Manslick gets Mellow

she's young

a nice mellow groove...
the vocal, is very timid.
i think if it was rehearsed more, and sung with some real heartfelt emotion, it would raise the song about 10 levels.

it obviously needs some development...
it has a nice, albeit somewhat expected melody.... the solo'ing on the guitar breaks it up nicely tho...
it needs harmonies, 3 versus, and a middle 8

can't say much about the mix, it sounds like a demo of a song in the works.
 
i really want to hear you lay into this vocal.
the song deserves it.

you can be delicate and strong/firm at the same time.
just believe in your voice and really go for it.
sell the song.
 
I think the shaker in the background is too subtle and doesn't really have it's own identity. If you hadn't had told it was a shaker, I would've thought that it was noise or something.

Either way, I agree with everyone on the clave... Maybe have the clave or shaker going depending on the section.

But besides that I've got no complaints :)
 
thanks again GONZO. i have been thinking about you comments, and all the rest too. it all makes sense until i sit down to do it.

yea Sloppy you might have picked up on the faux brushes. that is actually my hand rubbing the back of the guitar and really low in the mix, there is actually two shaker tracks, the double shakers come in after the vocal dies.

thanks guys
 
Manslick said:
They were recorded in a very dry space, literally dusty. I like the reverb, but since the consensus is too loud, I will consent to the crowd.
Thanks bro
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That's interesting, and good to know. It sounds like space to me. The reason it's good to know is that I'm planning to record claves myself in the future. I'll wrap myself in blankets and fiberglass when I do it.
 
ha, actually sloop was right. I just tweaked this with my monitors on. the guitar sounds a lot better now. i also left the claves out until after the vocal dies and i like this arrangement better. never mix with headphones

dob, being the intelligent guy you are, i'm sure you've read up on claves. i've had these ones for 40 years and never knew how complicated two sticks can be. i bought them back in the 70s when i was in a band that did a lot of CTA tunes. the guy who sold them to me showed me how to hold them and i remember he said. if you walk up to a concert where someone is playing claves, that is the first thing you will hear. i should have used this knowledge when i mixed this.
 
New mix has been posted. Same link as the OP.

Drums added.

Appreciate any advice on the arrangement.

Drumming on this kind of tune isn't easy for me, not being a drummer and all.

Re-did all the other percussion so any tips there are also welcome.

Thanks
 
The update is tons better Manslick. I liked the idea with the percussion on the original mix, but the timing wasn't tight enough and it didn't build up a groove. The drumming's much more robust and the percussion just adds some welcome seasoning. I think you could bring up the drum volume though.

Good work on v2 though!
 
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to robgreen again.
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Rob, thanks for circling back round.

yea i can't get a comfortable handle on what to do mixing in the drums. i ain't happy with the arrangement for one thing.

maybe its trying to tell me something.
 
We call them clap sticks down under - traditional Aboriginal instrument.
Sounds like a song a dad might sing to his daughter at the wedding - if it were a movie.
The squeaks are loud but they can be tamed - try using & tuning a de esser.
Nice stuff.
 
thanks for the spin ray. this tune is very old, as i used to sing it to my kids when they were little.

its been a wip all these years.

still ongoing.
 
Very pretty song. I listended twice! I love the string noise in certain places, actually. Definitely too distracting in other places. Sometimes you can edit those out but I think it will impossible for a lot places here. I would consider re-recording the guitar if possible. I'm guessing you don't want the drums to be overpowering for a tune like this but they sound either too low or too mid rangey. If you can't stand to turn them up any more, maybe consider boosting the bass on the kick, the high mids on the snare, and play with compression on the whole kit.
 
thanks ap, right now i am still pondering the arrangement. i will redo the whole thing one of these days.

adjusting individual drums will be difficult since its a mix. i'll have to tweak the mixer and retrack. or do some parallel processing. no one said it'd be easy.
 
GONZO-X said:
i really want to hear you lay into this vocal.
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I don't know about that. I think the timid delivery works for this one. I'm trying to picture a strong assertive vocal on this and it doesn't seem right. No real problem with the claves for me either. And I've always kinda liked fret noise. Only thing that sticks out for me is I think the bass really dominates and could be pulled back/tamed a little (on earbuds). This type of song doesn't really need a big bass driving it along. Nice tune though. Very sweet.
 
the bass is loud, or is it full? well anyway its too much something. but i was remembering those old tunes where the uprights just kind of put a warm ambience on the whole track, so i kept bumping it. then when ap said to bump the kick drum i kind of cringed at the thought. i've gotten used to it.
the vocal will be whatever it is on the next take, really i don't focus on it unless you all say its flat or something. which it is in this track.
 
sweet sentimental little tune, has potential

To me it sounds like the drums are lagging behind a bit....or the instrumentation is playing on the front of the beat and repelling things forward while the drums lag on the beat(?). I seem to get the same thing sometimes myself. Couldn't tell you how to fix it...other than ditching the quantization, but then things can get real wonky.
 
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