Flat Rock -Final Mix - (again)

mark skinner

mark skinner

Active member
Hello , here's a singer songwriter type of country ballad I co wrote with my former bass player. This the final mix on this very simple song. Thank you all for helping me get this to completion ! I'm calling it done .. mark

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Flat Rock by mark alan skinner

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Lovely acoustics!
VOX could use a little less reverb and more presence.
Try changing up the drum pattern a bit to highlight verse/chorus.

I give it a 7/10 ;)
 
@JAPOV , Thanks for the listen and the suggestions. I have pretty minimal reverb settings on the Vox tracks. I think the frequency's where they live got boosted in the mastering phase. I also felt a few phrases needed shorter tails. Easy fix as well as the main Vox EQ. Done . I'll have to play with the drum samples. I'm using MT Power drums and didn't bounce to clips so .. probably another easy one , if some different loops will fit in. I've also centered the panning on the outro lead guitar. It seems things always sound different after uploading to a streaming site. Thanks .. mark
 
Arrangement-wise, I'd look at redoing the drums altogether -- hh 16ths work sometimes, but generally (unless it's a power "chops-ey" song) I'd use percussion to do 16ths -- shaker starting at the second verse, maybe? I can picture some congas fitting in there nicely too!
 
Nice song. Catchy. Nice harmony. Too much reverb overall for my taste. Primarily on the rhythm guitar and vocals. Takes away from the clarity. Agree with Serendipity about the HH. Too busy for the song.

Good stuff though. :thumbs up:
 
The drums are busy for a tune like this, so what would they sound like if the whole kit was just a bit quieter - clicking underneath sort of instead of really popping the way they are now?
 
The link now reflects Remix 1. I tamed the drums a little using 1/8 instead of 1/16 patterns (except for the outro) and lowered them a bit. Added a shaker (needs further work) and reduced the reverb on the electric guitar and Vox tracks. Thanks for the suggestions so far .. Still a work in progress .. mark
 
mark skinner said:
The link now reflects Remix 1. I tamed the drums a little using 1/8 instead of 1/16 patterns (except for the outro) and lowered them a bit. Added a shaker (needs further work) and reduced the reverb on the electric guitar and Vox tracks. Thanks for the suggestions so far .. Still a work in progress .. mark
Click to expand...
Definitely a step in the right direction :thumbs up:
 
Better. I might even back off further on the reverb on the vox. Also, I'd suggest panning the guitars further. Right now the vocals (which should be the focus) are competing with the gits. Actually, if you panned the guitars more, you might not even need to back off on the vocal reverb. HHs are much better - and I'm fine with the speed up in the outro. Still quite nice overall.
 
The acoustic guitars sound very full. Well recorded. They sound great.

Bass is sitting right to me.

Vocal is maybe a half-db too far back? I wouldn't say it's crispy, but I could go for a little warmer vocal sound.

Drum programming it a bit programmy.
 
@Serendipity Records , Thanks for the drums suggestion. I'll probably play with them a little more later. @dachay2tnr , I'm not hearing excessive reverb on the Vox tracks even with them soloed. I think a lot of the verb was coming from the close to centered tremolo guitar track. Great call on spreading the acoustic guitars further out. That helped a Lot giving more focus to the Vocals. Now that left me with the electric guitar to get out of the way. It sounded out of balance panned to the left or the right. I ended up putting a slow sweeping auto panner on it from "Pancake". The timing was just right for it to play some on the left and some on the right. Not much coming up the middle. Great free plugin! Appreciate it. @TripleM , Thank You for the listen and suggestion. I bumped up the main Vox 1/2db and did some de-essing on it. I think it sounds a lot better now and a little thicker..
The link now reflects -Remix 2 -from these last suggestions. I think it's getting real close. Thank You .. mark
 
mark skinner said:
@Serendipity Records , Thanks for the drums suggestion. I'll probably play with them a little more later. @dachay2tnr , I'm not hearing excessive reverb on the Vox tracks even with them soloed. I think a lot of the verb was coming from the close to centered tremolo guitar track. Great call on spreading the acoustic guitars further out. That helped a Lot giving more focus to the Vocals. Now that left me with the electric guitar to get out of the way. It sounded out of balance panned to the left or the right. I ended up putting a slow sweeping auto panner on it from "Pancake". The timing was just right for it to play some on the left and some on the right. Not much coming up the middle. Great free plugin! Appreciate it. @TripleM , Thank You for the listen and suggestion. I bumped up the main Vox 1/2db and did some de-essing on it. I think it sounds a lot better now and a little thicker..
The link now reflects -Remix 2 -from these last suggestions. I think it's getting real close. Thank You .. mark
Click to expand...
My issue was the vocal tracks weren’t as clear as I thought they should be. I first thought backing off the reverb would help with that, but then I thought maybe a wider pan on the guitars would work better. Hard to tell without being able to make the adjustments myself. Glad it worked out. Haven’t been able to listen yet myself.
 
I'm calling this one done after uploading this final mix. I Really appreciate everyone's help! If I make any further changes I'll just edit the OP and wont bump it back up. moving on .. mark
 
Another great song!

Love everything about it except that drum fill/roll right around 3.43, it really jars with me and I'd get rid of it and replace it, maybe with a simple snare hit to carry on the pattern (just a pesonal thing, I don't think it's necessarily 'wrong' [I do] and I like the same fill/roll at the start of the instrumental) but apart from that hats off to you and your friend, brilliant writing.
 
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Very well recorded and mixed. I agree with dobro drums are too busy. Acoustic sound is nice and I'm picky with acoustic guitar. Love the dryness. Vocal sound is professional.
 
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