PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase Everyone Says (Revisited)

Hi, all:

“Everyone Says” was the third song I ever did using BAIB . . . almost five years ago. At that time, I still had the basic version of the software with limited real track selection. While the song as a whole came out OK (relatively speaking), it had a couple of flaws.

First off, the vocal was a tad high end and strained on some of the high notes. The original also didn’t have any backing vocals, so they were added here.

Second, with limited selection, on the original I ended up using the Dire guitar solo (RT511). Melodically, after some major comping, it worked well, but the tone of the guitar didn’t quite mesh. Oddly enough, I still had that problem on the redo. I think I auditioned every lead solo track twice over before settling on this one (which still required a fair bit of comping).

Beyond that, I retained only the Rock Southern rhythm guitar, changing out the drums, bass and dropping the track on which I played acoustic guitar.

I’m not going to link to the original version, because again I’m less concerned about comparatives and more about whether this version works on its own . . . but for the curious few the original is still on my main SoundCloud page (about seven from the bottom).

Thanks in advance for the listen and would appreciate as always any feedback on the mix!

Deej

Here’s the song:

EVERYONE SAYS (Revisited)

Here are the lyrics:

You belong right here, right next to me.
You were wrong, my dear, to ever leave
You know I never meant to hurt you that way
You may be gone but you’re coming back someday

Cause everyone says
You’re just a little bitten
Everyone says, you’re twice shy;
Everyone says, our love’s been ever written
In the stars and spelled across the skies

Seems you took off love when we’d just begun
Can’t we both concede the mistakes of the young
Let regrets roll off both our shoulders
We were kids but now we’re older

And everyone says
your just a little kitten,
everyone says, you need time
everyone says, that girl I’m on a mission
your sweet love is all that I desire.

All our friends know us so much better
They all say we should stay together
Don’t you think true love is worth a try

You know I never meant to hurt you that way
But you’ll be back, it’s all that they all say.

Yeah, everyone says
You’re just a little bitten
Everyone says, you’re twice shy
Everyone says, it’s obvious you’re smitten
Destiny is on our side
I just don’t see why you try and fight it
I can’t believe that this could be goodbye

And here’s the band:

RealTracks 1417: Bass, Electric, RootsRock
RealTracks 3163: Guitar, Baritone Electric, Rhythm BluesyPopSteady8ths
RealTracks 384: Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Rock Southern
RealTracks 2690: Guitar, Electric, Soloist Slow16thsPopBrentSimple
RealDrums: Rock8ths^02

Deej

Nice rocking tune, well sung and written.

The guitar although it says "simple" is pretty busy. Nice work on getting it to fit - (he needs to calm down a touch!)

Excellent.

Peter

Peter,

Thanks for giving it a spin . . . the lead guitar is still not the sound I'd like ideally . . . but after countless auditions of RTs, it was what worked best. The remaining option is playing live and that won't be me, LOL! Appreciate the feedback!

Deej

Deej, I love this, it is absolutely great. 5 years is before my time here so I didn't hear the original.

Just a few nits/personal preferrence things regarding dynamics and IMHO this is "radio ready".
1. A tad bigger vocals on "skies"
2. Bigger BG vocals on the bridge
3. From "Destiny" onward a sprinkle of sweet piano would be icing on this cake

Your vocals are outstanding. Great job.

PS> I REALLY love the outro.

DJ,

So you asked for advice on the mix and I will tell you what I think.

I think this is a really incredibly solid song, a very hooky professional pop song and as usual your vocals are excellent.

I kind of wish you hadn't dropped the acoustic guitar at least when you're coming in on the second verse and this is just me, other people might feel differently.

The song is such a Tom Petty type classic radio pop song that it's screaming for different types of instruments coming in one by one as the song progresses.

When you get to verse 2 the sound of guitar or the riff on the guitar that is providing the additional nuances is essentially the same guitar that's providing the nuances in the first verse and chorus. In other words the flavors don't change.

Someone was once circulating a pretty interesting spreadsheet of the complete mix to Tom Petty's Free Falling some time ago, I think here on this very forum. And it was interesting to look at all of the different instruments that were coming in at different places. I think I might even have a copy on my computer still.

At any rate I think to push this over the top you may want to consider adding different types of flavorings to the mix at the beginning of verse 2 and the 2nd chorus with a different type of guitar call and response and maybe even bring in that acoustic and try playing some of that yourself.

Because I always find that music which is created by a human being even if that's just one part and one part only always adds that extra spice of life which makes it sound more real.

So I hope that wasn't too comprehensive but I think this is a really really golden classic radio song and those would be my ideas for the overall mix hope that makes sense man another great job.

DJ, David gave you some very good options for this song.
However I liked it the way it is now.
It's got a tight groove and your vocal is excellent.
Your instrumentation is also excellent, I wasn't put off by the lead guitar's tone.
Your mix was very good.
What's not to like about this one?

Extremely well done. It has a solid groove reminiscent of the cars.

Totally enjoyed it.

Well, I like the mix as it is, but I'm no specialist on production (understatement of the year).

As for the song itself, I enjoy your upbeat songs as much as your slower stuff. And this upbeat song meets the usual high level of Deej Quality Control :-) . Bravo.

Love it, Deej. Ain't nobody gonna complain about the sound of the guitar when those vocals shine so bright. Cool changes, and a terrific Bridge. So much energy in the vocals. A contagious listen for sure.

