Lifeline

[Martin E]

If you need femal choir on your songs don't hesitate to ask, she (the mis kara) had a lot of to do this 

Thanks I might take you up on that. Could be fun.

[kara]

If you need femal choir on your songs don't hesitate to ask, she (the mis kara) had a lot of to do this 

Thanks I might take you up on that. Could be fun.

No problem, don't forget this place is all about music & collaborating 

[jura]

Thank you for posting it ! 

I hear bassline too. And also drums.

Maybe rock band behind you... hmmm...

It has Led Zeppelin vibe to my ears.

[Wyatt]

I think you have to know that this is very beautiful, as people have been pointing out.

I would like to hear the voice have as much presence as the guitar, or slightly more.

The harmony vox is a little more there.

I like what Kara did as well with the bass, and ms Kara's  female voice, while changing the character slightly,
did strengthen the vocal for the better and fit in very well--*very* well.

For my part, when a song has vocals, they are the most important part of the mix..that means everything
else in the song is there to present the voice..often a maker of music leaves his mark when the music is the strongest element.

..as a guitar player myself, I have had many chances to remix because of the guitar being larger in the song than
the vox.

To be clear about this: ..I am talking about a small difference..about a subtle difference.. and I don't want too many words to make it sound larger than I mean it, or to sound like any sort of a criticism.

Absolutely beautiful work you did here..of the highest order.

Wyatt

[Martin E]

Thank you for posting it ! 

I hear bassline too. And also drums.

Maybe rock band behind you... hmmm...

It has Led Zeppelin vibe to my ears.

Thanks, ES. I know Zep has a couple of these acoustic songs as well. But Robert Plant is of course a quite a different singer. I'm not in his league.

[Martin E]

I think you have to know that this is very beautiful, as people have been pointing out.

I would like to hear the voice have as much presence as the guitar, or slightly more.

The harmony vox is a little more there.

I like what Kara did as well with the bass, and ms Kara's  female voice, while changing the character slightly,
did strengthen the vocal for the better and fit in very well--*very* well.

For my part, when a song has vocals, they are the most important part of the mix..that means everything
else in the song is there to present the voice..often a maker of music leaves his mark when the music is the strongest element.

..as a guitar player myself, I have had many chances to remix because of the guitar being larger in the song than
the vox.

To be clear about this: ..I am talking about a small difference..about a subtle difference.. and I don't want too many words to make it sound larger than I mean it, or to sound like any sort of a criticism.

Absolutely beautiful work you did here..of the highest order.

Wyatt

Thanks for your input, Wyatt
I don't mind some criticism.
I can't promise to always agree though.
But this is an interesting subject so I'll give my view on this.

Actually I toned down the vocals in the last mix because I thought that they were too loud after mastering it.
I know it's modern to have the vocals really upfront. But I'm not really a big fan of that way of mixing. I like the vocals to be part of the whole arrangement and still stay intelligible. So in essence I do not believe in "everything else is there to present the vocals". I hear a lot of songs nowadays where the only interesting part in a song is the vox. The rest of the arrangement is wallpaper. My philosophy is different maybe.

I've played the song on different systems and I thought the balance was ok on all of them.

Just my thoughts.

Thanks

Martin

[Wyatt]

I hear what you are saying..and I can hear it in the song, too.

..as I said, I did not mean to level a criticism..it is exceptional work, and difficult to describe the subtlety of difference I intended.

I understand what you mean about the wallpaper, I agree..that would be in the extreme beyond my intent here..not so much intelligible or not, but do I have to be reaching a little at some points?

Wyatt

[Martin E]

I hear what you are saying..and I can hear it in the song, too.

..as I said, I did not mean to level a criticism..it is exceptional work, and difficult to describe the subtlety of difference I intended.

I understand what you mean about the wallpaper, I agree..that would be in the extreme beyond my intent here..not so much intelligible or not, but do I have to be reaching a little at some points?

Wyatt

Hi Wyatt

I have no problem with your remarks let that be clear.
I just felt I could explain there is a kind of deliberate intention behind it.
If that makes sense.

