Carl Snow's Summer of Love , New Tune , The Strongest Kind

I Know most of the shredders will out-right hate this .. but i'm hoping there are a few old geezers who might appreciate a Roots-Rock Tune!
So here we go ..
1st Tunes Mix for New CD due out this Spring

Carl Snow's Summer Of Love - 'The Strongest Kind'



better Mix than the other, huh Josh!?

lemme know what ya think y'all .. i'm old , i can take it!

and remember...

RAWK!
Cs

Sounds great man. I can dig it haha.

Ozz

I really like it man!! i love this kind of rock!! congrats!

wow much better mix than the one you gave me, my friends loved it. So it is getting passed around all around campus

thanks Bro! ...i'll give ya this one (Radio Version) to pass around instead , cool?
(better be or yer playin' Hungarian-Min fer a month lol);~)

Dig! @-Ozzfan486 !and thanks for the feedback!!!
(no not the feedback screaming in muh ear....the other)

@-AlexB
Really!? ... cool , i was wondering what you'd think
(start on our secret-weapon yet??)

Dude you RAWK!
Love the sound of that guitar! Classic Rock.
A lot of people may be wondering so I'll ask.....
How many takes?
How many hours spent mastering the tracks?
Freakin' A I loved it.
Phipster

Doh, well Im not so old yet but old enough dig this one :P. I loved how to tune kicks in. Start was terrific!!. I even hoped to hear more maybe little bridges and tricks with same raw touch. Thanks for sharing.

Love it Carl nice work. I wish it was longer but being a jam band guy almost every thing should be longer

@carl

my computer won't let me load it(I use a school laptop 95% of the time). I'll listen to it when I can, but I will totally buy both your new album and alex's!

Better mix, but the vocals are terribe. WAY too dry. The guitars don't really say "classic rock" to me as much as they say "country".

The overall product isn't bad, though. Gg.

ahaha great music man the slide guitar solo and leads are my fav no doubt i always wanted to learn how to play like that. This is great stuff man.

wow! lots answers for a lil redneck-country tune(i say that w/ love); i can dig it!

thanks too ya all for yer opinions.
@ league[/b}
no slide guitar. thats a Fender B-Bender (1967), one of the many guitars my 'other' Git-player has.
he has the Bender down to an art form. The rest of the stuff is me on a few Teles and a Martin '53 0-18... and sangin'
The beautiful Fretless = Scott. I think Mike played the Kit on this one.
@Evan
the reason everything = dry is cause we like it that way ... the whol thang was done with absolutely NO FX or compression going in or during Mixdown to 2/track (Big Analog Desk, Not a Computer. its funny you hate the "dry" voice .. i had snuck a wee bit of Verb on it but Scott and Mike , and later I; hated it .. so its ALL dry yer just hearing a really big room.

@case211
LOL! Thanks Bro!

@telecrater
....what made me instinctual KNOW you'd say "longer!" lol ;~) .. and thanks !

@Empirism
Thanks man! ... I like (went over on a few Last CD) short to-the-point tunes, thought about adding another Verse but it wouldn't have come out 'real" and 'real' is everything to me.

@PHIPster

Phip says:

A lot of people may be wondering so I'll ask.....
How many takes?
How many hours spent mastering the tracks?

thanks Phip!
....i GOTTA hit the Gym THIS second (late)... i'll come back and fill ya in Bro.. sorry.

RAWK!
Cs

lol, so I see. Well, not a bad mix overall.

Now that I take a second listen, it sounds as though the highs on the vocals should be a bit, well, higher. I would sing it with less of a "cowntry" kind of sound, and more of a raspy bluesboy named "Tommy". Maybe it's just me, but I just don't really care for the style of the vocals. The guitars really aren't my favorite either, but it suits the song very well. If it were me, I'd be using a crunchier blues pedal for a couple licks here and there (Boss BD-2, preferably).

Take what I say with a grain of salt, though - My band plays blues and classic rock, so we're really only satisfied by that, lol.

