it doesn't matter

[Mr Clean]

Good to see/hear you back HM. Missed your tunes.....

I really like this tune. I'm with TripM on the vocals. Nudge up a hair here and there would make a great difference. Clichéd parts and grade school lyrics aside, I thought it sounded great. I'm a great believer of "whatever works, to get you to the next verse".

 

[easlern]

Mix sounds real nice to me. Maybe the vocal is a tad obscured when the pad comes in on the pre-chorus. Maybe bringing up the vocal throughout wouldn't hurt.

Such a small issue though that I wouldn't change it if it ends up putting something else off-balance.

Cool song, nice mix!

 

[PoeticIntensity]

Hey Pete! It's always a good day when I hop on here and find something new from you.

A few nits, which seem to be what others are saying - vocals really need to come up. You've got a pretty incredible texture to your voice, and covering it up just won't do. I'm also noticing you're putting a low-cut (hi-pass) filter on your voice (or using a mic that cuts out the lower freqs by default) that is cutting out the meat of your voice, and... well... I like the deep parts of your voice, and think they would do this song a whole lot of justice.

Instrumentation is fantastic. Chord progression - same. No nits about anything but your voice, and it's because you're covering it up! Let it shine, dude, and get it deeper.... Your vox is golden, and it needs to shine.

So there.

Love your stuff, dude.

 

[heatmiser]

Good to see/hear you back HM. Missed your tunes.....

I really like this tune. I'm with TripM on the vocals. Nudge up a hair here and there would make a great difference. Clichéd parts and grade school lyrics aside, I thought it sounded great. I'm a great believer of "whatever works, to get you to the next verse".

Mr. C! Good to hear from you man. Thanks for the good word. I have a new mix taking some of what was suggested here into account. I added it to the 1st post, plus I'll add it down below. I actually just remembered that I used a C # diminished chord in that descending bit - that was pretty adventurous for me! Anyway, vocals are up a little now, plus a bunch of other minor changes. Thanks again.

Mix sounds real nice to me. Maybe the vocal is a tad obscured when the pad comes in on the pre-chorus. Maybe bringing up the vocal throughout wouldn't hurt.

Such a small issue though that I wouldn't change it if it ends up putting something else off-balance.

Cool song, nice mix!

Cool. Thanks easlern. There was so much consensus on the vocal level I did play around with it some and have posted a new mix. Not sure about the overall balance now though, as I couldn't help but mess with everything else while I was there. Thank you for your input!

Hey Pete! It's always a good day when I hop on here and find something new from you.

A few nits, which seem to be what others are saying - vocals really need to come up. You've got a pretty incredible texture to your voice, and covering it up just won't do. I'm also noticing you're putting a low-cut (hi-pass) filter on your voice (or using a mic that cuts out the lower freqs by default) that is cutting out the meat of your voice, and... well... I like the deep parts of your voice, and think they would do this song a whole lot of justice.

Instrumentation is fantastic. Chord progression - same. No nits about anything but your voice, and it's because you're covering it up! Let it shine, dude, and get it deeper.... Your vox is golden, and it needs to shine.

So there.

Love your stuff, dude.

Jason! Nice...long time man. Thanks for checking in. You're pretty close with your vocal critique. While I didn't hi-pass anything, I did step further from the mic this time which may have diminished the low end some, plus I used an AM radio effect on the lead vocal tracks as I was going for a telephone kind of effect from the start. So yeah, probably a good bit less low end on the vocal tracks overall. I did cover them up here, but I have a new mix where the AM radio effect is ditched in favor of a fairly short delay, plus they got a couple db boost. For good or ill, I think the vocals are louder and clearer now?

I also upped the bass, kick drums, electric guitars and organ. The "strings" and acoustic guitars are further back now giving the whole thing a different feel, although perhaps not much different to others?

If anyone would care to check back and compare and let me know if this is any improvement I would appreciate it - thanks!

04.21.16 mix:

 

[PoeticIntensity]

Heck yes. The new mix kicks the old one's trash all over the place. Vocals are still thin, but not nearly as thin as they were.

If I'm being picky, There is a slight lack of low-end, generally... It'd be super cool to get that kick bumping my sub a bit, and the bass synths should probably push a little more low-end. During the choruses, too, there seems to be a bit of mid-buildup, but not bad.

This mix is way better, and overall, I think this mix is pretty well-done.

I think I'll have another listen now...

 

[heatmiser]

Heck yes. The new mix kicks the old one's trash all over the place. Vocals are still thin, but not nearly as thin as they were.

If I'm being picky, There is a slight lack of low-end, generally... It'd be super cool to get that kick bumping my sub a bit, and the bass synths should probably push a little more low-end. During the choruses, too, there seems to be a bit of mid-buildup, but not bad.

This mix is way better, and overall, I think this mix is pretty well-done.

I think I'll have another listen now...

Oh good. Thank you for checking back!

I think I'm hearing what you're hearing. The kicks were recorded with an SM57 just to try something new, so I may not have captured enough truly low end content to satisfy regardless of level.

I did cut some lows from the lowest string parts, maybe I overdid that?

