another song-ish thing that I actually like

[Lt. Bob]

This is another of my whims from a couple years ago (Greg has heard it).

Like all my stuff it happened because i suddenly got an idea that I wanted to try.

I was sitting around and suddenly wanted to do something with massed voices.
So I needed something to do them over so first thing was to put some sort of bed track to do a zillion voices over ..... I put down a basic drum line and then did a rhythm git and then put a bass down over that. This was all very basic as the only reason I was doing it was to have something to chant something to.

Now I've got enough to put a zillion voices over and I do that ...... I said "Sing Song" .... why? Why not?
So now I've got this track with some bass and rhythm and a buncha voices chanting "Sing Song" ....... I realize it needs more stuff ..... so I added a bit on the guitar and then started experimenting with some sorta lead vocal.
Most of it came out on the spot and then I went back the next day and tweaked a few of the words.

Now I need some sorta lead lines so since sax is easy, sax it was. Actually I tried some guitar ( a bit of which you can hear at the very end of the outro ) but preferred the sax.

Then, uncharacteristically, I spent quite a bit of time mixing it. I mixed it once ..... listened for a few weeks ..... mixed it again ...... then maybe a year later did this mix which I think is about as good as I can do.
No compression .... just watching the meters while recording and some gain-riding while mixing.
The very biggest concern was making sure the lyrics were intelligible.

All my stuff is throw-away but I like this one better than most.

LYRICS

It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor ..... It only matters what you use it for
It doesn't matter if you're black or white ..... It only matters if you fight the fight
It doesn't matter if you're short or tall ..... and it don't matter if you slip and fall
It doesn't matter if you smoke some grass ...... it only matters if they bust yo' ass
I ain't scared of nothing ......

It doesn't matter what you're reaching for ..... 'cause when you get it you just want more
It doesn't matter if you cannot see ..... that things in life is probably meant to be
Life's a living and it's understood ..... being happy means feeling good
Not everything is gonna go your way ..... but you can always start another day
It doesn't matter what the people say ..... never gonna like you anyway
It doesn't matter what some others do ..... you gotta live your life for only you
It doesn't matter if you're young or old ..... and it don't matter if you're fast or slow
It doesn't matter if you got no soul ..... as gerg would say, "It's only rock and roll"
I ain't scared of nothing ......

Getting old and soon I'm gonna die ..... be playing music way up in the sky
I'll jam with Jimi and the Beatles too ..... might even show them all a thing or two
So while I'm here I'm gonna lay it down ..... party younger men into the ground
I'm playin' folks are sayin' "What's that sound? .... it must be Gabriel he's coming round!"

[Greg_L]

Haha you are the whitest black dude around. And I get a shoutout? I'm flattered and honored!

I think the music bed is very good. Great saxing. I know you dont do any in the box mix stuff, but I think your vocals could use some compression to smooth them out. You have some syllables and words that pop a bit much. Some sink back in. I like compression for the sound of it, but in this case the dynamic control could be good.

[Lt. Bob]

yeah ..... I need to start understanding compression ..... but first I need a decent compressor.
All I have is an Alesis 3630 ....... I don't use it because it's supposed to suck

[Greg_L]

yeah ..... I need to start understanding compression ..... but first I need a decent compressor.
All I have is an Alesis 3630 ....... I don't use it because it's supposed to suck

I don't know if it sucks or not, but there's one way to find out. Use it. Route your vocal track through it and set it so it just tames the loudest bits, then bring up the make up gain to bring the lower parts up. That's really all a compressor does in a nutshell. It clamps down on loud stuff to shrink the dynamic range. It's perfect for vocals. The loud words and syllables get tamed so you can bring the quiet stuff up to even it all out.

[Lt. Bob]

I'll try it .... but it's bad enough that HR even has it mentioned in their rack gear forum title as even" if you have a *shudder* 3630" ..... so I'm guessing it's pretty bad ...... lol.

Blue Bear did tell me once that it was usable if you didn't need more than 4:1 compression.

[Greg_L]

I'll try it .... but it's bad enough that HR even has it mentioned in their rack gear forum title as even" if you have a *shudder* 3630" ..... so I'm guessing it's pretty bad ...... lol.

Blue Bear did tell me once that it was usable if you didn't need more than 4:1 compression.

Well just try it. Don't worry about what HR thinks.

