Please to listen to my new track and feedback - 'Facsimiles'

chuckduffy

Well-known member
Stylewise it’s another 80s type of joint with some crampy vocals. My grey roots are seriously showing on this one….. Hadn’t done an electronic number since last year. As I relayed to the Heatmiser - major renovations on the house, my 'studio' is long gone - so I don't have my drums, piano, amps, proper keyboard or mixing setup anymore. Mixing is such a drag now.

This one is chock full of ARPs, Prophets, tremolo/chorus guitars and TR808. Decided to balance it all out with some bass played on J-Bass, but then looped. This is a minimalist drum machine thing - but there is shit flying out of the corners all over the place. The hardest type of mix for me to get my head around.

Let me know any mix thoughts - this place is always a crucial stop for my tracks on the way to bandcamp, and you guys haven't failed me yet :-)

03-11-2014 - Facsimiles Mix 1
03-11-2014 - Facsimiles Mix 2 Bass +1 and lowered HPF, Hat -4, Kick +2


A short video presentation I prepared.

 
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Yeah, I really like this one. Way to adapt to your changed circumstances. As frustrating as that must be, I imagine it's kind of cool to be forced into a totally new approach. When you get that stuff set back up, maybe you'll be able to include some new ideas from this experience?

I don't really have any mix critiques for you chuck. I think it sounds really good as is, and it's original enough sounding to me that you could say that any given sound is supposed to be exactly the way it is and I'd buy it! Certainly there's nothing that sounds off or anything after several listens. Well done.
 
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That video definitely is freaky like an 80's video in that genre from the time.

I'm not sure I have anything to nit at, other than the kick being a bit out of the mix and the HH a bit cutting into the vocal space (loud). The guitar tremolo seems a bit far out, but on second listen it seems to fit the tune.

Then again, it all does seem to fit the sound from that era quite well IMO.

I may have to listen again after I see if my red parachute pants still fit. :D
 
I'm needing more low end. The bass is kind of thin and the kick is a little low. Don't go full monster electro beat like kcearl, but I'd like a little more low end in there. The rest is real cool.
 
Nice song and sound
I usally hate 80s style music, but somehow i like this song. Has a really nice vibe to it.
The tremolo guitar is totally cool.
 
Hey all - Thanks! - Added Mix 2 up top. Bass +1 and lowered HPF, Hat -4, Kick +2

Hey Heat - Thanks! It's super frustrating not really being able to mix out loud very often, and I miss the hell out of my piano - but other than that I enjoy getting back to my teenage musical roots :-)

Jimmy - You pinpointed the thing that was bugging the living shit out of me! I was convinced it was vocal distortion :-) Lowered the hats by 4. Thanks dude. I never had parachute pants, but gives me an idea for the next vid :-)

Greg - I think I got to aggressive with the HPF trying to clean up the mud. Lowered that and bumped bass up by 1 and kick up by 2. The kcearl comment cracked me up. I queued up his latest the other day at my normal volume and it almost whomped my head off. Seriously cool sounds, just in a different mix direction.

DrSpring - thanks! I love the crazy tremolo, hadn't used that effect in ages. Got the freeware version of GuitarRig with Kontact Player and it had that effect as a preset that I tweaked a little. Normally I would use my little Ampeg with the tremolo and spring verb.
 
Lol. That was not a knock on kcearl though. I dig his stuff. His is just a different direction. If you went somewhere between your original mix and one of his, I think you'd be just right.
 
Lol. That was not a knock on kcearl though. I dig his stuff. His is just a different direction. If you went somewhere between your original mix and one of his, I think you'd be just right.

I know it wasn't a knock on kcearl - I love his stuff. I beefed up the bass and kick in mix 2.
 
Yeah, mix 2 hits the spot chuck :)

I listened to the first mix the other day, but didn't getto commenting and more bass was the one thing that I thought was needed. Other than that it sounded cool, and you've addressed this with the update.

On a side note, I can't remember if you posted in the awesome covers thread in the prime time forum, but I'm always a complete sucker for hearing 'guilty pleasure' type covers taken on by people I like. I thought it might give the mp3 clinic a bit of a lift to see if there was any appetite for people on here taking on their guilty pleasures as covers and posting them up, but never got round to suggesting it. Anyway, it's looking a little healthier on here the last week of so, but I thought at the time that you could do a cool take on something like Enola Gay or Steppin Out - you're damn good at incorporating the best from that era into your sound.
 
the first thing I notice is how wide it sounds, some nice sounding reverbs though with good depth. The bass guitar is a tiny bit quiet though at around 300-400Hz area.

the mix is a little weird with the imaging though, slightly panned to the left too much with the guitar and intro synth. I like the song though, but would probably pan it with a few more tracks on the right to fill that space.

p.s I'm refering to mix 1
 
Yeah, mix 2 hits the spot chuck :)

I listened to the first mix the other day, but didn't getto commenting and more bass was the one thing that I thought was needed. Other than that it sounded cool, and you've addressed this with the update.

On a side note, I can't remember if you posted in the awesome covers thread in the prime time forum, but I'm always a complete sucker for hearing 'guilty pleasure' type covers taken on by people I like. I thought it might give the mp3 clinic a bit of a lift to see if there was any appetite for people on here taking on their guilty pleasures as covers and posting them up, but never got round to suggesting it. Anyway, it's looking a little healthier on here the last week of so, but I thought at the time that you could do a cool take on something like Enola Gay or Steppin Out - you're damn good at incorporating the best from that era into your sound.