Overall, I give it a 7/10, but only because I'm an unsatisfiable Classic Rock fanatic. Peace until.

I usually like metal and stuff, but I do like some "Classic Rock" stuff,
it kind of a Hendrix/Skynard feeling, I liked it

my apologies to all for my not catching the "all Bold" in my post --i was darting out he door



Phipster !!
Told ya i'd get round to yer Questions (YOU KNOW Cin+Gym..sooo, lol)
"How many takes?" -Phip
2, i think; one was to set levels, drum-wise(don't count)
1st take 2nd take and third take were basically only done to give me good choices culled from the same hour (important when not using computers or compression-etc)
so, i guess the answer = 2.
lol !

"Love the sound of that guitar! Classic Rock".-Phip"

I thank you, Mike thanks you, ...and its five guitars, actually; not counting Scott's buttery Fretless.
we tracked Drums (on this, Mike .. as Stan was ?) and bass together with me "conducting" with flailing arms, mouthed lyrics and un-strummed air-Martin-guitar(and yes, Mr Phip, i think there area few "studio-pics" of this, lol!)
Then we Tracked "Baby" (my 53 Martin 0-18) and the loud Tele.
Next up was Mikes very quiet 4 to the beat rhythm(not in mix much, just for color), Then Vocals, Back Vocals, Percussion, Mikes 1967 12-String Rickenbacker on the 'tags' ("Thats ok , she said use me anytime...) to reinforce my odd chordal run (Em, Eb/Em, **D/Em, Db/Em..**quite a mean stretch lol). I pre-mixed MY Tele and "Baby" to a nice volume/tone and place in stereo field so that Mike could lay down his B-Bender solo later and with great confidence.

Thing is .. its, for the times we live in .. a completely "backwards"
way of doing things.
we TRIED (you would not believe the prices these days)to find a 1/2-inch 16 track Reel (Ampex both) and a 2" Stereo tape machine to Mix down to BUT damn! ex-pes-sive! so we used the Board direct to a Alesis HD-24 hard disc "recorder" ..
**The Board with its amp(s) and pre-amps was/is amazing to work with (**Toft Audio ATB16) and its all analog tube pre system is one reason i was able to get by with no compression or anything (room mic in far far corner always) .. and is just as sweet and responsive when mixing down.
So , I did three Mixes (you here #2), TRYING HARD to leave everything un touched by processing... i got rid of the reverb i used on the first mix and now can say with complete honesty that aside from a very slight Comp on the lead vocal the whole mix is "dry"
To Master took about 8 hours, as i kept trying until, i succeeded, to use only EQ and the Final Waves Ltd. L3 Maximizer/Limiter which i applied very sparingly.
I have been having a great time with this new one, and the label is cool with a spring release date soooo its "all good" lol
much less stress than the last CD!
The one HARD part was something i did NOT expect.
I Master CD's almost weekly (my "other' job besides teaching geetar) and have to correct this and boost that and Comp here and - and - and - its hard to get out of the 'i'll fix it for you, lol, mindset...it really is.

@Evan I used a BD-2, lol, and Mike a Tube Screamer, but we wanted real overdrive (mainly clean) not BIG overdrive so mainly we left them out and CRANKED a 60's Fender Vibrolux, and 60's Fender Twin. Big overdrive would sound out of place in a Roots-RAWK context imo.

@ case211
I'll send you a Promotional Copy when its done, save yer money.

and as always...

RAWK!
Cs

I wasn't suggesting a big overdrive, but more than that super clean thing you got going on.

Oh .. well, we like 'clean'.. BUT since i was raised on art-Rock and touring w/ a Hardcore Punk (1st, only, wave) Band (Koro) in the late 70's - early 8o's "you can take the man outta punk but ya cant take the punk outta the man" .. so about a 3rd of the new CD will be Loud & Crunchy (Big Muff-> Fender Twin) but still nice and Redneck-y-Rootsy
the remaining third is mainly Acoustic (some no drums) and such.
So you may find one on there ya like ;~)

RAWK!
Cs

Well, you are a fine master of the craft, so I'm certain I will.

why thank you Suh!

have a choice chunk of ....
RAWK!
on me , lol

seriously. thanks Bro.

