"Iris" cover

mark skinner

Active member
I've always wanted to do this song but , always had trouble with the drums. I found a usable drum track, then pulled a ton of reverb off of it with Reafir. Recorded in Cakewalk. Any suggestions on mix or master would be great. Weapons - G&L asat , Ibanez bass, Fender mandolin , Cello , Aria Pro 11 acoustics. The hardest part of this song was EVERYTHING. Thanks ... mark Siri by mark alan skinner | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
The instruments (and vocals) all sound very nice. You got really nice tones on everything. The bass is a bit muddy and undefined, but everything else sounds really nice.

The one thing that stuck out to me was all the Bm chords that were replaced with D chords. Thought that was an interesting choice. It really changed the sound of the song --- made it a little less dramatic and more peaceful I guess.
 
Thanks for the bass comment. The bass I used is real mellow and isn't cut thru very well. I'll see what I can do about it. I'm playing in double dropped D , and the open D strings are really coming thru playing a Bm7Aug3 chord. I may add in a little normal Bm7. I was wondering myself why it didn't sound as dark. Thanks ... mark
 
The link now reflects some changes I made. I cleaned up the muddy bottom end and re eq'd the bass. Also added a synth track. Not really happy with the synth yet .. mark
 
Nice! Im only listening on my phone atm, but I'll put it on in the car once I'm out of work. I was hoping to hear the tenor part in the chorus where the pitch is higher... Did you do the harmony in those notes but lower in pitch ? I understand it's your vision and version though. It still works on its own, just so used to hearing it the other way. Acoustic sounded great through the phone. I'll give it a proper listen soon.
 
Thanks andrushkiwt , The high harmony I did is at the Very top of my range and didn't want to create one with a harmonizer or melodyne. Turned 67 this week and can remember when the highs weren't a problem. I'm also tuning down a half step more often . I'm going to go as long as I can then just do instrumentals. I've mad a few mix changes that are in the link now . Thanks .. mark
 
Great rendition of this man. Really like it. What I'd say is what lacking is the drums. The snare is very thin and weak. Toms are as well. They sound pretty over compressed. I'd try to find a brighter beefier drum sample that sounds a bit more real. The acoustic and vocals are on point. Great low end as well.
 
Sounds fantastic. You have a really good voice as well and your vocal delivery is great. The variation in the chorus was interesting and gave the song a unique touch!
 
Love this song! And overall it's a nice rendition of this song. Not too different from the original, but has your signature style.

I would add some more compression to the vocals so the quieter parts can be heard, and add some to the bass as well. Then I would add more overall compression (maybe some dynamic) to the mix to bring up the mids and fill in the sound overall, to add more fullness to the mix.
 
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