Return from the grave

  • Thread starter Thread starter TeyshaBlue
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TeyshaBlue

TeyshaBlue

It's the smell..
Finally got together with some buddies over the weekend and re-worked a tune we wrote about 6 years ago or so.
Not crazy about the mix yet...bass seems a bit mudded up, and the ending is an effing disaster (WTF was I thinking?:facepalm:)
I think I'm going to let a buddy lay some drum tracks instead of the canned drums I used. That side-stick sounds like a grenade.
As a side note, the guitarist is continuing to recover from a stroke...I think his playing has gotten quite a bit stronger since the last time we worked together.

Tear the rest of the mix apart, please!

SoundClick artist: Teysha - Instrumental Southwestern Jazz with a little chaos thrown in...
 
Bass up a touch? I know that on tunes like this you should feel it as much as hear it, but it's a great part and it would be nice if it were just that l-i-t-t-l-e bit more present. Maybe. Try it and see. The rest sounds pretty nice to me. "Kinda Fagen meets Acoustic Alchemy meets Mancini." I agree with the Fagen/Mancini thing - I'll have to check out Acoustic Alchemy, cuz I really like this tune. It's unusual, and it sounds good. I like the drums at the end, too. Why not?
 
No mix nits from me. Enjoyed the tune. Very smooth
 
I guess it's supposed to be cool, but I find it a tad too contained. I think because the timing is mostly so impeccable it needs (on occasion) to sound like something is about to break.
 
dobro said:
Bass up a touch? I know that on tunes like this you should feel it as much as hear it, but it's a great part and it would be nice if it were just that l-i-t-t-l-e bit more present. Maybe. Try it and see. The rest sounds pretty nice to me. "Kinda Fagen meets Acoustic Alchemy meets Mancini." I agree with the Fagen/Mancini thing - I'll have to check out Acoustic Alchemy, cuz I really like this tune. It's unusual, and it sounds good. I like the drums at the end, too. Why not?
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Good suggestion on the bass line. It's a little tame. Thnx for the ears.:)
 
Tobe said:
I guess it's supposed to be cool, but I find it a tad too contained. I think because the timing is mostly so impeccable it needs (on occasion) to sound like something is about to break.
Click to expand...

Some of that is by design...see Fagen/Mancini reference. Some of that isretarded drum programming by me. No matter how loose I try to quantize, and in some places eschewing quantization altogether, it always sounds like programmed drums. I've got to get a real, meat-drummer in front of this tune.

Thx for the listen. Excellent points.
 
I think everything is fine but those drums. Real drums will dramatically change this piece without you even doing anything else.
 
Greg_L said:
I think everything is fine but those drums. Real drums will dramatically change this piece without you even doing anything else.
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I feel that way about oh... ten out of ten tracks I hear with canned drums. Canned drums are the emperor's clothes.
 
I think it sounds very good....the synth string pad is the trixster that helps a lot and the nice guitar sound. Horns are given 2nd chair, but work nice. Lead gtr might be a tad loud, but not if it was THEIR solo album.

For some odd reason, I believe fake drums have the ability to sound pretty damn good. To me... the guys playing the Toontrack demo video stuff, albeit usually live, always sound more than acceptable to me. To me it is rare that I hear a good set of mic'd drums on non commercial stuff in the clinics.
 
I s'pose I agree with the comments about the drums, and yeah, for my tastes the bass could come up a hair--but wow, this is sweet. Very polished and sophisticated. Like a grown up did it. (I'm 45 and still feel about 15 when I listen to my own mixes!) Nice stuff...
 
mixmkr said:
I think it sounds very good....the synth string pad is the trixster that helps a lot and the nice guitar sound. Horns are given 2nd chair, but work nice. Lead gtr might be a tad loud, but not if it was THEIR solo album.

For some odd reason, I believe fake drums have the ability to sound pretty damn good. To me... the guys playing the Toontrack demo video stuff, albeit usually live, always sound more than acceptable to me. To me it is rare that I hear a good set of mic'd drums on non commercial stuff in the clinics.
Click to expand...

