Laughing Till It Hurts

M

mspin

New member
My first pass on the mix.

https://soundcloud.com/renips/laughing-till-it-hurts

Laughing Till It Hurts
Written By Mark Spinner

Verse
Driving real fast in my Trans Am
Shifting through the gears
Playing my guitar makes a sweet sound
Through my Marshall amp

Verse2
Time with my kids always puts me at ease
A fishing trip in the florida keys
to slow down
A sip of bourbon on a Saturday night
Having my baby right by my side
It’s all right.

Chorus
Having the time of our lives
And laughing till it hurts
It’s what life’s all about
Having the time of our lives
And laughing till it hurts
It’s what life’s all about

Verse

A cold winter morning in the Florida sun
Is really second to none

A midnight fishing trip on a full moon
The moonlight is the sun

Verse2
Time with my kids always puts me at ease
A fishing trip in the florida keys
to slow down
A sip of bourbon on a Saturday night
Having my baby right by my side
It’s all right.

Chorus
Having the time of our lives
And laughing till it hurts
It’s what life’s all about
Having the time of our lives
And laughing till it hurts
It’s what life’s all about
 
Bass needs more volume, can barely hear it at times. Drum reverb overall is too much for my taste, and the cymbals are very hissy. Vocals remind me of Joe Walsh, but they seem overcompressed (or high end has been EQed out)
 
Did you add some high EQ to the master track? It all seems too much now - vocal is better, but the cymbals are worse and the bass still can't be heard.
 
Mark, first off you are a good song writer and story teller. Also sounds like your a good musician, some really cool parts in this. However, I think your mix is way over processed. It has lost any energy it may have had. I would take every effect off and start with just the drums and get a good signal and sound from them and then start building it back in. Pan your guitars and double them. Go 100% on each side. Be easy on the verb! Don't put any on the final master channel. Listen to it at a low volume and not cranked up....that gives us a false sense of correct mixing. Good job on the song, just needs mixed better.
 
Bruthish said:
Mark, first off you are a good song writer and story teller. Also sounds like your a good musician, some really cool parts in this. However, I think your mix is way over processed. It has lost any energy it may have had. I would take every effect off and start with just the drums and get a good signal and sound from them and then start building it back in. Pan your guitars and double them. Go 100% on each side. Be easy on the verb! Don't put any on the final master channel. Listen to it at a low volume and not cranked up....that gives us a false sense of correct mixing. Good job on the song, just needs mixed better.
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking time to listen.

mjbphotos - Yes I did add some highs to vocals. Also brought up the bass. I am using a 12 string bass. I always think the bass could overwhelm the mix so I tend to be a bit gun shy with it. Not sure what to do with the cymbals. I made them a bit darker. Perhaps I should back down on the overheads? I like the way the reverb makes the kit sound lively. I will experiment. I am using an EMT 140 reverb on the kit.


Bruthish - Thanks for the kind words. The guitars were doubled and panned 100%. I am using a lot of processing. There was no reverb added to the master track. The reverb is being used on the guitars. I will try to back it way off and maybe eliminate it. I am using reverb and some delay on the vocals to give it a dreamy feel. The reverb tails do linger so it may give the impression that the song is bathed in reverb. I am going to play with that but the intention there is too create a mood. I will make some changes and post again.
 
I'm getting harsh ear attacks with the cymbals and the toms....as if it was EQ'd or otherwise processed...HARD. Idk.

The vocal is overprocessed...the effects are ok....there's just too much of it. If you clear out the harshness of the drums and get the guitars out of that space...you might find that you have a lot more latitude to HAVE the vocal effects without having to lay them on so thick. Getting both the rhythm and lead guitars more out of the middle with stereo delay....or by other means...would make a space for this thick vocal track.

I like the performances a lot...the mix needs attention.
 
Good singing and playing. Good harmonies.

Guitar tone was OK. The crunch was cool. But there wasn't any "chug" to it.

I think you went way too heavy on the reverb. I would recommend just taking out all the reverb/delay stuff for a while.

The bass is really low in the mix. Can't really comment on its tone and whether it has enough low end dialed in. But in addition to being low in the mix, it might also not have enough bottom to it.

The crash cymbals are panned really wide. They play ping pong when you're on ear buds.
 
Bass is very quiet, too much verb on vox (try a more dry verb with about 60% mix and 85ms pre-delay), and I agree about the cymbals being too harsh. they need some subtle eq and turned down a few db. Maybe bring them in a few %'s so they aren't fighting so much with the guitars that are in the same space. There is a guitar part in the outro that sounds like it's coming close to clipping...it gets very loud for a split sec and then backs off, then back in, etc...

Now, this is a cool song Mark. A lot different than what I hear on here sometimes. Really like the harmonies too. Good written parts on the lead G's also. Looking forward to hearing more from you.
 
