Christmas song

[matthoggard]

Hey she likes it Your a tough sell Erin. I appreciate the comment, It means alot coning from you.Thanks everyone. Im still tweaking it but im happy so far. I hope it makes a good addition to someones christmas collection.M~

[marcblack30]

nice job on this matt! good voice, good production and sounds original to me.my only beef, is that it's a little long, i'd see if you could get it down to 3:30-4 minutes if possible.just my .02 great job though!Marc

[cjdenecia]

matt ... you do realize, regardless of the season and regardless of your current economic situation (for which I empathize btw) - I'm no "feel good" reviewer ... and I have no choice but to tell you like it is ... and that's not always pretty.and this IS good. very good. production qualities are fine, needs the shinin' up that a bit more mix tweaking and some final mastering will surely yield but otherwise, it's on target with what's in the instrumentation ... drums - or should I say percussion, is a bit too digital sounding here .... timing with the shakers is a little too tight on the beat ... of course, that's the beat being a little too tight .... not totally human ... and the bass needs a bit more presence. guitars are cool tho - zero complaints, very nice acoustic lead there - very melodically themed.here's the real negative on that tho ... I hate the orchestration; the strings ... I'd like the song throughout better without them. in the intro, they're un-necessary and distracting from the meat of the song, which is the acoustic, the voice and the words.if later on in the song you felt like you wanted the "part" that's there represented, what I'd love to hear is a female voice doing the notes ... mixed at just about the level you have the strings. short of that, a hammond would deliver better ... different, but better ... I guess even a better strings section would be acceptable to my ear, but that part as is, is distracting me cus it's actually coming across as low quality midi ... other than that, I have to agree that it's just a little too long. you'd be hardpressed to find modern pop christmas songs that are over 5 minutes long and tho I don't always think that over 4 is a sin, in this case, I think you could fully tell the story in at least a minute less. and if that means knocking down some story - ok. you've got a lot in this and it's likely that you could consolidate and not lose a bit of the message.vocally, you come across strongly. confident but a bit intimate. a lil' old school country but with a bit of a young and modern vibe ... all in all - tho not schmaltzy, just right - emotionally. and the tone and the timbre and all that technical rot is pretty good too ... I hear the delivery as very heartfelt.as per the message? well, it's all been said a billion times before but you did manage to make it sound just a bit fresh and that is something to be commended. I can't tell ya nothing about any other tunes this one may sound like cus either I don't have the background to be an authority or I just don't hear it. either way, to me, this is new.all in all, with some minor work, I think you have a clear winner. I don't know if you have performance aspirations, but if you do, this will be a fine addition to your career - or if this song is simply for sale, you really should be able to find a buyer cus it's in some ways, great. don't get big-headed, I said "some ways", it does have flaws ... but the idea that it's inspired shows some of the greatness.good luck. good job.of course, your cowboy hat looks stupid but that's you country boys isn't it? anything to hide that bald spot ...

[cameron]

Dec 6, 2008, 5:17pm, cjdenecia wrote:of course, your cowboy hat looks stupid but that's you country boys isn't it? anything to hide that bald spot ... Wow cj, you ALMOST got a whole review in without saying something mean I know it's just that wacky sense of humour of yours.Cam

[erandall]

Wow! What a beautiful song and what a beautiful voice. Makes me want to believe! (No chance of that, though.) Seriously, I love this!Good luck!Ellen

[cjdenecia]

Dec 6, 2008, 5:24pm, cameron wrote:Dec 6, 2008, 5:17pm, cjdenecia wrote:of course, your cowboy hat looks stupid but that's you country boys isn't it? anything to hide that bald spot ... Wow cj, you ALMOST got a whole review in without saying something mean I know it's just that wacky sense of humour of yours.Camhey, I almost bought a cowboy hat today .. jumble sale ... looked in the mirror and said "wow, that's gay - not that there's anything wrong with that." really ... didn't buy the hat. I need a black one. it was white. can't be sending mixed messages to my fans ya know ...

[kitz]

Matt,Really nice tune!! To be short - I think the vocals could come up a bit so I don't have to try and hear them - so they are PRESENTED to me and I don't have to work "At All" to hear them. Make 'em out front and add a little reverb to smooth it over.To be picky I would say it's a little pitchy on "bring" peace to all and in a "field" and also a few other places like "born". I have been busted on pitches so much lately that I can't help but pass it on.Cam rightly mentioned Pancho and Lefty (which I love) - But I don't think Townes (MHRIP) would mind in this case so don't be afraid to use it IMVHO - it works great here!!It's a bit long but it's a REALLY GREAT CHRISTMAS SONG and I think a little work in these areas would help alot. Bring up the vocal with a bit of reverb and fix those pitches, cut down the length and I think you'll have IT!! This tune is worth the effort!!I could hear Randy Travis doin this, if you'd let him.Kitz

[matthoggard]

