Windride (original)

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rayc said:
That's much better - the bright rapid strumming of the acoustic pulles my ear to the L a bit but other than that I think you've addressed it well.
Really good stuff.
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Thank you, the comments are appreciated. I have experimented with different positions of the acoustic but it is so busy that it dominates if it is too central. I hear it but when the rhythm guitar comes in, it balances up I think. Reminds me of many George Martin works where the instruments are separated fully left and right with the vocals in the middle. I will keep playing around and see what I can make happen. Thanks again
 
I replaced the clip at the beginning of this thread with the latest revision where I further addressed the balance but to save you going back to that one, here it is again.

 
Hello GL from the this side of our vast island continent,
Have you tried putting the lead opposite the acoustic? That would address the perception of imbalance.
I bet you metres tell you all is sorted.
I did note that you have a natural stereo spread for the piano & it sounded that you're playing mid to left hand side "ish" on the keys - you could possibly push the keyboard (if it's stereo) to the right a bit.
High freqs give the most position cues in a stereo image so the only definitive way of getting a supposedly "balanced" image would be to artifically boost the highs in the guitar on the right.
I was listening to some CDs last night on Hphones and an absolutely balanced stereo image for 100% of a track or for 100% of tracks is not often sort let alone achieved.
I think you have things pretty well sorted.
 
rayc said:
Hello GL from the this side of our vast island continent,
Have you tried putting the lead opposite the acoustic? That would address the perception of imbalance.
I bet you metres tell you all is sorted.
I did note that you have a natural stereo spread for the piano & it sounded that you're playing mid to left hand side "ish" on the keys - you could possibly push the keyboard (if it's stereo) to the right a bit.
High freqs give the most position cues in a stereo image so the only definitive way of getting a supposedly "balanced" image would be to artifically boost the highs in the guitar on the right.
I was listening to some CDs last night on Hphones and an absolutely balanced stereo image for 100% of a track or for 100% of tracks is not often sort let alone achieved.
I think you have things pretty well sorted.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that input Ray. It may be time to pull this apart and reassemble it from scratch. I now believe the acoustic is too dominant to be panned either side. In trying to create space I have ended up with an imbalance. The piano and rhythm guitar could be separated with the acoustic and bass in the middle and that might pull it into line. I am trying to avoid a mono feel about it and may have blundered in the process. Let me look at that and see what I an come up with. Thanks again for the comments
 
For me, the lead could come up in the mix a bit. I would showcase it more. I would also drop the hi-hat a couple db to match the volume of the ride cymbal. there is also one frequency in the bass that resonates a bit too much and sounds a bit muddy. Maybe that is my room, but the bass could have a bit more low end definition. Great track though. Love the piano too. I could also hear a Rhodes part in there too... maybe?
 
chrisjorge said:
For me, the lead could come up in the mix a bit. I would showcase it more. I would also drop the hi-hat a couple db to match the volume of the ride cymbal. there is also one frequency in the bass that resonates a bit too much and sounds a bit muddy. Maybe that is my room, but the bass could have a bit more low end definition. Great track though. Love the piano too. I could also hear a Rhodes part in there too... maybe?
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Thanks Chris. I have listened to it on a number of systems in different room environments and most of the balance problem doesnt seem to materialize unless I am listening with headphones. Since that is a very real possibility, I have to address that too. I have had the lead up a little but it was too much. Maybe I could do a little more in that area. The bass is being played up around the 10th fret. I would have to boost the low and I just might muddy it up further. On some sytems that I have listened to, there is no shortage of bass though. I dont feel too pressed to change that very much although I appreciate your perspective. I like the idea of the hat vs cymbal ... I was thinking along those lines on the side while trying to address the balance issue.

There is no Rhodes in the recording, but I do have a string ensemble in the background in the middle third of the song. They come in to lift it a little but very subtle. The lead combines very well with the piano in some spots that might give the Rhodes effect. Will address your points in the remix and see if I can nail this. People seem to like the music, just not the mix. That should be easier to fix than the other way around. Thanks again for the input, lets see what I can come up with.
 
Ok, appreciative of the praise and mindful of the criticisms, I took it back to the mix and addressed all comments. The hat has been dropped and the ride raised. The lead is higher in the mix and acoustic more central. I was somewhat reticent about boosting the bass because as I said on some systems it had plenty. But I bumped it by 1db at 100Hz to see what that does and seems to have done no harm.

