What Love Brings

[Ironbarkbob]

Hi all. This song was written for songtradr. They wanted a song that mentioned spring flowers and blooms. I thought I would contrast spring with death and renewal.I also wanted to evoke emotion. In the end I wasn't successful. This is a step away from my normal write. All comments and suggestions welcome. Rob




Daddy bought some roses in the spring of 65
and laid them at the head of Mamma's grave.

She'd been fighting off the cancer on a Saturday she died.
It was a sorry thing to end that way.

I feel the spring time breezes as they warmed the bitter air.
Apple blossoms float around and seem so unaware.

Rays of light creep through the trees and warmed my ailing heart.
Ive been hoping for the spring and what love brings.

bridge

I feel the spring time breezes as they warmed the bitter air.
Apple blossoms float around and seem so unaware.

Rays of light creep through the trees and warmed my ailing heart.
Ive been hoping for the spring and what love bring

Mixed with Studio One Pro

[rayc]

Bob, sad story.
A few mix things from my perspective:
the vocals are a little loud and closer targeted de-esser is needed.
What microphone are you using & interface? It may be one of those is causing the essing.
the string bass is quite boomy and that is added to by whatever it is playing over on the left.
In head phones it pulls the bass over to the side - odd & disorienting.
It could be bass notes on a Rhodes or something else I can't quite discern.
If it is an e.piano on the side then you could bring up some of the brighter tones to balance to guitar/dobro on the other side.
Cool song mate.

[JD01]

Holy shit, this is a sad one.
I think the acoustic sounds alright when it comes when it comes in, but then the vocal sounds a bit too loud.
Once the bass is in the acoustic really disappears into the background.
Sounds good when the its just the bass, strings and acoustic.

I think there's probably a touch too much reverb on the acousitc actually, sounds pretty distant when the song is all up and running.
As with anything like this though - its best not to try and do too many things at once. Maybe try reducing the level of the vocal a touch and experiement with chaging the verb on the acoustic.

[einstein magoo]

Very nice writing and performance! Well done.

I think JD has good advice on the mix. I don't hear way too much reverb on the guitar but it's maybe a little much on the vocal. Also vocal may be a smidge too loud.

As Ray mentioned, the whole note chords of the Rhodes (or whatever that is) kind of muddies up the low end. I'm not sharp enough to recommend what to do about it, just notice it's there.

All that said, I would personally be happy with the results you have so far. Listening to the others however, will likely improve your product.

[vomitHatSteve]

I think there's probably a touch too much reverb on the acousitc actually

That's the first thing I noticed too. The 'verb makes it very dark and a little muddy.
Plus, Ray is right about the vocal chain.

I'm gonna guess that when they said they wanted a song about flowers and blooms, this was not what they meant! It's a lovely song tho.

Other strings and bass sound good.

[JD01]

I think JD has good advice on the mix.

That'll be a first.

[Bubba]

Hi, Rob!

I don't have much to add to what's already been said, I'll just reiterate some of the good advice already given. The voice is good, but too loud, especially at the beginning when there's just it and the acoustic in the mix. Likewise, the bass is a bit overwhelming when that comes in. I think shelving a bit of low end off the bass as well as lowering the volume of it a little would help there. As JD said, high passing the reverb a little would also tame the boominess. Is the bass guitar going to the reverb? If it is, I would cut that send entirely or reduce it drastically.

Overall, it's not bad mix-wise but one or two bits could definitely do with taming . I hope this critique isn't too off-putting or disheartening for you, It's kind of how we are in here - there's never any intent to cause offence, we just prefer to be honest with each other so we can all improve our work.

[musicturtle]

I agree with the advice given. Bring down the vocal some. I lose the guitar in the mix some times. I do find the reverb a bit much on the guitar and the voice. Maybe try something less like a hall reverb and more like a room. Just my preference for an intimate song such as this.

Good writing and performances.

[rayc]

Rob,
Check the instruments before exporting individual tracks from the source. The panning and reverb should be set to 0 - for each - and the level should be set at 100 so that you have maximum flexibility for mixing. The source reverb is also VERY hard to match in a DAW so slapping your own on is much more controllable.

[WhiskeyJack]

I like it! This has an early Elvis vibe. Sort of In-the ghetto-ish. Quite enjoyed it.

first observation, second full listen: it sounds like everything under the vocals is wearing a sweater to me. A good start is to dial the vocals back a bit and see how it sounds after that. The atmosphere feels like it shifts back and forth from right to left quite a bit and it is a bit distracting.

Third listen and having read through all the feedback i have nothing else to really add to the pile of already great suggestions! Hope to hear an second reference mix.

[Ironbarkbob]

Hi all. Many thanks for the great feed back. Ive been a Sonar user for over twenty years and just migrated over to Studio One, so I'm on a rather large learning curve and need all the help I can get. I am currently using a Behringer xenyx mixer and by the end of next week I hope to have a Presonus Audio Box USB recording interface and I'm hoping that will alleviate some of the issues I'm having. The mic I use is a Shure style unidirectional dynamic mic.
I'm trying the S1 de esser studio one plugin as was suggested by rayc on another forum. Im still playing around with mix trying to bring it up to scratch.
Many thanks again for your assistance. Rob

[rayc]

The mic I use is a Shure style unidirectional dynamic mic.

Rob,
It may be worth while, in the long run, to consider a different mic. unidirectional will ignore the room to a degree but a medium or larger diaphragm will capture more of your voice's richness. There are folk on here that have better knowledge than I on mics.

[SweetDan]

Nice!

2 things I think could improve the mix: 1) I'd like to more clearly hear the high strings in the bridge -- maybe add a very slight level boost on them, plus maybe scoop out a touch of their lows with EQ; and 2) I'd like less boominess in the bass.

As to how I'd accomplish taming the bass, I'd first slice up the track and adjust levels on individual notes. It's similar to the process described here - http://blog.presonus.com/index.php/2018 ... er-vocals/. Make any adjustments within the context of the arrangement -- the peaks on the waveform don't have to be flat after this step -- you might still need some parts to be softer/louder. Once adjusted, you might find you're able to drop the overall level of the bass. Then you could restore whatever processing you have currently (or not; you might not need it), and if needed, make some small EQ adjustments to shelve any frequencies that are still too boomy.

Otherwise, I don't know if you've made some edits other posters have suggested, but the tune, arrangement, recording and mix are very nice.

[CrowsofFritz]

Wait, so was this just a stereo input recording? I imagine you’ll retract when you get your new interface, yeah? I like the song.