Here's a performance video of a song I wrote poking fun at myself
for looking up an old lover online and feeling a twinge of angst.

Thanks to Bloc, Peter F., and Deej56 for their earlier kind comments.
I appreciate your time and your comments. Thank you for watching/listening.

Josie

Hey Josie,

Great song, vocal and video. Love the horn section - it really swings!

Bob

Great song, Josie, and I love the band you have assembled. I like the performance video also.

Mix sounds good, but I think the vocal could be a little more upfront for my tastes.

Hello Josie,

You made a very nice video and a good blues song.
Your vocals are beautiful and the band sounds good.
But I agree with Dave about the volume of your vocals.

Nice day,
Hans

Hey Josie,

This sounds great! Love it.

I think the vocal volume is fine, however, I do have some insights I have learned the hard way and am still fiddling with. It because it is HARD to mix rock and roll.

What I have started doing is a final "2 track" mix with the pre-mastered or master mix of the instruments (sometimes, but not always, including the stereo vocal mix as well.)

Then with that final 2 track, I will bump up the vocal stem until it hangs over top of the bed exactly how I want it to, using the fader and recording mix movements as usual.

Because of the very nature of rock with loud competing instruments it is hard to get the vocals to sit right in all of the tracks and all of the loudness. Really hard.

I learned this trick when I starting ripping stems with RX9 to study classic mixes.

I was surprised to hear how loud the drums and bass were, in almost all cases, and that the other instruments were not nearly as loud in reality as I had thought. They only "sound loud" because the piercing quality of their frequencies makes them cut through.

BUT, the thing you could always count on to be at the top of the mix is--you guessed it, the vocal stem.



Well, this is a great song, and I love the mix myself. Maybe what I said will help on another day in some other way.

Super song Josie

A strong vocal with song great lyrics

The mix was OK but like others I think the vocal could be a bit louder

I really liked your backing band


Two thumbs up

PS - super video

Thank you Bob!

Thank you Dave!

I side chained the instrument mix into the vocal mix and used Waves vocal rider on smooth ride setting. I also a/b'd the resulting level with a Bonnie R. reference track. Then listened outside the door. So I thought I covered my bases. Every mix is different and I could have used a more intense rider setting. I appreciate you mentioning the vocal level. Translating on different systems is the goal after all. So thanks again.

And glad you liked the video

Josie

Thank you Hans! So glad you liked it. I'll see what the overall consensus is on the volume before I redo this again

Josie

Thank you David! I'm glad you like it and you don't think the vocal is too low. (See reply to Dave above.)

What a cool response outlining your method. So informative and interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Darn it I meant to put the quote of your post. Grrr, typing on cell...sorry

Josie

Hi, Josie !


Dan Juan alias Romeo calling !

Ok jokes aside , your tune is just
wonderful ! One of your absolute
best it is, at least in my opinion !!!
Loved it really much, and I miss our small duets !!!

Cheers
Dani

Very cool song Josie. Really liked the way you did the video. Really creative. Kind of reminded me of a Garth Brooks song. Think of past relationships.

I really liked the band. Really cool mix. Vocal was excellent. Well done

Cool song!
A fun listen and the video effects are very creative!

About you vocals:
My 2 cents is......
It's not a volume thing, I think the vocals need a little EQ to brighten them up, maybe cut below 250HZ and boost a bit around 5k and again around 12k
I'm thinking that would make the vocal pop a bit

I enjoyed that.

moto

Nicely rocking groove, good instrumentation (the horns work really well) and positively emotional performance. Maybe the vocals could be little louder, because I missed some lines of lyrics.

Janne

Thank you very much Mario!

Hey Dani! Thank you very much! You know my dear Don Juan, I just happen to be working on a new song that I believe some Dani harmonies might be perfect icing. I'm a bit swamped here but I will be in touch eventually - patience...it'll be fun.

Josie

I appreciate that very much Scott! Thank you.

This really swings! And I love the picture frame effect in the video, a creative approach :-)

Rob

Nice write - fun song!

I liked the vocals and the band... and the drum fill at the end made me laugh out loud!

But like some others, I had trouble making out the lyrics.

Good to see you in the video as well!

Nice song Josie,

Clever visual presentation.

I agree with others that the vocal could benefit from some brightening. Some EQ could work. Have you considered iZotope Nectar?

We love the video and the song, Josie!

Your smiles in the video from sweet to mischievous are perfect and the lyric is one that many folks can relate to, I’m sure. Our sisters have often talked about seeing an old boyfriend on FB and saying to us, “what was I thinking?!”

The band and mix sound fine on our new Kali monitors too.

Well done.

Enjoyed it!

J&B

Josie,

Nice song. Good use of BIAB. Cool horns...and organ.

I like the video, too...

fj

Thank you Moto! I appreciate the advice which I will keep in mind to try in future use. I often high pass more than Nectar 3 suggests but usually not quite that much.

Josie

Thank you Janne! Here are lyrics.

A LIttle Bit More Hell (Oh Well) ©Josie Beck ASCAP

Today I went online and tracked you down.
Saw that big new house where you're living now.
Looks like you and her are together still.
And I'm not really sure why I am doing this.
After all it was me who ended it.
Way back when I thought my broken heart would never mend

I'm looking for your picture on a website page.
Wondering what you look like now that you've aged.
And I could get your number for a one time fee.
Call you up and rock your boat when I say it's me.
After all I'm the one who loved you then.
Way back when I thought my broken heart would never mend.

If I heard your voice I could wish you well.
But there's a teeny tiny part of me
that still thinks you shouldda gone through
just little more hell yeah, a little more hell.
Just a little bit more hell than I can tell. Oh well.

After all the lies you told me that I believed.
You know I had no choice then. I had to leave.
We both know I'm the one who got away yeah.
Way back when I thought my broken heart would never mend.

Truth is I'm happy and I wish you well.
But there's a teeny tiny part of me
that still thinks you shouldda gone through
just a little more hell yeah. a little more hell.
Just a little bit more hell than I can tell. Oh well.

(spoken ad lib) I ain't holding no grudges baby, you forgiven now.

Cool tune, what setup do you use for green screen, I want to set up something like that. Thanks

So glad I subscriber to you YT channel, Josie. I started enjoying this beauty the day you uploaded it. What a great idea and execution for the video. That's funny about looking him up and feeling the angst. I'll bet he was looking you up and feeling regret. This is such a fun song so finely mixed. A treat to listen to.

Hi Josie ...

Love that non-stop 4/4 beat! Great band members you assembled - maybe you should give them a raise??!!!. I would add just a touch of high EQ on the vocal - perhaps a slight nudge at the 5K - 7K spot. Just a comment for your consideration. That's the only thing I would change. Great song and video! Fool stuff!!!

Alan

Thank you Rob!

Thank you David! Lyrics are a couple of posts up. Glad you enjoyed the video and that you got a kick out my drum ending.

Hello Josie,

Very nice blues song and nice video.
Great vocals.
I really liked your backing band.
Enjoyed my listen and watch a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

First off, I love the lyrics.

The band is smoking---good arrangement.

Vocal level sounds ok to me.

Thank each of you I haven't responded to personally very much. I apologize for the delay and hope you don't mind this blanket thank you.
God bless, Josie

Josie, you always amaze me with the quality of work you do! Great job with that video! Hope the subject matter didn't keep you feeling blue too long! Thanks, Torrey

Hi Josie
Beautiful song and a great video
Have you sung well
Good job
Many greetings
Andi ;-)