So, it is always such a pleasure to listen to your collaborations. Roz is always in rare form, and your musical iterations are just so special. Lead guitar is tasteful - your playing skills shine through and your mixing and mastering is a master's class in how to do things the right way. Beautiful work and a special song, definitely top shelf material. Added to favorites. Happy holidays, Richie. I hope all is well.
Hi and good to hear from you. It's been a while. Thanks for your comments. So rewarding to have such a positive and thoughtful review. It's much appreciated. Hope you are keeping safe.
Hey Richie, been a while, good to see you! I like the song, good pop song, calming. I like her vocals, soulful. Kinda reminds me of some of Paul Weller's material from a few years ago.
Hi Wayne. Nice to see a familiar face. Yes it's been a while but it's great to be back. Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. Hope you are well. Keep safe.
Totally agree with the above comments. You cant beat the old analogue sounds. Ive just got my DX7 and ESQ1 back out this lock down....superb track my man.....
As far as I know Patricia didnt have another name other than MuzicIsMe4Ever. Glad you liked the track. We collaborated on several songs about eight years ago and have just completed a new track that I think Patricia will post soon. Cheers Richie
RichieWinn... You are having fun with Logic ProX. The instruments you selected for this funk track are nice. I too use Logic Pro X so I appreciate what you have created here. Great Job!
Top shelf material Richie, but I would expect nothing less from you. Lisa is such a tremendous singer that it requires a really talented musician like yourself to keep up with her....she sets the bar really high, and you clear that bar with your excellent musicianship and production skills. Two super talents working together to make one hell of a song. Some of those chord modulations are just sooooo good. Thanks for sharing a great song with all of us. I hope all is well.
Always good to hear from you - I hope all is well with you too.
Thank you for your comments. You are very kind. I will make sure Lisa gets a view of your comments too - she will be knocked out. Much appreciated. Your words on my musicianship and production are very rewarding. Again, thank you so much.
Beautifully executed. I really do dig your arrangement as well. The vocal is absolutely gorgeous and your playstyle is quite intimate as well :) Fully enjoyed this one from start to finish!
Thank you very much for your comments - they are much appreciated. I will pass on your words to Lisa too and I agree with you about the vocal. It's gorgeous. Glad you enjoyed it.
I love Lisa Stansfield, I feel that you took her style (80's retro 70's and mixed it like this song belonged in the seventies. Cool idea Richie, Cool Listen. Cru
Thank you ever so much for your kind comments. It's particularly rewarding to hear comments on the way the track was arranged and mixed. Really appreciate that very much.
PS. haha I should have checked your replies before commenting! I see that you actually explained some technical details regarding to your work on this arrangement in your reply to PJB. Maybe my listening perspective is quite different as I do not really use much hardware stuff for processing the sound. This summer I started recording classical music on real instruments with quality microphones but that's an another story. It has nothing much to do with my current looperman works which are basically made using synthesizers and DAW. I plan to post some of my classical tracks on SC and maybe here as well at some point in the future.
Much of what you put forward I find difficult to respond too. The notion of abstract speculations and eventual positive very slight change of the colour of single tracks/insturments/layers I just dont understand. Similarly you suggest It is not to say that any further adjustments are necessary in your arrangement at but go on to further suggest Some processing (it might be a real-time processing when recording instruments as well) may help to add some warmth or presence or change positively the overall sound of the mix. Its confusing.
Firstly my prime goal is to produce something that is sonically pleasant to listen to. Something with some dynamic range and a balanced frequency spread. I also try my best to control the subs and achieve what I consider to be a clean sound. Starting from the back the drums and drumming are provided by Superior Drummer 2. An excellent piece of software that contains studio quality samples using multi mic kits (all of which are adjustable and controllable) with session drummers providing some nice grooves and fills (again all programmable, editable and controllable). The quality of the sounds and the playing is remarkable and who in their right mind would want to mess around with it by inserting a retro pluggin somewhere? Sacrilidge!
