"If I Walked with the Dead" by The Stan Laurels

[Bosko Schwartz]

No offense taken Bosko. I appreciate you sharing your thougths and feelings on the matter in depth. Knowing all that now, i think my choice of words was poor and i overstepped my bounds here. I apologize for that. It is good to strive to do the best one can. Perhaps i was looking more at my own self there  I clearly DO NOT have the patience to tweak and tweak. That may relegate me to mediocrity for what little time i have left in my over the hill life. I certainly had no intention of trying to say "this is how it's done"....just the opposite. Advice can be good but as the old addage goes, it's often only "worth what it costs"....and i'm the last person qualified to give any technical advice. Opinions or speculation not based on all the facts are inappropriate and i should have known better. I'm just a damn mortal 

Yeah, Pinedog, I knew you didn't mean any harm, so I apologize too if I came off too defensive.  You're right, just a bad choice of words, and for some reason, it really got to me on that particular day.  We're all good, though.

It's funny -- you don't have the patience to tweak mixes for days, but I don't have the patience to spend hours on the guitar practicing scales and blues solos.  If I did, I could be a much better guitarist, like you and many others here.  But alas, I don't have that kind of patience.  I guess we all just decide what we do and don't have patience for.  You know that the only time I really play guitar is when I write and record a song?  Maybe that's part of the reason it takes me 10 takes when I do record.

No apology necessary, I was just clarifying and got a little too defensive while doing so.

[Bluesberry]

Hey Bosko, I really enjoy listening to all the work you put into writing your incredible (there I said it) songs.  To my ears you are a modern day Jeff lynne, and given the access to the kind of recording studio that he had in his day, you would no doubt produce songs every bit as fine as early ELO (before the disco craze swept them away).  I am very grateful you have joined our little forum and have shared some of your musical decisions and indecisions with us.  You have inspired me to try to reach the stars with my songs.  The fact that you struggle over every single element shows a deep musical thinker in my books.  I am a fan bit time, that is for sure.  Keep on sharing with us, I enjoy the ride.

[Bosko Schwartz]

Hey Bosko, I really enjoy listening to all the work you put into writing your incredible (there I said it) songs.  To my ears you are a modern day Jeff lynne, and given the access to the kind of recording studio that he had in his day, you would no doubt produce songs every bit as fine as early ELO (before the disco craze swept them away).  I am very grateful you have joined our little forum and have shared some of your musical decisions and indecisions with us.  You have inspired me to try to reach the stars with my songs.  The fact that you struggle over every single element shows a deep musical thinker in my books.  I am a fan bit time, that is for sure.  Keep on sharing with us, I enjoy the ride.

Thanks, Bluesberry, I appreciate it and hope that all of my persistence and anal perfectionism is not all for naught ...

[OsCKilO]

Hey Bosko, I really enjoy listening to all the work you put into writing your incredible (there I said it) songs.  To my ears you are a modern day Jeff lynne, and given the access to the kind of recording studio that he had in his day, you would no doubt produce songs every bit as fine as early ELO (before the disco craze swept them away).  I am very grateful you have joined our little forum and have shared some of your musical decisions and indecisions with us.  You have inspired me to try to reach the stars with my songs.  The fact that you struggle over every single element shows a deep musical thinker in my books.  I am a fan bit time, that is for sure.  Keep on sharing with us, I enjoy the ride.

Thanks, Bluesberry, I appreciate it and hope that all of my persistence and anal perfectionism is not all for naught ...

Would love to see you let loose and do something really "Dirty" (Musically that is...... Lol)!!!!

[Ferryman]

Well, I just joined the party here and I really liked this. It's infectious, subtle and draws you in even though it's quite complex. I get big doses of the Flaming Lips again, I don't see a huge 60s influence myself, I think you have a lot more modern sound in what you are doing here. I see where Bluesberry is coming from with the Jeff Lynne reference though.

I really like the tremelo-y melody line - is that a keyboard or guitar? The keyboards overall are excellent, good range of sounds and layers. And that loud climbing bridge sounds great. Very cool, not really anything I would change - I preferred mix 3 myself btw.

It’s no secret that I am not the most skilled or accomplished guitar player, and I have no qualms about admitting that compared to most in this forum – yourself included – I am a rank amateur in that department.   But I do realize that I have other talents to offer that I have no self-doubt about.

And you're right not to doubt it. Creativity, inventiveness and the ability to create a complete work are skills to be valued just as highly as instrumental prowess IMO. You have those skills in abundance, this is a really powerful piece of music. Great stuff.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Bosko Schwartz]

Thanks, Nigel!

Maybe the big drum sound is the reason my stuff doesn't sound 60s at all to you.  I tend to use a fairly booming bass drum and tom sound, which is definitely absent in nearly all 60s music.  My biggest influence on my drumming is John Bonham (which is not quite prevalent in this particular piece due to the style of music), and I use a 28" kick drum.

Yes, ELO is an influence, but not a huge one.

I think the melody line you're referring to is a phased-out electric piano sound on my Roland synthesizer that sounds to me sort of like a mellotron.  It seems to work for this song.  I also used it in "LoveBirds."

Wow, thanks so much for the kind words!

[guitarron]

danm dude thats quite a catalog you've got
this is another winner

[Bosko Schwartz]

Thanks, guitarron!  I appreciate that!

[Facemask93]

Bosko mate , please heed the words of all these fine people that have reviewed your songs (you are fucking brilliant , do yourself a favour and stop tinkering , it is time to stop and move on to the next great song , you are obsessed with perfection when things are already so fucking good , i know nothing about the technicalities of recording or whatever , all i know is you have a fucking great sound , and that to me was obvious from the moment i heard your music , sorry to be so blunt but that's how it is ,

forever a fan

Facemask93

[Bosko Schwartz]

Bosko mate , please heed the words of all these fine people that have reviewed your songs (you are fucking brilliant , do yourself a favour and stop tinkering , it is time to stop and move on to the next great song , you are obsessed with perfection when things are already so fucking good , i know nothing about the technicalities of recording or whatever , all i know is you have a fucking great sound , and that to me was obvious from the moment i heard your music , sorry to be so blunt but that's how it is ,

forever a fan

Facemask93

Hey, Facemask, thanks for the incredibly kind words.   To be clear, I have stopped tinkering.  This album is completely finished -- in the can, if you will.  It is being professionally mastered as I type this.  No problem about the bluntness -- in fact, I really appreciate it.  A world without bullshit would be my heaven.