Wonderment-Original

[Johnbee]

Just finished it today.  Need to ask you if any of the drums are too loud.  The rack tom on the left is renegade.  I love it but the level on it offers me "feast or famine" as far as velocity.  It's had to get it to a "perfect" level.  So, please let me know if it stands out like a sore thumb on your PB equipment.  Thanks!

If I had one wish tonight
I long to see the Northern Lights
So much beauty to behold
A wonderment of God extolled
A wonderment of God extolled

So many times you tried and so many times you failed
Someday you will come to understand.  Look beyond the veil.

So many truths that I must know
in many way I need to grow
To follow paths so I can learn
Their right or wrong I must decern

Don't rush me to the end
I'll miss something hidden round the bend
I'll gain wisdom in my own true time
to my heart and mind.

If there was only one way to learn
I'd spend my life trying not to burn
and all the knowledge we aquire
is mostly ashes for the fire
I''ll have to watch and pray
that maybe answers will come by someday
There's a universe of truth to be found
with love to spread around

c 2021  John Bowen Music

[Nelson]

Sweet intro tasty bass
A masterful arrangement and mix.
Everything's brilliantly played and placed.
Love that jazzy vocal and the dusting of strings throughout.   Lovely indeed

[Johnbee]

Thanks so much, Nelson.  I'm glad it comes through sounding good on your end.

 :)John B

[StephenM]

wow,,,as much as I always love your music John....to me this is another notch above what you have previously done...and what you have previously done is superb to me... you must understand i listen to tons of music, many, many different kinds of music (I guess they call it genres)(admittedly my first love is rock)....so I like music like yours alot... it's a bit of Steely Dan, Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears, Little River Band etc all rolled into one...maybe even hints of Toto.

I hear absolutely nothing wrong with the mix in any way....congratulations on a superb song....lyrically, vocally, musically... I stand and applaud!

[SE]

Classy stuff, cool arrangement you vocal fits perfectly, especially liked the piano break. The drums where slightly distracting in the intro but that could be you brought it to my attention.
A really excellent listen!

[Ferryman_1957]

Wow! I have to agree with Steve, I think this is really one of your very best John. The arrangement is so sophisticated yet works brilliantly. The combination of bass and keyboards is really good, it creates a perfect platform for the vocals and the rest of the instruments. You get pretty complex at times yet the everything is so well placed and beautifully arranged so that the overall effect is awesome. Really, really good, very well done. The mixing and production are absolutely top notch as well.

You're right, that left tom is a bit distracting, but only at times. Two things are to potentially blame IMO, one is the hard panning of the tom and the second is the arrangement. The tom is fine when there is quite a lot going on and you use it as part of a roll. I love a stereo kit where a roll on the toms wraps all around you, and where you do that in the noisier sections I think the tom is fine. The issue for me is only in some parts where the tom is played on its own, and then it really sticks out. So in the first verse you have a couple of tom hits at the end of the bar after the vocals (eg after "tonight") and they really stick out, not because of the volume but because of the hard left panning. Once the vocals come in, you have a nice balanced and centred stereo mix but at the end of the bar the two tom hits appear on the left and really distract the listener, because they are unexpected.

So two simple options IMO. Either reduce the stereo panning so the LH tom isn't so hard panned, or replace the two tom hits at the end of the bar in the quiet sections with snare hits, which will be centred. The latter would seem more logical to me.

Sorry for the essay, but you did ask.....(and you know I'm a production nerd  )

[Bishmanrock]

Cracking track, really good work! I think if you hadn't mentioned drums wouldn't have noticed anything, it feels a tad loud when the other instrumentation drops out but not to the point it takes you out of the song (and possibly only because I'm now consciously looking for it). Feels a bit Alan Parsons at points, digging it.

[Johnbee]

Steve, SE, Ferryman & Bishmanrock-
Thanks all so much for your feedback.
Ferryman-No worries.  I asked for it and thanks again.  I might work on those spots.

 :)John B

[Greeny]

In a way I'm impressed that your attention to detail runs to drum velocity, on the other hand I wouldn't worry about minor details when you can write and perform songs like this! I think it's one of your best. That musical interlude section and outro are both sublime, but it's the poignant and beautiful melancholy-tinged vocal that makes this stand out. What a stellar piece of work. p.s. Everything sounded great on headphones to me.

[Mike_S]

First and foremost this is a brilliant piece of writing. Such a complex yet very listenable tune. It seems like a mix of whimsical folk intertwined with 70s prog. A little feedback on the drums... I don't think I would have picked out the drum hits being especially loud or out of place, sometimes drums are... well, loud, but I did think that there is one piece of percussion (unfortunately I don't know the name of it). Okay I do now just looked it up - the Vibraslap! Well that jars a little for me anyway volume wise. I would take that down slightly if possible, but this is nit picking. A wonderful tune you have created, beautiful stuff.

Mike