I stand by all the nice things I said about this on its previous posting!

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... although the mix here is really good (Mr L has production skills most of us can only dream of) I honestly couldn't hear anything wrong with the previous mix ... I think you did a better job of it than you realise. In fact to be honest I preferred Dick's voiceover in the original mix when it was more upfront and without the effect.

Good luck with the next one. I think you'll get to grips with GarageBand pretty quickly and get more confidence in what you're doing with it. I remember being reduced to tears when I first started using it but it soon becomes second nature!

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I think the lyrical imagery is terrific - very evocative and nicely put together. I like the narrative flow and the "radio" style voiceover works well I think. Great title, too. Good guitar playing and nice percussion. Not sure what melodyne Uno is - I'm assuming the source of the keyboard sound? If so, it sounds good. Nice work. Glad I stopped by. Peace.

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Dajama,

Glad you stopped by too. Melodyne Uno is a tool that allows you to correct pitch and amplitude on a melody. It's similar in purpose to the pitch correction tool in GB, but gives much finer control. Its main use is for vocals, but I have occasionally used it to tidy up a single bum note in an otherwise pleasing guitar solo, and even on harmonica.

I try not to overuse it because it can become a crutch, and this is possibly an example: I made several bad vocal takes, partly because I had a cold, but then tidied them up in Uno. Dick Langford's mix then more or less got me out of jail, but the fact is that I used the tool to put lipstick on a pig. Not good. Having said that, the celebrity endorsements include Madonna and Fat Boy Slim, so I ain't the only one...

Regards,

MacFerret

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wonderfully evocative and great playing.

Cheers

Dick

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Love the sound... Nice singing and lyrics. Lovely playing...

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excellent imagery: voice overs effects, helping everything along .. but it's a very nice WWII piece ..
lyrics are great .. fabulous final line - the ambiguious interpretation leaving you hanging as to wether the boy really died or just thought the doodlebugs were cool...
and if he died .. it gives this song a chilling narration from a ghost quality.

The mix is great .. the drum sounds are a bit weaker then the rest IMO.. what they play is great though.

I'm still in shock from hearing the Rose & Crown got destroyed. :o)

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I honestly hadn't thought about the ambiguity until I read your thoughtful review. Very neat idea, that the narrator might actually have died because of his youthful stubbornness to move to a place of safety. (In fact, can I use that?)

It's rather humbling to discover that one's own music can trigger an unexpected response in another. (Art exists only in people's heads, of course.)

Oh, and you'll be relived to learn that they rebuilt the Rose and Crown, and restored its rather improbable Victorian name "The Gin Palace." It was still going as recently as 1985. Come to think of it, there was always an old boy who had his own seat in the corner, but I never really saw his face. He just seemed to be a fixture, part of the fabric; it was almost as if he were a ghost...

Regards,

Tim

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is as good as a ticket to ride and this little trip to your song was extremely nice. very much enjoyed!

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I always think it's interesting to compare the British stuff to the American stuff (and all the stuff from all over the globe of course). I think one of the hardest things as a singer is trying to be honest about where you come from. I know that occasionally I wobble and end up somewhere in the mid-Atlantic (but I'm working on it!). This is so obviously English, which is to its credit. An easy comparison is Syd Barett (but like I say, that's too easy); you weave a slightly dark and edgy narrative about a moody soundscape - and it works really well.

Good song, good performance and good mix. Welcome to MJ's:-)

Phil

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Wow...

Hat's off to you...fine, fine tune/performance/production

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Really great piece of writing as well performance; the voice-over is a great set-up and the mood is not broken all the way through. Well done, would love to read more about your inspiration for writing this, but that's the tease with a good song. Bravo.

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cool rockin and thoughtfull work here friend ..!
indeed a very good production and mixing .thnx
for sharin this song !

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know my views on this. Great number in your trademark style. Always splendid subjects you write about. A kite festival, for example... :)

Chas

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