Mix Suggestions Please?

M

MAC2

Member
Hello everyone!

In the past I've collaborated with Buck62 on stuff but this tune is the first one I've put together on my own in collaboration with another songwriter from New York. I was hoping some of you could help me with the mix....it's a kind of folk tune (think Dylan) called Another Round. No need to listen to all three versions....Demo version 2 is the arrangement that we've decided to go with. Thanks for any help.

Another Round Demos
 
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Mac2,

Really nice, sound very Dylanish.

I listened to lofi, which I swear has gotton a lot better than it used to be, or is it just my imagination? Unless Waldo has better lofi than the rest!

Song sounds very relaxed, and smooth. From what I could tell lofi, recording sounded good.

I go listen again!!

GT
 
Think the mix is pretty good overall, like the way the harmonica blends...it's at just the right level....not too in the face, but a nice texture instrument...

vocals on the chorus seem to be a bit loud overall....think with the harmony, it pushes them a bit hot...also a bit off time towards the end

just not real thrilled with the drums....sounds like a reference for timing and effect, but real drums might really bring it to life....

kinda cool tune, for not being my thing!
 
A very Dylanesque thing without sounding like a rip of any of his stuff.

Yeah- the drums sounded a little bit on the mechanical side but that's this genre to some extent. That re-intro at ~1:00 was nice.

A decent job on the backing vocals.

And the harp fits in nicely.
 
everthing that drstawl said....except I think it sounds tooo close to a Dylan Nashville Skyline sound. Mix sounds good, but I think you'll always be compared to you know who....

I'd take a longer harp solo at the end, and a better fade out too....nix the amp buzzing, etc.
 
BTW: Dylanesque is French for Dylanish.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Orevoue.
 
GT: Thanks for checkin' this one out... I hear ya about the lo-fi play over at nowhereradio...I listened to this song the other day lo-fi and thought it sounded better than hi-fi (brought out the good stuff and hid my mistakes:D )...glad you cleared up "Dylanish" vs. "Dylanesque" for me too!

GlacticCelt: I think you hit on some mix and performance issues that bothered me too... part of the reason I was hoping some "new" sets of ears would either deny or confirm my suspicions...after listening so many times to a mix I start to lose perspective after a while! The harmony does stick out some in places and the timing of the lyrics to the lead vox could be better... I'm thinking of either re-doing the harmony part and/or automating the harmony part level to blend with the lead vox better. The drums are canned and I had a heck of a time trying to mix them... I started this by laying down an acoustic guitar to a click track and fell off the tempo a tiny bit in one spot... the guy who programmed the drums had a difficult time with it and it does sound "stiff"... I'm gonna burn a version without the drum track(s) and see if Buck62 can play his DTXpress drums on it instead... thanks for your comments!

drstawl: Wow man... thanks for stopping by for a listen to this one... I'm glad you liked it too!... "... very Dylanesque... without sounding like a rip of any of his stuff... "...hey, thanks!!

mixmkr: man you have some good ears!... the "amp buzzing" I think your referring to is from a part I put on with my Tele... it was lined straight in but the pick-ups are kind of noisy and you have to stand in just the right spot to get it even close to quiet... it's hard not to move at all!...also I would've liked a nicer fade but I was trying to hide another screw up... the click track bled through the headphones on the acoustic guitar tracks!... "harpie" does some good stuff!... I could listen to more of that too!

I can't say I'm a big fan of Dylan although I like some of his stuff... this song just ended up sounding the way it does, I didn't really plan it to sound like Dylan... so I gotta ask you what is "Dylan Nashville Skyline"?

Emeric: I hope you get a chance to come back for a listen...I'd appreciate your comments!
 
this would be excellent if you lost the drums. it's better to have no drums than drums that take away from the sound. great sound. i really hope that more and more music with this raw and real sound gains popularity, because it has a real human feel to it as compared to polished sound of radio garbage. the vocals have nice jumps, sounds like they weren't compressed at all, if so very little. these guys are going to tell you this and that to make it more perfect, but i say it is great the way it is...just lose those drums brother. smack your hands on your theighs if you want some beat in there. great job. come check out a different sound at
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/2/1265/singles.shtml


middleman
 
Well The influences on this cut cut across many Dylan albums.

From Positively 4th Street to Blood on the Tracks and everything inbetween.
 
samich: Thanks for having a listen! I requested my friend who helped me record this (it was on his equipment) to burn a copy without the drum track.... mostly 'cause I was gonna have Buck62 have a crack at puttin' drums on it but I'm definitely gonna see how it sounds without any drums at all... glad you liked the tune. I hope to check out your stuff in the near future... I've been in the process of trying to build my own rig here at home and my pc is down quite a bit till we make all the software changes...

drstawl & mixmkr: thanks for enlightening me on some Dylan history!
 
I agree about the drums - they just kind of drag on and on. If you could get a drummer to do some Levon Helm (the Band) type drumming, you'd have something here. Or no drums. I like the mix other wise. A very honest sound, except for the......
 
Cool tune MAC2, dylanish for sure. I like the acoustic sounds. Vocals might be a shade loud, but maybe personal preference. Odd bit of distortion on the vocals, don't know whether that's the encoder or what. 00:33 On the 'times', similier effect occurs in other areas. The drums are questionable. Tough to get life out of a drum machine, but there not bad. The song is strong enough that it could get by with a hint of percussion, tamborine or something and not a full kit.

Other than that, nice job.
 
Shades of Bobby Zimmerman! This could have been a cut off of Nashville Skyline for sure. Profound lyrics. Great recording and mix. The only thing that isn't on a par with the rest of the recording is the cymbals. They have that drum machine "tiz" rather than that "splash", know what I mean? Small detractor though, This is a VERY easy song to listin to.
 
slkeen: thanks for having a listen!..." a very honest sound"....cool!

Emeric: glad you could return and offer your comments!...I'm gonna check on that distortion issue....I do know that the cd sounded crisper than the mp3...could be the encoder (?)...

Track Rat:....thanks!..."profound lyrics"...."easy song to listen to"...I'm gonna have to let Tony Portela know about those remarks, he wrote the majority of the lyrics and it was his real life experience that inspired the tune in the first place.

Meshuggah: glad you liked the recording!... it seems unanimous...gonna have to do something about the drums...

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the input!
 
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