New acoustic (mostly) song - Thank You

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New acoustic (mostly) song - Thank You new mix 12-10-14

Here's the new mix:



Old mix below:

Could use some trained ears on it. This is my second mix of it, first one the drums and bass (as judged by others) were too low in the mix, so I automated them some .


 
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That eguitar is delicious and the track ticks over very nicely. The eguitar could come up a bit. This is the second tune this week that I can hear a second vocal underneath the main one. Low and shadowy, like JJ Cale. I think it would work way better than the second vocal you have on this one. But this tune sounds like it's at the stage when you don't want to make major changes to the track structure.

The drum track works better on the full-on parts than the verses - the rimshot pattern sort of disappears behind the acoustic guitars. Bring it up?
 
The tempo seems to be faster than the feel of the song. Maybe the drums are playing @32nd notes (not sure of the note beats), but maybe should be playing on 8's or 16's. Just didn't seem like the drums were helping you with the groove.
 
dobro said:
That eguitar is delicious and the track ticks over very nicely. The eguitar could come up a bit. This is the second tune this week that I can hear a second vocal underneath the main one. Low and shadowy, like JJ Cale. I think it would work way better than the second vocal you have on this one. But this tune sounds like it's at the stage when you don't want to make major changes to the track structure.
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I'm not sure what you mean by that! Yes, there's a double-tracked leadd vocal part behind the first one.

DM60 said:
The tempo seems to be faster than the feel of the song. Maybe the drums are playing @32nd notes (not sure of the note beats), but maybe should be playing on 8's or 16's. Just didn't seem like the drums were helping you with the groove.
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On the hi-hat hits or overall?
 
Overall the drums did fit the feel. The drums were aggressive and the singing and the music seemed more relaxed. When I get done with my work call (damn work), I will give it another listen and can add more information if that will help.
 
personally I would compress the vocals a bit more and have a bit more colour in the sound some kind of analog distortion or something to give it more of an edge.

The bass drum is a little bit hard to hear as well, to me it's not sitting well with the bass guitar. So for me the vocals, bass guitar and bass drum need the most work.
 
I think the intro fools us into expecting a song with a different tempo / feel. The instrumental start and even the start of the vocal gives no obvious hint of the tempo "feel" that follows. Once we're further along into the song the tempo and drums feel fine. I do think the initial change of "pace" throws you off a bit and takes away from the song at that point. Sometimes we work on a song and we're so aware of every note that we have no way to go back to a "fresh" take. It happens to me for sure. You could add some discrete hi hat or other rhythm part to the intro to hint at what's to come.......and smooth the transition......if it matters to you. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for letting me listen.
 
Mickster said:
I think the intro fools us into expecting a song with a different tempo / feel. The instrumental start and even the start of the vocal gives no obvious hint of the tempo "feel" that follows. Once we're further along into the song the tempo and drums feel fine.
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+1
Maybe you could try and introduce the speed with a fast count in at the beginning.

During the verse rhythm you seem to be hitting some kind of woodblock "instead" of a snare. What are you striking here?

I would have made the bass have a bit more midrange. I like them snappy.

The guitar tones are pretty neat.
 
The verse has a side-stick snare.
Maybe if in the first section when the drums come in it's done at a slower feel - 1/16 notes, so when it kicks in full there is less abrupt change.
Maybe a shaker at full speed for the start ...

I appreciate all the ideas!
 
Good overall arrangement and performance. At first I thought you weren't putting any energy into the vocal delivery, but later on you did. I felt there is a tonal imbalance with the global mix. Like there is a blanket over everything. OH's don't come through like they should, vox are a little dark, bass is... idk, not wooly, not muddy, but strong in some lower freqs. Bland. I am okay with the drum programming, though maybe the side stick should not be as loud as the snare hit.

I think the song, songwriting and performance is there. I think you've got some major tweaking to get the mix dialed in. Use lots of reference tracks. Still, a lot of potential with this song. Kind of reminds me of CSN , and if they are an influence, DO NOT use Daylight Again as reference material. Worse commercial mix ever!! lol
 
I think the drums could come up a little more, still, and the bottom end could do with warming up a bit. That said, these faults are more obvious near the beginning of the track and they're exacerbated by the feel of the drums being a little too busy for the lightness of touch being shown by the vocals and guitars. The busyness of the rhythms works well in the later parts of the song and it all starts to work together much better. Very nice melody guitar playing, although there are one or two fluffs in the performance that you might want to repair. :D I like it a lot better than your previous offering. :)
 
