Fretless bass / acoustic guitar / sonic windows

the third beat on bar 7 and 8 for example. the kick is playing on the eighth before the third beat but the bass sounds like it's real heavy on the third beat.

it's a really picky thing to talk about but i heard it so i thought i'd mention it.

your bass timing is perfectly in sync btw, i didn't mean that your time is suspect cause it's dead on! and overall this bass sounds 100000000% better than anything you'd get out of a synth. i say stick with it for sure.
 
Hey jeff,

Was going to stop after the last song... but there was your thread... right at the edge of the earth... about ready to fall off... couldn't do my friend like that :)

(Haven't read your thread)

Do you hear that static that comes in a split second before your main melody line comes in? It's probably right on your gtr track. If you could trim that off... somehow... just a tiny bit of the .wav

Very melodic, as usual Jeff. Damn good mix too... something about the kick drum is messing with my head... hmm... seems like sometimes the click is there, other times it's missing.. or something... ah, I'm high :o Maybe it's just the bass coming in place of the kick a few times or something... whatever... schizophrenia listener here :rolleyes:

Excellent detail and nice overdubs right before 2:30... (the really high stuff)... You should be getting paid by the weather channel ... right now. Put those lazy Mexican Riviera sunsets on the screen with some Dos Equis and roll credits... Fuuuuuuudge, you're good ;)

*****

Chad
 
Excellent work as usual. You've got it going end to end.

The drums programming could stand a bit of mixing up, but they sound good.

Some of the high notes on the accoustic were a bit piercing.

Great stuff.
 
Hey J -- Listened to this yesterday and it is a fine piece of work! Don't have any mixing advice, just wanted to let you know I enjoyed it!

:D
 
Well, no mix coments here. This is just great. And the song is awesome.

You have gotta get a cd out there! You can start by sending me one ;)

~scott
 
Guernica

Hey im calling your boss and telling him to let you have the day off...
and im having him put you in for a raise.
Click to expand...

.....sadly, I am the boss..... and i get no days off:( ..and if i give myself another raise, it would be called embezzlement (sp?):confused: :eek: :D


AHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh..... man, I love your stuff. ...you know that.
...This is, as always, ....beautiful! You have a great touch in the way you handle synth parts in your music. .....classy!

Real bass is a nice addition for sure. ....nice little licks in there too btw. Its just a little more bottom heavy than i like in a fretless, but it sounds great, and fills out the song well.

Beautiful work my brutha,

Gw/5
 
Very nice work. Nothing much to say but that I enjoyed listening to this a lot. I love the fretless bass sound. The gtrs were tight and crisp. I could go on how great this is. Great work
keep em coming.
Myx
 
Not much to add to what's already been said -- exemplary work in every way.

Wait, maybe there is something constructive I can add. That arpeggiated transition around 2:10, that repeats shortly after -- I think if you dramatized it just a little bit more to contrast it to what comes before and after, it would enhance the tune. Maybe something with the drums?

Also some of the improv on the way out sounds a tad too "stock" and I think you could do better...
 
Had to come back and download this song. Man, I listened to it on my headphones last time, and I thought I was impressed. It's even more impressive on my monitors!!:eek: :eek: I love how the guitars can be FELT without muddying the mix. Man, this is really great!!

I thought it might need a little more lead melodies last time I listened, but, now I think it's perfect as is. Mind posting your signal chain? Loving the sound and music of course

Al
 
Very nice !!

Mix is clean, well separated, full, warm and crisp simultaneously!

I'll have to put you on my ' listen to his other stuff' list as I thought your overall musicianship on this track was quite evidently a cut above & quite noteworthy.....very tasteful execution melodically & fine diatonic improvisation (with a few nicely placed 'b5s' included for color) Sweet!

Harmonically & progression-wise.....I would have prefered a bridge into a satelite key or a cold turkey modulation for 8 to 12 bars as the descending f#min progression was slightly redundant, but the occassional C#7sus4 to C#7 was a needed and enjoyable breath of fresh air that makes this bed work well.
(Even though it is V7 in this key, you delayed it successfully by ascending back up to the b7 chord (E) a few times before releasing it!!!!Way cool deception, slight tension and release amid pure diatonic foundation! Very hip! Theoretically advertant?, or did you just go with your ears? come on, you can tell me! Either way, This, aside from excellent playing, is what is crucial to the otherwise jam in f#min. Very hip Jeff!

Well thought out supporting synth parts, nicely mixed, delicately compliment this very pleasant tapestry!

Did I mention that your time and feel are both solid & intrinsically laid back? Quite Impressive sir!

5 big ones from flat-9
 
mixmkr

Yeah mix... I think a fretted and frettless bass are two totally different sounding instruments... because you can hit all the pitches in between the tones therefore enhancing the feel.
I say get one if you have a few extra bucks floating around.

That is a great compliment revealing that my style is somehow poking through this.

Thanks!


erichenryus

I can hear a couple bass kicks slightly off... I guess I should go back and try to line them up a little bit better.
The average person prob. couldnt tell... but Id like to try to get my songs as good as I can get them.... so I appreciate your critical critique!
As for totally getting rid of my synth bass ... I think that some songs can benefit from a synthetic bass to stray from the norm. :) but I agree the fretless is cool


participant

Very nice of ya to save this song from an eternal demise. :)
man... you guys have better ears than i do... I can hear the background hiss before the intro... nothing that a quick trim cant take care of :) It almost sounds like an intentional cymbal sound or something.
Once again you right on target with a click in some bass drum hits... still dont understans how you can hear them :) must be the goodies you were smoking.
The clicks happened when I moved a couple bass drum hits and the cut wasnt at 0 db so .. a couple of them are clicking.... after im done typing this I will go back and redo all the bass hits and a few other things i noticed when I went back for a listen :)

good to hear from ya again chad!


