Finally back in the MP3 clinic with a new one!

  • Thread starter Thread starter famous beagle
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famous beagle

famous beagle

Well-known member
Hey y'all,

Here's the first mix of a new one I've done called "Feeling Tired." (I did an acoustic recording of this tune a while back, but this is the full band version and quite different.)

Please read quickly:
I started this recording in Milwaukee before I moved here to NC, and the disc with the individual tracks got damaged. So all I had that remained from this was a rough mix I had done of everything up to then, which was pretty much everything except vocals.

So everything except the vocals is all just on one stereo track, which means I can't make adjustments (levels, eq, etc.) to any of the instruments without affecting everything else. The only thing I have individual control over is the vocals.

Having said that, any comments are welcome. I'd like to get some other ears on this one, because working with just the rough 2-track mix was kind of a bitch.

SoundClick artist: chad johnson - page with MP3 music downloads

Thanks!
 
I think that on the stereo backing, a bit more of low-mid would help a bit. Having said that, I am listening on entirely unfamiliar headphones (and i don't like them!) so maybe someone else can verify or negate that.
 
cobaltaudio said:
I think that on the stereo backing, a bit more of low-mid would help a bit. Having said that, I am listening on entirely unfamiliar headphones (and i don't like them!) so maybe someone else can verify or negate that.
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Agree with this completely. The song, the playing and the arrangements sound gorgeous, but the low end is completely lacking. It's absent to such an extent that I think you may even be able to get away with re-recording the bassline and mixing in with what you've got. You'd have to be careful where the tune breaks down and you can hear the bass previously recorded, but I reckon it might work.

Very nice tune fb
 
Low end is fine (and I am happy with my... wait... let me check... MDR V6's).

Don't like the panning of the piano... I would go for a stereo spread rather than a pan.
 
Tobe said:
Low end is fine (and I am happy with my... wait... let me check... MDR V6's).

Don't like the panning of the piano... I would go for a stereo spread rather than a pan.
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Thanks Tobe. You didn't read the "please read quickly" section, did you? :)
 
robgreen said:
Agree with this completely. The song, the playing and the arrangements sound gorgeous, but the low end is completely lacking. It's absent to such an extent that I think you may even be able to get away with re-recording the bassline and mixing in with what you've got. You'd have to be careful where the tune breaks down and you can hear the bass previously recorded, but I reckon it might work.

Very nice tune fb
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Thanks for the compliments Rob. Wow, the comment about the low end blows me away. Originally, the stereo mix of the instruments was boomy as all get out; the bass was all-consuming. So I had to do a good bit of EQ-ing to try to tame that. I guess maybe I went too far with it?
 
As I'm hearing it, there's plenty of low end on the stereo track in the bass guitar don't put any more in, but I think when you get up into the mid frequencies a little bit more you've lost some of the guitar's low end, but I don't mean absolute low end, this will fall more toward the low-mid i expect, hence my previous comment
 
cobaltaudio said:
As I'm hearing it, there's plenty of low end on the stereo track in the bass guitar don't put any more in, but I think when you get up into the mid frequencies a little bit more you've lost some of the guitar's low end, but I don't mean absolute low end, this will fall more toward the low-mid i expect, hence my previous comment
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Which guitar specifically? The acoustic? Electrics?

Are you thinking like around the 600-800HZ range or so or higher than that?

Thanks for your comments by the way.
 
famous beagle said:
Thanks for the compliments Rob. Wow, the comment about the low end blows me away. Originally, the stereo mix of the instruments was boomy as all get out; the bass was all-consuming. So I had to do a good bit of EQ-ing to try to tame that. I guess maybe I went too far with it?
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Hmmmm, maybe it's the speakers on my work PC if nobody else it hearing it - I'll have another listen when I'm at home. Apologies if it's from my end rather than yours, but I couldn't really hear much bassline from here when I listened earlier.
 
robgreen said:
Hmmmm, maybe it's the speakers on my work PC if nobody else it hearing it - I'll have another listen when I'm at home. Apologies if it's from my end rather than yours, but I couldn't really hear much bassline from here when I listened earlier.
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No problem. I appreciate all the extra ears I can get. :)

I'm doing a few different mixes of the stereo backing track right now, taking everyone's contributions into account. Hopefully I'll come up with something that works better.
 
famous beagle said:
Which guitar specifically? The acoustic? Electrics?