And yes, agreed on the chorus. It's a little harsh. I think it's the stacked vocals? Some kind of mid buildup in those tracks I bet. Happened with my last song too despite a lot of cuts, particularly in the harmony parts.

Maybe I can refine this further. Thanks!

 

[kcearl]

I went straight to the second mix


its stellar, sounded great on my system. In fact I was listening to a tune of mine before hand and yours makes my mix sound dark and muddy...really crystal clear.

Song is brilliant...Im in your top ten fans

 

[heatmiser]

I went straight to the second mix


its stellar, sounded great on my system. In fact I was listening to a tune of mine before hand and yours makes my mix sound dark and muddy...really crystal clear.

Song is brilliant...Im in your top ten fans

Yay! Great to hear from you super jakes. Thanks. I'm glad you like it.

It's funny, because I've always kind of felt the same about your mixes in relation to my own, so perhaps we all suffer from a grass is always greener thing when it comes to our own stuff? Anyway, I'm glad you checked in and that it sounded good on your setup.

 

[robgreen]

If anyone would care to check back and compare and let me know if this is any improvement I would appreciate it - thanks!

Yeah, definitely an improvement Pete - overall sound is more polished I guess than mix 1. I didn't think the vocals really needed to come up when I heard the first mix, but with hindsight they definitely benefit from it.

Anything from here on in would just be personal taste really

In fact I was listening to a tune of mine before hand and yours makes my mix sound dark and muddy...really crystal clear.

Funnily enough, I've started work on remixing old tunes recently and have been using some of yours as a reference kc. I tend to let things get far too dark and muddy if left to my own devices - for some reason I just don't notice it until someone else points it out, and then it seems so obvious. Been hoping that checking against your stuff helps me shortcut this process

 

[rayc]

Very cool result.
Outdoes the Lips at the moment.

 

[heatmiser]

Yeah, definitely an improvement Pete - overall sound is more polished I guess than mix 1. I didn't think the vocals really needed to come up when I heard the first mix, but with hindsight they definitely benefit from it.

Anything from here on in would just be personal taste really

Yes, I felt the same about the vocals, but I think maybe they were right about the levels?

Thanks for coming back for another check rob - glad it's sounding good for you.

Funnily enough, I've started work on remixing old tunes recently and have been using some of yours as a reference kc. I tend to let things get far too dark and muddy if left to my own devices - for some reason I just don't notice it until someone else points it out, and then it seems so obvious. Been hoping that checking against your stuff helps me shortcut this process

Yeah, I thought it was pretty ironic having KC talk about dark or muddy! Just by virtue of the sounds he chooses I always found his tracks had plenty of clarity and high end detail.

Anyway, I think you are making progress. Lo fi aesthetic (that I think we share) aside, I used to find your mixes a little boxy or mid-range heavy sounding. Always thought you could use a fuller, deeper sound with more air, without losing your vibe or whatever...I think you're moving in that direction over time.

Very cool result.
Outdoes the Lips at the moment.

Thanks ray!

Aww...I don't know about that, but I bet Wayne Coyne could kill this one! I wish they had done it.

 

[ibleedburgundy]

Hey man cool tune. I like it a lot! I just listened to the 4.21 mix for the first time today, and I still think the vocals could be featured a tad more later in the song (chorus 3/4 way through). The first verse is perfect.

Great stereo image. Great balance of drums and instruments. Straddles the synth/acoustic line quite well. -Not easy to do. I know because I try to do the same thing lol. The synth at the very beginning could maybe be faded in a bit - start at a lower volume. It caught me off guard initially but then once it was in the blend it was real nice.

 

[Robus]

Sorry, didn't realize there was a second mix. This addresses all my quibbles in the earlier mix. Vocals aren't super loud, but I'm hearing them clearly now. This sounds pretty finished. Good song.

 

[heatmiser]

Hey man cool tune. I like it a lot! I just listened to the 4.21 mix for the first time today, and I still think the vocals could be featured a tad more later in the song (chorus 3/4 way through). The first verse is perfect.

Great stereo image. Great balance of drums and instruments. Straddles the synth/acoustic line quite well. -Not easy to do. I know because I try to do the same thing lol. The synth at the very beginning could maybe be faded in a bit - start at a lower volume. It caught me off guard initially but then once it was in the blend it was real nice.

Thanks IBB. Good stuff. Interesting idea to fade in that opening synth. I never thought of how it just pops right in at the start, but you're right...you're probably right about the chorus vocals too. I was so afraid of mid buildup there with the multiple voices that I think the vocal level actually drops a bit in the choruses which is the opposite of what one would normally want.

I'm glad you think it works overall though. The main idea here was just to try to merge seemingly incongruous sounds into a cohesive and hopefully fun track. Thanks again.

Sorry, didn't realize there was a second mix. This addresses all my quibbles in the earlier mix. Vocals aren't super loud, but I'm hearing them clearly now. This sounds pretty finished. Good song.

No need to apologize Robus. I'm happy you came back to check the new mix. Even happier still that it sounds better to you. Thanks for your input!