocre one. So imagine how much I enjoyed this one that contains most of what I like: good humorous lyrics, a solid backing track and truely great vocals. Loved this a LOOOOOOOOT.

And BTW: You made future writing so much easier for me: If a native American (what I guess you are) can rhyme memory with Henry - there won't be any rhyming bounds for me anymore ;-)))

Really great stuff !!!

All the best

Stefan

Wow, Stefan. Thanks. You already know how much I enjoy your work --well, it can't be work 'cause it looks so much fun. Haha on the rhyming. All you gotta do is change memory to mem'ry and voilà. Thanks again, man.