I also try, wherever possible, to play as much of the instrumentation as I can. Normally I would play the bass line in but on this occassion I really liked the synth bass sound so it was programmed in. There is an acoustic guitar on the verses (single chords along with the piano) and an electic rhthym guitar in the choruses. The acoustic is recorded using an AKG D202 and pre amp and the electric directly into my mic pre amp. Everything else (strings, pianos etc) are patches from Logic Pro X. Linear phase EQ to control the subs and some mid range tweaking to hopefully provide some distance between each instrument. The icing on the cake is the remarkable and talented Lisa Worth who sings and performs beautifully. Recorded using an AKG C3000 through a valve pre amp with just a little compression to control the dynamics. Some EQ and reverb added post recording and thats about it.
When recording is complete I usually leave it for a couple of days before I mix. Likewise I always leave a few days between mixing and mastering (an art I am learning about slowly). I also try to listen to the finished product on several different systems to see how it sounds. My monitoring system in the studio (JBL Control 5s with an old Quad 406 driving them) I am very familiar with and I get a pretty consistent sound from it.
So there you go. Hope that was useful and if there is anything else message me directly please. Happy to fill in some more gaps if needed.
Good luck with recording classical music with real instruments and microphones. That for me is where its all at. I would be interested to hear some of it too.
thank you for your kind reply! Indeed that's only my personal view and probably I am trying to project it too much in my previous comment. I always tend to assume that there is something to investigate and to consider (and also to improve) when comes to music-making. Maybe I should change that attitude when commenting on other's stuff.
It doesn't take anything from my true appreciation of your work at all! Those are only some abstract speculations of mine after listening to your mix, nothing really serious. By mentioning the 'retro' processing I was only speculating about the possibilities of eventual positive very slight changes of the color of single tracks/instruments/layers. It is not to say that any further adjustments are necessary in your arrangement at all. Some processing (it might be a real-time processing when recording instruments as well) may help to add some warmth or presence or change positively the overall sound of the mix - that's just a concept.
I know that digital processing diminishes the original signal and basically it affects the sound in a negative way. Also I avoid using limiters as possible. They help to make music loud enough but here on Looperman I can just produce the music that I like so there is noo need for me to adjust it to any specific contemporary radio volume standards at all. I am only trying to get as much quality sound from the very beginning as I can and honestly I do not care about mastering to the modern level that much so far. Also I do not make music in any particular style at the moment (which is confusing to others I guess).
I really liked your vision and I truly appreciate sound-image of your arrangement. Sorry if I was a bit unclear and difficult.
This is one great song. I entirely agree with others - it could be easily played on the radio. I have a CD compilation with 70's/80's soul/discofunk titled '100% Pure Groove' and your production is so smooth and stylish regarding to this. The arrangement is very gentle. I am really enjoying keys, soft strings and funky bassline a lot.
I think you can always consider processing each instrumental track using some retro plugins for example, or maybe adding a 80's type of re-verb on drums even (I am using this simple software http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1872 which can make drums sound so very 80's). Also the older music is usually quieter. Listening closely on headphones yesterday I noticed a little overpower on the vox track (especially around 2:16, 2:31 and similar places) - maybe it is just a bit too hot mixed. The guitar around 2:50 may profit from adding a bright reverb to correspond stylistically with vox better. I say this because I had impression that it is placed somewhere much closer in the mix but I really liked your playing. It is a slow ballad so maybe a little bit of sax would be cool at places as well. Those are just few ideas of mine after listening closely to your track. I am not a professional producer haha. I hope it is relevant somehow anyway.
I am always impressed by your instrumental arranging work. Thank you for sharing with us such a nice song. Alex
Nice to have such a detailed and diagnositic appraisal of my work. Thank you. I especially appreciate your comments regarding the the gengle arrangement and smooth and stylish production. Very rewarding indeed.
As for retro pluggins I'm afraid I can't agree at all with your view. For me any processing of of tracks has to add value to the original sound and as I wasn't after a totally 80's style the natural sound of the drumkit, albeit a more modern sounding kit, worked for me.
Again, comparing my track with "older music" isn't relevant particlarly as I mix for speakers and high quality sound systems rather than headphones.
I'm not sure what "overpower" is but perhaps my quest to include as much dynamic range as I can in my work may have some bearing. Not sure about the addition of reverb to correspond stylisitacally to the vocals. It's not how I work at all. Similarly the additon of sax is a purely personal view which was never on my agenda.