Hi Deej.
Good one here.
The only sugg I have is to place a harmony vocal on "Every One Says".
That would drive it home.

Vic

Deej...wow! that was so good...mid-tempo, sweet groove, most excellent lyric and melody, super bridge...your vocals are way cool and the falsetto on those finishing lines is the icing on the cake! There are a lot of thoughtful suggestions that have been made and I agree with many of them but your sensibilities are to be trusted...if you sprinkle some more spice on it it could give it some more character BUT if you call it done no one will complain...it's just a really fine song!

I quite like the lead but find the rhythm electric on the right rather annoying.
having said that the song hangs together really well and your vocals are ace.

Deej56,
Cool tune, your fantastic vocal drive makes at least 1/2 of the tune. Nice bed. Very professional. Good balance, but...

since you asked. I thought that vocals are a bit dry. And that thing I mentioned previously.... about dynamics being a bit squashed. Perhaps Mp3 was loaded to soundcloud instead of 24bit WAV?

In any case, great effort. Enjoyed it and thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Bass Thumper, David, Mario, Guitarhacker, James, Marty, Vic, Dan, ray, and Misha:

Wow, some great comments above . . . thanks all for the careful listen and feedback. Based on all the above I tinkered with the existing track and have explored an alternative mix (though I’m not sure how far that will go). Hopefully, I haven’t swung too far to the other way on some of the changes. A few responses on your comments that highlight the changes:

Bass Thumper: I’ve upped the BGVs on the bridge per your suggestion. I increased the volume of the vocal a tad on “skies”. I’m not sure whether you were looking for a bigger, longer note, but not what I want to do there, as I think it would diminish the bigger notes later on . . . Good suggestion on adding a piano, and I hear what you are thinking. I did try a few tracks as I play with an alternative mix, but it kind of gets a little lost. Not sure I’ll go there in the end.

David S: Totally agree on a layered production approach and I try to go that direction any time I can . . . but, yes, not here . . . and the fact that I had limited guitar riffs that actually worked, it is a bit repetitive. I have started working on an alternative mix—e.g., staring with just the baritone guitar, bass and vocal, with the drums kicking in on the chorus, then the electric rhythm after the chorus . . . and adding more instruments (kinda like the organ I was playing with, but the acoustic guitars haven’t quite meshed) . . . but ultimately not sure it’s going to work. But we’ll see.

BTW, my acoustic playing on the original was a bit messy at times, and in this version, the baritone guitar essentially replaces it.

Vic: I've dialed up harmonies on the “Everybody Says” refrain in the revised version.

Rayc: I dialed down the volume just a tad on that guitar . . . oddly enough, it’s the only track I retained from the original.

Misha: I’ve added some more reverb and such to the lead vocal and made the entire track a bit more wet. As for the upload, it was a WAV but only 16 bit. The revised version is a 24 bit.

Thanks again all. Ultimately, I’m thinking this may need to go on the back burner and revisited another 5 years from now, LOL!

Deej

Deej,

Love the BAND on this. A great groove.
Good vocals.
Mix sounds good to me.
I thought the solos work well enough.
A good re-do.

(Here is something that is often overlooked by most folks when it comes to finding solos.
You can use solos with bpm that is half what your song is set to.
For example - if you song is set to 130, the solos at or near 65 bpm will work - just remember to set the RT to Half-Time in the RT selector.
The slower bpm solos tend to be a lot more melodic than the faster bpm solos - which also makes them easier to comp...)

fj

Floyd,

Thanks much . . . that's a GREAT tip. While I've never hesitated to use a solo regardless of its bpm (in fact, on this one it's a 75 bp real track on the lead guitar, while the song itself is at 120), I wasn't aware of the half-time option . . . that will give me some more flexibility going forward. Good stuff!

All my best to you,

Deej

That is one of the reasons that your solos might sound "busy".
A 75 bpm solo is being played at 120 - so everything is sped up (a lot).
You might want to give it a try with that 75 bpm solo set to Half-Time.
You will get a much different result (though it might be TOO slow - it will be, effectively, playing at 60 bpm).

But...a 120 bpm song means you cab try all the solos in the 60-75 range (set to Half-Time, of course...)

DJ,

I guess what I am saying about the acoustic is this, and I have found it to be true for myself. Not saying you have to do this, just trying to be more specific.

Real tracks are great (in general I mean) and I could not live without them now as a producer of my own stuff.

However, they are often so perfect (to me) that they are in some cases "too perfect."

So, I have found if I only add ONE part of my own, whatever that is, a simple electric arpeggio, or a very simple in the pocket acoustic strum, it gives the WHOLE mix more of a human feel, so that that you barely notice that the other tracks are "too good to be true."

Know what I mean?

If you just do ONE track yourself it can have a dramatic effect on the mix and give the whole thing a more soulful groove, because that one track alone can impart the quirk of imperfect human playing that makes it all sound more natural.

Hope that makes sense.

Deej, this is a solid write with a great vocal. David’s advice to add a live guitar part to humanize the feel is a good one which I do a lot. FJ’s half time is another great suggestion to slow down the busy lead guitar. Regardless it is a really good listen and I enjoyed it very much in it’s current form,Tom

First, solid song! Catchy, familiar but not overly derivative. I like it a lot.

This is the kind of song that cries out of a custom guitar. I could imagine the guitar echoing the melody with a call and response sort of thing.

Even so, as is? Love it.