Newest Rocker - "Lover who won't go home."

Crazy Luke said:
I like the fact that you have the snare pop out in the mix (backbeat is important in this song, ala "Boys of Summer), but I think you might have used too much saturation on it. This is something that that I struggle with myself, as to, how much is too much. You have plenty of white noise, now try experimenting with another way (maybe a good look-ahead limiter) to get the snare to pop out, without squashing the body of the snare.
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Are you suggesting, CL, that there should be more beef to the snare? ... or that I pushed it in the mix a little too much? Thanks!
 
The snare's what I'm noticing too. I'd be trying to find a way to make it tighter. It rings too long maybe. It's like you've put stuff on it that's extending each hit past its original decay.
 
dobro said:
The snare's what I'm noticing too. I'd be trying to find a way to make it tighter. It rings too long maybe. It's like you've put stuff on it that's extending each hit past its original decay.
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On this kit, the sound of the snare is the sound of the snare. The best I could do would be gate it. I can fool w/ that and see if it improves things.
 
K-dub said:
On this kit, the sound of the snare is the sound of the snare. The best I could do would be gate it. I can fool w/ that and see if it improves things.
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That probably wont sound good. I also figured that you put the reverb on the snare yourself and could reduce the length of it, but since you cant. If you have a transient designer, you could try that. Those work really good for re-shaping drum sounds. Otherwise I'd just go with the big snare.
 
PDP said:
That probably wont sound good. I also figured that you put the reverb on the snare yourself and could reduce the length of it, but since you cant. If you have a transient designer, you could try that. Those work really good for re-shaping drum sounds. Otherwise I'd just go with the big snare.
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Actually, I think I put a transient designer on it (not near it now and don't remember everything I've done on every track).

Either way ... that's a great suggestion.

If I've got one on it? I'll play with the settings. If not? I'll put one on it.
 
1st page mix - Good song Kevin. You are an dyed in the wool reverb junky but it usually works for you. THe snare reverb needs taming early on but seems foine most of the time.
It's all a bit loud and dense - I'd love to hear your voice a little more clearly placed.
 
rayc said:
1st page mix - Good song Kevin. You are an dyed in the wool reverb junky but it usually works for you. THe snare reverb needs taming early on but seems foine most of the time.
It's all a bit loud and dense - I'd love to hear your voice a little more clearly placed.
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I couldn't take the reverb out of the snare even if I wanted to, Ray. It's embedded in the sound. I am going to tweak things ... when I get around to it. Right now I'm fairly flat out with summer stuff ... and waiting for a rainy day that drives me indoors. :)
 
a really nice song Kevin. Like the premise and the lyrics. Like the vocals and melody. I feel like the snare and hi hat being so wet and washy is really hurting the production. It's a harsh high end swirl that makes it tuff to listen to. The drums in general need replacing. I stuck through tho because I could feel the vibe. I think it will make the average listener turn if off though which is a shame because they'd be missing a good song. I understand the guitar solo has sentimental value but as it is you can barely hear it and it sounds awkward as a result. I'd redo it if you can't bring it up without it sounding weird.


production aside I like it and that's the most important thing.
 
packrobottom said:
a really nice song Kevin. Like the premise and the lyrics. Like the vocals and melody. I feel like the snare and hi hat being so wet and washy is really hurting the production. It's a harsh high end swirl that makes it tuff to listen to. The drums in general need replacing. I stuck through tho because I could feel the vibe. I think it will make the average listener turn if off though which is a shame because they'd be missing a good song. I understand the guitar solo has sentimental value but as it is you can barely hear it and it sounds awkward as a result. I'd redo it if you can't bring it up without it sounding weird.


production aside I like it and that's the most important thing.
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You know what I could do really easily? Your comment poked the thought into my head. The drums are midi ... so I can clone the midi track, and assign it to a different synth ... and then post the results to compare the two. Thanks for thoughts, P!
 


As promised above. Better?

I left the other one up for comparison's sake.

Thanks for any/all thoughts!

