"Everything is Love"

[Mike_S]

Sounds very original to me. A lovely melody, but with nice twists and unexpected turns. It reminds me slightly of Yes and some of their quieter moments... no problems with the vocals to me... they compliment the music very nicely.

Good work!

Mike

[leighelse]

melody has a familiar feeling to it

I've had the niggling feeling that the melody, at least in the chorus, is familiar. Over the last few weeks I've not been able to identify what it's familiar to, but if anyone else can cast light on that I'd be grateful.

I remember once when I was seventeen writing this fantastic song called Fire Escape, which I thought was a surefire hit, only to realise some months later that the chorus bore an uncomfortable similarity to Abba's Waterloo. Plagiarism does happen, and often not intentionally!

[Kenneth]

  Haha - Waterloo- now that would be a little disappointing to find out as it is a brilliant song!
I'm glad you have overcome your challenges and surgery Leigh and are still making great music as this.
Nicely done , and I dig the lyrical content as well!  

[cuthbert]

I enjoyed listening to this - I like your voice, and your arrangement has some pleasantly unexpected twists that keep it interesting.

I've had the niggling feeling that the melody, at least in the chorus, is familiar. Over the last few weeks I've not been able to identify what it's familiar to, but if anyone else can cast light on that I'd be grateful.

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't worry too much about that. I think that the music one enjoys always filters through them in some manner. As long as it's not a conscious and/or obvious lifting of a familiar melody or chord progression (which even in its own time may have been influenced by the work of others), then it's all fair game.

[launched]

Waterloo!! Don't get that song in my head it never leaves, I'm a closet ABBA fan!

I enjoyed the vocals as well, very unique and identifiable, and I feel in the same club with my own. "Nothing dies if it ends it's journey in love" is my favorite line.

Andy Summers "XYZ" mixed with Jeff Lynne at times (To me anyway) - Love it!


Mark

[Kenny B]

This is Excellent!!!  Vocals are fantastic and the music is just as great!!!

Great melody and love those stereo "Loves" ... nice touch!!!

kb

[Ella]

This is lovely song. I think you have unique style to do music and your voice is somehow deep and dark but very fascinating. It would be very interesting to see what the others Songcrafters would do to this song.

[bruno]

I listen to this a few days ago - I swore I'd commented - oh well.
Super tune, massive production. I love the bouncing "love, love, love" left to right - what did you use for the ping pong effect - was that on the BR1600 - interested to know???
B

[leighelse]

I love the bouncing "love, love, love" left to right - what did you use for the ping pong effect - was that on the BR1600 - interested to know???

I recorded single alternating "loves" on two tracks, then bounced these to two other (mono) tracks through pitch correction before bouncing them again, each with a different harmony effect and a delay set to a multiple of the BPM, to two stereo tracks. Pitch correction ensured the automated harmonies were solid, and the harmony effects' stereo outputs give a little extra depth even when panned +/- 50, which is why I bounced those to stereo tracks rather than mono. Then I bounced and panned these resulting two stereo harmony tracks down to a single stereo track with a little plate reverb, fading each block of "ping pong loves" as I did so.

Reverb on the BR1600 requires a little thought. You can only use one type of reverb at a time. I tend to follow Glyn Johns' maxim that a little reverb across everything in the final mix helps bind the sound together and make the arrangement more cohesive - I use hall or room reverb for that, depending on how big a soundstage I think is needed. Where I have submixes of individual instruments or harmonies I add a very little reverb of a different type in that submix, as I think it lends those soundblocks some additional integrity.

Having more tracks with the second BR1600, I should now be able to do some of the vocal "bulking" I used to do in Reaper: recording an effected double of the lead vocal to a spare track, recording a stereo track with just plate reverb from the lead vocal. Bleeding these at a low volume into the final mix can give the lead vocal real presence without a big change in relative levels.

Sorry, I'm wandering off topic. I didn't do any bulking on Everything is Love. When I get over this chest infection I might try some on the next track.

[bruno]

Thanks for the detailed explaination - that's awesome. I was wondering :-)