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  • Thread starter Thread starter dobro
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Pass!

It has a very Donovan vibe to me. I'm listening on both headphones and monitors. On headphones, I think that the vocals should be turned up much louder than everything else. Maybe turn everything down?

On speakers, I get less of that problem, but I still think it should be turned up more (or everything else down a bit).

It's a cool song! :)
 
Sounds good. I'm having to listen on phones right now myself.

Just two (very) little things that bugged me...the "do do do's" starting around :20 sounded unintentionally distorted. I almost think you had some sort of effect to make that happen, but it sounded wrong to me. Also, while I tend to not mind leaving breaths in there in between phrases and even immediately prior to the start of a word, I thought the inhaling when the vocal starts up again immediately following the lo-fi scat solo (3:09?) was a bit loud and stood out. I think it would sound better if you cut that track so it began immediately with the word "true", but that's just me.

Nice job with the bongos. Guitars sound cool.
 
Sounds great on earbuds. The bass tone's a little murmurry/not too distinct.. I'd sharpen it up, but personal taste etc, and the notes seem to come through more at the end. A couple mouse clicks (or space bar?) in the end there, but doesn't sound edited yet.

Another good one from my favorite singer in the joint.
 
Not sure how I missed this while cruising the clinic last night.

Nice beat, the hand percussion and the guitar work well together. Vocal line is awesome and unconventional. I really like the phrasing and the chord changes, and the guitar line. I could use a little more of the percussion, maybe compress it a bit to bring it out? The vocals get a little boomy a few times during the low notes, a little gentle EQ will fix that right up. The bullhorn/telephone vocal in the midsection could use a little EQ to make it a bit easier on the ears, but I like it as an accent piece. And was that a computer keyboard keypress at the end? I'd find the offending track and snip that out of there.
 
CrowsofFritz said:
I'm listening on both headphones and monitors. On headphones, I think that the vocals should be turned up much louder than everything else.
Click to expand...

I like Donovan, so that's all good. Yeah, I was wondering (I often wonder) if this is one of those vocal-prominent songs or vocal-as-nothing-more-than-sound tunes. I'll try turning it up and see how it sits with the rest. Thanks for that.

heatmiser said:
Just two (very) little things that bugged me...the "do do do's" starting around :20 sounded unintentionally distorted. I almost think you had some sort of effect to make that happen, but it sounded wrong to me. Also, while I tend to not mind leaving breaths in there in between phrases and even immediately prior to the start of a word, I thought the inhaling when the vocal starts up again immediately following the lo-fi scat solo (3:09?) was a bit loud and stood out. I think it would sound better if you cut that track so it began immediately with the word "true", but that's just me.
Click to expand...

It isn't distortion, it's breath! I'll get Audition's sound removal to work on that and see if it's improved. Probably will. The 'do do dos' are getting lost in the mix, and I want to turn them up, but the breathiness gets in the way.

You're right about the noisy inhaling - good catch. Thanks, M. le Chaleur. :thumbs up:

fat_fleet said:
Sounds great on earbuds. The bass tone's a little murmurry/not too distinct.. I'd sharpen it up, but personal taste etc, and the notes seem to come through more at the end. A couple mouse clicks (or space bar?) in the end there, but doesn't sound edited yet.

Another good one from my favorite singer in the joint.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Fleetness - kind words of appreciation. This one's been in the can for a year waiting to be mixed, and I pulled it out this weekend and went 'I can do the vocal better,' so I did, but the only way I could achieve that was sing my ass off. Singing your ass off is a technique, I think. It's still pitchy in parts but I slide around so much that it almost seems to fit. Yeah, the bass. I agree. I put a distortion plug on it to give it some attitude, but it's still indistinct. Probably masking with the guitars. And you're right about the clicks. Gracias.

Tadpui said:
I could use a little more of the percussion, maybe compress it a bit to bring it out? The vocals get a little boomy a few times during the low notes, a little gentle EQ will fix that right up. The bullhorn/telephone vocal in the midsection could use a little EQ to make it a bit easier on the ears, but I like it as an accent piece.
Click to expand...

I don't know what they've been putting in your water, but you nailed a lot of the things I've been wondering about. It's so useful when you've been wondering about something in a mix and somebody with ears comes along and also says 'I wonder about that'. Cheers!

Okay, between Tadpui confirming issues I was wondering about and the rest of you politely pointing out things I hadn't noticed, I'm onto what I need to be onto to bring this one near the finish line. Thanks very much you guys - this stuff is invaluable - four comments and I know exactly what to do.
 
Towards the end when the guitar is matching your notes, I think the guitar could be pulled back a bit (or maybe a touch of compression), it's hard to hear the words when the guitar is stepping all over them.
 
Yeah, I brought in a doubled guitar part for the choruses. Thanks.
 
I thought it was really good. Vocals are extremely clear. Good sounding guitars and percussion. Not much to complain about.

The lead vocal is pretty dry, even for me.

But that's about it. It was excellent.
 
Hey, thanks Trip. Yeah, I put either delay or verb on a vocal and then find I progressively reduce it listen after listen. I don't like to hear the effect so much as notice it when I mute it. It always results in a dryish vocal.
 
On my system I thought the plucking guitar would sound better pulled back in a background level until there are no vocals and then brought back up to vocal level (focus/unfocus). I didn't think the vocals were too dry, seemed fine.

Good tune.
 
Sounds tight.
I noticed the distortions on the oooohs as well.

Great harmony at 1:04

I heard a click that sounded like a space bar the at very end.
 
How about retracking just the oooh's further back from the mic rather than trying to process them out, or is that too much hassle?

The guitar sounds a little thin to me. Like you've either DI'd it or low passed it to make more space for the bass. If it's the latter, I'd let a few more of those lower frequencies back in. For me - even if it's at the expense of the bass to some extent - because the mix is sparse and the guitar is so prominent.

Other than that, sounds really good. I like the high harmonies on news in particular.
 
Bass sounds more distinct on the update - tons better. Can you do owt about the vocal distortion now? I'd address that even if it means some retracking.

Liking those bass changes though.
 
It's not distortion on the vocal, it's breath. I dunno if I can fix it. I'll try.
 
The 2nd mix sounds damn fine to me man. Vocal, percussion, and the middle megaphone section all sound awesome to me this time around. This is just a terrific song.
 
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