Well, I did this a while ago, but it's new to you! I just finished re-recording the vocal. This is a rough mix and I dont really have an ending for it yet. I came up with the back up harmonies last week.

I need some feedback on the vocal. Did I EQ it too much? Is it loud enough? Too loud? Is anything too loud? Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The track is called Nothing Matters. It's not as morbid as it sounds. It was actually inspired by the part in Grafitti Bridge when Prince says to Aura "Noting matters anymore", you know, because he's so in love...

Thanks for all your input guys. This is so valuable for me. I'm taking the song down because it ain't finished. I will put up a smaller sample on my website very soon for anyone who missed it. Peace.


[This message was edited Fri May 30 9:08:45 PDT 2003 by VinaBlue]

This is GREAT!

Will you be my sugga momma?

I LIKE IT!!

Thanks you guys. I really need feedback on the vocal mix. I'm really unhappy with it, but maybe I'm just too self-conscious. I'm still learning all this recording stuff.

NFO said:

I can't be nobody's sugga momma. I need a sugga daddy to pay for a producer!

Vina-

Love it! Have confidence in your voice, it is truly beautiful! I love the background harmonies on certain words. The turn around completely got my attention and fit nicely because of your voice.

The JD remix was a little treble-ly and in the beginning, it was over powering but then it balanced out.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for sharing all of your hard work.
I can hear how much you put into it.

Slave2daGroove said:

Thanks Chris! Thanks for your 2 cents man. I'm sure you know how much I appreciate that kind of thing. Thank GOD someone can tell how much I put into it. My boyfriend can't tell the difference after I've been working on a song for 12 hours!

He doesn't have an ear for it, but that just kills me! (I'm like, it's different damnit!!! The voice was EQd and the background harmonies are chorused!!! The snare is louder now! I lowered the sax in the middle so it doesn't over power my voice!!! Aaaarrrggghhh! Don't tell me it sounds the same!!!)

Ok, I feel better now.

My computer at work has blocked out your music. Is it dirty? Hehehehee...actually it's been filtered out for being "Chat"...ummm...ok? I will make sure to listen because you always give me feedback, too.

I absolutly love this Vina!!!
& I can definitly hear the difference.
It sounds really great now & the song is unique
& really cool.Your voice is so sexy 2.
I enjoyd hearing this 1.
/peace Manki

manki said:

Thanks sweetie! I'm glad you can tell the difference from the old demo I sent you.

hey vina...this may be my favorite thing of yours that i've heard..i really like the backing vocals...and the bridge part..

very nice..

rio said:

Kick Ass! Thank you! It's definitely different than my others. It's more Sting/Sade inspired. This has been developing over the years. I'm waiting for the end to come to me someday, lol. still waiting...

I had the lyrics and melody first for a looong time. Then a few years ago I got the baseline and I was like, Whoa! And the bridge, yes, that was a magical moment too. I have some ideas for the end, but nothing that hits me in the right place. So we'll see what happens.

Thanks for listening.

VinaBlue said:

The vocals sound just fine to me, not too loud and loud enough. Nice background vocals as well. In my opinion you could turn up the rimshot a little and turn down the shakers for more balance. The other sounds sound OK to me in the mix, nothing to be changed there.

The jazzy track is not really my personal flavor, but I admire your songwriting capacities (I lack them myself, always get stuck in one groove) and your ability to come up with nice vocals. Your voice itself is really beautiful, I have to say.

The other track,"Move - JD remix", is more my cup of tea. I have to agree though with slave2dagroove that it's a little too much on the "treble" side of the EQ spectrum. But I love the song itself, I think -just like manki- it's an improvement to the original, although I like that version as well. Really good stuff, Vina, keep going!

funkaholic1972 said:

Thank you Funkaholic! I love those details. I tried to turn up the rimshot all the way, I think I did but I will check on it again. I may have to record it as audio and work with it that way. I will turn down the shaker more too, I did try, but obviously didn't turn it down enough. Thanks for the feedback, I totally appreciate it. I like when people really listen.

