For those about to rock...

Hey, you really should make a 6/4 R'n'B ballad out this...

:D

Sorry for this Chrisharris type of post.....haven't even listened yet...lol
 
Ped...lol...FUCK OFF!!! :D

-Hey man, pretty nice mix, I think. I'm kinda' wanting a little more bass, or better definition on it, but the synthy-tremolo stuff fills out the bottom end pretty nicely when it starts...what IS that??? And how did you time the tremolo so well?...it's so perfect, it HAS to be a fake something, right? lol.

GREAT vocal, man. Seriously.

The git fills...that's what's buggin' me. You did a very cool job of selectively using them, and they don't clutter up the mix but when you them in between vocal lines (like @:57 after "being too forward" and after "too shy" in the following line...BRING THOSE UP TO A LEVEL COMPARABLE TO THE LEAD...Just try it, anyway...if it jumps out too much, it's too much, but there's a level that just makes the mix sound HUGE if you envelope it correctly

...(ohh...nice harmonics)...

Man, you sound like somebody (vocal), somebody famous, lol...WHO IS IT?

That snare is fat. Sample?

(these aren't random questions, btw...I actually want and expect answers, lmao).

You've obviously put some work into this, so I'll go one step further. When I crank this up REALLY loud on the monitors, it comes across more harsh than I'd like...I have no idea how to fix this, but I notice it a lot on homerecordings, and I don't notice it on pro mixes...to me, sibilance (or lack thereof) and the ability to retain clarity AND WARMTH at high volumes are the 2 biggest hurdles we have. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the mix, b/c it sounds great at low and medium volumes to me (maybe a tad hot in the top end for my taste, but it's in the realm of taste at this point)...just wondering if you've ever done any tinkering around with multiband compression...

OR IF ANYBODY HAS...PLEASE DROP SOME THOUGHTS...

I've got a mix by "3 Doors Down" in the winamp player under yours (I know, I know)...anyway, I don't know how this is accomplished, but there's like this automatic bump in the low mids whenever some of the vocal or guitar get's really prominent, and it does a great job of balancing out those areas that end up bugging me in my mixes when I turn them up loud.

Sorry for the sort of off topic query, but this mix makes me think you know what you're doing.
 
Chris on a bike! :)

I just wanted to start typing...but you've said it all!

Glad I checked...

I love you too, btw...in the gayest kind of way of course (check SLuiCe's HRC thread)
 
Chrisharris - You have many questions and you are a good man so you deserve answers.

I think the synthy tremelo thing you are talking about is actually a piano (actually a cheesy Casio) playing the chord in 16ths and alternating octaves in the bass. A tremelo effect would have been cool but thats out of my league.

I agree that some of the lead levels should come up. I don't really mix riding the faders but in this case I may have to. I was especially pleased with some of those licks and I hate to see them buried.

Somebody famous, hmmmm... Tiny Tim?

The drums are fake, of course. I started out as a drummer but real drums are just not an option for me.

Now we come to the major issue, warmth. I just mixed down about 10 tunes to cd, making some improvements suggested online, and the one problem I keep running into is this harshness at louder volumes. My equipment is cheap so I can't expect much but any suggestions from the resident experts would be greatly appreciated. I don't know anything about multiband compression but maybe someone could help there as well.
 
Damn peculiar. They really are spotty but its hard to complain with no good alternatives. I hope you can check back because I need all the help I can get.
 
Hi-
Listening now=

I really like the vocal treatment- is that real doubling/tripling, as opposed to copies ?
The only way I can describe what I like about the vocals are that they 'shimmer', but probably thats whats getting out of whack at higher volumes. I'm not yet qualified to suggest any treatment.

I think the singer this reminds Chris Harris of, is Springsteen in "Glory Days". (yes/no Chris?)

I think the arrangement and the breaks you've done are perfect for this, I especially like the choice of timing/beats for the snare shots.

OK- Being a guitar player myself, I know its hard to let go of any good licks you've done; but you may want to think of redoing the the fills: to ring/sustain, then fade into the background. Some of them were cut a bit short when they could have otherwise kept their shine just a little longer. (does that make sense?) As far as their level, thats a really grey area. I never know what to do either.

back to work-
Alan
 
Alanfc - Well, I love Bruce so I appreciate that kind of feedback but I don't hear that at all. Of course I only hear myself so I can't judge. He's a big influence though and maybe some inflection is coming through. The vocal is doubled in the refrains. Maybe its the fx (reverb and compression) that is causing the shimmer.

On the guitar fills, I'm not sure what you mean and I wish I did. Some of the fills I could do without but some in this tune I was especially pleased with and would hate to drop because I really think they add to the momentum. Don't you think bringing the level out in some would help? If you have time I'd like you to get more specific, maybe with times in the song or particular parts. I value any opinion.
 
