"First Tracks", trial mix #1

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GONZO-X

GONZO-X

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"First Tracks", trial mix #1


https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/first-tracks

this is a final mix attempt on one of my new tunes...
this has been posted in different arrangements in the past,
but never in this particular arrangement.

the imagery is pretty straight forward,
early morning skiing on a powder day,
the first tracks are all your own.
 
I'm not a skier, so maybe I should't comment ....

The guitar sound around 1:45 (start of 2nd verse?) could use some hi end, sounds little muffled. The lead around 2:35 (and further on) has a similar sound, I'd like to hear a little more high end bite.
But that's just me. Great playing.
In the first chorus section, the guitar lead fillers seem to be from 3 different takes - panning and volume is a little different on each, I'd like to hear it more as one guitarist/1 take.
 
mjbphotos said:
I'm not a skier, so maybe I should't comment ....

The guitar sound around 1:45 (start of 2nd verse?) could use some hi end, sounds little muffled. The lead around 2:35 (and further on) has a similar sound, I'd like to hear a little more high end bite.
But that's just me. Great playing.
In the first chorus section, the guitar lead fillers seem to be from 3 different takes - panning and volume is a little different on each, I'd like to hear it more as one guitarist/1 take.
Click to expand...

ha, if you don't ski, it all still applies!
heheh......

that first lead fill, is a lead and harmony..... so it is a true harmony part,
it SHOULD feel like two different guitar players, because for all practical purposes, it was.

but i like the idea you have about adding a bit of bite at that one part...
but of course, not everything can be bright all at once....
hey, thanks for checking this one out!
 
Let the intro harmonics ring out (fade after the song starts). Sounds funny to me when they suddenly fade. Great vocal and harmonies. Wah guitar is just a hair quiet for my taste...gets really clobbered by the oohs. Bass sounds muffled during that section as well...

Really REALLY like this one Rob.
 
Very cool. I don't have much to say on this, it's really well done. If anything, I thought some of the guitars in the first 1:30 were a bit too bright - I had to turn it down just a notch to get more clarity and less harshness. But really, it's not that much. I realize someone above wrote the opposite, to turn the brightness up, so, that tells you how differently we perceive the stuff.

song just ended--awesome outro and fadeout. cool idea there
 
andrushkiwt said:
Very cool. I don't have much to say on this, it's really well done. If anything, I thought some of the guitars in the first 1:30 were a bit too bright - I had to turn it down just a notch to get more clarity and less harshness. But really, it's not that much. I realize someone above wrote the opposite, to turn the brightness up, so, that tells you how differently we perceive the stuff.

song just ended--awesome outro and fadeout. cool idea there
Click to expand...

Well, that could be due to: different monitoring situation/different room acoustics - and my OLD ears that have been abused, but I compare to what I hear over my system from my stuff and others' music, too. I read you thought another track someone posted had too many highs overall, when everyone else said only the cymbals were harshly high.
 
mjbphotos said:
Well, that could be due to: different monitoring situation/different room acoustics - and my OLD ears that have been abused, but I compare to what I hear over my system from my stuff and others' music, too. I read you thought another track someone posted had too many highs overall, when everyone else said only the cymbals were harshly high.
Click to expand...

I'm at work, using my company headphones. No choice at the moment. The vocals in the other track were very harsh in these phones. But hey, if people are going to be listening on all types of devices of varying quality...then it doesn't hurt to mention that. Next time, I will write what I'm listening on, if that helps.
 
BroKen_H said:
Let the intro harmonics ring out (fade after the song starts). Sounds funny to me when they suddenly fade. Great vocal and harmonies. Wah guitar is just a hair quiet for my taste...gets really clobbered by the oohs. Bass sounds muffled during that section as well...