Are you thinking like around the 600-800HZ range or so or higher than that?

Thanks for your comments by the way.
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The acoustic is where I heard it most, and yeah that sort of region. Couldn't be 100% as I don't have the time to load it up into a DAW and try it myself right now
 
The only thing I'd add to what's been said already is there is a tendency for a word or two at the end of phrases to get lost in the mix. I might do a fader ride to bring them up.

Don't know if you can do anything about this, but it seems to me like the bass gets noticeably louder starting at about 2:49. I'm thinking on t a bigger system it's going to overpower other things.
 
This sounds very nice to me man. Especially given the constraints you describe.

Plenty of bass guitar coming through here. There is however and overall hollowness to the mix (for lack of a better term)...meaning, a bit empty in lower mids in general. Not sure, it is an odd, yet pleasant sound. Super mellow, yet plenty of stuff going on. Cool. Thanks for posting this.
 
Cobalt: I've briefly messed around with the range between about 500 and 800 but haven't come up with anything that sounded better to me yet. I'll keep messing with it though. I'm still a bit new to using EQ plugs---much more familiar with physical knobs.

Triple M: Thanks for the tips on the phrase ends. I'll check those out. Regarding the bass getting louder at that spot, I think it may a little bit. I've listened to it on a few different systems so far (one of them decent-sized), and it hasn't bothered me yet. I think it helps there that things open up a bit and there's plenty of sonic space between the range of the guitars and the bass. Thanks for the listen!

Heatmiser: Thanks for the compliments! I know what you mean about the hollowness. I think this is probably due to me having to tame the super-boomy bass on the stereo track originally. It's the best I can do so far. I might still mess around with it some more. Frankly, after starting with what I had to work with, I was happy that I could find a decent space for the vocals to sit and be audible! :)
 
heatmiser said:
This sounds very nice to me man. Especially given the constraints you describe.

Plenty of bass guitar coming through here. There is however and overall hollowness to the mix (for lack of a better term)...meaning, a bit empty in lower mids in general. Not sure, it is an odd, yet pleasant sound. Super mellow, yet plenty of stuff going on. Cool. Thanks for posting this.
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I agree 100% Couldnt have said it better.
Love the slide guitar...wish there were more...(I know...I read 'please read quickly" part)
Like the tremelo effect on the other guitar too.
Vocal reminds of Bernie Leadon from the Eagles
Really nice song
 
Musically this is very nice, I'm new to producing so I'll refrain from any uninformed comment apart from agreeing with an above poster about losing the last words in the mix - a fader ride seems like a good solution.

Really nice guitar tone with drums and nice sparse piano

Very nice
 
famous beagle said:
No problem. I appreciate all the extra ears I can get. :)

I'm doing a few different mixes of the stereo backing track right now, taking everyone's contributions into account. Hopefully I'll come up with something that works better.
Click to expand...

Just listened back at home FB - ignore everything I said originally! Apologies! The bass sounds fine on these speakers.

It's a lovely tune - more Ryan Adams than Eagles for mine
 
Klutzee: Thanks! Yeah I love the way the slide came out too. That was my friend Brandon playing slide up in Milwaukee. I played piano and he played slide at the same time, and we both just totally improvised in one take. It was kind cool, because there are a few times you can hear us playing off each other. We were actually just doing a level check and planned on working out stuff after that, but we both liked the feel of it so much that we decided to keep it. The slide stuff he played in the first chorus is beautiful. I'm not familiar with Bernie Leadon's voice (guess he was really early Eagles?). I've never heard that one, so I'll have to check it out.

Jairien: Thanks for the listen and the compliments! Yeah the tremolo guitar was my friend's old silverface Champ (I think it was a Champ); it did sound really nice.

Rob: Thanks! Yeah Ryan Adams is certainly an influence. :)
 
Yeah, Bernie Leadon was a founding member of the Eagles. He was with them through the One of These Nights album. Just something about your vocal and approach that reminded me of him....not familiar with Ryan Adams so I guess we're even :)
 
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