Hi-
Yes what I meant was that all the fills are really Keepers indeed! I agree that they give that momentum certainly. But I thought like some of them could be sweetened by holding/sustaining the last note into the next verse. You know what I mean?

Like:
doo-dwee-ditta-bahhhhhhh ------>fade

rather than:
doo-dwee ditta- bop-->hard stop

(don't laugh, I'm singing this to myself now)

Please remember this is really a personal taste thing. If the fills were crappy or had no value I probably wouldn't have even brought them up.

I hope my demo made sense, I've never typed out a sung guitar fill before.....let me know

-Alan
 
wait Alan - here look-

I just listened for specific times that demonstrate.
I don't want to frustrate you.
Here they are

:48
:51
1:00
1:06
1:46
1:52
1:59
2:07

I believe they usually occur in your pre-choruses (?)
Anyway, I say don't get rid of them really.

I think I hear the Springsteen-esque stuff mainly in the verses, some of the tone and inflections. If you like him of course this is natural. Its not obvious or anything.

Let me know if this makes sense

-Alan
 
Interestingly this is one of the first songs I ever wrote and that would date it to about the time of Born in the USA. Ironically, I didn't really like him at the time. But, it must have been in the air.

As for the fills, I think I agree with you on some and disagree on others. I may try a retake on them with your suggestion just to compare.

I have to say I'm not big in the patience department and my feeling (or the way I rationalize my laziness) is that if I got the right energy on a take, even if I made some mistakes, I keep it. I'm not one for perfecting tracks, and it probably shows. I like to hear well crafted stuff but I can't be bothered to do it. In my Beatle universe, I'm less Paul, more John in that respect.

I think this is why I need better equipment because I know there is no way I am going to put the effort into mixing/mastering that I need right now.

Don't know why I said all that because I'm sure nobody gives a crap!
 
ashulman said:

As for the fills, I think I agree with you on some and disagree on others. I may try a retake on them with your suggestion just to compare.

I have to say I'm not big in the patience department and my feeling (or the way I rationalize my laziness) is that if I got the right energy on a take, even if I made some mistakes, I keep it. I'm not one for perfecting tracks, and it probably shows. I like to hear well crafted stuff but I can't be bothered to do it. In my Beatle universe, I'm less Paul, more John in that respect.

I think this is why I need better equipment because I know there is no way I am going to put the effort into mixing/mastering that I need right now.

Don't know why I said all that because I'm sure nobody gives a crap!
Click to expand...

Alan-
I think I actually complicated everything with mentioning your fills. Its really a matter of personal taste. The fills did not weaken the song in any way.

I too believe in the energy we can capture in that one magical take. My favorite guitarist on earth and for all eternity is Jimmy Page so I'm not into absolute perfection.

Of course we gives a crap!- because when the less well-endowed (music gear-wise) guys read your words they can identify with it and aren't as frustrated when other people get really high tech in their comments talking about settings and tweaks on their major rigs. I have a small setup too.
 
I know you've heard it before, but the Springsteen influence is definitely there.

I'm listening in lo-fi and the mix sounds good over here. Man, this thing would rock so much harder though if you had some real drums on there (one of the many home-recording hurdles) ... Nice licks and your vocals are great!

On my end it kind of sounds like some of the guitar fills could come up a bit (the ones around the 1:55 mark or so sound really buried over here)

Nice job overall! I know you'll tinker with it some more, but your off and running!

:D
 
I really liked the punchy bits. The lead emblishments didn't have much impact other than making me strain to hear them. Good vocal and guitar trackingm they sounded great. It kind of lost me in the the middle. I think it was because the drums weren't cutting through all the rythm instruments.
 
cool song! I expected it to be a lot heavier, but I guess this is heavy for some people..

decent guitar sound.. I didn't read the comments to see what was used yet.. the bass could use some definition and the guitar sounds a hair out of tune.. Not crazy about the drum samples.. They sound good in the punch parts.. I almost hear some keys in the background? good rock song.. I would agree with the comments Doug H made in the previous post..
 
I knew when I invoked ACDC that I would let some people down, as this is wimpy in comparison. I guess I was being a little ironic. No need to complain about the drums as I totally agree but there's not much I can do. Guitar out of tune? If so you have much better ears than I do because I can't hear it. But anything can happen when you are wailing away on an old Tele.
 
yeah the out of tuneness is minor, but you can really hear it at the end when you let the final notes ring out.. it's passable.. I hear out of tuneness in everything including my own stuff.. cool song..

I truly love the AC/DC song so I did get a bit psyched..
 
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