Dec 6, 2008, 5:17pm, cjdenecia wrote:matt ... you do realize, regardless of the season and regardless of your current economic situation (for which I empathize btw) - I'm no "feel good" reviewer ... and I have no choice but to tell you like it is ... and that's not always pretty.and this IS good. very good. production qualities are fine, needs the shinin' up that a bit more mix tweaking and some final mastering will surely yield but otherwise, it's on target with what's in the instrumentation ... drums - or should I say percussion, is a bit too digital sounding here .... timing with the shakers is a little too tight on the beat ... of course, that's the beat being a little too tight .... not totally human ... and the bass needs a bit more presence. guitars are cool tho - zero complaints, very nice acoustic lead there - very melodically themed.here's the real negative on that tho ... I hate the orchestration; the strings ... I'd like the song throughout better without them. in the intro, they're un-necessary and distracting from the meat of the song, which is the acoustic, the voice and the words.if later on in the song you felt like you wanted the "part" that's there represented, what I'd love to hear is a female voice doing the notes ... mixed at just about the level you have the strings. short of that, a hammond would deliver better ... different, but better ... I guess even a better strings section would be acceptable to my ear, but that part as is, is distracting me cus it's actually coming across as low quality midi ... other than that, I have to agree that it's just a little too long. you'd be hardpressed to find modern pop christmas songs that are over 5 minutes long and tho I don't always think that over 4 is a sin, in this case, I think you could fully tell the story in at least a minute less. and if that means knocking down some story - ok. you've got a lot in this and it's likely that you could consolidate and not lose a bit of the message.vocally, you come across strongly. confident but a bit intimate. a lil' old school country but with a bit of a young and modern vibe ... all in all - tho not schmaltzy, just right - emotionally. and the tone and the timbre and all that technical rot is pretty good too ... I hear the delivery as very heartfelt.as per the message? well, it's all been said a billion times before but you did manage to make it sound just a bit fresh and that is something to be commended. I can't tell ya nothing about any other tunes this one may sound like cus either I don't have the background to be an authority or I just don't hear it. either way, to me, this is new.all in all, with some minor work, I think you have a clear winner. I don't know if you have performance aspirations, but if you do, this will be a fine addition to your career - or if this song is simply for sale, you really should be able to find a buyer cus it's in some ways, great. don't get big-headed, I said "some ways", it does have flaws ... but the idea that it's inspired shows some of the greatness.good luck. good job.of course, your cowboy hat looks stupid but that's you country boys isn't it? anything to hide that bald spot ... I was hoping youd get a review in on this cj. You're right about the strings, they ARE low quality midi. From a general music keyboard/piano/synth. I had a full string section originally then decided just to use the melodic strings as a harmony to the bass line in a minuet fashion. The low string section really muddied the mix. ( low quality im sure) I tried a version with no strings and seemed a little empty. With 3 guitar tracks I was afraid of being able to mix them well enough so they all stand alone. I was insure of what else to use. I really prefered a violin or fiddle but I have no decent patches for those.I really like your Hammond Idea and for that matter, A female voice is a fantastic idea. Maybe a 3 part female choral section?Hmm (i dont know). I was concerned about length also. After listening to many standard christmas songs I realized that the "full" versions of most of the carols we sing are rather long and we usually just do the first verses and chorus'. I feel it is long but I balked at cutting it down so I could get the message across. I am fairly happy with the lyrics and I was so into getting this whole thing down that I just let it flow.I feel like im finally understanding mixing and production. Im still not 100% sold on this but I think I have a good foundation. Ill work more on the mastering and possibly shorten it. I know its too long for any artist pitch. Ill try a mix with no strings or get a real composer to use a more realistic string sound on it.BTW, I have a full head of hair. I just like the hat. Youd actually look good in a black hat. It would definatley fit your persona.Thanks for the detailed review. You made great points all around and hit upon the same things I was critical of.Merry Christmas to you and your family.M~

[matthoggard]

Dec 6, 2008, 11:17pm, kitz wrote:Matt,Really nice tune!! To be short - I think the vocals could come up a bit so I don't have to try and hear them - so they are PRESENTED to me and I don't have to work "At All" to hear them. Make 'em out front and add a little reverb to smooth it over.To be picky I would say it's a little pitchy on "bring" peace to all and in a "field" and also a few other places like "born". I have been busted on pitches so much lately that I can't help but pass it on.Cam rightly mentioned Pancho and Lefty (which I love) - But I don't think Townes (MHRIP) would mind in this case so don't be afraid to use it IMVHO - it works great here!!It's a bit long but it's a REALLY GREAT CHRISTMAS SONG and I think a little work in these areas would help alot. Bring up the vocal with a bit of reverb and fix those pitches, cut down the length and I think you'll have IT!! This tune is worth the effort!!I could hear Randy Travis doin this, if you'd let him.KitzKitz,Thanks for listening. Im still tweaking the vocal mix. trying to find a good balance between the lead and the harmonies but also working on getting the lead out front some more. I used to sing in church choir and have a tendency mix harmony sections too loud.As for pitchyness, Ill listen harder. I may have missed something; concentrating on the backing harmonies too much I guess.Im looking at cutting it down. Its gonna be tough to get the full story across but Ill see how I can tie it all together.Thanks again and Merry Christmas.M~

[jay10music]

Matt...By the sound of the Quality work in this piece, I would say...NO TURKEY ON THIS RECORDING..... Seriously ...Just a beautiful job as always...Smooth ..Warm.. And Superb....Merry Christmas.. Love Ya Man.....Jay...