Thanks for sharing this man! I have to echo the above comment about the drums when they first come in. I wasn't ready for that speedy hi hat, and I don't think it fits. However, it all works later in the song when things are moving along. So you need to find a different way to introduce the drums, and then build it up to the more chaotic rhythm. As for the mix:

-Why doesn't anybody like the bass guitar? Bring that bad boy up! Ha! The bass could come up at least another 2db depending on how it's been EQed and compressed. Sounds like it needs both of those things done as well. Beef up the 140hz and below range for sure, and make sure the compressor is keeping things nice and even. Bass is one instrument it's okay to squash with compression (in pop and rock music). That way you can bring the level way up for a nice bottom end without it getting unruly.

-I would like to hear the rhythm guitars a bit crisper and also brought up a little bit.

-Vocals could use some shine, presence, what have you. Some subtle boosting in the 8k range and maybe a little bit of air 12k and up. They sound very dull, and don't do justice to either the beauty of the lyrics or the song.

-Lead guitar is very nice.

Keep at it man!


Chili said:
Kind of reminds me of CSN , and if they are an influence, DO NOT use Daylight Again as reference material. Worse commercial mix ever!! lol
Click to expand...

You've clearly forgotten 5150, OU812, and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (all Van Halen). Ugh.
 
The opening chords are nice. Reminds me of an intro to a mellow led zeppelin song or something.

The vocals are kind of muffled sounding. I think they could use more presence or air or whatever it's called :). The bass was kind of rumbly and indistinct.

I think the problem for me when the drums first came in (it was a bit shocking) was not so much the tempo or the busy nature of the pattern, it was the brightness of them. The loud HH and side stick really contrasted with everything else that had come before. If the drums had a mellower tone there with more low end and less brightness, I think the part could fit nicely. Maybe bring down the level there some too? Later on in the track, the drums blend in better sonically. Thanks.
 
Nice song. There's a great easy vibe going on here. The hihats could use some attention, although I'm not sure exactly what. Maybe if the HH pedal were opened just a little bit, they'd flow a bit better. And I could use just a little more beef to the snare rim clicks. The vocal harmonies sound great. I like the acoustic guitar tone, but I think that Soundcloud is doing some weird things to their high frequencies. It sounds a little phasey or comb-filtery. I just made up the word filtery.
 
Nice song...the music part of it reminds me a little of old Santana. Agree with above, the speed of the hi-hat when it first comes in is a little distracting. Bass line sounds groovy, but needs more of it heard.
 
Sounds great, Mike! Like the song. Building the drums, blah, blah. Agree that the bass is a bit off. When did you change your strings last? Maybe something...
Really like the lyric and how it pulls you along. I was thinking more Grateful Dead than Santana, but that works too...
Hook a 6 or 8k shelf in your master bus to raise the highs up a bit on everything and it will shine through!
 
The drum pattern sounds a little busy in the beginning but becomes less apparent after the singing begins.
The bass sounds loud to me - maybe a couple of dbs only though.
I'm getting a pretty good stereo image and the lead is there but doesn't (to me) stomp all over the vocals even though they appear to be both panned center. Snap on the snare cuts through nicely.
Good tune overall!
 
Thanks for all th elistens and suggestions. I started working on it last night, first tackling the drums. Simplified the high hat for all the side-stick parts, definitely helps clean up the sound. I had to experiment a lot before ending up wiht a straight forward hit pattern, anything beyond that sounded too busy.
Bass strings are over a year old (but I don't play it much), and its just a cheap Squire, too. I'll do some EQing of hte tone - it's DI, so I can change the sim settings easily, I might have it running through a Dual Showman.
The acoustic phase thing - may be a combination of the panning (about 35% I think) and the 12 string on left side vs 6-string on the right playing the same thing. Maybe EQing each one differently would help. I'm still tempted to re-record the 12-string with different mic plus DI. Kicking myself for not using another mic and DI during the first tracking session!
 
I liked the lead guitar. It sounded nice and it was a tasteful part.

I think the acoustic guitars could use more high end. It's like there is a big rolloff above 5K or so. They're a bit muffled and boxy. I didn't care for the "almost doubled" part you were playing in the first part of the song. I'd either double them, or play different parts.

Drums were a bit robotic. I didn't care for the rimshots on the snare. It sounds much better when the snare is actually playing in the chorus.

The reverb on the vocal was a little strange sounding, at least to me. I'd go with a medium-ish room reverb. I'd also turn down one of the doubled tracks a bit.
 
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