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

[Greeny]

This is a cracking song. I can see where all the time went, because this isn't some thrown-together accident - it's a well-honed, beautifully realised piece of songwriting. I prefer the second version, with the vocals more prominent. You're right that Lennon hated his voice and ended up double-tracking everything in the end, but neither of you should have to worry about that in reality! I like the way your songs shift gear and move around a bit. Having programmed drums (especially the ones on the micro!) really limits that kind of pace change, so that alone sets this apart production and composition-wise. Great playing and mixing galore. The piano / keyboard parts reminded me of the middle section of 'Day in the Life', where Macca comes in. All good stuff! There are a few other Beatles fanatics on here, myself included. So you're in good company 

Lovely work 

p.s. have you put your song 'Lovebirds' on here yet? That's the one that blew me away!

 

[OsCKilO]

Talented, talented talent has created this tune, using the great .........Er....More Talent!

There should be a subscribers station on this page so we know when new stuff is out!

Great Tune ...!!!!!!

Peace Bro

T(Osckilo)

[Greeny]

This thread has 41 replies - I think that says it all !

[OsCKilO]

42 now......

Or is that 43.....

[OsCKilO]

Just checked... It's 43!

Or that 44........ 


But you said it Greeny!

[Bluesberry]

Looks like 45 to me last time I checked...great song by the way.

[Bosko Schwartz]

Wow, guys, I didn't know this post was still alive & kicking, but I appreciate all the love, for sure!  The 45 replies are misleading, since I have 3 different versions of this song in here, but I still appreciate every single comment!

Greeny, WOW -- thank you!  I am honored and humbled by your comments.  I understand digging the second mix better, but I am going with the 3rd because I needed the bass to be more prominent.  The bass and vox seemed to be fighting with each other, so I had to come to a compromise.  The vox are a little lower than I would have liked, but high enough to not make them sound buried (at least I hope).  Good ear, the middle build in "A Day in the Life" is a definite influence on the bridge of this one.  Also, the end of "I Am the Walrus."  Of course, I don't have the experience or resources to make this build-up sound as crazy as those, but I did what I could.  Definitely good to be surrounded by fellow Beatles fanatics!  I haven't yet posted LoveBirds, but I may do that next!

osckilo, thanks, man!  I agree, I would love to subscribe to new posts by many people in here, such as yourself, indierik, Greeny, Flash Harry, oldrottenhead, Blooby, Bluesberry, and many, many others I didn't mention by name.  I am still brand new here, and still haven't had a chance to listen to one 1000th of the music that has been posted, but I am slowly but surely becoming fans of a lot of the incredibly talented musicians here.  In the meantime, just swing by the BR-1600 page regularly and see what Blooby and I have for you.  What does the "T" stand for?

[Pine]

ok well hey...somebody has to be the last one to the party. Listened to all the versions. All i heard was improvements. Nothing is more subjective than music and it's hard to find consenus. The best part of the whole song is the song itself. Without that, it's all balloons on an empty pizza box. I loved all the changes, the Beatlesque feel, and the performances. The mix is good now and if it were me, i'd call it a wrap.
After reading your posts at the other site and here as well Bosko, it seems you often struggle with indecision and self doubt. I hope all the effort your fellow sitemates here made to reassure you have hit home and that henceforth you can go a bit easier on yourself. Tweaking is one thing but beating yourself up over a song is quite another.
I always listen to feedback from others...but one of the best tools for improving a song is just time away from it. My two cents. Good tune Bosko.

[Bosko Schwartz]

Listened to all the versions. All i heard was improvements. Nothing is more subjective than music and it's hard to find consenus. The best part of the whole song is the song itself.

After reading your posts at the other site and here as well Bosko, it seems you often struggle with indecision and self doubt. I hope all the effort your fellow sitemates here made to reassure you have hit home and that henceforth you can go a bit easier on yourself. Tweaking is one thing but beating yourself up over a song is quite another.

Hey Pinedog, thanks for finally showing up to the party.   Improvements were exactly the idea from mix to mix, so I am glad you heard them!   Well, I tend to agree with you that the song itself is the most important thing, so thank you so much for the kind words.  A phenomenal mix can't save a shitty song (hell, nowadays, there is almost nothing but fantastic mixes of horrible music plastered all over the radio and MTV), but I also feel that a crappy mix can also hurt a good song.

I appreciate the psychological analysis; however I will slightly disagree.  I am about 99% certain – given your usual laid-back nature and overt kindness – that you did not mean any offense, but as someone who takes a lot of pride in what I do musically – nay, in just about everything I do, actually – I have to admit I am somewhat offended by your comment.  Perhaps it seems as though I "struggle with indecision and self-doubt," but the truth is that I am confident that I can craft a pretty damned good tune.  In fact, I'm very proud of my work and I know there are very few people on this earth that can do what I do.  There, I said it.   I am a fan of my own music, because I write it for no one other than myself.  That said, I obviously think that it's good enough that other people may like it as well; otherwise, I wouldn't plaster it all over myspace and forums (and eventually iTunes, etc.) for hundreds and potentially thousands to hear and hopefully buy.  But if I said things like that all the time, I'd sound like a bit of an ass, don't you think?   I guess the verbiage I use is to show that I do have humility and that I bow to many of the fine musicians in this forum.  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.

I have more confidence than I sometimes let on, I just don't want anyone to think that I am an egotistical asshole.   I am also a perfectionist – not to be confused with someone who is "indecisive."  I actually know exactly how I want my music to sound.  My only problem is that I do not have any recording expertise or training, and little experience.  This is why I will tweak mixes until the cows come home.  Someone with more training, experience, and better equipment could certainly get it to sound how I want it to sound much faster than I could, but it takes me a lot more time.

As for asking for feedback, I think that in some cases, people have misconstrued that to mean that I want them to tell me how my mix could sound better.  When I ask for comments and feedback, I would actually rather hear what people think about the song itself, not necessarily the mix.  But because of the first posts I did involving this song, I guess people think that I am always asking for suggestions to improve the mix.  Certainly, I HAVE asked for this type of feedback in some cases, but that is simply because I value the opinion of and have great respect for virtually all of the fantastic musicians and songwriters here, yourself included, and like to hear how other people hear my music, because it is without question different from how I hear it.  But it is definitely NOT because I am indecisive or self-doubting.

You are right, all of the incredible words of encouragement I have gotten from everyone here is fantastic for one's ego.   Sometimes TOO good, as I am now believing this to be more than just a hobby, as it is for most here in the forum.  I genuinely feel my music is good enough that people would purchase it if given the chance.  Not all people, as it is definitely left of the mainstream, but enough to make it worth all of the time and energy I have put into the project.  If it sounds like I am beating myself up, don't worry, I'm really not.  It's probably just the Uber-Perfectionist in me coming out and making his presence known.

Again, I am sure you meant no disrespect and I hope my frankness did not offend, but I felt the need to clarify some things and defend myself.

[Pine]

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