Mushy song alert!

[Alison]

Yeah, well, this is for my grandson, Carter. If it weren't for music, I'm not sure I could have handled all this! Good news, we all feel that he is finally out of danger but still has a week or so of hospitalization before he can go home.

That being said, the song is called Baby Mine (who would have guessed )
I'm not totally sure I am happy with the cello eq and have been debating adding a bass line to get more bottom end to even out all the mid-range stuff. I am planning on making a video for this in an effort to get people to possibly respond to a fundraiser for medical bills (even with insurance, the bill is going to be huge!)

Anyway, your input, as always, is greatly appreciated!

Baby Mine.mp3

New mix! I added guitars to the beginning before the cellos come in, worked on the guitar eq a bit and @rayc was kind enough to add some bass to this. I think it does add another dimension, hopefully, it is present enough. . .

Baby Mine.mp3

[rayc]

First thing - a SUDDEN beginning. I'd be inclined to lead in with a few pick up notes on the cello.
It definitely needs some bottom end...can you fake a bull fiddle?
The vocal starts out a little loud & settles...I think.
Lovely song, lovely harmony.
I'm not a fan of angels but I understand the point.

[Alison]

First thing - a SUDDEN beginning. I'd be inclined to lead in with a few pick up notes on the cello.
It definitely needs some bottom end...can you fake a bull fiddle?
The vocal starts out a little loud & settles...I think.
Lovely song, lovely harmony.
I'm not a fan of angels but I understand the point.

Definitely agree about the beginning. . .rather abrupt! I did try to fade it in but, that didn't work. I'll work on that. Vocals were difficult because of the range, going down low but trying not to get lost. The "angels" are the nurses watching over him 24/7. Earth angels!

Not sure what a "bull fiddle" is but, I'll give it a shot!
Thanks for listening and commenting, I appreciate it!

[rayc]

First thing - a SUDDEN beginning. I'd be inclined to lead in with a few pick up notes on the cello.
It definitely needs some bottom end...can you fake a bull fiddle?
The vocal starts out a little loud & settles...I think.
Lovely song, lovely harmony.
I'm not a fan of angels but I understand the point.

Definitely agree about the beginning. . .rather abrupt! I did try to fade it in but, that didn't work. I'll work on that. Vocals were difficult because of the range, going down low but trying not to get lost. The "angels" are the nurses watching over him 24/7. Earth angels!

Not sure what a "bull fiddle" is but, I'll give it a shot!
Thanks for listening and commenting, I appreciate it!

Alison,
I assumed you were referring to nurses...given who & what you are...but couldn't assume too accurately.
BULL FIDDLE - double bass...If you're using Reaper you could play as low as physically possible then "tune" it the correct note....Oh, if using ReaTune you're best to use a compressor VST before it so that it gets an even and strong enough signal...many "tuning" progs are weak on the low end.

[annikajayne]

Oh, @Alison what a beautiful song! <3 I feel every line of this and I could listen to this song all day.

I didn't find the beginning abrupt at all. It's beautiful! But then you know how much I love the cello.

[musicturtle]

Beautiful song @Alison

The sounds are great and your string arrangement is awesome.

I agree some bass would fill it in some.

As for the beginning, just a thought, maybe you could add another cello part playing a version of the descending "mine, mine, mine" melody there. For me it's not so much the abruptness of it, but there is nothing to easily catch your ear right away, and I find myself trying to figure out what is leading that part.

As usual your vocals are very good as well.

[Alison]

Oh, @Alison what a beautiful song! <3 I feel every line of this and I could listen to this song all day.

I didn't find the beginning abrupt at all. It's beautiful! But then you know how much I love the cello.

Thank you, Annika, I'm so glad you like it. . .it has come straight from my heart!

[Alison]

Beautiful song @Alison

The sounds are great and your string arrangement is awesome.

I agree some bass would fill it in some.

As for the beginning, just a thought, maybe you could add another cello part playing a version of the descending "mine, mine, mine" melody there. For me it's not so much the abruptness of it, but there is nothing to easily catch your ear right away, and I find myself trying to figure out what is leading that part.

As usual your vocals are very good as well.

Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I have a few ideas brewing for the beginning. I really like the "mine, mine, mine" idea! I'm going to get my electric cello out today (has a low "F") and see if I can get a nice low, sustained line in there.
Thanks so much for the suggestion!

[TripleM]

I think this sounds very nice. Great sounds on everything.

There are parts where the mix leans a little bit to the left.

I might notch out your lead vocal somewhere in the mid-2Ks. Just a very thin, 4-5 db cut.

I think I'm a dissenting opinion here, but I don't think the song needs a low end beyond what it has. Or at least it's definitely optional.

[Alison]

I think this sounds very nice. Great sounds on everything.

There are parts where the mix leans a little bit to the left.

I might notch out your lead vocal somewhere in the mid-2Ks. Just a very thin, 4-5 db cut.

I think I'm a dissenting opinion here, but I don't think the song needs a low end beyond what it has. Or at least it's definitely optional.

Thanks for your comments. I've had trouble with the mix leaning to the left. . .I have one guitar panned hard left, the other hard right, one cello mid-left, the other two mid and closer to center on the right. Not sure why it seems to be left-leaning. It's tough using 3 cello lines!

