Young Griffo: 'Blood To Bone'_mix by Tommy

[tjmtruth]

 
Above is my signature 3 angel emojis. Why? Because I just like them! :-)
Now, this song really grows on you and the more time I spent mixing it, the more time I wanted to spend on it to make it shine. Mike Senior had mentioned that in the original contest for this song, some time back, that the band had said that re-organizing or otherwise making changes to the arrangement was allowed, and many of the entries did do just that. I did not want to do that and didn't. The ONLY thing that I "changed" was the placement of the harmonies. They were placed in a way that really obstructed the main vocal refrain and it bugged me. So, I experimented with different options and by shifting them over a bit early and with a slight fade in....wham!....the vocals could all be heard nicely, both the lead vocals and the harmonies. If the band is reading this and listening, give it about 3 listens and you will hear what I mean and probably love it the way the harmonies are now in a placement that really lend to making the song totally pleasing and coherent, intelligible and hot!!!! I can't tell you how much I love this song now. True, the arrangement is not traditional in the sense of intro, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, chorus, etc....you get the picture. BUT, and this is a big BUT, there ARE NO RULES in song-writing and I so appreciate the creativity that this band used in their "creation." Kudos!!! 
As to some other technical stuff: The vocals needed a bunch of time, love, attention, and massaging to get them right, especially as to tuning and drifting, etc. So, I probably spent about 4 hours on the vocals alone, manually pitch-shifting and manipulating formants, drifting, pitch, volume, etc. It really paid off. Wait until you hear what I did with the end harmonies where the lead vocal refrain voices are not there and those two voices were left to carry to the end. They are beautiful, full, and make a great presentation for the ending of the song, in my humble opinion of course.
One final thought: You can't do a "quick mix" with this. If you are in here to do quick mixes then this is not the song for you. Much patience is involved in getting this song to pop.
Later,
Tommy (Tommy T for "terrific" in my circles.....LOL)
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