"I'll Be Your Angel" with Dean Taylor and Adam McCarthy

[davekershaw]

Music: Dave Kershaw
Lyrics: Dean Bradley Taylor
Vocals/Producer: Adam McCarthy

We'd appreciate any comments on all aspects of this track, to see where we are at this moment in time.
There will be two versions; this electric, and an acoustic to follow.

Thanks in advance. Dave.

FINAL - remixed and widened
http://snd.sc/Q0OLmh

OLD MIX
http://snd.sc/Nu1j73

Look over here little one, I’m on this video
I’ll leave a few words 'cause I want you to know
I’m headin' up to heaven, but it’s not goodbye
I’ll be around, I’ll hold you, help you walk, help you fly

I’ll be your angel when you ride your first bike
I’ll be your angel when the boys aren’t so nice
If you like sports, music or school
If you try to follow or break all the rules
Whether you’ve got goals or you wander about
I’ll be your angel, don’t you ever doubt

Look for me in your daydreams, we’ll talk and share a laugh
I’ll bring you sane when your world’s goin' mad
You won’t have to miss me, I said no goodbyes
I’ll be your friend, I’ll be there, watch you grow to be wise

CHORUS

Beautiful and strong, you’ll like my wings
Such pure white, they’ll glow in your dreams
You’ll sleep sound every night
'cause that’s when I’ll take you for a ride

LEAD GUITAR

You won’t have to miss me, I said no goodbyes
I’ll be your friend, I’ll be there, watch you grow to be wise

CHORUS

TAG
Don’t you ever doubt (x3)

© 2012 Dave Kershaw and Dean Brantley Taylor

[davekershaw]

Adam has some specific question regarding the production:

For those mastering engineers out there can you help us with the following:

1. What frequencies in this mix do you feel are too in abundance or perhaps lacking. Can you narrow it down by listening.
2. Does the bottom end sound solid to you or flabby? Can you ascertain the frequency area which is problematic?
3. How is the overall frequency response compared with songs of similar genre?
4. Is the lead vocal too loud, too muffled or have too much reverb on it?
5. Any good information on drums would also be really helpful, tom sound, kick sound, snare sound, cymbals etc.
6. And also very importantly, can anyone suggest a good reference track for the style and genre that we could work against because I am not sure where it fits into the genre world.

I do not know how the forums go, but not only would I like feedback on the mix but also education from a pro engineers point of view. How could it be improved sound wise. Would mastering be capable of making this mix more commercial or is it too far from ready for mastering yet.

Thanks,
Adam.

[marcblack30]

Adam has some specific question regarding the production:

For those mastering engineers out there can you help us with the following:

1. What frequencies in this mix do you feel are too in abundance or perhaps lacking. Can you narrow it down by listening.
2. Does the bottom end sound solid to you or flabby? Can you ascertain the frequency area which is problematic?
3. How is the overall frequency response compared with songs of similar genre?
4. Is the lead vocal too loud, too muffled or have too much reverb on it?
5. Any good information on drums would also be really helpful, tom sound, kick sound, snare sound, cymbals etc.
6. And also very importantly, can anyone suggest a good reference track for the style and genre that we could work against because I am not sure where it fits into the genre world.

I do not know how the forums go, but not only would I like feedback on the mix but also education from a pro engineers point of view. How could it be improved sound wise. Would mastering be capable of making this mix more commercial or is it too far from ready for mastering yet.

Thanks,
Adam.

Not sure how helpful I can be identifying freq's but I'll try to give you some general feedback in which i hope you find helpful.

- The drums sound pretty good, maybe the kick could come up some, seems to get lost at times.
- The Ride cymbal is really cutting in the 1-5K range (how about that for a range!), it really stands out from the rest of the drums It also feels very centered, I'd pan it a little more to the right.
- Toms seem centered, I always like to spread them across the stereo field, just enough to separate them should be fine. Tambo could go further to one side as well.
- I thing the vocal might be a touch loud in the 1st verse especially, maybe could come down a notch overall, reverb seems fine for my taste. There is a little flutter artifact at 1:53 on "said".

I can't seem to think of a good ala for reference, but it does have a retro feel to it, maybe Dan Fogelberg's "same old lang syne"?

i like the tune!

Best,
Marc

[yammer107]

Hey Dave nice chatting w you earlier....

Nice track....I like lyrical angle and the soft bluesy guitar licks

* I think Marc gave you an excellent outline;

My first thought was vocal smidge loud and/or too much verb... I'd pull it back before adjusting the verb, see how it sits first. It dose seem sit better in the Chorus I notice. Next thing was again the cymbals...

Far as reference track I'm really thinkin R.E.M. ....maybe Man on the Moon or even 'Everybody Hurts' considering the subject matter. Thats the crossover Im envisioning here....... Theres actually a strong 'Moody Blues' feel as it progress's, but Im thinking you want to bring it up a few decades or more.

[davekershaw]

Thanks Marc and Chris.
That's just the feedback Adam wanted.

We're hoping to post an updated version shortly.

Cheers,
Dave.

[orest]

Great song! Love the voice!

I agree with the others. The drum kit needs some adjustment, proper panning and lower the very high end on that cymbal.

Otherwise nice job!

[deantaylor]

Thanks everyone.
This has been a fun collab with Dave and Adam.
I hope Adam will join the forum. He'd be a good addition.

[davekershaw]

Great song! Love the voice!

I agree with the others. The drum kit needs some adjustment, proper panning and lower the very high end on that cymbal.

Otherwise nice job!

Thanks Alexander.

Yes, Adam has a nice voice.

All points taken onboard. A new version will be posted shortly.

[mikeymike2000]

Hi Dave,

Well, I was singing along to the chorus by the final run through so I liked it.

I thought the hi hat was really "hot" I think the word is. It was not distorted but it was really cutting through the mix. I am no pro in engineering by any means but I think if you put a hi pass filter on it and turn it down just a hair it would blend well.

The only other comment I have is I was not too fond of the string patch. Not sure if this can be EQ'd or not. I know for songs like this you don't need a real sounding orchestra string section but I think it was the cut offs that were abrupt that stood out the most for me. Maybe if they had a little reverb to the strings alone it would make it a little smoother. If you have a different patch you could try that but I am thinking reverb and possibly a little EQ like with the hat may take care of what I was hearing.

Vocals seemed to site well for me.

Hope that is of use.

[davekershaw]

Hi Dave,

Well, I was singing along to the chorus by the final run through so I liked it.

I thought the hi hat was really "hot" I think the word is. It was not distorted but it was really cutting through the mix. I am no pro in engineering by any means but I think if you put a hi pass filter on it and turn it down just a hair it would blend well.

The only other comment I have is I was not too fond of the string patch. Not sure if this can be EQ'd or not. I know for songs like this you don't need a real sounding orchestra string section but I think it was the cut offs that were abrupt that stood out the most for me. Maybe if they had a little reverb to the strings alone it would make it a little smoother. If you have a different patch you could try that but I am thinking reverb and possibly a little EQ like with the hat may take care of what I was hearing.

Vocals seemed to site well for me.

Hope that is of use.

Thanks Mike.

Adam's working on the drums as we speak.

I thought we'd cracked the strings, but we'll have another look at them. Any particular sections, or is it all the way through?

Cheers,
Dave.