Cs

@carl

haha thanks man!

I wish they didn't decide to create this program frankenstein thing that blocks almost everything on account of (music, entertainment, streaming, video)

I think its pretty good. Not really 'my thang'. Sounds a bit bluegrassy/country which I hear constantly here in the WV. The 'dry' vocals didn't bother me, but they were pretty hard to understand and got lost in the mix at times. The ending was the only major thing I heard. It sounded like everyone wanted to end the song at different times. It made me do the one raised eyebrow thing. lol. I think it was mainly the guitar licks at the end. Almost like he decided at the last moment what he wanted to do and hesitated slightly. We've all been there!

It sounded like a group of guys were just sitting around having fun and jammin'. Which I think is what you were going for so you nailed it! Its just that they were sitting around and jammin' in a nice big room with better than average acoustics. :)

lol, no problem, Carl.

Ahem, you say that like lots of attention shouldn't be expected from that kind of song Carl! :D

I LOVE it! (lol so I have the mind of an old geezer!) Sounded great, like a combination of country and that good old classic rock. Let me know when your CD's out (if it reaches the UK) because I think I'd want to buy it...only then I'd be taking money out of your pocket, then the money would be in your pockets...then it would be your money. And I don't like parting with money. Hell, you don't need feedback being such a pro! Haha! I bet you posted this just to advertise really! :P Oh well, you RAWK!

1- True ... BUT what ya hear is NOT the cut on the CD ...IT has a proper fade and is approx 8-sec longer due to that, lol, BUT i could not post that as it would , well, i can't post the "cd version" , not untill its Officially-out this Spring (read between lines lol) Dig?

2- True, could not BE more true .. as ya may know i work on Scoring TV and such and work as (about 1once a Mo nowadays) a Mastering Engineer as well as Git-teach, so you can imagine how, at 44, sick to death i am of audio and computers meshing together, i aint "against it" i'm just , well, sick of it.
Sooo
Yer right. Its me and th guys having fun wit muh Tunes in a co0mpletely computer-free, processor-free environment (with Neumann and AKG Mics + a Toft Board-lol) My last record was 1/2 and 1/2 and i wanted to challenge and free myself and the band by saying (pre-rec) "what if computers were never invented?" .. we took that mindset and went with it. its s l o w e r but all tunes are now down (this was first Mixed) and most have been Mastered (I did, for 'ind-Standard' reasons Master on the Comp in-studio here. I did not use any prcessing here other than EQ and a Waves Ltd L3, so i'm happy with the Stone-Aged approach and feel. ...and dont worry, theCD Master has aqnice fade where we all end on a B-Bender 'twang'.

Thanks!


Didn’t quote ya because I loved that whole post!

I smiled wide when ya said ya liked the tune and kept on smiling and laughing till the end.
Sure, it’ll be available in the UK!
..and you nailed the heart of the sound dead-on(or “on” what I was shooting for, as the last one(‘Useless’) was “mellow and melancholy”
Thank you for the RAWK! – here’s one back a ya ..RAWK! lol.

No not lol advertising, I am the absolute worst at that kind thing and leave it in the hands of my ‘web-guy’, the label, and anyone else who can type two words without a typo! Lol!
But thanks for the, lol, ‘vote of confidence’ …

What I really, honestly wanted/want t do is see./read how a board of , Git-players, would react to it (it being more a songwriter-tune that a "guitar"-tune.

And once again you RAWK!

(can I get an Amen?)
Yup!
RAWK!
Cs

i like it, is that u singing?

sure is, Nater! :-) Thanks!


