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I understand it's too early to start playing White Christmas, but I think it's never too early to start getting in the spirit by listening to Christmas Truck by Tater Totts.

Lo Fi Original Post

https://soundcloud.com/tater-totts-radio/christmas-truck

Remixed Song After Forum Comments, may be better...

https://soundcloud.com/david-snyder-mixing-lab/christmas-truck


Now start shopping everybody.

This song has been described as perhaps "the most heart warming Holiday song ever written, a tribute to both Walmart Christmas shopping, and the heart of the American Dream."

I absolutely swear with both fingers of both hands crossed that Tater Totts is not a figment of my imagination and is not an alter ego. I have no idea how he broke into my studio and recorded this, really.

Christmas Truck
By David Snyder

V1.

One winter night over Alabam
Old Santa Claus lost his way
He started off in the cold north pole
And he was drinkin’ all the way

The deers were scared
Rudolph cried
it wasn't much of a holiday
When two miles outside of
Birmingham
Santa crashed his sleigh

Round midnight daddy
Found him
The toys were nowhere to be seen
Santa was sitting in the middle
Of the woods
And Rudolph’s nose was green

Santa said sir
I'm sorry
I shouldn't have been drinkin' all that beer
I guess I won't be bringing the kids
any Christmas toys this year

But Daddy said to Santa
They're gonna have better luck

Cause we don’t miss Christmas in Alabam
And this year
Santa Claus is drivin' a truck

Ch:

Yeah, Daddy is drivin' a Christmas truck
all the way to Walmart town

Two hours before the daylight breaks
All the prices will go down

Yeah Daddy is driving a Christmas truck
All over the whole wide world
Bringing some Walmart Christmas joy
to every boy and girl

V2.

Little Jimmy is gettin' an iPhone
Little April gets a Play Station 3
Mama is gettin' a Roku
I wish they would give one to me

If you believe in Magic
You’ll find a way to make your own
And Daddy has always known just how
To bring that Magic home

Ch:

Yeah, Daddy is drivin' a Christmas truck
all the way to Walmart town

Two hours before the daylight breaks
All the prices will go down go down

Yeah daddy is driving a Christmas truck
All over whole wide world
Bringing some Walmart Christmas joy
to every boy and girl
Bringing some Walmart Christmas joy
to every boy and girl

Performed by the Legendary Tater "Nashville" Totts
Words and Music by David Snyder
_________________________
David Snyder
ASCAP, NSAI
http://www.musicdealers.com/artist/davidsnyder
http://www.reverbnation.com./davidpsnyder
https://soundcloud.com/davidsnyderchannel
www.davidsnydermusic.com

Cool Americana tune with some good lyrics.

I loved the rough vocal style for this song - it really fits the vibe well.

There is one spot in the vocals that could use slightly better timing:
"Cause we don’t miss Christmas in Alabam
And this year
Santa Claus is drivin' a truck"

The backing music is good and suits the song well. The mix needs a bit of work, though. The vocals need to come back in the mix. The toms are barely there in the mix, and the snare sounds a bit thin. A few tweaks will polish this song up to a high sheen of Christmas attitude!

Peace,
TC

Thanks TC. Those are some good suggestions for the next mix. Highly appreciated.

This is a very amusing effort. A lot of clever writing.

Vic

Never to early David lol.
Enjoyed this one
Thanks for the listen
Travis

Well David,

You had me smiling for sure! This sounds like Hank Williams Jr got together with Calvin Stewart for a collab! Unique and funny. I might suggest given the strong vocal projections, to add a little reverb to them and back them off a couple db to "glue" them a little better to the mix--small tweak and JMO. I could hear this one on the radio, they're always looking for humorous Christmas songs. Remember how many times we heard "Grandma got run over by a reindeer?" Enjoyed this!

steady-eddie

Hey TC, tell me if this sounds better...

https://soundcloud.com/david-snyder-mixing-lab/christmas-truck

Peace!!

Eddie,

Tell me if this sounds better.

https://soundcloud.com/david-snyder-mixing-lab/christmas-truck

Thanks!

David,


The vocals do sound better "glued" here, and it sounds like you very subtly brought down in volume. It was a little difficult discerning between the older post back and forth due to the whole mix volume was I believe a few db louder on the 2nd version. However, I think you did improve the mix, but might still pull back a couple more db on the lead vox to integrate the sound a bit more.

