Matt Argyle - Poison Wings (first mix)

[Peter Lancaster]

This is the first mix of a song I finished recording recently for the band that I am bass player and sound engineer for.

I was listening to a lot of Northern Soul at some point during the recording and mixing sessions, which may go some way to explaining why the track sounds like it does.

Please let me know what you think. I'd really appreciate your comments because it has taken us about a year to finish the track. I hope we haven't been keeping people waiting for nothing.

Thanks, Pete.

 

[Qenn]

nice tune.
The snare sounds a little loud. And the vocals sound a little soft (though that might just be due to the snare overpowering them at certain points)

The part starting at 2:05 with the acoustic geetar and keys-in-the-distance sounds like a completely different mix--and I must say a better mix. It might be because you introduced lots of new instruments all at once.
That said, I really like that part--and the end w/the horns--because they lend some suprise to the song which turns out to be very interesting.

 

[jake-owa]

Rockin!

This tune has a real classic rock feel to it. The snare seems too wide in the midrange...almost smearing the mix a bit. A weensy bit of mid cut could go a long way here IMO.

Good job, nice bass playing!

 

[Sen]

I agree with quen and jake owa about the snare, but i dont think it's really too loud but "takes over" because the vocals are softer as quenn said...maybe if you just push the vocals up and leave the snare volume as it is (with some eq "shaving" as jake sugested) it will balance out a bit...
great job overall though...

cheers

 

[Peter Lancaster]

Thanks guys, you're too kind.

Listening back now I can hear what you're saying about the snare. I'll have a fiddle with some EQ and maybe some levels. I actually don't think I changed the EQ or level on the snare after recording the guitar, bass or vocals, so desperate was I to get a mix done after waiting almost a year. After listening to the song so many times over the last year I think I hear what I want to hear and not what I'm listening to. I even hear the horns when they're not there! I almost did a mix without them and didn't realise.

Qenn : The middle section deliberately has a different sound. It only came together when I mixed. It's so nice that I kind of wish I could make the rest of the track sound like that - never mind, I'm giving it a go on another song that's acoustic guitar based. Only the drums and bass carry on unchanged throughout the whole mix. We did try playing the whole song using acoustic guitar, but it just didn't work. However, we did like the middle section using acoustic so it stayed. Hence it being the way it is and nothing like it is when we play it live (no horns, no keyboards, no acoustic - it's like a different song).

Jake-owa : Thanks for the complement, it's one of my favourite bass lines. It only came about in a fit of desparation when I just couldn't find anything to go with the guitar part so I tried something a bit different (for me) trying to sound like the Dave Matthews Band and it worked. My guitar teacher told me the bass line is in G Lydian (whatever that is). I had to be restrained with the bass playing on the recording so as not to get in the way of the horns. Live, as a three piece, I get to play a bit more. Gigs in Hawaii? ;-) I know our singer and his soon-to-be wife would be interested 'cos they both surf - I unfortunately have a studio tan and the surfing ability of a house brick.

I'm glad you liked it. It makes the time it took seem worthwhile. I've got another two tracks that were started at the same time that are now almost finished which I'll post soon. Your comments have given me hope that our efforts may not have been in vain.

Thanks, Pete.

 

[joro]

Hi Peter,
Good job man....cool tune...worth the wait...

Guit riff sounds Doobie Brother-esque.....great sound on the guit..

snare sound muffled to me....
horns are a super cool addition.....could be a tad bit louder....never hear enough of them these days...

Bass line is excellent! well recorded too...

Good stuff...take it easy man,
Joe

 

[fprod south]

Guit riff sounds Doobie Brother-esque.....great sound on the guit..

...maybe a little too much. Don't mean to sound like a jerk but I thought it was going to be a cover of "Listen to the Music". But the guitar does sound really good.

I like the snare sound. You could definetely tweak it (rolling out the lows is what I'm thinking) to get a more conventional sound, but it's got a good unique sound right now.

Love the bass playing.

Horns sounded really good. Sounded real throughout the song until the very end. You had me fooled. I'd get rid of that last note.

Nice vocals and good melody. The middle section is awesome! Great sound there.

 

[Pedullist]

Again, a good recording! But compared to other recordings (pro cd's and even other homerecording stuff) it seems to lack high end. I never feel the need to noodle with equalisers when I'm listening to music (I tend to listen to the song), but it's different with your stuff.

Perhaps my ears are screwed by listening to all these maximised high end recordings, I don't know.

Am I the only one?

 

[Peter Lancaster]

Joe and fprod south : I can't really comment on the Doobie Brothers guitar. Neither myself or Matt (guitar/vocals) are familiar with their work except for Long Train Runnin'. The guitar was a Fender Telecaster through a Line6 POD emulation of a Fender Bassman with some spring reverb emulation added as well.

Pedullist : It possibly does lack a bit of high end. Really the only thing in the mix with any significant high end are the cymbals and that's been rolled off a bit to sit them back in the mix and give it a warm room sound. I don't like recordings with a lot of top end presence which can result in a shouty top end so that may have something to do with it. It's a step up from the days when I thought that using reverb was a criminal offence.

I can't believe that so many people have been fooled by the horns. They are from a Korg Trinity. They're separately played trumpet, trombone and saxophone sounds. They should have more high end, but then they sound really fake! I guess you don't hear brass that often these days so that may be why so many people think they're real. Personally I think the whole end section gives the game away, but that's sort of deliberate.

Overall I tried to get a live sound, even though all the parts were recorded separately. The guitar sound came from a POD, all the keyboards and brass are from a Korg Trinity. My bass was direct into the VS-2480. So it was sort of a joke to try for the sound I got because it's as far from being recorded live as I can get without sequencing and using a drum machine/loops. I even considered recording the guitar slightly out of tune just like on (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson, but I thought that was taking things too far.

The song I'm trying to mix at the moment has a sound like the middle section of this song only there are more instruments. Acoustic guitars, Nashville strung electric guitars, strings, piano, etc. It's all been recorded (except for the drums and bass) section by section without much of a plan, we just chucked lots of parts on there, so I'm struggling to make it all fit together. As soon as I get it sounding good - I've done the first section, but it doesn't flow nicely into the next bit yet - I'll post it for you to listen to.

Thanks for your comments. Pete.