Hi, everyone:

Here’s a little something new . . . a solo effort and the first in what seems like a mighty long time. I’ve given up any pretense that I’ll be a master at mixing . . . I just try to get as far along as I can and hope it works well enough. So as always your feedback and suggestions will be appreciated. I hope you enjoy the listen.

My best to you all,

Deej

Here’s the song:

LEARN TO LIVE AGAIN

Here are the lyrics:

I saw you walking
Down by the river in the moonlight
With your head hung low and
The darkness in your eyes
And it made me cry

I know he hurt you
He broke your heart
And left you empty inside
And it feels like there’s no end
And just no point to living life

I know the letting go ain’t easy—
We need a hand to get on by
Someone to take our side
And help us step into the light.

So if you need a lover
Or just need a friend
I’ll be here to the very end
I’ll stand by you
And help you learn to live again

You know I want to
Take your hand and walk beside you
Through all the pain
I want to see your blue eyes
Sparkle in the sun
I want to see you smile again

Time was I lost myself in sorrows
Fell so damn deep I lost my mind
Until somebody held my tight
And whispered everything’s alright

Sometimes we all need somebody
To pick us up when we feel small
When the darkness comes to call
To help us rise above it all

And here’s the Band:

RealTracks 908: Bass, Electric, SmoothBallad
RealTracks 703: Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Spirited
RealTracks 2934: Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm FolkySync8ths
RealTracks 1264: Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopShining
RealTracks 2016: Sax, Tenor, Soloist CountryShuffle
RealTracks 2457: Strings, Rhythm Celtic Air
RealTracks 3319: Vocal Mmms, Background RockNRollGospel
RealTracks 3063: Vocal Aahs, Rhythm Pop
RealTracks 3528: Vocals, Background GospelCool
RealDrums: BluesRockNRoll^1-a:Snare , b:HiHat

Good work in making a song that is both sad and somehow uplifting. It was a good experience.

Well done!
Will

loved the character of your vocals.
very different/very unique.
just an idea...
'if you need a lover.." i hear a vocal double there.
all the best
om

Hi Deej,

I enjoyed your song and vocal performance very much.

Lots of passion in your singing.

Mix and instrumentation also sounded good.

Look forward to hearing more.

Best Regards
Nigel.

Deej,
My 1st instinct was to comment on the sibilant stuff BUT!!!!!!...after listening I could hear that they add to the emotion of your delivery.
Lovely vocal performance and capture.
The band supports you well.
Mix wise - things sound balanced, the MMMs and Ahhs mask any possible mid mud build up they may have happened so, again, NO PROBLEM.
COOL.

Hi Deej,

Excellent vocal! And an excellent song.

Mix sounds perfect to me, well done in all aspects.

Hello Deej,

This morning I read you liked my cat song and now I heard you liked another (human) cat even more!
What does that tell me?
Well, probably nothing. It only tells me what good singer/songwriter you are! You made a very emotional sounding song with that strong voice of yours.
I liked your voice from the start in this forum and that stayed unchanged.
In this song you can (almost) see what you were singing about. You have the same kind of vibe in your vocals as Dr Hook & the medicine show, although your reach is much higher!

I enjoyed it very much!
Hans

Outstanding vocal! Love the melody.

A new DJ favorite for me.

I know how you feel about mixing. My ears are shot.

Deej,

A powerful Power Ballad.
A powerful vocal. Well sung and well recorded.
An excellent arrangement. Nice use of BIAB.
The mix is very good, despite your self-admonishments...
Always good to see you posting again.
And, again...I think your self-penned stuff is by far the best stuff you do - always well done.

fj

Powerful and emotional raw vocals over that deeply emotional and gospel-tinged progression. Danged if you didn't pull out all the stops. Made me sweat.

Side note: There's no such thing as a master mixer. There are only mixes that either serve or ruin a song. You done good, in my book. Gotta go wipe off now.

Deej,

Everything sounds great! Mixing is something everybody has differing opinions on but to me it sounds like everything is in it's place!