Thank you for the compliments on my voice. Sometimes it makes me want to

The orginal version of Move is more laid back, and I like it too. I just wanted to do like a remix for the New Funk Order project. I think I eq'd the drums too much. Damn, I'm tired of working on that one. (By the way, Manki was talking about Nothing Matters. I sent him an early demo of it last year.)

At least I know it's not my imagination that it still needs work.
[This message was edited Tue May 27 13:06:16 PDT 2003 by VinaBlue]

Ok, one more question about this track. All I got is a rimshot and a shaker on this. I have no idea what to do for drums on this. Any suggestions? Plus, I have no idea what to do for the bridge.

Do you guys think this needs more drums or does it sound ok like this?


[This message was edited Tue May 27 13:16:58 PDT 2003 by VinaBlue]

VinaBlue said:

It could be just the rimshot and the shaker, but I feel a nice bossanova beat would fit with this song (just add some bassdrum and hihats and maybe later some ride cymbals). If you like I can provide you with an example I once made...

funkaholic1972 said:

Aha! That's exactly what I was thinking, a Bossa Nova beat!!! I'm gonna play my drum and mic it. Thanks! My mind is running so frantically I forgot I had that idea!

I'd love to hear your example. You can upload it to the same briefcase if you want, just click on add file.

your new track of "Move" is up.

Love it. Made me do a little dance.

VinaBlue said:

I will do that sometime this week, Vina.

PS: my girlfriend loves your tracks, she thinks they sound very professional, good compositions and beautiful voice!

funkaholic1972 said:

WOW! Thanks for telling me! I really appreciate that.

How can i change my id?
my id is skinsalles, and i cannot change. I wanna hear this song!

7salles said:

Sweetie, you just have to pretend you are me and sign in with my ID and password. Get it? I'm giving all you guys my password so you can sign in to my briefcase and download my songs. Can't wait to hear what you think of it...

Hey Otan, I know you're busy, but I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say, as well as Artist08 and Jason too.


[This message was edited Wed May 28 13:31:53 PDT 2003 by VinaBlue]

Vina, I got a chance to listen to this today, and this is ALL THE WAY YOU! This music and lyric combination is completely your style- it is the smoothest I have heard from you yet! The music is arranged very professional sounding- sounds like you are learning to work that Korg for what it has! Also, your vocals are blended well and not too overpowering for the track. This is very New Jazz!

I likey!

Peace,
JD

I signed in but I couldnt download the song. ERROR ERROR.
I will try later vinaazul

7salles said:

Thank you for trying, Salles. VinaAzul, I like that.

Did you right click on the file name and hit "save target as"?

I'm sorry it isn't working. I want you to hear it!

ooo vinasmooth
vinagroove
keep on doin' what you do

Good work on your new song Vina!

JDODSON said:

Jason! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! You don't know how much that all means to me. You're the best.

:HUG:

chewymusic said:

Chewy!!! Damn, this is really making my day.


Thanks so much for coming out of the woodwork. No more lurkie lurkie for you!!! Ha! My magic spell worked...

WORK has been insane this week and last week, but hey, my stuff got recognition by the main boss this week. So - go sign up for Weather Desktop! (www.weather.com) hit refresh a few times, and you'll see my insane handiwork - uhh, as long as you're on a windows platform, using internet explorer.

enough of the lame-o plug. that crap sucked up my week.

I like the song. VERY VERY Portisehead. The vocals are ALMOST too loud - they're very very up front, but I'm diggin it through headphones, not speakers... it's prolly different that way.

The break in the middle is a cool break, but without ANY percussion, the tempo is totally lost until the second line. I know there's lots of discussion on your song already, so if I cover stuff that's already on here, forgive me. Time is so limited these days.

The vocals, with the way they're already harsh/up front, I almost want to hear them in the lo-fi/phone-call kind of voice, where you crank the mids WAAAY up, and drop the hi and los... at least for a verse somewhere in there - to add more dimension to the song; it creates a sub-message - like that particular verse is an inside/thought instead of spoken. Try it for one or two verses. Maybe the last one.

SO. To re-cap...

Put SOME sort of percussion in the bridge/breakdown
Lo-Fi the vocals on a verse or two to add dimension

GREAT song.

Now I'm off to make more annoying ads. More as in multiple, not as in annoying you even more than they already do. THAT would be impossible!