Jon: On the acoustic: C1000S -> 1604VLZ ->
DMT-8 -> 1604 (again) -> crappy sound-card. I probably mic'ed about 2 to 3 feet back pointed at the sound hole. When I mic there, I usually cut some low-mids on the way in... it can get a bit boomy. All future stuff will have a shorter signal chain, thank goodness. Tension is definitely what he's going for here. He also really likes the vocals just loud enough to make out the lyrics. I think they should be higher on this one, too... maybe I can sneak it past 'im
.
Layth: It's funny, that became my "trademark" after saying (typing) it once. I have an ego the size of Rhode Island, so I'll take all the attention I can get
. I think I'll boost some highs in the vocs and elsewhere. After my ears have had a rest, the mix doesn't seem to have any high-end "sparkle". That should bring the vocs out more, too. I wonder if I can find a happy medium with the dissonant key sounds. I like 'em a lot, but I'm very used to the song by now. Thats the danger of being so close to the material.
Ric: When he gets on a roll, Austin can write more promising things in a day than I can sweat out in a month. His rough sketches usually require a bit of imagination, though. This stuff has taken a while to get it to this point. As a guitarist turned engineer wannabe, I've been learning hands on. It's been hard to know when to say when. Every week, I stumble on something else that seems to make the mix sit a little better. He was completely happy with where things were 2 months ago, to be honest. I have to accept that no matter what I come up with, I could probably improve it a week later... and do it in half the time.
That said, he's reportedly recorded nearly another CD's worth of material in the interim (already weeded out a bit) on analog 8-track. Any production and arrangement ideas will aid the future recordings. I do think with a real producer and some vocal coaching, he might just accidently write something poppy enough to make a ripple one day.