It sounds more pleasant to my ears but would appreciate your patience in giving it another listen

 
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Much sweeter! There's a touch of early 70's Aussie prog about this track. I don't know why but a bundle of Surf soundtracks come to mind - Drouyn, Morning of the Earth etc.
Cool bananas.
 
rayc said:
Much sweeter! There's a touch of early 70's Aussie prog about this track. I don't know why but a bundle of Surf soundtracks come to mind - Drouyn, Morning of the Earth etc.
Cool bananas.
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Thanks Ray. My early influences were The Atlantics, The Ventures and The Shadows among others. My taste goes to a much larger range of genres now but the early influences still seem to creep in. Thanks for listening :)
 
Awesome work. I find myself getting lost in it--forgetting that it's "home recorded" and that I should be listening for problems. Instead, it's a great tune, great playing, and a great recording. I'll add this to my rotation if you don't mind.
 
WhiteStrat said:
Awesome work. I find myself getting lost in it--forgetting that it's "home recorded" and that I should be listening for problems. Instead, it's a great tune, great playing, and a great recording. I'll add this to my rotation if you don't mind.
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Thank you for that WS, if you like it that much, of course I don't mind. It was inspired by the woman on my mind and dedicated to her. I tried to fill it with the same feelings she inspires in me. I really appreciate the feedback :)
 
Hey! Not too shabby. I'm not feeling well, so I'll make this brief. The shining stars of this piece are the guitars, no doubt. I find myself fixating on that darned hi-hat closing off-beat. It feels like I've crawled up into that hat and am listening to the guitars from inside. That's an exaggeration, no doubt, but if it were me, I'd bring all the guitars up (or leave them there), and then bring the hat down so it's not so prominent. It seemed to get marginally better as the mixes progressed, but I still feel like the spotlight is on the hi-hat, and it should be so far back, it's an afterthought.

I listened to all mixes on Grado SR-225 headphones, which are a bit on the bright side to begin with. Tame that hat, and let the guitars sing!

Thanks for sharing.
 
PoeticIntensity said:
Hey! Not too shabby. I'm not feeling well, so I'll make this brief. The shining stars of this piece are the guitars, no doubt. I find myself fixating on that darned hi-hat closing off-beat. It feels like I've crawled up into that hat and am listening to the guitars from inside. That's an exaggeration, no doubt, but if it were me, I'd bring all the guitars up (or leave them there), and then bring the hat down so it's not so prominent. It seemed to get marginally better as the mixes progressed, but I still feel like the spotlight is on the hi-hat, and it should be so far back, it's an afterthought.

I listened to all mixes on Grado SR-225 headphones, which are a bit on the bright side to begin with. Tame that hat, and let the guitars sing!

Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

I see your point when you draw my attention to the hat specifically but it didn't grab my attention during any stage of the production. I had addressed it once but thought it was ok. Will review the mix and see what I can do with it. Thanks for the input :)
 
PoeticIntensity said:
Hey! Not too shabby. I'm not feeling well, so I'll make this brief. The shining stars of this piece are the guitars, no doubt. I find myself fixating on that darned hi-hat closing off-beat. It feels like I've crawled up into that hat and am listening to the guitars from inside. That's an exaggeration, no doubt, but if it were me, I'd bring all the guitars up (or leave them there), and then bring the hat down so it's not so prominent. It seemed to get marginally better as the mixes progressed, but I still feel like the spotlight is on the hi-hat, and it should be so far back, it's an afterthought.

I listened to all mixes on Grado SR-225 headphones, which are a bit on the bright side to begin with. Tame that hat, and let the guitars sing!

Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

Hows that?


Off-beat?? Its on the backbeat where it should be. Doncha hate people who clap on 1 and 3? :D
 
PoeticIntensity said:
Much better. If it were me, I'd also add a bit of reverb to all the drums to set them back even more. Other than that, great stuff, man! Thanks for sharing. /QUOTE]

Done. Please refer to previous link. Thanks for listening and thank you for the input, very much appreciated.
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Very nice. I see what you mean about the acoustic guitar (from the other thread). There's a big difference between what you get and what I get. Mind you, I'm sure our set up and situatuion is quite different. I'm using a Tascam DP-02 8 track and a Behringer X1222 mixer with no filters or processing equipment available. I can hear the talent you have in both the playing and recording. I look forward to hearing more.
 
Very nice track! Can't fault the mix. How did you do the drums? Live or samples?

If I had to be picky, I might have suggested varying the lead guitar tone a bit for the second half, to build interest. Maybe a bit more drive.
 
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