Gold Star (Feel Like A Ghost)

Not a ghost story, but some spooky moments nonetheless. A cranky pop rock + alt-country-ish tune I wrote for FAWM 2008...

...but only got around to recording this month.

I'm probably going to re-mix this for a future album (I like to get all George Lucas with my tunes), so feedback is greatly appreciated.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by scottandrew (3 comments total)

This is a good song, and a nice recording. The vocal work is really good, and I like all the little guitar licks and the organ and the big Leslie-ish guitar bumping along.

I've only listened on the $10 headphones at my desk, so take this all with a shaker of salt. But if I were going to remix it--without re-recording anything--the first thing I'd do is address the vocal balance. To me, they're too dry, a little too up-front in spots, and have a midrange bump that makes them sound squeezed. I do like that mic on your voice, but I'd try to smooth it out a little bit; more body, more sparkle, a little less grit, a little more width and depth.

I'd also fix the acoustic guitar that drops out of the right channel right before the end of the break at 2:20; it was jarring.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:51 AM on October 22, 2008

Thanks uncleozzy. Vocals are something I struggle with constantly, both the performance and the recording quality. My vocals tend to come out with lots of sibilance that require a lot of heavy de-essing, which sometimes drains out the sparkle, and then start messing with EQ to restore some life to the track, and then hours later my brain explodes from all the tweaking.

I could probably alleviate this with a better mic and some practice, though.
posted by scottandrew at 7:56 AM on October 22, 2008

I'm not having an issue with the sibilance, myself. One thing you might try is when recording back-up vox, you can really cut down on or even eliminate your esses completely when singing those backing tracks -- you don't need 'em.

I like the way the melody goes up on "anything" -- it's a little unexpected.

I'm not sure what George Lucas would do, but a lap steel or fiddle might be cool -- maybe something to make the chorus stand out a little more.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 2:02 AM on October 31, 2008