Down On The Border

I listened on a laptop and it sounded very good to me. All the parts sound nice and true. You perform well and you let it flow. I like that.
 
Some of the git "pokes loud" on occassion. All in all, well tracked. Gotta be a bitch playing bongos and guitar at the same time while singing, though. :D
 
Thanks for noticing that - I'll attend to it. It's the getting used to the way it sounds that's the biggest problem, because then you don't hear it anymore. What I was wondering about was, as always, frequency masking and levels.

Levels: bass too loud? Vocal should be up a hair? Keys up a bit?

Masking: Vocal, bass and bongos are clearly heard most of the time. But do the guitar and keys 'fog out' sometimes?

"Gotta be a bitch playing bongos and guitar at the same time while singing, though. :D"

Not if you suffer from multiple personality disorder. 8-)

At this point, I'm into getting a tune out about every month. Which means doing all the parts myself. And you know, 'doing all the parts yourself' is to collaboration what masturbation is to having sex with another person - fun, but not as interesting. It's not a mix issue, but it's something I need to change up at least once in a awhile. I think I've figured it out. I just don't know any bongo players, is all. :-)
 
dobro said:
Thanks for noticing that - I'll attend to it. It's the getting used to the way it sounds that's the biggest problem, because then you don't hear it anymore. What I was wondering about was, as always, frequency masking and levels.

Levels: bass too loud? Vocal should be up a hair? Keys up a bit?

Masking: Vocal, bass and bongos are clearly heard most of the time. But do the guitar and keys 'fog out' sometimes?

"Gotta be a bitch playing bongos and guitar at the same time while singing, though. :D"

Not if you suffer from multiple personality disorder. 8-)

At this point, I'm into getting a tune out about every month. Which means doing all the parts myself. And you know, 'doing all the parts yourself' is to collaboration what masturbation is to having sex with another person - fun, but not as interesting. It's not a mix issue, but it's something I need to change up at least once in a awhile. I think I've figured it out. I just don't know any bongo players, is all. :-)
Click to expand...
What I'd experiment with to prevent frequency "stomping" is panning schemes, Paul. Throw the bass right up the middle w/ the vocal, then move the bongos slightly to one side and the git over to the other. I would likely move the git right and bongos left while swirling the keys in behind to glue the spaces between. I actually didn't hear the keys clearly at all.

A compressor on the git will smooth those "jump out" moments.

Composition is creative and original. I smiled when you started doing your mouth trumpets. You've not changed a bit.
 
K-dub said:
What I'd experiment with to prevent frequency "stomping" is panning schemes, Paul. Throw the bass right up the middle w/ the vocal, then move the bongos slightly to one side and the git over to the other. I would likely move the git right and bongos left while swirling the keys in behind to glue the spaces between. I actually didn't hear the keys clearly at all.

A compressor on the git will smooth those "jump out" moments.
Click to expand...

The problem with the guitar is that it got caught twice - once by the mic on the amp AND the vocal mic - it's the vocal mic that's chiefly responsible for the guitar spikes. It's a hard problem to fix. If I lean on the guitar that got caught with the vocal mic, I compress the crap out of the vocal. No good. (The problem is that the Godin's semi-acoustic - it's got a small soundhole on the left shoulder of the guitar and it gets caught by the vocal mic - I think I'll tape it over the next time I record.) Also, when I panned the guitar track left, I started to get some ugliness as a result of separating the two guitar sounds (phase? dunno). I think I'm going to have to live with the poking out guitar.

Here's what I did:

* Automated as many of the guitar spikes on the vocal track as I could.

* Put a compressor on the guitar track

* Raised the keys level a lot and boosted 1K

* Brought the vocal up a hair, and put a multiband on it to try to catch some of that 95Hz on the guitar

* Put everything up the middle.


K-dub said:
Composition is creative and original. I smiled when you started doing your mouth trumpets. You've not changed a bit.
Click to expand...

See my comment above about masturbation.

So here's where it stands, and it's about as good as I can get it. To really get it right, I'd have to re-track everything, but my inclination is to learn the lessons and move on.
 

Attachments

dobro said:
The problem with the guitar is that it got caught twice - once by the mic on the amp AND the vocal mic - it's the vocal mic that's chiefly responsible for the guitar spikes. It's a hard problem to fix. If I lean on the guitar that got caught with the vocal mic, I compress the crap out of the vocal. No good. (The problem is that the Godin's semi-acoustic - it's got a small soundhole on the left shoulder of the guitar and it gets caught by the vocal mic - I think I'll tape it over the next time I record.) Also, when I panned the guitar track left, I started to get some ugliness as a result of separating the two guitar sounds (phase? dunno). I think I'm going to have to live with the poking out guitar.

Here's what I did:

* Automated as many of the guitar spikes on the vocal track as I could.

* Put a compressor on the guitar track

* Raised the keys level a lot and boosted 1K

* Brought the vocal up a hair, and put a multiband on it to try to catch some of that 95Hz on the guitar

* Put everything up the middle.




See my comment above about masturbation.

So here's where it stands, and it's about as good as I can get it. To really get it right, I'd have to re-track everything, but my inclination is to learn the lessons and move on.
Click to expand...
MUCH improved consistency and spatial separation. I heard the keys clearly this time, but I'd still nudge them to 2 or 3 o'clock. You've got the git and the bass intertwining still in the middle - and it's not offensive, but I might move the git to the left slightly just to increase distinction between the two.
 
Okay, I'll try that and if I can hear an improvement, I'll post it. Thanks for sticking with this.
 
I thought your second effort was much improved. It sounded Richer, fuller and with clear separation for all elements whilst being cohesive.

Mark
 
I really like the song and the organic feel of the track. Also, the mix sounds great....I really struggle when it comes to mixing acoustic guitars and analog drums btw :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
endlessrain said:
I really like the song and the organic feel of the track. Also, the mix sounds great....I really struggle when it comes to mixing acoustic guitars and analog drums btw :)
Click to expand...
The drums are 'analog' but the guitar's through an amp (I struggled with mikings on this one), but yes I think it's organic. In my mind, organic makes it alive. But somebody else talked about the 'craft' of this tune. I think that's right, too. But craft means control. So I'm trying to get collaborators on future tunes now. Less craft, more organic.
 
When I apply EQ, compression, delay, reverb and distortion to recorded tracks, aiming at a good balance and a pleasant sound, that's mixing and the result is a mix. What's your definition?
 
dobro said:
When I apply EQ, compression, delay, reverb and distortion to recorded tracks, aiming at a good balance and a pleasant sound, that's mixing and the result is a mix. What's your definition?
Click to expand...
Don't know. Obviously I've never completed one.

:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top