I Know You Don't Know Me

[chrisharris]

But I used to spend a LOT of time listening to tunes in this clinic... not so much anymore, so I thought I'd post something to see if I could get some pretty unbiased feedback on the mix.

http://www.betteroffdad.com/MP3/fixmyself.mp3

My daughter wrote it and she's singing it. other friends are helping out. I'll post more details later if anybody cares...or responds to this, lol.

[jasgav]

I like it. nicely done all the way around. vocals are sweet. my only comment is the clean guitar licks on the right side during the verses don't add anything. Music between the notes is often overlooked.

[true-eurt]

Most excellent vocals.

I love your daughters voice.

Very nice piano and Guitar intro.

The instrumentation sounds great to my ears.

The male back up vocal is a bit weak. I think it would be nice to hear him a bit more.

The volume seems to drop out some around 00:35 and stays like that throughout the song...or rather it sounds as if the highs and clarity has been cut with lows, almost like a rag was put over her mic. Does that make any sense.

I don't know how to describe it any other way. I also don't know how I can hear it either, but I do. Was it intended for this effect to be there? I know this probably sounds wierd.

I think this is a great song. Kudos !!!


True

[rayc]

I quite like the guitar licks though they are a little too loud especially in the 1st, intro, verse. I like the way it cuts through - I also like the distorted chords - what dd you use to achieve that?
GREAT voice.
The drums are close to perfect - just a little too loud by a smidgen & only the toms & snare at that.
The backing vocals work nicely though you might try a little lift.
Terrific work - a nice ensemble sound to it.
There's is a change in tone & volume in the vocal bridge but I like it.
Did you record this Chris? If so what with & where? Was it recorded as an ensemble of in parts?

[Gorty]

Originally Posted by chrisharris

But I used to spend a LOT of time listening to tunes in this clinic... not so much anymore, so I thought I'd post something to see if I could get some pretty unbiased feedback on the mix.

http://www.betteroffdad.com/MP3/fixmyself.mp3

My daughter wrote it and she's singing it. other friends are helping out. I'll post more details later if anybody cares...or responds to this, lol.

Hey Chris, I remember you, I have checked out your site and listened to most of your music that you have made available.
Your daughters voice is beautiful, very smooth and controlled, I like it very much. The harmonies I heard around the 3 minute mark were nice also.
The piano could be raised a db or two, it really needs to be an integral part of this tune! The little guitar licks/picked chords is a nice touch used to fill in between the vocal lines.
A very nice tune, but the only nit pick I have is that the seperation of all the instruments could benefit a little by giving each it's own piece of the soundscape.
I don't know your exact pannings but maybe a little wider seperation here and there!
That is just my personal opinion.
Nice work Chris and daughter!!

Gorty

[guitarboi89]

i like it, it has a straylight run feel to it (the piano and snare rolls).
it sounds realy well mixed to my ears. i agree with the male backing vocals comments, just a tad louder

[Dogman]

Nice tune...beautiful voice. Not much to add, but cool song. Thanks for sharing it.

[chrisharris]

Hey all...thanks a lot for listening and for the mix help. I listened in my truck on the way to work this morning, and the bass was pretty loud and overbearing, but pretty much everything sounds that way in my truck, so I'm not sure. If anybody is hearing too much bass, lemme' know?

jasgav - thanks... yeah, I tend to agree on the guitar stuff, but I don't think it's the instrument choice so much as what I played... I need to break it up and play more than 2 licks, lol. Thanks again.

True - thanks to you too. The male vocal is me, and it's just damned hard for me to mix myself louder, LOL. But I saw your comment echoed by others, so I'll bump it a db or 2. About the rest, I just don't know what's going on there. She sang it one take and the same EQ is running on the vocal track all the way through, so I'm not sure what changed...I didn't hear it, but I'm getting pretty deaf. - Thanks again.

rayc - Thanks for listening...I recorded the vocals (my daughter's and mine) and the acoustic guitars and the electric guitars...well, the electric guitars are actually a Variax Acoustic 700 - I ran it through a cheap digitech pedal and then threw some ROCK AMP LEGENDS plugin on it, hehe. Glad you liked it. The drums were tracked by a gentlemen/internet friend from Kansas City named John Wooten... (goes by 'jwoo10'). I mixed them, but he's a great drummer who tracks very well, so it makes it a pure pleasure to work with those tracks. The bass track (parts of it anyway) were recorded by a guy over at RP who goes by "Wayneg"...I honestly don't know his full name, but he's a generous and talented soul. The piano track came from another guy at RP who goes by "dispelled myths." Actually, the history of this song and how it was recorded can be found here: http://www.recordingproject.com/bbs/...ic.php?t=24707
I'm wondering if the vocal bridge change you're talking about has to do with the fact that I dropped the bass completely out right there both times...

Gorty - you're too nice, and I appreciate the comments a ton. I'll raise the piano...I think what I need to do is just raise it after the rest of the "band" comes in, because I've noticed that it really disappears...probably need some EQ tweaks in there to bring it out more too. Again, thanks for listening.

guitarboi - thanks a lot for your time and for the second opinion on the background vocal level. I may just have to raise it, LOL.

dogman - Thanks man... I know I'm biased b/c it's my daughter, but I think she wrote a good song here too.

[true-eurt]

Chris...after reading the other comments, I see no one else hears what I hear either....deafness apparently isn't my problem....it is hearing things that aren't there, because I still hear it happening. ....

I understand about mixing your own vox low. I do it all the time, or reverb it to death.

I had another listen after reading about the piano and I just wanted to hear the song again too. I agree with what Gorty said. That is some nice piano work and bringing it up would only shine in the song.

Again, your daughter has a beautiful voice and the musicianship, lyric content and arranging is excellent. ...oh and the mixing is good too.

[northsiderap]

Cool song...

I think the vox are a little too compressed, at least during the intro. The whole mix sounds a little flat/compressed, but then I'm into very open and bright sounds.

[timboZ]

Nicely done.
The vocals seem a bit buried at times.

That girl has a great voice.

[amoeba]

Outstanding song, and great performances by all. But something in the mic/preamp/convertor chain is not doing justice to the vocal. It's a bit too harsh for my taste.

Your daughter has a marvelous talent. (I'm sure you know that, but it bears repeating.)

-a.

[chrisharris]

amoeba, timboZ, and northside - I really appreciate your taking the time to listen, and I tried to take everybody's comments into account on the remix.

It may be worse, I dunno', but there were so many comments about the hypersqueeze of the vocal that I kinda' had to start from scratch... I took almost all of the compression off of the vocal and manually enveloped it throughout the song...of course, that required changes elsewhere...plus, the bass was too hot, so I had to lower the actual level...I'm afraid the mix is overall a lot more harsh now, but I'll just have to listen for awhile.

Anyway, I'm not asking for any more listens since I can't even jack with this for probably another 3 weeks, but I wanted to thank you all and let you know that I listened...and I'm TRYING, lol.

thanks again,
Chris


p.s. remix is here: http://www.betteroffdad.com/MP3/fixmyself10-4-06.mp3

[cellardweller]

You rock!
Will you be my lawyer?












(no, seriously...I need a lawyer!)

[TexRoadkill]

Sounds pretty good Chris. Jaimee sounds great and it's a good song.

I'm gonna be a dick since we have to hold you to a higher standard and say something isn't working though. I think it's the timing of the rhythm guitar with the snare and piano. I'm not sure where it's off (I'm voting guitar) but it seems to keep the song from really coming together. It seems a little better towards the end of the song.

The lead in the beginning doesn't seem to add much to the song. It would be cool to hear a lick that supports the piano more (if that makes any sense).