For most stuff I hear, it's like a line in the sand. Real drums, good. Canned drums, not. Honest, I think all this kickass canned drum software is a giant blind spot. "Now you can make your tracks sound like the pros!" No. Now you can make your tracks sound like overperfect canned drums. I've got one tune with canned drums and I left it that way for two reasons - first, a collaborator did it, not me; second, the obvious fakiness of it suits the tune. Which is how I kinda feel about the drums on this tune. I really like stuff like this that's kind of a genre-bender or a throwback that's done really well, and so it doesn't sound like canned drums trying to sound like something else. Having said that, I think this tune would sound better with real drums.
 
Thanks for the listens and the additional comments. I'm putting this tune in front of a buddy of mine next weekend I think. He's a pretty sweet drummer. Can't wait to hear how the tune improves.
And yeah, I'll pop that bass line up a few db on the remix.
 
dobro said:
For most stuff I hear, it's like a line in the sand. Real drums, good. Canned drums, not. Honest, I think all this kickass canned drum software is a giant blind spot. "Now you can make your tracks sound like the pros!" No. Now you can make your tracks sound like overperfect canned drums. I've got one tune with canned drums and I left it that way for two reasons - first, a collaborator did it, not me; second, the obvious fakiness of it suits the tune. Which is how I kinda feel about the drums on this tune. I really like stuff like this that's kind of a genre-bender or a throwback that's done really well, and so it doesn't sound like canned drums trying to sound like something else. Having said that, I think this tune would sound better with real drums.
Click to expand...

In a way I'm not disagreeing with you, but on a different page. I agree that if you just drag stock MIDI files in your recording program, pull up the default set, they probably won't be totally convincing of being real. But there is no expertise in doing that....or an ear to hear such. It's the same thing with orchestral files, fake B3 organs, tube amps, digital versus analog... it's really the end result. Now if you're out to try and "fool" someone you've got Ocean Way tracking rooms at your house, the engineer and recording hardware, you better know what's going on. Can I do it....not really. But I do think the "default" kits sound better than a typicial drummer with 3 years of playing experience, his new $400 drum set and a year of recording experience in his concrete basement. I also do believe these drum programs are also aimed for writing and quick demos. So when the MP3 clinic totally agrees your song is a hit, somebody throws that 1970's recording budget in your lap.... hit the studios with a real drummer. But Paul, you've got the ear to know it sounds "bad" [to you}.... which then means you have the ability to keep "adjusting" until it ends up sounding "good". The quick answer is usually real drums in cases with people. But like I've said, I'm not hearing A LOT of great home brew recorded drums. Some do, but most don't in my opinion.
 
I like the bass level as it is at this point in time..
On occasion the guitar gets a little loud.
Drums - they are what they are.
Synths are nicely placed in the mix to give a touch of "thrill is gone".
Not my cup of meat but very well done nonetheless.
 
TeyshaBlue said:
Thanks for the listens and the additional comments. I'm putting this tune in front of a buddy of mine next weekend I think. He's a pretty sweet drummer. Can't wait to hear how the tune improves.
And yeah, I'll pop that bass line up a few db on the remix.
Click to expand...

A few dB? Nah, you're not hearing me.
 
mixmkr said:
But like I've said, I'm not hearing A LOT of great home brew recorded drums. Some do, but most don't in my opinion.
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Sure. I agree with you. I also agree that most canned drums on these forums sound like fake imitations that are trying to sound like the real thing. Look, it's really simple. If you use real drums, do it well - that means a drummer who can drum. In my experience, they're hard to find for free on three forums on the net. By the same token, if you use canned beats, DO IT WELL. When you assemble your canned drum track, don't make it sound like real drumming. Why not? Cuz then it'll sound like an imitation. No. Make it sound like canned drums. Make it sound like Portishead or Bjork. Or make it sound like the opening track on Luther. That shit's great. You know it's canned. You know it sounds great. But it isn't imitating real drums.

Apologies to Teyshablue for a hijack. It's only a little hijack, though. :o
 
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