Looking Out On Mackinaw with Nick and Dave.

Robus

Well-known member
I'm working to finalize the mixes for all the songs Nick, Dave and I have recorded over the past year. It is nine songs so far. I'm hoping to finish the album this summer. We don't yet have a name for our project. Any suggestions?

This was the first song the three of us recorded together. I posted the rough mix to the clinic about a year ago. This is closer to what I'm looking for. My questions have to do with levels. Vocals? Bass? Drums?

Thanks for any and all ears.

Latest mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqJIqBR8uJebHg0T1RvX0k5RFU/view?usp=sharing

Previous mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqJIqBR8uJebzRfN0pSNmhDVlE/view?usp=sharing

Looking Out On Mackinaw
Word and Music: Ray Taylor 2016

Now that we’ve come so far
You are
In my estimation
My superstar
We come a little closer
To our destination
We dig a little in the past
For our foundation

Went a little too far now and then
We ain’t sorry
Went a little too far round that bend
But we ain’t parted
And now that we’ve gone so far

The old ones caught the spirit
In the north woods night
And the blast of the moon on the water
Burned them in the sight
And the spirit took their bones
Scattered them asunder
By the river, by the big moon waters
The iron plows tilled them under

You know if I could be anywhere
I’d be with them for starters
Just two more campfires blinking on the water
Looking out on Mackinaw

Detroit spit us out
It’s a long damn way to Arizona
City just gave out
That lake she rolls on in my soul
Her water’s mine to have and hold

After we wake to the alarm clock bell
Morning stepping bare
Smell of your biscuits and coffee
Woodsmoke in your hair
Would you go back to Chicago
If your Polish daddy called?
Would you stay with me in Charlevoix
Through the darker nights of fall?

Went a little too far now and then
We ain’t sorry
Drove a little too fast round that bend
But we still ain’t parted

And if I could be anywhere
I be with you for starters
Like a dream that catches you
While you standing by the water
Looking out on Mackinaw
Looking out on Mackinaw

Well if I could be here forever
I’d be ever at your shoulder
Standing by you like a lighthouse watching on the water
Looking out on Mackinaw
 
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Slight lisping going on. "superstar", "so far", "sorry". Those were before the first chorus, if you're trying to find them. I'd do what you did on the last track with the hard panned guitars. Whatever you did there, do that on this one too. I found the L one, again, too twangy and far out without a compliment. Great groove with the kick/bass. The "whoa's" sound really nice. The breakdown "by the water" has a big level jump. I wish there wasn't all that room noise in his vocal, you can really hear it drop out after the last line.

90% there dude. Sounding really good. You've got a groove going on lately, like you're finding your sweet spot wit the mixes. Can't wait for the finished album.
 
Guitars sound excellent. Maybe notch the clean guitar on the left a little bit at 2400hz.

Vocals sound terrific.

I think the low end is just a bit strong. I'd just turn down the bass and kick by a db or two. Just to keep the mix a little lighter.

Other than the kick level, I wouldn't change the drums. They sound great.

Overall, I thought it was great.
 
The over-done de-esser was the first thing I noticed too.

I think I'm catching some lip smacks too. (which the de-esser isn't doing favors for either!)

What's your vocal chain here? I'm hearing a few words that seem to be much quieter than the surrounding ones, as if you accidentally moved back from the mic or something. 3:28-3:40 seems a good example of it. "standing" is very quiet and "by" is much louder, and on the second "looking out on Mackinaw" you sound much closer to the mic.
 
Thanks Steve. I've missed seeing you as much around here. The vocal chain consists of ReaEQ with broad reduction in the lower mids, followed by a couple of stages of compression using ReaComp. I can go in and do some detail editing to reduce the smacks and whatnot. Maybe some manual leveling to address inconsistencies like the one you mention. This has been a difficult vocal track to process, partly down to it being our first song together and working out issues relating to room, mic, etc.
 