Doug H

I really agree with the drum programming nedding to have a little more action to it. But i usually end up spending all my time on the guitar and bass parts and my drumming skills arnt my specialty... so I try to forget about them :) ... Now that i hear it from somebody... I think I might go back and tinker with a couple fills of something...
and ill go back and check to see if I can find that piercing acoustic that you mentioned. thanks


SOUND DIAGNOSIS

Thanks for the messege... when you mentioned peach fuzz... I somehow quickly remembered James and the giant peach.. and then I compared my mix to the book :eek:
There are some interesting similarities :) thanks for your praise Lee!


boydrj

Thanks for stopping in to mention that .... really appreciate it!


groovejunkie

Thanks groove! Im glad ya thought the sound quality was up there... Its really cool how the equipment is soo cheap nowadays that allows for such good sounding recordings.
The technology is there for everyone... but its the will that makes it work!


sjcrts

Hey scott... thanks for stopping on by! I will have another cd out sometime later this year... but my main goal is just to have fun with music.
Good to hear from you


Guernica

Boy... sounds like you have some responsibilities over there. Seems like Enron is very good @ uppermanagment bonuses.... maybe we should work for them :)

anyway... thanks for checking this one out... I agree with you on it being a little to bass heavy.. so im gonna go back in there and cut ~2 db off the bass. The low end sound pretty good on my monitors, but then I take it out to the car and its kinda bass heavy... and when the speakers are shaking soo much.. it doesnt allow for any high end detail to come through...

Thanks for the mix tip G... I will apply shortly..


Myx62

Thanks myx for the comment. Im glad the fretless bass is sounding good... because I think if the bass and drums sound back then the whole song will stink also.


chrisharris

Thanks for checking this one out ... looking forward to some of your new toonies

Stay out of trouble :)


smellyfuzz

Thanks Sean ...for taking the time out again for the listen


AlChuck

I did run into a problem when I came to the break because I didnt want to have a dramtic change of key. My intention was to have an almost seamless song that would move in and out of the melody.

Sometimes i notice it sounds pretty amature when you put a non standard key change in the middle of the song that has non of the tones of the original melody. Though I do agree with you on trying to spice up the break with some drum enhancments. something im thinking about doing eventually.

Thanks for your suggestions Al!


A1A2

I know what you mean about listening from headphones to monitors.. because I do that all the time. Sometimes I mix on the headphones if its too late and then do alot of fixing on my monitors... I really dont think there is any problem with that unless you know what your doing... with a bunch of practice.

My acoustic guitar is a takamine sante fe ---> really nice preamp (RNP) ----> slight delay and reverb (depending on rythm or lead) from my Korg triton... (you can use any delay and reverb here... because korg isnt know for top notch effects) -----> Delta 1010 -----> Mackie 1402
The drums and synth sounds are from my Triton.
Bass guitar is the motified fretless yamaha bb2000.

any other questions let me know!


flat-9

... it looks like you had a bit of training in the theory side music :)

I can honestly say I didnt know what key this was in until you told me... I sometimes just through the kapo on in all different postions and look for something catchy... then build a melody over that.
though I dont write out the progession when im writing... I try to keep around a basic song structure... just like the beatles did. roots/fifths/7ths ... im also a bit fan of layering the guitars in different octaves and key postitions... helps making things bigger.

It was very interesting reading you overview... reminisent of reading a review in a music mag :)

Thanks for taking the time to do that flat-9!
 
Sorry it took me a while to get to this.

Real warm mix. Very nice ambience. Good playing as usual. Great reverbs.

The "main" guitar was just a bit forward in the mix IMO. When it dropped down an octave it was just fine. Maybe compress it just the slightest bit? Certainly not much.

Tough to comment on bass because I'm listening on headphones. But it seems to sit about right. Maybe nudge it up a tad. I'd like to hear just a bit more attack on it. Nothing drastic because it would take away from the atmosphere you're going for. "Soft" compression with a decent amount of attack? I don't know, I'm just throwing things out.

A long fade out. But for an instrumental it worked well.
 
Hi Triple M

Some people were saying the bass is too loud.. some say the bass is too soft :) I dont know who to believe :) :)
Actually I just took the mix into the car and it sounded pretty good... but the bass could use some tighting on the lower registers and/or a couple db trim.

I measured the volume of the guitar with other instrumental artists and Im right at about the same level.

I think it all boils down to critiquing a mix on a pair of headphones... in a car... or on the monitors.

But your comments made me burn the song and bring it into the car for a listen..

Thanks for your comments
 
Ignore me, I listened to the tune three times trying to find some high end harshness on the guitar, there was a bit towards the end of the bridge, but not like I thougt there was. I remember commenting on this on another tune before, so I must have heard a couple of hard attacks and jumped the gun.
 
I hear ya Doug

I did notice a spot towards the end and some other spot.. where the signal was clipping on the acoustic.

I have a problem without using a compressor because some of my attacks are pretty loud and other times im quite quiet.


I think ill have a better time with this once I get a dedicated Reverb/delay unit... because when I run the signal into my keyboard it creates all kinds of issues... not to mention its a 20 ft. x 2 cord going to my keyboard.

Thanks!
 
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