Really REALLY like this one Rob.
Click to expand...

hey H!
you know, that was just a warm up thing at the beginning, that i left in cuz it was kinda cool...
it is what it is, maybe i just outa lose it?!
wah guitar up
 
Your recording quality and musicianship sound fantastic as usual. My beef is mainly with the vocals. The music and the vocals don't really seem to fit together. Some of the vocal phrasing sounds stretched out as if you needed more lines. Maybe a different vocal melody would make it sound more cohesive. Just my opinion take or leave it.
 
GONZO-X said:
hey H!
you know, that was just a warm up thing at the beginning, that i left in cuz it was kinda cool...
it is what it is, maybe i just outa lose it?!
wah guitar up
Click to expand...
BROKEN H.

actually,
started the re-mix last night,
and took that opening section, with the chime bells,
and simply slide that pair of wav files right up to the downbeat of the actual song,
and that works like a charm!!

thanks for the idea!
 
andrushkiwt said:
Very cool. I don't have much to say on this, it's really well done. If anything, I thought some of the guitars in the first 1:30 were a bit too bright - I had to turn it down just a notch to get more clarity and less harshness. But really, it's not that much. I realize someone above wrote the opposite, to turn the brightness up, so, that tells you how differently we perceive the stuff.

song just ended--awesome outro and fadeout. cool idea there
Click to expand...

thanks for commenting, andrushkiwt.......
you know, one of the trickiest things with mixing,
isn't the mix, so much,
as figuring out how to eq things so that they translate well on any system.

and yes, getting 100% opposite suggestions does not help any!!

LOL..... except, to clue me in that there is an issue..
so thanks, i'll focus on what i think is the right eq balance on that guitar part......
\sometimes, it just boils down to how accurate your listening room and system is.


a lot of folks will make comments while listening to a tune thru their computer speakers, or ear buds............!

which does not really help much,
especially if they are used to hearing professionally mastered material thru the same system.....
 
ocnor said:
Your recording quality and musicianship sound fantastic as usual. My beef is mainly with the vocals. The music and the vocals don't really seem to fit together. Some of the vocal phrasing sounds stretched out as if you needed more lines. Maybe a different vocal melody would make it sound more cohesive. Just my opinion take or leave it.
Click to expand...

appreciate the comments, ocnor....
it's all good.

on vocals,
i thought about a more choppy, 'similar to the music' approach to this, when i very first started....
i usually write these things by trying several approaches first,
and going with the one that feels the most natural.

in this case, i am actively trying to create vocal phrasing that is AWAY from the norm...
and the fact that it caught you the way it did,
means, i think, that i'm on target.

the last thing i want with my material,
is for it to be expected, or typical.
i'm not trying to write 'radio friendly' stuff.....
i want it to be different.
 
GONZO-X said:
BROKEN H.

actually,
started the re-mix last night,
and took that opening section, with the chime bells,
and simply slide that pair of wav files right up to the downbeat of the actual song,
and that works like a charm!!

thanks for the idea!
Click to expand...

Glad to be of ser-vice! :D
 
GONZO-X said:
a lot of folks will make comments while listening to a tune thru their computer speakers, or ear buds............!

which does not really help much,
especially if they are used to hearing professionally mastered material thru the same system.....
Click to expand...

True. It should almost be a qualifier for people responding on mixes to say how they're listening (I see some people making note if they're using headphones, etc). All my listens for a while have been through my JBL 305s - it certainly is a step up even from the little box (not flat panel) computer speakers I was using!
 
mj,
those are good speakers.

translate well, in a good room.
 
2 cents alert!

I don't believe I ever gave advice when my room was crap. Once I got sorted, I've stuck my nose into other peoples' mixes a bit, and usually they like what I have to say...but, yeah, if I were listening on buds or on my wife's computer...even though she has my old Rokit 8s, I wouldn't give MIX advice.

The point is, if I'm not listening in this MIX environment, I'm not listening for MIX, I'm listening for MASTER. The mp3 Clinic's songs' volumes are lower, the eq is not hyped, it is not ready for ear buds or car speakers. On the other side of the coin, I try not to give mix advice in the show-off thread...what's the point?
 
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