Great vocal as always! You always bring it on your tunes! The song is a really nice bluesy thing and you supplied the needed emotion in the vocals mentioned above! Great selection of instrumentation and the sax really brings everything up a notch!

Enjoyed (once again) take care, Torrey

No problems at all with the mix as it is excellent.

You put a lot of emotion in that vocal, excellent job.

Great lyrics and excellent use of RTs, great sax.

This is your best to date IMHO.

Deej,

As floyd said a powerful vocal. Well sung and well recorded.

Really pretty melody and a nice build.

But really a great stand out vocal.

Peter

Lovely ballad, Deej. Mix sounds just fine to my (inexpert) ears. I'm a big fan of your singing. Love what you do on 'or' (just need a friend) the first time. Amazing.
Regards,
Leon

Awesome song Deej. Super vocal and lyric. Excellent backtrack. I think this is an excellent mix. Well done..

Hi Deej56,

Very pretty lovesong. Well orchestrated with endearing lyrics, it's very pleasant to listen to. well done.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Deej,
The raw passion in your vocal is marvellous! Well captured processing wise too and both the arrangement and your mix serve the song well; as others have reminded you, that`s rule number one and you done good!
I can`t think of anyone I`d rather hear sing a pop ballad.

Robert

Strong emotions in the lyrics, I just wonder how you can put all that emotion also in your vocals.
Nice uplifting message, almost gospel-like: "We need a hand to get on by Someone to take our side And help us step into the light."

This song has classic rock ballad feeling, ala Aerosmith. Nice to hear a sax solo for a change. Good chord progression avoids being obviously familiar.

Janne

Will, om, Nigel, rayc, Dave, Hans, Ezekiel, Floyd, Tangmo, Torrey, Mario, Peter, Leon, Scott, Derochette, Robert and Janne:

Thanks so much to all of you. I wasn’t sure I hit things quite right on the production, but I’m jazzed that everyone seems to have liked what they heard. There are times I convince myself that I know what I’m doing when it comes to mixing, and that I’m improving, but in the end it always feels more like a guessing game. At least here, it seems the blind squirrel found the nut! Thanks again all for the listen and kind feedback.

rayc: I had to go back and listen based on your comments. I immediately wondered whether I forgot to put a de-esser on this. I was happy to see I did put a de-esser on the vocal track, but perhaps I can get a tad more aggressive with it. I also typically try to sing a bit to the side of the mic to help lessen the sibilance, but I’m not sure I did that here. I don’t think it’s all that pronounced, but something to think about when I revisit.

My best to you all. Stay safe, stay well!

Deej

Wonderfully soulful vocal. Nice song. For me the mmms were a bit distracting from that great vocal by being so constant and out front. Just my opinion feel free to disregard. Glad to hear you again
Enjoyed it.
Josie

Great track! I really like your voice and singing style.

A big fan of your music here, Deej. Wonderfully written piece with good lyrics, and, dang, I love your vocals. Such emotion and range. I've never had trouble hearing each and every piece of your tracks, so you've mastered the mix, too.

Deej,

I am a fan... You have a tremendous vocal talent. Love this.

Great song and mix - would not change a thing.

You need to put out an album.

Bob

A master at work. What a comeback. The mix is SUPERB.

This is vintage Deej. What a comeback. On a par, at the very least, with "Prayer to the World", "If You Stay", "I've Got The Moon" and SO many CLASSIC Deej songs.

I've listened to this man's songs for about a couple of years now, ever since I've been on this forum ... when he's on form, well, good luck catching him. And the so and so is always on form, to the point where he's in a league of his own and in "competition" only with himself.

This song has that redeeming quality of a man who's seen it all and come through the other side - at least, that's the feeling I get from it. I may be wrong on this, of course - but that's how it genuinely feels. A song with that redeeming quality to it.

Hats off. And yes, you SHOULD put out an album, Deej. I'd buy a copy for myself, one for my parents and a few for my friends - honestly. And it'd be nothing more than what you deserve.

Loved everything about this, you do good work on your songs they are a grounding for commercial material for sure , I have said it before ill say it again Smokie one of my fav bands is what I hear here, and that my friend is some compliment !.

