Nothing's Going On Down Here

[ido1957]

Hamilton Steele - Nothing's Going On Down Here

EDIT - new mix (same link above) I'll put details down in a new post below. If you drop by and listen let me know how the mix is.

Hi - here' a new tune we finished this afternoon.
mjhamil - Guitar, Bass
ido1957 - Guitar, Vocals
Poeticintensity - Drums
This is our first mix with everything so there's bound to be something we need to address.
Have a listen and see if anything sticks out.
Thanks!
ido

 

[Schwarzenyaeger]

The kick seemed to pumping.

Very crispy sounds on the bass and guitar.

I got the feeling that the back-up vocal in the left speaker was more prominent than the one in the right. (Nothing, nothing is going on down here...)

 

[comatosed]

Bare in mind I'm new to this myself but I did notice the same thing that Schwarzenyaeger pointed out. There is a little imbalance in the backing vocals in places. I also noticed the drums seemed a lot louder when there was no other instruments playing and the kick was getting lost during busier passages.

I freakin' love that bass tone though!

 

[ido1957]

The kick seemed to pumping.

Very crispy sounds on the bass and guitar.

I got the feeling that the back-up vocal in the left speaker was more prominent than the one in the right. (Nothing, nothing is going on down here...)

You're right - have adjusted back here at home -thanks!

Bare in mind I'm new to this myself but I did notice the same thing that Schwarzenyaeger pointed out. There is a little imbalance in the backing vocals in places. I also noticed the drums seemed a lot louder when there was no other instruments playing and the kick was getting lost during busier passages.

I freakin' love that bass tone though!

Bass is a Reggie Hamilton through an Ampeg SVT4-Pro. Becoming one of Mike's favorites for sure.
I hear what you say on the drums - not something we've mixed before so we'll experiment with conditioning that so it sounds even all around.

 

[heatmiser]

Hey ido. Listening in phones and the BGVs seemed too far panned to me. I'd like to hear them brought just a little to the center more.

The chorus is nice on this one. Not as blues-rocky as many of your tracks which I think is a nice little change up. Bass and guitars sound nice. The lead vocal is a good performance as usual.

The kick seemed a little boomy to me at the intro, but it fit better once the bass and the other instruments join in.

 

[ido1957]

I think this is the first time I've panned the BGV to 100% L/R. Usually I pan them like 45-50. But I kinda like the wide spread on this one. Something new and different to keep it interesting I guess.

 

[rayc]

Gerry, Mike & PI,
Coll stuff. This is more like 1st era HSB of the I Do type though a little rockier.
YES the bass is cool, you've really improved on the recorded tone & compression etc stuff with that over the last little while.
I don't hear the kick drum problem at all.
The BVox do lean heavily.
Enjoyed hearing your melody Gerry.

 

[Tadpui]

Nice song, it's got a good southern rock vibe going. The mix sounds good to me overall. A little bit of pumping in the overall mix, but that may be Soundclick's doing. I'm not crazy about the clean guitar tone, I'd like to hear it on an amp setting that has a little more personality. It sounds dead direct to the preamp/recorder. It needs just a little bit of breakup from a power tube, a speaker, or something.

 

[dobro]

You like that compressed drum sound, and on this tune the drum part's doing the driving, so it works. l'm with Heat on the panned bvs - I think they sound odd panned that wide. I can understand what Tadpui's saying about the guitar, too.

For just out of the gate, this is a good mix, though. Nice work.

 

[Atkron205]

sounds good. like the southern rock feel. How did you record the drums? I like the kick. I have been fighting my drum sound forever. and me being a drummer that really pisses me off. Do you gate? do you record raw then process on mix down? I have tried close miking, kick, snare and OH, always sounds like ass.

 

[ido1957]

Gerry, Mike & PI,
Coll stuff. This is more like 1st era HSB of the I Do type though a little rockier.
YES the bass is cool, you've really improved on the recorded tone & compression etc stuff with that over the last little while.
I don't hear the kick drum problem at all.
The BVox do lean heavily.
Enjoyed hearing your melody Gerry.

Thanks Ray - you're right - this does have the same vibe as I Do especially the BGV. We listened to a few older tunes later in the day and I thought maybe we could add to them based on some of the stuff we've done on this one. We might revisit a few with this in mind.
The Reggie Hamilton is a great bass and Mike just got it re-setup as the store setup was blah and the intonation was wonky. Now it stays in tune and intonates so much better - nothing more distracting than an out of tune instrument. It seems to have a better overall tone compared to his Fender Jazz that has the same electronics but different pickups. The pickups make the difference I think.
I've found a few things I will change on this and since the BGV spread seems to be a prevalent comment I will move them in probably about where I normally have them (30-40%?).