I made a lot of changes. I deconstructed the mix and started from scratch paying mind to some of the ideas you guys gave me. Yes the original mixes were very over processed. I thought I was doing myself a favor by bussing a lot of the tracks together to save DSP and to give a sense of the same space for each instrument.. Actually the guitar parts and bass tracks as well as the vocal are unique to their own grouping even though they are the same instrument. I treated each track on it's own and the separation is really evident to my ears. I also removed a lot of reverb LOL. The mix was swimming in it. The vocal reverb really accentuates track where before it distracted. Also the bass guitar is very distinct. I record with a 12 string bass. I reduced most of the reverb from the drums and turned down the cymbals where I think they ought to be. Everything was also eq'd until it sounded like it had it's own field. Anyway Thanks for the tips and check it out if you are so inclined.
 
BIG improvement...most everything sounds like it has some presence now.

Now the next thing for me that sticks out is that there is not much stereo field. Its very narrow. This may be due to the guitars. They sound straight center. Are you doubling them and panning? if so are they actually two different guitar tracks and not just copied? I feel like I am almost hearing phasing issues with them which is causing it sound centered(mono).

Seems like the other things I have heard from you have the same "centered sound"....so makes me wonder if there is something going on with your master channel or a bus channel and its not outputting to true stereo. Just a thought to check into.

Also, drums lack energy and sound muffled. If your like me and cannot play drums you should look into what I use ADDICTIVE DRUMS. It doesn't replace a real live drummer but I think they can sound pretty damn good.

Its a good song though....just need to dial in the mix.
 
Bruthish said:
BIG improvement...most everything sounds like it has some presence now.

Now the next thing for me that sticks out is that there is not much stereo field. Its very narrow. This may be due to the guitars. They sound straight center. Are you doubling them and panning? if so are they actually two different guitar tracks and not just copied? I feel like I am almost hearing phasing issues with them which is causing it sound centered(mono).

Seems like the other things I have heard from you have the same "centered sound"....so makes me wonder if there is something going on with your master channel or a bus channel and its not outputting to true stereo. Just a thought to check into.

Also, drums lack energy and sound muffled. If your like me and cannot play drums you should look into what I use ADDICTIVE DRUMS. It doesn't replace a real live drummer but I think they can sound pretty damn good.

Its a good song though....just need to dial in the mix.
Click to expand...

Yes I did pan and double the guitars. It is the same track copied. I think I will go and play it again and the natural chorusing should create a bigger field. I could also just try adding a bit of delay to one set of the tracks and see what that does. The master channel is outputting left/right. I use EZ drummer and yes I am going to go back and treat the drums. I am going step by step. How are the addictive drums different that the toontrack stuff. Thanks for your help. I notice you have the DSL 40C in your sig. I have the one of my amps is the HAZE 40C. That came and went before the DSL 40. Great combo amps. I also have some JCM 800's 2203's. I really love the Marshall stuff. I used the HAZE on this song.
 
ok thats exactly why then. You really really really need to play the parts twice...and not just copy and paste. They are phasing out each other and causing it to sound mono no matter how far you pan them.

A little trick you can TRY if you don't already know about it. Take just one of the guitar tracks and bump it foward a micro-second(little or more depending on your taste) and it will help a lot. It will prevent the phasing issue. It will work until you can put down a second track. I don't recommend always doing it and many people think its cheating but it can help.
 
Just to be clear, the tone of your guitar sounds really good, its just not in the stereo field properly! Try that trick when you get a chance and you should notice a difference....not too much though or it will just sound like a delay. Zoom in really close, turn off your snap and just bump it a little
 
Bruthish said:
Just to be clear, the tone of your guitar sounds really good, its just not in the stereo field properly! Try that trick when you get a chance and you should notice a difference....not too much though or it will just sound like a delay. Zoom in really close, turn off your snap and just bump it a little
Click to expand...

OK I recorded the guitars again and played them twice and panned. Sounds much better. Bass also is more prominent. Made the drums more lively. Thanks
 
Hell yeah Mark! much much improvement. Now you have some great stereo separation on the guitars. sounds so much better! Glad I can help.
 
That beater click is still driving me crazy. It's way out in front of the vocal. It just sounds goofy. Is it a genre thing?

You sound a bit like Jack Bruce when you sing. Lucky.
 
dobro said:
That beater click is still driving me crazy. It's way out in front of the vocal. It just sounds goofy. Is it a genre thing?

You sound a bit like Jack Bruce when you sing. Lucky.
Click to expand...

I actually did bring the kick a little while ago. Probably after you heard the track. The Jack Bruce reference is interesting. A great vocalist. Joe Walsh was also mentioned in the thread. Both of them are great vocalists. I have had members on this forum also say my vocals remind them of Ozzy and David Bowie.
 
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