Maybe sometimes it's more difficult to read into a track what the producer had in mind and easier to interpret the song in one's own way. I am still learning and I'm grateful for your thoughts.
I think its most all been said in the comments ahead of me Richie...I really wish the hell I could find music like this in the commercial (non indie) world...its is just so damn good...if I were to go down the list of performance and production check offs they would all be ticked off with top scores...guess all I have to do is join the rest of your listeners in a standing ovation....I always expect the best here at your palace and it always seems to be even better than could be expected...superb.....Ed
Always great to have you view of my work. It's always valued and I appreciate it. I'm knocked out with your comments and I will pass on your kind words to Lisa too. Thanks again.
Wow Richie, this is incredible dear friend. Like PJB said, great production and musicianship as always. Love the vocals, it really complements the song very well. I envy you, your mix is top notch...lol. Seriously, great job man. 10/10
Thank you so much for stopping by and posting comments. Much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed the track and it's reall very rewarding to have such feedback. Many thanks.
Hey Richie....awesome mix man!!! seriously good work, there is no one I've heard(yet)that gets anywhere near your production skills within a DAW. The difference between this track and a professionally produced mega buck production is bugger all, I'm sitting here gobsmacked at the balance you've achieved here, we all want great guitar tone, we all want realistic drums and keys, isolated and taken individually the average listener is going to say so what if you played him your guitar track,but when it's insinuated into the mix it's as near perfect as your going get with digital music, I repeat again exceptional work...and yes you are very lucky to be working with such a gifted vocalist or rather she's extremely lucky to be working with you...interestingly if Lisa was an African American this track would probably be categorized as soul!haha ..it's such a pleasure listening to good music and you never ever disappoint,tips me lid man....cheers Dave :)
It's great to here from you. I am in Auckland at the moment and flew from UK via Melbourne. Next time I'll take a few days and we can have a beer somewhere.
Thanks very much for your really kind words. It is so rewarding to hear the commnets from someone who not only has an educated ear but who is also a gifted musician and producer too. Thank you so much.
I guess I'm still learning with all this and always trying to get the very best out of what I have. Lisa is truly accomplished and a pleasure to work with. We hope to do some work as a duo next year too.
One upgrade to my system is a valve pre amp which has added a warmth to the vocals and guitar I could never achieve before. Valve mic is next.
Many thanks for your comments. Always a pleasure to have you stop by and listen. Glad you enjoyed it. So rewarding for all the work that went into the track. Much appreciated.
Just as when you visit my page to hear some high tempo electronic, I am out of my element when listening to a song like this. I don't know the original either. What I can say is that the recording on this sounds very high quality, and conveys the idea that you know exactly what you are doing and what you want to hear in the final product. Clarity and realism are to be found throughout this piece. Like I said, I don't know the song, but I bet Ms. Rait would be proud of those involved in this cover. Enjoyed the listen!
Hi and my apologies for taking so long to get back to you. I'm just catching up on the Loop.
Thank you so much for your comments and yes we sometimes do find ourselves out of our comfort zones with genres of music not familar to us but it's reassuring to know that the qualities I pursue in my work are regarded and noticed. It's very rewarding to hear them. Thank you.
First of all, thank you for that link .... What I can modestly write here is you touch perfection, the bar is very high. Many here, and when I read the comments, were impressed by your achievement and by the voice of Lisa .... and of course I join with all that has been written. Really a concept of high quality .... Thank you for sharing this moment. My congratulations to your partner in this adventure ....
Apologies for such a late reply to your comments. So busy at the moment. I love the economic comment you have posted and "beautiful" is praise indeed. Lisa will be completely knocked out with that and so am I. So kind - thank you.
So good to hear from you and thanks for the comments. I guess the vintage feel comes from the fact I celebrated my sixty fifth birthday recently? Everything is vintage to me these days!! Yes, doesn't that vocal sit nicely in the track. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful talent working with me. It's a beautiful voice and an absolute pleasure to record.
