Shallow Waters

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Really like the groove and progression. The vox seem really thin though, maybe you could beef them up with an overdub or two? Wow the guitar tone after the first chorus. Everything seemed well balanced to me but the vocal seems set back quite a bit the way I hear it. Maybe bring it up/forward. Nice song, love the bass tone.

Awesome, thanks easlern. I thought that about the vocals too.

I've got a new mix posted at the original link. I did bring my second vocal up a little for a more doubled sounding effect, and raise the vocal levels in general, but not before retracking half of them for clarity. Made some eq tweaks on the rhythm guitars and tamed that 2:20 section mjb mentioned a little more. I think I'm getting pretty close to what I want for levels.. lmk if I'm missing anything glaring. Thanks for the help, y'all.
 
Nice arrangement. It's a rather complicated arrangement and very tight performances all the way around. I'm not crazy about the doubled lead with the detuned sounding bends...but that is a personal preference thing. I am crazy about the drums....man, that's a fantastic drum sound.
All in all its an outstanding piece of work.
 
OMG man. I love the drums, and the bass especially. Guitar work was pretty damn cool too. Great work. I am listening on cans but I can tell its a killer mix.
 
Well that was pretty awesome right there.

I listened the other night and again tonight on phones. It's pretty complex yet tight. I particularly liked the way the dueling lead guitars modulated in unpredictable ways.

That was really cool. I have no mixing advice...sorry!
 
Sounds good Erik. Backing track is noticeable clearer. I still think the vocal is hiding, more in some parts than others. It's clear and sounds good in the beginning, but gets less distinct as you get into the jam parts of the song. Could use Melodyne. Love the jams. That quiet transition in the middle of cool.
 
Sounds great! Big blend. Nice balanced mix. Sonically, this is super fucking strong!

Love the bass smoothness - but still has a touch of distortion and bite.

Love the drum sounds - fits the blend like glove. Cymbals sound excellent - big an audible, well-played, but not interfering with anyone else's space.

I think the intro crescendo could be a little more gradual. It's fucking big. It can handle a little more length. Don't let it peak before the drums kick in.

The end is neat - lots of dissonance and interesting percussive accents. And then there is one last chord there and I'm listening wondering if that was deliberate or not. Endings are important!
 
Nice arrangement. It's a rather complicated arrangement and very tight performances all the way around. I'm not crazy about the doubled lead with the detuned sounding bends...but that is a personal preference thing. I am crazy about the drums....man, that's a fantastic drum sound.
All in all its an outstanding piece of work.

OMG man. I love the drums, and the bass especially. Guitar work was pretty damn cool too. Great work. I am listening on cans but I can tell its a killer mix.

Thanks for the listens and comments jimi and chuck!
 
Well that was pretty awesome right there.

I listened the other night and again tonight on phones. It's pretty complex yet tight. I particularly liked the way the dueling lead guitars modulated in unpredictable ways.

That was really cool. I have no mixing advice...sorry!

Hm, hopefully that's more a no-news-is-good-news type thing than a where-do-i-start thing. Thanks for the listen heat!
 
I still think the vocal is hiding, more in some parts than others. It's clear and sounds good in the beginning, but gets less distinct as you get into the jam parts of the song.

Wow, thanks Robus. You've really stuck it out with this one.. appreciate that. Some really great info too.
You know, I'm not really able to hear the vocal levels too objectively because I know all the words. I'd like to even the levels out a little more but not sure a global bump is in order. I know you've already done a few listens, but would you mind giving me the times of the 3 or 4 vocal lines that would most benefit from being bumped a hair? I have some ideas but I'd like to hear specifics from someone who doesn't know all the words. Totally fine if you're not up for it.. appreciate all the help.
 
Sounds great! Big blend. Nice balanced mix. Sonically, this is super fucking strong!

Love the bass smoothness - but still has a touch of distortion and bite.