New mix in the OP. The overzealous de-essing should be gone now. I lowered the kick drum and re-balanced the bass. Did some manual editing of the lead vocal to address the level inconsistencies that Steve pointed out. Lowered the overall level of the vocals.
 
I did notice a little bit of a tremble on the vocals in the previous mix. This is much better in that regard.

On my ear buds the bass guitar seems a bit loud on this latest mix - it's stepping on the guitars a little. Will listen on my monitors tonight and provide more comments if necessary.
 
Thanks Steve. I've missed seeing you as much around here. The vocal chain consists of ReaEQ with broad reduction in the lower mids, followed by a couple of stages of compression using ReaComp. I can go in and do some detail editing to reduce the smacks and whatnot. Maybe some manual leveling to address inconsistencies like the one you mention. This has been a difficult vocal track to process, partly down to it being our first song together and working out issues relating to room, mic, etc.
I'm around, just too busy to check as many threads as I normally do! :D

Those sibilants do sound hard to tame. The vocal is definitely better-edited this time tho.
 
"just gave out" has a vocal gain jump. I love the "for starers" section about halfway through, it sounds really really good.
 
New mix in the OP. I'm trying out a different treatment on the lead vocal. New and simpler chain, with just one stage of EQ and compression. Also trying out a new compressor. I've cut less in the low mids, so this vocal should be darker but more natural sounding. If anyone cares to compare the vocal on the two mixes in the OP, that would be great!
 
Little late again to this one, been really busy over here. I think the new version vocals are better actually. They weren't bad to begin with, but the newer version they seem smoother, and fit a little better in the mix. Awesome tones as always. Super clean, nice chords- I love that open Fsus2 chord at the end with the open G on top of it, always liked that chord.

Great recording, sounds very professional, and inspiring for me to try to get my mixes to sound this good and clean.
 
Thanks guys. The previous version just sounded too processed and clangy to me, so I stripped all the plugins off the lead vocal and rebuilt from scratch. I'm hoping the compression is sounding more natural. I'll give a listen over the next few days and see if I can brighten the vocal a little bit without diminishing that natural feel.

Hey Johnny, that chord always reminds me of "Talk of the Town" by the Pretenders. That was the shizzle when I was in college, back when pop was fun!
 
Those "whoa"s sound great. "Parted" at 1:06 is too loud, at least a syllable anyway. De-essing is much better here, applied very nicely. I've been using the following settings for de-essing, and it works for me across nearly all my tracks aside from adjusting the release slightly...

20:1, 5.8khz-12.5khz, 0.1 A, 2ms R.

What is your guitar bus EQ? Where do you HP/LP at, Ray? I think the last vocal section could be a touch louder, particularly the lines before "looking out on...". It's just that dramatic finish and I'd let the vocals grab more attention there. Right now, they're a little low.

Drums/bass sounding great. Nice groove/pumping going on. They drive the song well. How many songs are you trying to put together? I'm aiming for 8. Glad you're in the same boat as me with working on a release...it works out well to be able to lean on each other for ears. Now, if this moving goes well tonight/tomorrow, I should be setup and back at it by Monday.

Sorry to detract. This is sounding very good man.
 
Thanks Taras. I would like to have about 14 songs on the album. We are going to have to call a limit at some point. Other stuff in the queue will just have to get bumped back to a second project to follow.

Listening again, I can tell there is still some leveling to do on the lead vocal within and between sections of the song. Thanks for the de-essing settings. I'm still doing that manually.

I don't EQ guitars, ever really, apart from a high pass on the guitar buss at 100hz. Otherwise all the tone adjustments happen in the tracking stage. Same with bass, no EQ ever, apart from a HP at 50hz.
 
...apart from a high pass on the guitar buss at 100hz. Same with bass, no EQ ever, apart from a HP at 50hz.

We're pretty close, just a touch lower for me. Usually 90-95 for guitars and 40-45 for bass. 14 is quite a bit. I'm interested in seeing the track listing, if you get around to it.
 
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