Thanks for the vocal tip, I did notch it and can hear a nice difference.

I've been playing around with a lower cello line but, to me, it doesn't sound right! Going to post a new mix in a bit. . .thanks for listening!

[paulman]

This is gorgeous. I can't really find anything to pick at, other than that I agree that bass would be nice. I think the beginning is fine, more of a matter of preference as to whether you want to add some kind of lead-in.

[vomitHatSteve]

Pretty.

You could add some low end to it, but I don't know that it really needs it.

[WhiskeyJack]

Outstanding song. I have no comments at this time. everything is big, full and clear.

[Armistice]

Sounds nice Alison - and I wouldn't worry about the beginning - works fine as it is.

Agree a bit of bottom end would anchor it - there's normally a lot from an acoustic guitar - if you've HPF-ed it, perhaps you could unwind a little. Other thought is to get someone to play simple bass for you, or you perhaps try a simple plucked cello "bass" and drop it an octave using ReaPitch (assuming you're on Reaper, or some other pitch control VST if you're not) to simulate a bass. Put way back in the mix so it's not too obvious though...

Good work.

[Alison]

@paulman @vomitHatSteve @WhiskeyJack @Armistice , I thank you all for listening!
I played around with some bass lines and wasn't inspired. . .I did, however, change the intro a bit.
Sadly, I am not totally on Reaper yet. Downloaded it but then the shit hit the fan and I have not had the brainpower to go back to it. I am comfortable with Presonus Studio, so I stuck to that for now. I thank you all for listening and commenting, this song means more to me than any other.

Many thanks!

[JD01]

The intro is a tiny bit abrupt, just render it a beat earlier so we get the attack of the first note!
The thing with the guitars, the right guitar, sounds like it was played with a pick and is very trebly - finger pick maybe?! I do think a bass in the middle would be better, then you could push the guitars a touch wider which would make the whole thing sound bigger.
Maybe pan your cello lines a bit wider too, then you'd really just have a bass in the middle which your voice would be sitting over.

Great arrangement, alison - cracking vocal as always. Good, timing, good harmonies.

fundraiser for medical bills (even with insurance, the bill is going to be huge!)

The healthcare system in the USA just seems needlessly cruel and pitiless. Hope your son's family cope OK with the bills.

[Alison]

The intro is a tiny bit abrupt, just render it a beat earlier so we get the attack of the first note!
The thing with the guitars, the right guitar, sounds like it was played with a pick and is very trebly - finger pick maybe?! I do think a bass in the middle would be better, then you could push the guitars a touch wider which would make the whole thing sound bigger.
Maybe pan your cello lines a bit wider too, then you'd really just have a bass in the middle which your voice would be sitting over.

Great arrangement, alison - cracking vocal as always. Good, timing, good harmonies.

fundraiser for medical bills (even with insurance, the bill is going to be huge!)

The healthcare system in the USA just seems needlessly cruel and pitiless. Hope your son's family cope OK with the bills.

I have changed the intro and, you guessed it, the right guitar is played with a pick, the left is fingerpicking. I'll take down the treble a bit on the right, maybe that will help them sound more even. My fat fingers wouldn't play just two strings evenly so, I used a pick. The guitars are already far left and right.
@rayc has offered to work on a bass line. I tried to do one with my electric cello but it just didn't sound right. When I get his line, I'll post a new mix.

Yeah, health "care" (and I use the term loosely!) in this country really sucks!! Fortunately, they have already raised quite a bit with a Go Fund Me which should help quite a bit. They are all three still at the hospital so, we'll have to wait and see how it all turns out.

Thanks for listening and thanks for your input!

[stratmonkee]

Love the guitar fingerpicking , well done. Arrangement wise, a bar of just the guitar before the cello/vocals come in might be a nice dynamic? Vocals sound great on my headphones,I like the panning, sounds like a duet with 2 different singers, I love that! I would be interested to hear a bass line on this, it may give it a whole new vibe , not that the current version is lacking, just adding the bass would give it a bit more groove?
Hoping all goes well for your grandson, medical issues/insurance is really tough in this day and age, will watch for a video!

[Alison]

Love the guitar fingerpicking , well done. Arrangement wise, a bar of just the guitar before the cello/vocals come in might be a nice dynamic? Vocals sound great on my headphones,I like the panning, sounds like a duet with 2 different singers, I love that! I would be interested to hear a bass line on this, it may give it a whole new vibe , not that the current version is lacking, just adding the bass would give it a bit more groove?
Hoping all goes well for your grandson, medical issues/insurance is really tough in this day and age, will watch for a video!

Thank you! I am posting a new mix that has a measure of just guitar before the cellos come in (you read my mind!) and @rayc did a nice bassline for me which I think really does add another dynamic to it (hopefully I have it up enough in the mix!)

I purposefully didn't add a lot of reverb to the backing vocal so that it would sound like a different singer so, thanks, looks like I accomplished something!
Many thanks for listening.
New mix is in the original post.

[rayc]

Thanks for letting me play along Alison,
You can drag me as far back as you need or cut, edit, tune, edit & delete as you see fit.
I waited until now to respond as I hoped to suss out the effectiveness of my part by the responses according to other ears: I seem to have been the buzzkill on this project. Sorry.