Now we all have our opinions, and there is NO right or wrong necessarily--so follow your own instincts if you disagree with any of us. My thought process isn't the same on every song when it comes to lead vox volumes or how up front you want that vox. My thinking on this song is that you are approaching it from a very "strong" vocal presence to begin with, and it can easily overpower the music with it's gruffness both sonically and decibel-wise. Yes you want it up front, but it's "not" a crooner type vocal, and you do want the dramatic character which makes it more humorous, but bring the volume down slightly more IMO, and you'll have a better balance of the lead vox reducing the lead vox's intensity. These types of song to me should feel like you are there listening to the band perform the song in person, rather than making it a lead vox dominant song--think more like you are singing a Southern Rock type song. Make sense? We're talking "polishing," not major song sound changing tweaks.

Hey this is better however, and just giving you my "ear" for whatever it's worth? Getting crits/sugs is like getting delt a card hand, sometimes you keep your original cards, other times you discard them and take a couple of new cards or those ideas. Always experiment with ideas, then keep or sweep.

steady-eddie

That is interesting Eddie! Thanks!

The entire mix got a major, major overhaul, with all of the instrumentation, I mean MAJOR. The first one I didn't give a seconds thought to, but given your comments and encouragement, I decided to get serious and do a "real mix."

And yes, I ran it through Lurssen Mastering afterwards with the iTunes specs on, so it is more in line with current loudness levels.

To tell you the truth I was afraid I had lowered the vocals too much, given the "overly dramatic feel" I was going for! But I will listen again.

Hey, here's a question for you man:

On levels, I always use a dynamic range meter to keep me honest and make sure I am not clipping above 0 DB, and that I actually have dynamic range. I like my dynamic range to be at least 9 or 10 most of the time so it doesn't sound like mush. You know, acoustic guitars still sound like acoustic guitars.

During a recent reference, I pulled up a Glenn Campbell single (the title cut from Ghost on the Canvas) and looked it it. Not only was it a thick blue brick but it was WAY over the loudness parameters. Probably + 3 DB. Way off the charts.

Maybe a separate thread, but are we supposed to stick within 0 DB parameters or not? Or do we just squash and compress and pump it up until we can't hear anymore and everyone says Huh? What did you say? Oh yeah, I think that sounds great. Do I hear a humming noise?????

David,

HERE, is a great place to discuss technical mixing techniques of a song in question and gathering opinions--we all can learn from these types of discussions!

I will be anxious to hear your new mix, as I think your comedic song concept is worth putting the extra effort into making it a better production. I early on with song productions did very little pre mix "gain staging" with my mixes, however I do spend more some time doing so at present. I try and keep my level meters at about -9db, (many keep at -12 db) with each track starting out in the mix especially if I have a lot of tracks--keeping "head-room" available for final mixing or mastering. I never manually exceed the 0 db setting on my master fader. I'm not the best person here to delve into the finer technical aspects of mixing and theory--I would defer to Michael Zaneski or my friend Colin Ward, both in JPF (along with other very fine mixers, too many to name) who I would consider more knowledgeable than myself in this area.

I depend on my ears and eyes with a common sense approach about keeping my mixes not too hot--you can always heat them up later if needed. I don't "master" every song either, but would master should I create a CD to get all songs balanced, as there is always differences in how hot songs evolve etc. It's okay IMO, if you're not mastering a song to beef it up with some extra power, (quasi-mastering) but I like doing that with a "limiter" on the post fader. I do use sometimes on the master "pre fader" an EQ enhancement for extra overall song presence there as well--not always of course, but usually at least a limiter using a "preset" for a subtle master bus setting, where you can catch peaks and also boost the overall gain to give the song more punch and volume. Importantly, however, this is not a substitute for not getting the "relative volume levels" within your mix correct first! There is no "one way" to mix, but there are solid methods of understanding about keeping "head room" available and avoiding clipping in the recording process that are elementary of importance. I'm certainly not advocating squashing your whole mix, but this type of vocal can benefit from some compression and reverb for sure.