[rayc]

Lt Bob, I salute you.
Cool playing, cool singing, cool mixing and very cool songwriting.
You don't sound like a honky.
I really enjoyed the whole thing.
I reckon Greg's probably right about a touch of controlling compression on the vox but I'd also be happy as they are.
VERY cool.

[Lt. Bob]

You don't sound like a honky.

thank you monsieur ...... I'm honky-lite

[rayc]

Actually I should've checked the current & regional meaning of Honky before posting.

[JD01]

Fucking hell, Bob - this is excellent! I agree with what greg says that a bit of compression will even out the vocal, particularly the "bust" on "bust your ass" jumps out loads and there's one or two points where the vocal drops back a bit.

Dunno if I think the vocal should have a hint more verb on it as it sounds pretty dry now, but it sounds cool like it is anyway, might be something that's worth trying and then getting rid of it if you don't like it.

Love the dry guitar that comes in over the outro, sounds great.

Bob, would be cool if you could really make a few finishing tweaks to this 'cos its a keeper! Would be great if you could rope drummer in to doing this.

[Audio Monster]

Love it.

[Lt. Bob]

Thanks guys ..... this is actually one of those rare things I've done that I'm inclined to do some more tweaking on.

I appreciate the suggestions and I do think I'll give them all a try ...... likely to be a month or three before I have time but I will do so!

maybe bring the outro guitar in a bit earlier ..... a little 'verb but most of all ..... some compression.

And I'd love some real drumbs ....... don't really know any drumbers though.
But the other stuff can be addressed.

[vomitHatSteve]

Compression on the (lead) vocals probably isn't a bad idea. Gang chorus probably doesn't need it. That's the nice thing about a bunch of layers. Tends to even out.

The vocals could probably come up a little overall too. Everything else feels much "closer" than the voices.

[TripleM]

Nice clarity on everything. I liked how the lead vocal was noticeably dryer than the rest of the tracks. Great groove.

I don't think you'd need a ton of compression on the vocal. I hear what the others are talking about. But I don't think it would take much compression to fix it.

I heard a little pop at 2:41. Might be a vocal artifact

The only other thing I heard that hasn't been mentioned yet is the tempo. It seems just a shade too fast. Some of the vocal lines got a little rushed.

but overall it's a really cool song.

[einstein magoo]

Really nice!!

This really features your alto playing, and it's subtle dynamics. Very slight ups and downs in the volume on the sax really make it appealing. Not real noticeable but a close listen reveals those dynamics, and that holds my attention while the riffs flow.

Was looking for lead guitar, and it finally comes in and sort of mimics the sax part, on the right just before and during the fade. Great work Lt.

[WhiskeyJack]

HA! Bob this is awesome. Again i feel like this could be an Issac Hayes basement taped locked away and just unearthed in a yard sale or something. haha. Kills me every time man but it is genuinely awesome.

I am going to echo everyone else on the compression thing here. Not only for the smoothing of it and other reasons but also because it may bring out more of that low end vocal thing you got going on if you apply it right. I think that is immediately one of the more striking nuances of your performance vocally so why not accentuate it even more?

Own that shit and sell it to the listener. it's definitely worth it and you got the sound there you just gotta go get it and bring it up front a bit more.

[Greg_L]

Let's not gloss over the fact that I got a mention in the lyrics.

[WhiskeyJack]

Let's not gloss over the fact that I got a mention in the lyrics.

Yea that too... Cool

[JD01]

Let's not gloss over the fact that I got a mention in the lyrics.

You might get a mention in mine this weekend... over the Phrygian riff.

[ido1957]

Damn that sax playing is excellent. At a few points towards the end it was like they said about EVH - hanging on a cliff about to fall off but never does. Incredible, love the phrasing. Oh yeah the song is ok too lol.... it's actually a great arrangement.

Do I recall you saying you don't use a computer for this? In today's world plugins are very good and a lot of the are free. But you risk going down the rabbit hole trying to figure them out when what you really want to do is record. Or whatever - it's a friggen nightmare for me.

Just a suggestion - maybe find somebody on this board with good mixing skills that can do it for you. (As Fogarty said "It ain't me" haha)
This level of performance deserves a good mix. You can learn slowly and ask for mix settings, if you, like me, want to learn how to do it yourself.
Just a suggestion....