Kev-
 
Well ... I've not heard comment here on the comparison, but after listening between the two for the last few days, I think the new one is the one I'm going to go with. The drums, although lacking the "character" sound of the first version, are "cleaner" in the second version ... which improves the mix, I think.

Thanks for the suggestions that led to the switch! I think it improved things ... even though I need to remaster the track and pull some of the highs down.
 
Nope, first one's better. :) That's what I think, anyway. But I'd swap the drums out again if it was me. After the intro, they sort of settle into the whole mix, but they're all highlighted in the intro, so they've got to be right.
 
dobro said:
Nope, first one's better. :) That's what I think, anyway. But I'd swap the drums out again if it was me. After the intro, they sort of settle into the whole mix, but they're all highlighted in the intro, so they've got to be right.
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The first drums have more "character" to them ... so there is that. I'll probably keep both versions and listen for a while ... hopefully I'll come to a clear decision by the time everything goes to mastering stage.
 
I thought the second drums sounded better as the snare was a little more natural and less like a robot was hitting it. hats could come down though. I like the tune , good job!

I'm guessing that this is a drum replacement program? I always find they sound so straight up on the snare and kick... makes it sound like a machine. Would be great to hear this with a real drummer who could feel the groove and build up in the songs.
 
Kapo_Polenton said:
I thought the second drums sounded better as the snare was a little more natural and less like a robot was hitting it. hats could come down though. I like the tune , good job!

I'm guessing that this is a drum replacement program? I always find they sound so straight up on the snare and kick... makes it sound like a machine. Would be great to hear this with a real drummer who could feel the groove and build up in the songs.
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Thanks KP! I'd love to hear it with a real drummer too ... but I'd have to find one first. :)
 
Hey - I just checked this one out. Really good performances throughout. The harmonica sounded great, and I'm not even much of a harmonica fan myself. This one is shorter and more straight forward than a lot of your offerings which is an interesting change up for me.

The mix overall is a good bit too bright for me and I didn't care so much for the tone or verb on the drums (made them stand apart from the rest a bit too much for me maybe), but overall, I think it sounds really pretty good.
 
heatmiser said:
Hey - I just checked this one out. Really good performances throughout. The harmonica sounded great, and I'm not even much of a harmonica fan myself. This one is shorter and more straight forward than a lot of your offerings which is an interesting change up for me.

The mix overall is a good bit too bright for me and I didn't care so much for the tone or verb on the drums (made them stand apart from the rest a bit too much for me maybe), but overall, I think it sounds really pretty good.
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I think I screwed up on the self mastering ... I have a preset that I use in Sound Forge and I've got to change it to bring the bright down a bit. If I remember to bring it down manually, it's okay ... but I often forget and the shimmer over shines.

There's another mix a few posts above that have a completely different drum set employed. Give a listen and let me know what you think of the comparison 'tween the two.

Thanks, bud!
 
Listening to the most recent mix thru HD380 headphones, which I'm new to. The mix is definitely very bright, I think the rhythm guitars and the drum kit are the main offenders on the bright side. I kind of like the more recent "ringy" snare better than the one in the previous mixes. Snare could come down a little in the mix, and maybe the overheads just a bit. Or maybe the hyped high end is what's making the overheads sound too loud.

Great song, it's definitely steeped in the 80s. It's got a great chorus, nice catchy tune.
 
Tadpui said:
Listening to the most recent mix thru HD380 headphones, which I'm new to. The mix is definitely very bright, I think the rhythm guitars and the drum kit are the main offenders on the bright side. I kind of like the more recent "ringy" snare better than the one in the previous mixes. Snare could come down a little in the mix, and maybe the overheads just a bit. Or maybe the hyped high end is what's making the overheads sound too loud.

Great song, it's definitely steeped in the 80s. It's got a great chorus, nice catchy tune.
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Thanks for the kind words T!

I'm going to get back to this soon and remaster it w/o the accentuated highs. I think that'll bring the wince factor down quite a bit ... and settle a lot of the brightness issue.

K-
 
FWIW ... remastered BOTH the original and the alt drum versions ... now on the above links. I think I tamed the harsh.

Thanks for all the help!
 
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