I think EQ is easier for most to understand, as changing frequency tones is obvious to our ears. Compression....... I'm still learning about the nuances of it, as also with the different reverbs and how they're tailored--many effects and nuances there as well. Many don't experiment enough with "panning" certain tracks more creatively either--this IMO can really help give each track its unique space and really make a great stereo benefit. My advice (which I do not consider professional) would be for intermediate song mixers, "use reverbs and compression sparingly but experiment with "over-using" those same effects to really hear the setting contrasts"--once you begin to "clearly" see/hear those contrasts, you then become better at hearing the more subtle adjustments and their benefits. It is easier IMO hearing what sounds better from "reducing the effects" than the other way around when learning--which will help eliminate muddiness in a mix by getting it right. Having said that, song vibes and productions are different, so settings with effects will be different from song to song.

I like your determination about improving your mixing skills! Many do not have the patience for advancing their recording/mixing skills. I feel I've still so much more to learn in this area and wish I had more time to devote to improving my skills with song producing & mixing. Hope this was helpful to you.

steady-eddie

Hey Eddie,

Thanks! All very valuable. I actually did almost all of what you say in the bed (mix of instrumentation) very carefully, and there are a lot of EQ toys on those tracks. I got that too my liking.

On the vocals, the main ones are going through Nectar 2, with compression and some delay, but I have that mixed in with a raw vocal precisely because I don't want it to sound too produced. That was part of the humor, in my head anyway. On my speakers and headphones the vocals are actually a little lower than I would go for on this song, but just about right. It could just be me. Some people hear a mix from an entirely different view, and would do something radically different from another. Different chefs cook different ways.

I will take a step back from it. As I said, I am pretty satisfied with the bed but need some time away from it to ponder the vox. I tried them at different levels and with different effects (I have hundreds of EQing and production VSTs) but the one I ended up with is the one that didn't take too much away from the sound I was going for.

By the way, can you insert screenshots on this forum? That would be great for mixing discussions to show screenshots of boards and levels and such and the plug ins you are using.

Some forums allow you to do that. I don't see a button for it here.

Thanks for the help man. I really appreciate it a lot! I think I need to step back on this one so I can hear it fresh. My ears are too cluttered right now.

Hi David,

This is a real cool lyric and song. Pretty funny!

Since Santa drives the truck all over the world. I had to wonder if it's a magic truck that he drives on the ocean to get it around the world, or if he takes a plane or boat and then rents, lol...I'm leaning towards magic truck..that your lyric could inspire such a messed up train-of-thought on my part is a good thing!

I was imagining a lighter sounding song, but wow, you went all heavy--kind of Charlie Daniels meets Bruce Springsteen--this is kind of meta-humor to me, to go musically against a song lyric's grain like that--I like it, it's like as if "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" was done as a serious dirge or if "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" was done by Shane Macgowan, lol..

Your arrangement grew on me. I had to wrap my head around the serious sound of those chords and the overall sound and performance. It works cuz you never wink at us. You remain serious throughout the whole performance. There was a second when you sang, "and this year--Santa Claus is drivin' a truck" and I imagined a befuddled look on the singer's face cuz you phrase that kind of awkwardly, and that works too..

This reminds me of Sunday nights with Dr. Demento..

Very enjoyable, took a few listens for it to all work..then it did..

Mike

Oh Lord have Mercy, Michael, I see Floyd Jane is over here too!

Well that just means I will have to post a new song here soon with Floyd, Janice and me called Grit. I will wait a few days. I think you will smile.



Michael, thanks for your feedback. It gets at something I have learned over the years being a leader of songwriting groups, and hearing tons of feedback, and participating in many, many forums. Sometimes you just have to go with your instincts, and I tell my songwriting buddies this all the time. Keep an open mind, PLEASE LEARN FROM OTHERS, and take constructive criticism well, but always keep the beam of Lady Justice balanced. At least half of the equation is what YOU think about the final work, or mix.

To your point, some things I did on purpose--the awkwardness of "Santa Claus is driving a truck" was on purpose, and off kilter just a bit for comedic effect.

I could have gone a million different ways with the mix, but I chose to settle on one that didn't outshine the slightly obnoxious vocals. As in, this guy is clueless.

I will never say if Tater Totts and I are related, but I can say he is not only the most politically incorrect person I know, he is also the most musically incorrect person I know. Sometimes the vocals are all wrong, sometimes the guitar solo is everything Nashville tells you it just can't be, sometimes the lyrics are everything Nashville tells you it just can't be.

But in a world where 90 percent of commercial music is just plain horrible, and it seems that so few people have any idea what they are talking about, I would like to leave just one small acre for Tater Totts to walk into the delicate china shop of modern society and bust up everything like the clueless clodhopper that he is.

Merry Christmas!!!!