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dobro

dobro

Well-known member
It's the name of the song, not an announcement.



I started mixing this one a week ago, but as I got into it, I started re-tracking stuff and then tracking new parts and then fixing old parts. It's always the same. If I ever learn how to track things right from the start, I'll think I'm starting to learn how to do this.

 
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I love the space in this, and the laid back feel. Instrumentally, I reckon the track is great.

The lead vocal is good, and towards the end of the song there's a bit more expression which makes it really interesting. The mouth music solo is great as well.

But the harmonies . . . well, I wanted to like the casual looseness of them, but they were just a bit too loose for me. The deeper harmonies that enter early in the song don't seem to be totally true to pitch. The high falsetto harmony likewise is just a bit too loose for my liking.

It's a great track. I wonder what it would sound like with just one character-full vocal and the solo? I wonder whether you can get more of a Lou Reed type of drawl in there?
 
I prefer the high harmonies - the low ones are ok but the highs carry it better for me.
The vocal trumpet (how did you effect that?) could be a hair louder as the main vocal sounds louder when it comes back in.
I like the vibe and other than the trumpet I think the levels are cool.
 
gecko zzed said:
I love the space in this, and the laid back feel. Instrumentally, I reckon the track is great.

The lead vocal is good, and towards the end of the song there's a bit more expression which makes it really interesting. The mouth music solo is great as well.

But the harmonies . . . well, I wanted to like the casual looseness of them, but they were just a bit too loose for me. The deeper harmonies that enter early in the song don't seem to be totally true to pitch. The high falsetto harmony likewise is just a bit too loose for my liking.

It's a great track. I wonder what it would sound like with just one character-full vocal and the solo? I wonder whether you can get more of a Lou Reed type of drawl in there?
Click to expand...

Thanks, Gecko. "I wanted to like the casual looseness of them." It's the stuff I don't want to hear that I often need to hear. Thanks.
 
Listening on phones...sounds great, if a little bright overall.

Bass and bongos sound awesome. Shaker is maybe a little too bright? Lead vocal sounds good. Personally, I found the low background vocals kind of jarring. Just not something I'm used to hearing, so unsure if it's merely that or if there's something you should be doing differently there?

Have you ever tried pilng on effects during the trumpeting you do? It might be kind of fun to distort them and add delay and use a wah or something...maybe? Just for fun? :)
 
During the verse parts the low harmony it's either pitchy or the tone is offputting. How about throwing an autotune on it and compressing it to sit back in the mix?
 
I like the bass figures plenty. The song has a great intimate and laid-back feel to it.

I think you could take down the octave vocals a little bit, and maybe give them some verb to set them back in the mix.

I am not a fan of the mouth-trumpet. :)
 
I really like the pop on the hand percussion, it sounds perfect. The shaker is too prominent, either too bright or too loud.

Vocals all sound good to me, guitars as well. Could use a bit more bass.

Overall, nice job man!
 
One more vote for the low harmonies. They're not just loose, they're plain out of tune. Tighten all the harmonies and this will be a lovely song. Has a Modest Mouse feel to it, which I absolutely love.

I didn't find the shaker too bright, but if you cut some of the 2-5k range it might sit it better in the mix without moving the fader.

Lack of low end in the instrumental mix, which I've found is a fairly standard problem in this forum. The bass has nice finger sounds (1k range) but could use more roundness - I would try a 2-4db low shelf to bring it out, and/or push the fader up a bit.

Looking forward to the next version!
 
I'm on the bvs. but when people talk about the shaker being too bright - which one? There are two.
 
ido1957 said:
I prefer the high harmonies - the low ones are ok but the highs carry it better for me.
The vocal trumpet (how did you effect that?) could be a hair louder as the main vocal sounds louder when it comes back in.
I like the vibe and other than the trumpet I think the levels are cool.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for listening and responding. I'm redoing all the bvs. I'm keeping the lip trumpet cuz it's inspired. I'll tweak levels when the new tracks are in. Thanks again.
 
heatmiser said:
Have you ever tried pilng on effects during the trumpeting you do? It might be kind of fun to distort them and add delay and use a wah or something...maybe? Just for fun? :)
Click to expand...

That's an idea. I'll have fun exploring it. Just a simple telephone EQ might work. Good idea. :thumbs up:
 
Brian Miller said:
One more vote for the low harmonies. They're not just loose, they're plain out of tune. Tighten all the harmonies and this will be a lovely song. Has a Modest Mouse feel to it, which I absolutely love.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the jury's in; the bvs are out.


Brian Miller said:
Lack of low end in the instrumental mix, which I've found is a fairly standard problem in this forum. The bass has nice finger sounds (1k range) but could use more roundness - I would try a 2-4db low shelf to bring it out, and/or push the fader up a bit.
Click to expand...

Well, that's interesting. I put a low shelf on the bass because that enabled me to turn it up and it gets heard in higher frequencies that way. Which is what you suggested doing. But you also say that there's a lack of low end. So, I'm confused about what you're suggesting. Do you want to hear more low end or less?

Brian Miller said:
Looking forward to the next version!
Click to expand...

Every version is an adventure. :)
 
I don't think the shaker is too bright necessarily...just maybe too loud. It distracts from the bongos in the beginning....which are pretty cool.

The bass vocs might be improved with about 8 tight tracks of it panned like they are...that would homogenize their impact. They kind of poke out the way the are. If they sank back it would help but their tone would still be an issue without adding the extra tracks. They need smoothing too. I wouldn't get rid of them. I like them.

I like this song a lot. I would have gone crazy on it. :)
 
Thanks, Stu. I redid all the backing vocals and will post it when I mix the thing. As for the solo effort - I'm working through a couple of albums of stuff I put together at a time collaboration wasn't on the radar. When you can't cook for someone else, you cook for yourself. But although I'm happy with the way the solo stuff is turning out and I'm happy with what I'm learning about playing and mixing, I gotta say that cooking for a tablefull of people is where it's at. I'll be back.
 
dobro said:
Well, that's interesting. I put a low shelf on the bass because that enabled me to turn it up and it gets heard in higher frequencies that way. Which is what you suggested doing. But you also say that there's a lack of low end. So, I'm confused about what you're suggesting. Do you want to hear more low end or less?
Click to expand...

I want to hear more bass. Use a low shelf around 100-120hz to increase the lows by 2-4db. More fullness in the bottom end would really help this song.
 
dobro said:
I'm on the bvs. but when people talk about the shaker being too bright - which one? There are two.
Click to expand...

I can't place 2 shakers in the stereo field to know which to pinpoint. They sound pretty centered, maybe a bit right. If you have them bussed, turn the bus down a couple dB. Otherwise, turn down the louder one :)
 
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