Comments on: Gold Star (Feel Like A Ghost)

Gold Star (Feel Like A Ghost)

scottandrew — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:08:14 -0800

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.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:51:59 -0800

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.

By: scottandrew

scottandrew — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:56:18 -0800

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.

By: Karlos the Jackal

Karlos the Jackal — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:02:15 -0800

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.