On the Quarterdeck with easlern and ibleedburgundy

R

Robus

Well-known member
I posted a demo of this with my own vocals and programmed drums about a year ago. Here is the realized version. Nick (easlern) did the lead vocal, Dave (ibleedburgundy) the drums. Thanks guys!

New mix:
On the Quarterdeck_Ray Taylor_Mix 15.mp3 - Google Drive

On the Quarterdeck
Words and music by Ray Taylor, 2016

White sangria give us a pause
Between the day’s effect and tomorrow’s cause
Tomorrow’s only cause

We’ll ride tonight on the quarterdeck
Well that Spanish coast is ready
The fog is laid in heavy
And they’ll rise tonight on the border
With the moon on the water
Then we’ll toast with Spanish whiskey and cigars

Ride tonight on the quarterdeck
Them Mauser’s fetch us twenty and the Brownings thrice as many
Then we’ll light out and watch the sunrise on the East End jetty
And we’ll sip that Spanish lager with a straw

Keep a sharp eye out for the light Tarragona
Them anarchistos ain’t half bad with a three inch mortar
They’ll do vodka shots while they watch us burn

Dry sangria give us a pause
Between the day’s effect and tomorrow’s cause
Tomorrow’s only cause

We’ll ride tonight on the quarterdeck
Watch them fireworks in the hills above Barcelona’s
Bloody thrills
And then we’ll fly right for Gibraltar
Keep the guns on the quarter
Or we’ll drink that salty water with a smile
 
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put a limiter on the end, would you? just to get some volume to it. you can throw it on without affecting the dynamics, if you're worried about that.

nice and clear vocals, they sit well in the mix. there's plenty of room for those background vocals too, they sound pretty good. kick EQ could use a touch up, to my ears. the thud is a little indistinct and cloudy. love the section at 2:40, great drum break. woah, Dave went off the rails at the end! nice work! lol. The solo guitar at 1:25 is a little lonely out there, to me. Something supplemental on the L a little sooner would prob help. I think I mentioned that before though.

I really like the drum ending, just to mention that again. Great song and mix, Ray.
 
I don't hear many issues with this mix, Robus.

I don't like the guitar solo at 2:38 being so hard panned. It's distracting in headphones. The vocal could use a hair more reverb or like -1db volume to sit a little better in the pocket. Sounds like a slight buildup in 200hz range on the bass.

Andru mentioned the earlier guitar solo being lonely on the right. I agree upon second listen and missed that the first time. Both solos should be moved to C or put some stereo delay on them so the left gets some of it. I'd think the solo would be a highlight and want to be more C. Is there any reason you panned them so hard?

Otherwise I think this is a fine mix, Robus.
Oh, and I agree, the drums sound the best of all your collaborations so far.
 
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Thanks. Yeah, I meant to pull those guitar parts in toward the center. I need to get the lead vocal sitting a little better in the mix. It'll probably need more compression and a slight trim in the low mids, then some automation to get the quieter parts quiet and the louder parts loud. Overall there's still some leveling to do on the vocals. I'm hearing the odd word or two dropping out. So all that is the agenda for the next mix.
 
Robus said:
Thanks. Yeah, I meant to pull those guitar parts in toward the center.
Click to expand...

Oh okay, makes sense now. It seemed weird you'd have them so far over. The vocal is almost just right. Nick has some boom in his voice so I wouldn't be too afraid to HP more aggressively than usual. It might give some 3D/depth to him and sit better.
 
Good song robus!
great performances all around in this. I love the high notes on the piano accenting....sounds almost like high pitched bells.....really sets it off IMO. I really like IBB'S drum performance. The only thing I would change...and its a personal preference...it I think the kick drum is too "whoffy" sounding and would sound better with a tighter focused sound. (don't ask me how to get that because many of my recordings have a whoffy sound to them).
Fantastic job on this robus!
 
Sounds pretty good.

I'm hearing that solo panning too.