Nice song, it's got a good southern rock vibe going. The mix sounds good to me overall. A little bit of pumping in the overall mix, but that may be Soundclick's doing. I'm not crazy about the clean guitar tone, I'd like to hear it on an amp setting that has a little more personality. It sounds dead direct to the preamp/recorder. It needs just a little bit of breakup from a power tube, a speaker, or something.

Our initial drum beat (canned) was to straight on the one, so once we finished the arrangement, I got Mike to change to a more rock beat with a little push in it. Jason did a great job of keeping the drive going when he recorded. We always benefit from his drum tracks. I compressed the guitar pretty heavy in the mix as it is a focal point in the drive and feel of the tune. I did actually turn down the compressor on this mix as it was picking up way too much pick noise and burying it a bit - I'll probably leave it as is for this one.

You like that compressed drum sound, and on this tune the drum part's doing the driving, so it works. l'm with Heat on the panned bvs - I think they sound odd panned that wide. I can understand what Tadpui's saying about the guitar, too.
For just out of the gate, this is a good mix, though. Nice work.

Yes - I like the compressed drums, but I still need to look at the intro drum setting. I want to make the change from just drums to all in to not affect the drum level. We tried a bunch of stuff yesterday but were not successful - every MP3 we mixed down still had that drop. We did find taking him out of the main compressor and reverb send helped a lot but not enough. We usually don't have solo drums on the intro so we've never been faced with this type of challenge before. We'll play around with it and I'm sure either we or a reader will have the solution.

sounds good. like the southern rock feel. How did you record the drums? I like the kick. I have been fighting my drum sound forever. and me being a drummer that really pisses me off. Do you gate? do you record raw then process on mix down? I have tried close miking, kick, snare and OH, always sounds like ass.

Jason, who did the drums, (Poeticintensity) should drop by and comment on our mix so maybe he'll pick up your drum setup question and give us some details. He lives in Utah and we live in Canada so we just exchange files over the internet.

 

[ido1957]

Hamilton Steele - Nothing's Going On Down Here
New mix - been puttering around with various things since Saturday:
- brought all the background vocals in toward center. Some 50 some 60 to keep some separation
- redid the bass track (then had to rejig the eq/comp settings)
- did a couple of word edits on the Lead Vocal (comping)
- automated the ends of all the vocals in the chorus so they all end a bit more together
- fixed the drum intro by automating them down before the song starts - seems to stay level now
- upped the Lead Vocal a bit to make it stand out a bit more
- balanced the BGV so they are even L/R

It's the same link as before - in OP and pasted here for convenience.
Let me know how it sounds

 

[ido1957]

Hamilton Steele - Nothing's Going On Down Here
New mix - been puttering around with various things since Saturday:
- brought all the background vocals in toward center. Some 50 some 60 to keep some separation
- redid the bass track (then had to rejig the eq/comp settings)
- did a couple of word edits on the Lead Vocal (comping)
- automated the ends of all the vocals in the chorus so they all end a bit more together
- fixed the drum intro by automating them down before the song starts - seems to stay level now
- upped the Lead Vocal a bit to make it stand out a bit more
- balanced the BGV so they are even L/R

It's the same link as before - in OP and pasted here for convenience.
Let me know how it sounds

One more mix with the original bass track (couple of edits). Let me know how this sounds. Same link...

 

[robgreen]

Sounds great ido. I listened to mix 2 a couple of days back, but didn't get time to comment. I didn't hear mix 1, so I've no idea how much this represents a step up. I don't hear any problems with the areas you say you've addressed though, everything sounds in a good space.

It's a strong melody, well played and I enjoyed the listen. It's got an old fashioned type feel and I liked the vocal panning/harmony vocals too. Like some others have said, I'm not crazy about the lead guitar tone, it sounds a little DI'd to me, but it probably comes down to personal preference. Other than that, all good I think.

 

[ido1957]

Sounds great ido. I listened to mix 2 a couple of days back, but didn't get time to comment. I didn't hear mix 1, so I've no idea how much this represents a step up. I don't hear any problems with the areas you say you've addressed though, everything sounds in a good space.

It's a strong melody, well played and I enjoyed the listen. It's got an old fashioned type feel and I liked the vocal panning/harmony vocals too. Like some others have said, I'm not crazy about the lead guitar tone, it sounds a little DI'd to me, but it probably comes down to personal preference. Other than that, all good I think.

Thanks Rob - glad to hear all the previous concerns have worked out. We're pretty happy so far...

 

[heatmiser]

Awesome remix ido. Drum intro matches better now. The new bass track really pops. I also appreciate the bgv placement now. Much better overall imo.