[Wyatt]

Yes..makes sense.

[Fred S]

Hey Martin! Yeah, I like early Joe music as well. This is great. Really very good. I can't hear anything that doesn't work. The comp is impeccable, and the mood is fantastic. Great sound from both guitars. Top notch all around.

Gotta chime in on the dicussion you and Wyatt were having on how vocals sit in the mix. Personally, I wouldn't want them any louder than they are currently. But, I come from a different perspective (old I guess ) than what is the current tendencies. There is so much done in a good comp with the instruments. The vox for sure IMO shoud be the focal point, but it doesn't need to be omni or over-present to work well. Of course, some of it is also genre specific. My attitude would be a little different if we were talking about country music and to a lesser degree, pop. But my personal preferences have me enjoying music that has a "group" focus. If I'm just interested in listening to the star quality of the lead singer, the vocal meloddy of the tune, and the "accompanying" chord structure of the tune, well, that's also different.

I think you did a great job in this tune letting all the instruments in the comp work well.

[kara]

Interesting discussion.
I had about the same remarks on the short version of the 'Vieux Moulin', where some people loved the mix and other hate it
It seems to be very hard to make a mix with lyrics that are important in a song and still give the instruments some credit.

[zeoy]

I also find the tune great from every point of view. Composition, performance and recording/mixing are superb. If I wanted to find something to criticize that'd be a matter of strict personal preferences in style: the vocal harmonies, although perfect on their own, are taking the tune to a slightly different (lighter and more polished)  direction-mood compared to what the reverbed electric suggests. I know nothing about Joe's solo work but the tune has that expensive-hitech-70s sound.

Congrats and don't pay attention to my silly stylistic objections. I could never write or record tunes like this

[Martin E]

Hey Martin! Yeah, I like early Joe music as well. This is great. Really very good. I can't hear anything that doesn't work. The comp is impeccable, and the mood is fantastic. Great sound from both guitars. Top notch all around.

Gotta chime in on the dicussion you and Wyatt were having on how vocals sit in the mix. Personally, I wouldn't want them any louder than they are currently. But, I come from a different perspective (old I guess ) than what is the current tendencies.

Hi Fred

Thanks for the spin and glad you like it.

About the vocals: I sometimes dislike hearing songs where the vocals are way too loud in the mix. But then I'm talking about pop/rock stuff. Other genres are maybe a different story as you point out as well.
Wyatt was only talking about a subtle change that could be made and I understand what he meant.

[Martin E]

I also find the tune great from every point of view. Composition, performance and recording/mixing are superb. If I wanted to find something to criticize that'd be a matter of strict personal preferences in style: the vocal harmonies, although perfect on their own, are taking the tune to a slightly different (lighter and more polished)  direction-mood compared to what the reverbed electric suggests. I know nothing about Joe's solo work but the tune has that expensive-hitech-70s sound.

Congrats and don't pay attention to my silly stylistic objections. I could never write or record tunes like this

Thanks for the kind words Zeoy.

I know what you're getting at with the harmonies. I'm a sucker for harmonies I guess. And my vocals are usually kinda polished as well. If someone else would sing it with a more edgy voice it would be different in style.

[Fred S]

Interesting discussion.
I had about the same remarks on the short version of the 'Vieux Moulin', where some people loved the mix and other hate it
It seems to be very hard to make a mix with lyrics that are important in a song and still give the instruments some credit.

Yeah, but its the key for me, Rony (speaking from a personal preference and perspective ). IMO its about the song, and the vocals and instruments make up the song....the total composition. When we try to seperate them, we lose something in the comp, unless of course, the intent is one way or another. And lots of tunes are just that...a story done with vocals and supporting music. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I enjoy that type of tune as well. Also, as you know, there's a long history of differing intent...opera as opposed to a piece made for symphony for example. Its all good!!

Martin, I guess I didn't quite understand what Wyatt was getting at. That's ok though, cause I can't sing anyway