"Promise You I'm Gone"

JohnnyAmato

JohnnyAmato

New member
This is a song my wife wrote long before I met her, and she's never been fully happy with the recording she did of it way back in 2001. So after a little coaxing, I agreed to re-do all the music for a new version.

Lots going on- Drums, bass, two slightly distorted guitars during the choruses, piano, small guitar fills throughout, three stacked background vocals that come and go, and of course, her lead vocal.

The drums and bass I literally played the exact same thing that was on the original, the guitar fills I maybe changed about half of them. The original was recorded at a pro studio back in 2001 with studio musicians, but she's never quite been happy with it.

Been mixing it hard for over a week and need a break. I know it's gotta be close, so let me know if anything sounds off, I've definitely lost perspective on it.

The most important things I'm concerned with are obviously her vocal, reverb amount, kick/snare, bass level, etc... hoping I'm in the ballpark. Thanks!

Promise You I'm Gone | Johnny Amato
 
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Hey Johnny, the intro reminds me of Pink Floyd.

The vocals are a bit too upfront. It's significant (~2-3db). They could use some automation and/or compression, too, to level volume during the higher notes. It will be easier to assess the kick and snare once the vocal is more in place.
 
Good performances. There's a bit of a harsh edge to the lead vocal. I'd be looking to smooth that out first thing. I don't think the vocal is necessarily too upfront, but I think you have volume war going on between the lead vocals and the backing tracks, notably the rhythm guitar and drums. It's as much an arrangement issues as a mixing one. There's a point about 1:50 in where the guitar drops out and you have the piano carrying the accompaniment. The mix sounds right there. When rhythm guitar comes back in and the drums emphasize the chord changes, it's like every line wants to be a crescendo. Just varying the energy level would help.
 
Thanks guys. This is my first attempt ever at really mixing a vocal, (and with 3 stacked back-up vocals at that) I'll look at cutting a little more high-mid harshness from the lead vocal, and look into evening the track out a little more volume-wise. I'll also probably lower that chorus guitar a tad- and cut some more of it's mids to help the vocal sit. Probably need to lower those stacked backing vocals a hair too.

I probably should lower the velocity a little on some of the chorus snare hits too, so every up-beat isn't so crescendo-ish...

I'm going to give it a rest for a day or two, and see if anyone adds anything else I should look at.

Thanks!
 
This has excellence written all over it. Everything really seems crisp and clear. I think the vocals sound really good on the system I am listening on(not monitors). I have found that I am not one to give advise on the finer details so I will leave that to the guys that really have an ear for it...but this sounds really good to me.
 
Thanks for the listen and compliments Bruthish. Giving the mix a few days rest while I work on some other things, so I can have fresh ears and hopefully finish it...
 
Mix sounded great on an iPhone so that is cool. Great performance by all... Powerful song. My only observation is in the arrangement, which is always not so easy up close. Worth considering is the tune goes on at least a minute longer than it should, as there is really no new info given musically or lyrically . Leave me wanting more and to play it again. If it were mine I would trim the fat.....Great job
 
I thought it was pretty good.

There wasn't a harshness on the vocal on my system - maybe just a word or two here and there. The lead vocal is a bit out front though.

The cymbals are kind of loud and have a hyped high end. The snare could come up a bit.
 
I listened on my phone so I can't critique the mix. I will re listen when I can. It's a great vocal in my opinion. I think the vocal sits just right as far as levels go. It's more of a mix that features a singer and the vocals are always mixed very hot in that case on pro recordings. On a band recording not as much but on a singer's recording the vocal rules the mix.
Great job on this man!
 
When everything is going all out, why didn't you open up the high hats? Did you try it? I was searching for what was lacking during the higher energy sections and why it didn't all seem to be adding up, and I'm wondering if it's the high hats staying tame. Maybe give it a shot...there's some more energy that can be unleashed, like around 2:30-2:32, it seems like a dead spot. Very good vocals there. Nice job guys, and gals
 
I like the vocal but, for me, the arrangement could use some work - just comes on a little hard and pretty much stays there. (You probably don't hear it that way, but that's my impression.) Dunno, perhaps dial everything back at the beginning, shorten the intro with some well-played blues-y piano doing the work, landing quickly on the actual words so the singer's feeling/quality pulls us in. Leave out the guitar fills until it builds into something a little more supportive of that later on - honestly not sure that's adding or competing right at the start. The question that should be answered right away is "what's most important here?" (If you don't have a keys person, perhaps some cleaner guitar chord work?)
 
Hey man,

I love the groove of the tune. For mix critique I think you could trade some piano room for bringing the vocals up, as well as maybe brightening the lead vocal. The singers sound great and I dig the guitar accompaniment!
 
New mix here and in the OP. Addressed a few things, but didn't do anything drastic. Some said the vocal was too hot, some said it wasn't; some said it was too harsh, some said it wasn't. So I wasn't exactly sure where to start.

I did tame the vocal down a hair, and turned the backgrounds down a little. Also carved a little more mids from the chorus rhythm guitars and turned them down a tad, also carved a little low mid from the drum bus (400ish). Turned the snare up a little and eq'd a little more snap into it. Also messed with the kick some, hopefully it's not too loud now. Tamed some low mid from the piano as well.

There's a lot of clip-gain automation on the vocals, but still might need more, her track was very dynamic. There's a Slate blue-face 1176 to tame peaks (4:1, medium attack and release) followed by a CLA-2A to smooth it out. Used the Slate VMS condenser mic, with the C-12 setting, used the U47 setting on the backgrounds. A CLA-2A is on the bass as well.

Lots of parallel compression going on too, used mainly CLA-76s for that. The drum bus, the bass, and the lead vocal all have a parallel compression track, also did a rear bus parallel compression track that has everything sent to it except the drums and bass. Also sent the kick to the bass parallel track, which is a way to make the bass duck just a tiny bit every time the kick hits. These PC tracks are all obviously just blended in slightly underneath.

Automated more reverb for the snare on those breaks.

Andrushkiwt, I opened up the hats on the part you mentioned, good call. I still might add/change a few drum fills here and there; as I mentioned in the OP, I only re-did the exact drum track from her original version and didn't add anything different. Everything down to every crash, hi-hat, ride, and fill is exactly the same, and I'm not thrilled with the fills, so might try a few different ones. Particularly the straight snare fill towards the end I feel is a little cheesy; that's probably where I'd start. There's actually not even one tom hit in the entire song, but I do hear a few spots where I want to try a few fills. We'll see.

I still feel there's a low-mid issue somewhere, just can't seem to pinpoint it. The bottom just doesn't seem as "pillow-y" as I'd like. Not sure if it's the kick or the bass, there's not much else down there at all really...

Thanks everyone for the listen and suggestions, hopefully I'm getting somewhere.

Promise You I'm Gone | Johnny Amato
 
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Big step forward with this mix. Vocal sounds smoother, guitars are not stepping on the vocal, mix generally feels more balanced and less like different parts are competing for attention.

Is your wife still recording?
 
Robus said:
Big step forward with this mix. Vocal sounds smoother, guitars are not stepping on the vocal, mix generally feels more balanced and less like different parts are competing for attention.

Is your wife still recording?
Click to expand...

Thanks Robus, great to hear. Yes, she's still recording, this vocal is brand new that we just did a few weeks ago, after I re-did all the music. We're currently working on re-doing another older one of hers as well. Not sure if that's what you meant?
 
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