Thanks

huge fan of Smokie as well, and I am from belgium !
:-)

Hi Deej,

De-essing - I have had little success with De-essing plugins over the years because they always seem to adversely affect the vocals no matter what settings I try.

I now edit all vocals manually to remove any sibilance. If you blow up the vocal line in your DAW you can easily see the sibilance as little bumps before the words. I use a 5-7Db cut to get rid of them.

Best Regards
Nigel

Love the vocal sound and instrumentation too, DJ.

You are a rocker for sure, dude!

The standout here is your write and emotive vocal.
Both your phrasing and vocal dynamics make for a fine performance.

And your choice of RT's is very supportive of the vocal track.

For us the absence of BGV's would make for a more open, airy mixgiven the number of acoustic tracks. But that's just our inherent bias toward that soundstage And we can readily understand how folks could equally love the song as is!

Well done!

J&B

Deej,

Fantastic tune! Sounds very vintage-authentic with strong influence of pioneers, but plenty of your own artistry with modern touch. Definitely one of the best tunes I have heard by you. Liked it very much! Thank you for sharing.
Misha.

P.S. Mix wise....(this is coming from amateur :)) I think is very solid. It has a old school feel that is hard to reproduce. I would not touch it. There was one band that I liked mainly because they maintained similar "sound" for couple of decades, sound that was dear to me. As soon as they switched to a more modern feel, I lost my interest... I think this tune is very close dynamically to the sweetspot of your performance.

Sundance, Alexander, Marty, Bob, musician17, beatmaster, Bernard, Nigel, David, J&B, and Misha:

Thanks much all. I’m really pleased the tune has been well-received, as I was unsure about aspects of it. A few additional thoughts below:

Sundance and J&B: I hear you on the back up vocals. Finding the right balance was a challenge, but I do want them there to give a gospel like feel to the tune. I’m going to jump back in and dial them back a tad though. Certainly don’t want them to overshadow the lead vocal.

beatmaster and Bernard: I’m going to have to YouTube Smokie. I’m not familiar with them.

Nigel: I agree that the De-esser plug-ins are generally lacking. Very difficult to find that sweet spot where it actually de-esses versus diminishing the vocal. I do, on many tracks, particularly those where even I notice the sibilance, go in and do exactly what you suggest—dim the volume to lessen it (but it’s a painful undertaking, LOL).

Bob and musician17: Well, I actually did put out an “album” and it’s available through most of the streaming services—Spotify, YouTube and the like. (I used DistroKid, which to date seems like a great and more than reasonably priced service). The “album” is really just a collection of some of the songs I’ve posted here (hopefully polished a bit more), but from a production perspective, many of the cuts are still lacking. It was mostly an experiment of curiosity, though it hasn’t discourage me from hopefully putting out another “album” by year end. We’ll see. .
Thanks all again for the listen and comments,

Deej

Deej56

Man, I just have to tell you...
Your voice gets me every time. You invoke such emotion in your singing. Really well put together song. If only it were the 60's or early 70's, this would be on the radio, and probably on one of the many variety shows from back then. It's a shame I can't turn on the radio and listen to music like yours. Thanks for posting!

Bawb,

Thanks much for the listen. Yeah, I think maybe I was born a bit too late . . . or just got too late a start on things. Either way, it's not the type of stuff they play these days on the radio. Actually, I stopped listening to the radio years ago. Now I know how it feels when I call my Dad's music "old folk's tunes". Getting old . . . it happens to us all.

My very best to you,

Deej

Instant Classic!!!!

Hi Deej,

As always, I can only think in superlatives when I hear one of your songs. If you're wanting critical commentary, I'm not the person for the job because I love everything you do.

Your voice is spectacular and everything about this arrangement, it's production and it's presentation shines brightly with musical competence.

Really nice work.

All the best,
Noel

TuneMonger and Noel:

Thanks so much for the listen and kind comments. Glad you enjoyed the spin!

My very best to you both,

Deej

Deej,
Beautiful sentiment in the lyrics.
Well produced and, as always, love your vocals, particularly passionate delivery.

Well done.

moto