Commented on You have to dream by RichieWinn
So, it is always such a pleasure to listen to your collaborations. Roz is always in rare form, and your musical iterations are just so special. Lead guitar is tasteful - your playing skills shine through and your mixing and mastering is a master's class in how to do things the right way. Beautiful work and a special song, definitely top shelf material. Added to favorites. Happy holidays, Richie. I hope all is well.
Bear
Commented on You have to dream by RichieWinn
Hey Richie, been a while, good to see you! I like the song, good pop song, calming. I like her vocals, soulful. Kinda reminds me of some of Paul Weller's material from a few years ago.
Enjoy the holidays and keep safe!
Wayne
Commented on You have to dream by RichieWinn
Totally agree with the above comments. You cant beat the old analogue sounds. Ive just got my DX7 and ESQ1 back out this lock down....superb track my man.....
Bill
Commented on You have to dream by RichieWinn
Nice analouge sound. Vintage early 90's rnb feel, great work.
Commented on I Like it featuring Stephanie Kay by RichieWinn
Very nice arrangement, the simplicity makes it strong and it has a nice built up, the guitarsound could be a little better I think, but great work!
Commented on Come home by RichieWinn
Great track and that voice is Patricia did she have another name before MusicIzMee4Ever? Anyway, great track, gonna check your other tracks now.
Commented on Moving day funk by RichieWinn
RichieWinn... You are having fun with Logic ProX. The instruments you selected for this funk track are nice. I too use Logic Pro X so I appreciate what you have created here. Great Job!
Ronabo
Commented on Moving day funk by RichieWinn
I enjoyed the synthe and the organ, and that sax :)!!
Keep up the good work!
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Top shelf material Richie, but I would expect nothing less from you. Lisa is such a tremendous singer that it requires a really talented musician like yourself to keep up with her....she sets the bar really high, and you clear that bar with your excellent musicianship and production skills. Two super talents working together to make one hell of a song. Some of those chord modulations are just sooooo good. Thanks for sharing a great song with all of us. I hope all is well.
Bear
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Greetings
Cool pop track
but I dont think if vocal line is loud a bit or its for my headphone
Kind regards
J_*
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Beautifully executed. I really do dig your arrangement as well. The vocal is absolutely gorgeous and your playstyle is quite intimate as well :) Fully enjoyed this one from start to finish!
Brado
PS I sent you an email :P
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
I love Lisa Stansfield, I feel that you took her style (80's retro 70's and mixed it like this song belonged in the seventies. Cool idea Richie, Cool Listen.
Cru
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Wow!!! This is an amazing track from the top to the bottom!! Production is outstanding. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing this with us.
Kyle
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
PS. haha I should have checked your replies before commenting! I see that you actually explained some technical details regarding to your work on this arrangement in your reply to PJB. Maybe my listening perspective is quite different as I do not really use much hardware stuff for processing the sound.
This summer I started recording classical music on real instruments with quality microphones but that's an another story. It has nothing much to do with my current looperman works which are basically made using synthesizers and DAW. I plan to post some of my classical tracks on SC and maybe here as well at some point in the future.
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
hello again
thank you for your kind reply! Indeed that's only my personal view and probably I am trying to project it too much in my previous comment.
I always tend to assume that there is something to investigate and to consider (and also to improve) when comes to music-making. Maybe I should change that attitude when commenting on other's stuff.
It doesn't take anything from my true appreciation of your work at all! Those are only some abstract speculations of mine after listening to your mix, nothing really serious. By mentioning the 'retro' processing I was only speculating about the possibilities of eventual positive very slight changes of the color of single tracks/instruments/layers. It is not to say that any further adjustments are necessary in your arrangement at all. Some processing (it might be a real-time processing when recording instruments as well) may help to add some warmth or presence or change positively the overall sound of the mix - that's just a concept.
I know that digital processing diminishes the original signal and basically it affects the sound in a negative way. Also I avoid using limiters as possible. They help to make music loud enough but here on Looperman I can just produce the music that I like so there is noo need for me to adjust it to any specific contemporary radio volume standards at all. I am only trying to get as much quality sound from the very beginning as I can and honestly I do not care about mastering to the modern level that much so far. Also I do not make music in any particular style at the moment (which is confusing to others I guess).