Only other thing that struck me as weird (not even necessarily bad, just weird) is the bgvox "ah"s. It sounds like it's just one of you way in the back of the room dead center. When I try to picture that on stage, it just looks silly. Maybe layer some more copies of that part to make it sound more like a choir?
 
Thanks Steve. There are probably three or four background parts, but panned fairly close in. I'll try spreading them farther out and see how that sounds.
 
andrushkiwt said:
put a limiter on the end, would you? just to get some volume to it. you can throw it on without affecting the dynamics, if you're worried about that.
Click to expand...

I hear you. The songs I post to the clinic are quieter than just about anybody else's. The idea is to have these songs professionally mastered at the end of the day. What I'm posting right now are just mixes. I could throw in a limiter to raise the level for presentations purposes. However, my worry is that any additional processing I might add to the master bus at this stage in the process could mask or distract attention from mix problems that are my primary focus right now. I want to get the mix as solid as I can make it. My thought is that the better the mix, the better the outcome downstream when it comes time to master.

Am I mistaken about this?
 
Really late to this. Nice tones and performances throughout on both the instruments and the vocals.

Some of the lead guitar parts sound too hard panned though I think - the one at 1:23 where everything else drops out slants it all way over to the right and then it jars a little when the rest of the 'band' comes back in. It's the same with the outro solo from 2:38, it's just too far out on a limb.

I love the mood of the song. We stayed in Tarragona last summer - what an awesome city that is.
 
Awesome job, man.

I agree the kick could use just a little more pop, and those guitar solos could be more center. But all in all, sounds great. The rhythm guitars sound killer. Beautiful reverb on those leads, too. Great sounding snare, nice work, fits the song perfectly.

On second listen, ending seemed maybe a little abrupt, but it fits.
 
Great job...it is subjective but as a keys player not a fan of the piano thing ( don't like the sound of it and it sounds midi-ish ) much better piano sounds out there and or electric piano sounds and or organ...But it is subjective from a snobby keys player, it may be exactly what you wanted and "heard" in your mind when you developed the song and that's fine. Your football , your rules ;)..

Tasty drummin IBB
 
there's no problem with using a limiter (gently) on your master buss out, just to get levels up to below clip,
and even mixing into it,
it allows you to hear more closely how your mix will end up translating when mastered...

example,
if you had a really powerful snare pop throughout the song,
and you really wanted it to stay that way,
being able to turn the limiter on and off as you mix will inform you as to how the mastering is going to change that snare level.

you may have to mix it HOTTER, to get it to stay on top of the mix once mastered.

you just turn that limiter off when you do your final bounce to your pre-mastered stereo file.
 
That's a really interesting point gonzo, never considered how a track might change after mastering. . .
 
Robus said:
Am I mistaken about this?
Click to expand...

sorry, just saw this. Gonzo summed it up pretty well. You can leave it on to mix into and then just turn it off later. I just wanted to suggest it so it would play nicely before and after other tunes. I listen to all you guys in the car, every day. I understand your concerns, and I still think adding a little volume wouldn't ruin the mix. You can set it so it doesn't have any gain reduction, if you'd like. For all intents and purposes, you can even just raise the master fader or use output gain from any other plugin, even an EQ.
 
Whenever I post something here, I always open the final mix in Sound Forge, and use the "Smooth Compression" preset under the Wave Hammer. Does a great job of raising the volume with minimal gain reduction, and doesn't change the sound of the mix. At least not that I can tell. Doesn't make it as loud as the "Loudness Wars" call for, but does a nice job, and doesn't sound squashed at all.
 
Sounds great to me.

Love the drums on this, both the playing and the way they're mixed. Cymbals sound nice.

The mix has great clarity and openness. I didn't notice the volume being terribly low, but then I've grown accustomed to having to adjust up and down all the time in the clinic. I typically smash the crap out of my mixes before posting them, but then I just do one-off tracks and have no plans for future albums or professional mastering. Either way is fine I think?

I did think the ending was a bit too abrupt though? :)
 
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