I was going to ask you what ghetto commenting is, then I re-read :-) Thanks for checking it out, and for checking it out again with mix 2. I did a car listen of mix 2 on the way to work. I don't know how exactly those tiny changes added up - but for me the difference is pretty dramatic. The hat change alone solved something that was irritating the living hell out of me, and I was clueless. The small bass and kick changes seem to have also caused the buss compressor to kick in differently - whatever it is I immediately noticed that it seems to get up much better, especially in the chorus.

As for covers - I am always down. I am do covers constantly, sometimes faithful/sometimes ridiculous. Seems they get a bad rap around here sometimes, but I can't think of a better way to stay in shape when the inspiration isn't hitting. I didn't post anything on the Awesome Covers thread, but someone dug up my cover of The Walk and posted it (maybe flat_feet?), which I thought was pretty cool/funny. I like both the songs you mentioned - especially Steppin Out. I would love to get into a cover thing where everyone does it their own way, I think it would be cool.
 
o.k had a listen to mix 2 and it's much better and somehow more glued together.

I noticed the same thing myself in a car listen this morning on way to work. I think maybe the small changes in the kick and bass are causing the buss compressor to kick in differently. I sure didn't expect or anticipate it, but it happened. Also dropping the level on that stupid hat made a huge difference to my peace of mind - something had been driving me nuts and I couldn't pinpoint it (THANKS JIMMY). I actually thought the hat was vocal distortion at one point and went searching for it.

Thanks for checking the track out, and taking the time to check it out again and comment. I really appreciate it!
 
Certainly there's nothing that sounds off...

Uh, what I meant to say was, it needs more bass :facepalm: :).

Yeah, the new mix sounds great. It's certainly got more clarity. I guess I thought the slight abrasiveness (HH etc.?) of the 1st mix was intentional and fit the mood, but this is probably better. You could bring up the vocal a tad now if you wanted, but it does sound really good.

Like the doc, I pretty much hate '80's music and sounds in general, but for me, when you go in that direction, you always manage to pull out those few sonic elements from that era that actually worked and expand upon them in a way that I always enjoy.
 
I was going to ask you what ghetto commenting is, then I re-read :-) Thanks for checking it out, and for checking it out again with mix 2. I did a car listen of mix 2 on the way to work. I don't know how exactly those tiny changes added up - but for me the difference is pretty dramatic. The hat change alone solved something that was irritating the living hell out of me, and I was clueless. The small bass and kick changes seem to have also caused the buss compressor to kick in differently - whatever it is I immediately noticed that it seems to get up much better, especially in the chorus.

As for covers - I am always down. I am do covers constantly, sometimes faithful/sometimes ridiculous. Seems they get a bad rap around here sometimes, but I can't think of a better way to stay in shape when the inspiration isn't hitting. I didn't post anything on the Awesome Covers thread, but someone dug up my cover of The Walk and posted it (maybe flat_feet?), which I thought was pretty cool/funny. I like both the songs you mentioned - especially Steppin Out. I would love to get into a cover thing where everyone does it their own way, I think it would be cool.

Ha, now I'm going to have to experiment with some ghetto commentin' an' shizzle innit.

Good to hear about the covers. I'm trying to get something else finished off at the moment, but once that's all done I'll see if I can get some kind of clinic covers thread going. Guilty pleasures only though - no zep, stones, bowie etc. Get fat_fleet taking on Toto's Africa too :thumbs up:

Like the doc, I pretty much hate '80's music and sounds in general, but for me, when you go in that direction, you always manage to pull out those few sonic elements from that era that actually worked and expand upon them in a way that I always enjoy.

I think I'm pretty much the same. There are elements I really like about certain music in the era, but even that often comes with caveats. For as much as I love the likes of the Smiths and Sonic Youth, it's almost in spite of the horrible 80s production that's slathered all over it.

On the other hand though, I do tend to like the synth sounds from the era - even on the more poppy records. Musicians were clearly still trying to find how to incorporate them into songs and the sounds they produced were far less high tech than now, which created some interesting contrasts.
 
Listened again
The track should be longer!
;)

Thanks for checking it out again! - what did you think of bass on mix 2? I think I might still have room to move it up more. As far as length - I have the attention span of a 6 year old so it is really hard for me to get a song that is longer than 2 minutes, 3 minutes is an *epic* for me :-) I'm thinking of asking a friend of mine who does hip hop to do an extended remix for me.
 
Yeah, the bass on mix #2 is slightly better
But i don't know, i don't really care too much for minor mixing details if the song and the sounds itself are cool... i tend to think that mixing is over-rated :facepalm:
For me it's also hard to make songs that are longer than 2 or 3 minutes. I also want to finish everything as fast as i can, as i think the vibe is better that way when everything is kind of spontaneous and fresh. That includes mixing for me. But i don't really mix anyway. Faders up, pan, reverb.
 
Yeah, the bass on mix #2 is slightly better
But i don't know, i don't really care too much for minor mixing details if the song and the sounds itself are cool... i tend to think that mixing is over-rated :facepalm:
For me it's also hard to make songs that are longer than 2 or 3 minutes. I also want to finish everything as fast as i can, as i think the vibe is better that way when everything is kind of spontaneous and fresh. That includes mixing for me. But i don't really mix anyway. Faders up, pan, reverb.

For the most part I share the same attitude towards mixing, over the last couple years I've pretty much broken the bad habit of poking at mixes for ages. I've been stuggling because I don't have my room anymore, I'm working in the dining room and mixing primarily with headphones. Agree about keeping things fresh, including mixing. I need to get back and comment on your latest track, which I really liked. I started out on 4-track in my teens and used it into my late 20s. Always loved the medium. Your stuff sounds great.
 
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