I really liked your vision and I truly appreciate sound-image of your arrangement. Sorry if I was a bit unclear and difficult.
Best to you, Alex
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
hello Richie!
This is one great song. I entirely agree with others - it could be easily played on the radio. I have a CD compilation with 70's/80's soul/discofunk titled '100% Pure Groove' and your production is so smooth and stylish regarding to this. The arrangement is very gentle. I am really enjoying keys, soft strings and funky bassline a lot.
I think you can always consider processing each instrumental track using some retro plugins for example, or maybe adding a 80's type of re-verb on drums even (I am using this simple software http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?id=1872 which can make drums sound so very 80's). Also the older music is usually quieter. Listening closely on headphones yesterday I noticed a little overpower on the vox track (especially around 2:16, 2:31 and similar places) - maybe it is just a bit too hot mixed. The guitar around 2:50 may profit from adding a bright reverb to correspond stylistically with vox better. I say this because I had impression that it is placed somewhere much closer in the mix but I really liked your playing. It is a slow ballad so maybe a little bit of sax would be cool at places as well.
Those are just few ideas of mine after listening closely to your track. I am not a professional producer haha. I hope it is relevant somehow anyway.
I am always impressed by your instrumental arranging work. Thank you for sharing with us such a nice song.
Alex
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
I think its most all been said in the comments ahead of me Richie...I really wish the hell I could find music like this in the commercial (non indie) world...its is just so damn good...if I were to go down the list of performance and production check offs they would all be ticked off with top scores...guess all I have to do is join the rest of your listeners in a standing ovation....I always expect the best here at your palace and it always seems to be even better than could be expected...superb.....Ed
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Wow Richie, this is incredible dear friend. Like PJB said, great production and musicianship as always. Love the vocals, it really complements the song very well. I envy you, your mix is top notch...lol. Seriously, great job man. 10/10
TBK
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Hey Richie....awesome mix man!!! seriously good work, there is no one I've heard(yet)that gets anywhere near your production skills within a DAW. The difference between this track and a professionally produced mega buck production is bugger all, I'm sitting here gobsmacked at the balance you've achieved here, we all want great guitar tone, we all want realistic drums and keys, isolated and taken individually the average listener is going to say so what if you played him your guitar track,but when it's insinuated into the mix it's as near perfect as your going get with digital music, I repeat again exceptional work...and yes you are very lucky to be working with such a gifted vocalist or rather she's extremely lucky to be working with you...interestingly if Lisa was an African American this track would probably be categorized as soul!haha ..it's such a pleasure listening to good music and you never ever disappoint,tips me lid man....cheers Dave :)
Commented on All Woman featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Richie!
Standing ovation!!!
Incredible track...this is a winner...can't say more...
Fav, dl of course, handshake, Danke
Commented on I cant make you love me featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Just as when you visit my page to hear some high tempo electronic, I am out of my element when listening to a song like this. I don't know the original either. What I can say is that the recording on this sounds very high quality, and conveys the idea that you know exactly what you are doing and what you want to hear in the final product. Clarity and realism are to be found throughout this piece. Like I said, I don't know the song, but I bet Ms. Rait would be proud of those involved in this cover. Enjoyed the listen!
Commented on I cant make you love me featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Bonjour Richie ....
First of all, thank you for that link .... What I can modestly write here is you touch perfection, the bar is very high. Many here, and when I read the comments, were impressed by your achievement and by the voice of Lisa .... and of course I join with all that has been written.
Really a concept of high quality .... Thank you for sharing this moment. My congratulations to your partner in this adventure ....
Dan
Commented on I cant make you love me featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Amazing work you did a great job at putting your touch to it in my fav great job to the artist peace
Commented on I cant make you love me featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Hey Richie,
I can't say anything that hasn't already been said, so I will end this comment with one word..."BEAUTIFUL!!!"
Cheers,
Scott
Commented on I cant make you love me featuring Lisa Worth by RichieWinn
Excellent production here Richie! Has a vintage feel to it. Vocals are crisp and clear. No issues on my side. peace
Gramo/Neo