RAWK!
Cs

Carl, you're post back made me smile. And I'm so glad it'll come to the UK! But the best thing about that post was, you said I 'RAWK' I feel special now! :]

Carl - REALLY sorry for the slow response, but I'm LOVING this track!! I'm SO inspired by this one :D It gave me a country like feel to it which was pretty cool. How long did it take you to make? And what were you thinking about when you made it?

dude carl- I freakin' loved it! it's just so laid back kind of a jam type feel and it's got that soul to it! freaking awesome work man

gaaaaaaaaaaaaaar8 progression

I am SO GLAD, on this rainy Sat morn’ Heather, that I made YOU smile .. that smile , in turn cause my mouth to shape a big ole smile as well! …
and btw[-/i] :
you DO RAWK! let no-one tell you otherwise !

JazzMaverick says:

Carl - REALLY sorry for the slow response, but I'm LOVING this track!! I'm SO inspired by this one :D It gave me a country like feel to it which was pretty cool. How long did it take you to make? And what were you thinking about when you made it?

Duuuude-ette , no worries! I Know yer at Uni and all is akimbo and fresh and scary-fun-new-difficult-easy right now. I’m honored ya actually found the TIME (bet ya don’t have much you can label as “free”, lol, these daze! ;~)
“How long did it take you to make?”
Good question lol!
Naw, lol, I got this one nailed as it was/is the 1st cut we recorded at Mikes new (mainly)Analog Studio, **not mine, for ‘The Fist and Flower’(working title) .
It was 2 Takes and three mixes, if memory serves. And to further answer: the recording was ‘done’ on one Tuesday evening, we went back and added Tambourine, Shakers and some discarded back-vox (kept mikes) the night we recorded the 2nd cut, ‘Picture 2’ or ‘Wait’, I fergot).

The length of creation was lessened due to, with Mikes/Scott’s help, the “mapping of our large recording environment with the Baffles and Bass Traps(traps in place, Baffles on Rollers) and finding just the right mics and mic placements to be able to records without and Compression on anything (slight Comp on Vox during mix = all “FX” used) PRE- pushing the RED button on anything.
(**which is/was the ‘real story’ and a real trip+effect on tunes)

“And what were you thinking about when you made it?”
Wrote it ? or Made it?
Wrote it “about” how such a STONG love can at times cut both ways while always returning to warm greatness; it’s a reassuring confessional for my wife Cin one morning after she left for the store.
Made it? By Mixing on that Godly Toft Board and transferring that here to be mastered, where , keeping with our edict, I ‘added’ only a bit of EQ and, cause “they” gotta have it meaty, a Waves Ltd L3 Ultramaximiser.

I’m Really Glad ya like it!

case211 says:

dude carl- I freakin' loved it! it's just so laid back kind of a jam type feel and it's got that soul to it! freaking awesome work man

Thanks MUCH Case! I love hearing that from a fav-poster and cool Cat!..Dig?
I was really hoping you’d dig it, as it doesn’t sound like much I hear anymore.
I’m REALLY glad you picked up on the “laid back kind of a jam type feel and it's got that soul to it”-hell I could live off just the “it's got that soul to it” part, muh Brutha! That’s what its (music) all about to me, soul, vibe and ‘honesty’ (I’ll write ya or post re: ‘honesty in tunes’ at some point but today is my veryveryvery buried w/ students day, lol, so it’ll have’tuh wait.)

But yes .. what ya hear is true .. guys in mid-late 40’s relaxing with a tune o’ mine and thinking of the upcoming CD ! That’s it.

patleh says:

gaaaaaaaaaaaaaar8 progression

Thank You Suh!

Thank Y’all!

And Please .. water ya do remember to…

RAWK!
Cs

Holy potatoes.

Hell yeah, Carl! I found it kinda blugrassy country classic rockish. LOL! It sounds so pro! LOL! And it is but as FenderBender said, I can't really understand the words. I like the way it's so dry and everything but still, to me it sounds to much of a jam. I know you were having a good time with it, LOL, so knowing that (and you can tell from the sound of it alone) it kinds makes you smile! It pretty much made my day today so THANKS to you and your SUMMER OF LOVE! :D XD!

Carl buddy, this sounds absolutely delicious. Should do a bar gig up in halifax sometime, i'd pay to see this!