Love the drum sounds - fits the blend like glove. Cymbals sound excellent - big an audible, well-played, but not interfering with anyone else's space.

I think the intro crescendo could be a little more gradual. It's fucking big. It can handle a little more length. Don't let it peak before the drums kick in.

The end is neat - lots of dissonance and interesting percussive accents. And then there is one last chord there and I'm listening wondering if that was deliberate or not. Endings are important!

I think the intro crescendo could be a little more gradual. It's fucking big. It can handle a little more length. Don't let it peak before the drums kick in.

The end is neat - lots of dissonance and interesting percussive accents. And then there is one last chord there and I'm listening wondering if that was deliberate or not. Endings are important!

Hey thanks IBB. I thought your work on Robus's tune was great. Very tasteful and appropriate.

I'll look at that intro, I was thinking of changing a certain thing about it anyways.
Re the ending, I kind of wanted to give the impression of a band just falling apart there.. so while the chord you're hearing in itself might not be deliberate, the awkwardness of it really is (though if I retracked that part I'm sure I wouldn't play the exact same thing).

Anyways thanks for the listen and the thorough commentary. That was great.
 
No problem at all. I'll give it a listen tomorrow. I'm recording vocals myself tonight--for about the fifth time on this new song!
 
Nice stuff ff... wouldn't mind a little more juice on the vocals.

I've just realised that this goddamned computer is doing some weird compression shit on everything - I was wondering what it was on your track that no-one else had noticed, so I listened to one of mine and it's there too... :(

So, I won't go into any more mix detail until I can sort out WTF is going on here. Liked the intro muchly, nice build up and also the ending, but not so sure about that final chord that IBB also mentioned, although I get what you're doing there. Good stuff sir!
 
I've just realised that this goddamned computer is doing some weird compression shit on everything - I was wondering what it was on your track that no-one else had noticed, so I listened to one of mine and it's there too... :(

So, I won't go into any more mix detail until I can sort out WTF is going on here.

An easy workaround would be to wipe out everything on your iPod and replace it with multiple copies of this song so you can listen to it over and over during your commute. :D
 
Listening to the link in the OP so that should be the latest remix....
Still has that excellent quality of variety and interesting parts which keeps it going right the end.
Only mix items that may be my old ears or my crappy laptop soundcard - the cymbals are washing all over the mix and seem smeared. The vocals are leaning toward the John Lennon area but have a bit of harshness, not sure what freq. but I find 4K is a culprit sometimes.
The whole arrangement, singing and playing sounds even better than last weekend's first mix. The dissonance is gonzo and everything is flowing and grooving really well now. The panned backup vocals are cool. :D:D:D:D
 
Listening again. What I'm hearing most is an inconsistency in the level of your vocal. It's in the first verse too, actually. Certain lines are popping out well, others sound masked. For example, notice the difference in the first line of the verse and the last ("you don't even see it yourself"). I'm not saying the vocals need to be out front, necessarily. But when the lines are coming in and then fading, it's frustrating to try to follow, like trying to follow a conversation in a loud place. Personally, I would go through the vocal track and do some manual edits, boosting the softer bits, getting the levels more even.

Nice break at 1:05. Again, the vocal in the middle section that begins about 1:39 comes is very low. Not a clue what you're saying. That harmony at 1:42 is dissonant, and again when you repeat it a few lines later and later in the song.

Second verse at 2:18 is probably the most consistent in terms of level, apart from a couple of lines around 2:30 that I struggled to understand. Again, in the part that follows that verse starting around 3:00, the levels are inconsistent. Hear how that line "can we do anything" (I think) is lower than the ones before it?

Nice outro.

Anyway, just one man's opinion. For me, the gold standard is that every word of every line of the lyric should be clearly intelligible.
 
Hm, hopefully that's more a no-news-is-good-news type thing than a where-do-i-start thing. Thanks for the listen heat!


Definitely a no-news-is-good-news kind of thing in this particular case!
 
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