Artist Name: Rick Grande Title: Lost And Alone (Again)
Genre: Country Rating:
Equipment Used
MacBook Pro with M-Audio Fast Track Pro interface running Apple GarageBand ’09 (Version 5.1); Shure Unisphere PE585 microphone; Fender Squier electric guitar, Martin acoustic guitar, Fender Precision bass, Casio COP-100 Keyboard (MIDI controller).
Production Notes & Credits
“Lost and Alone (Again)” is a male vocal country song. Rick did it all with the exception of the guitar solo and the drum loops.
Reviewed By Marty Peters
This is a cool tune with a J.J. Cale sort of vibe, in need of some unification. So what exactly do we mean by unification? After all, this is a pretty simple country track, not “Brexit” fallout! Well, let’s put it another way: Rick has assembled some nice pieces/parts here, but they sound more like pieces/parts than a unified mix. Get it?
Starting from the ground up, the volume of the intro electric guitar came through as louder than that of the lead vocal through our monitors, causing an immediate energy drop in the track. We also felt that the electric rhythm guitars were panned so wide that it created a bit of a void in the center of the soundfield, causing the lead vocal to jump out of the mix at certain points.
The remaining sound sources were somewhat hit and miss to our ears. The walking bass part was well executed, as was the organ, but both showed some presence fluctuations in the track. Finally, we felt that the lead guitar was more suited to a rock-style song; its edgy tone failed to play nice with the other instruments.
Suggestions
Kudos to Rick for his ambitious work here; there are plenty of good ingredients to work with. That said, we would suggest the following action.
Starting at the intro, lower the volume of the lone guitar to that of the lead vocal. Next, place the electric rhythm guitars at approximately 10:00 and 2:00 in the stereo field. Following that, we would suggest that the bass guitar volume come up a few dB and the organ volume be reduced by the same. As for the lead guitar, while there was certainly nothing wrong with the performance, a less “metal” tone would serve the song better in our opinion.
Finally, we feel that the entire track, once repaired, could use some professional mastering. There are many affordable mastering services available out there, and they can do wonders to “unify” a track like Rick’s.
Summary
Time to bring everything together properly.
Contact
Rick Grande, [email protected]