Song Collaboration: Robus, Ibleedburgundy, easlern

[JDOD]

I quite like this song. Bass tone is weird though. Needs to be smoother and deeper, sounds like its got a bit of drive on it and stacks of treble.

I agree with ray that the ending is odd.

 

[andrushkiwt]

I think you can hear me putting the drum sticks down after the song is over lol.

I actually really like that in songs. Like "ok whatever, song is done." Gets me every time. Very cool

 

[Robus]

A disclaimer is in order: I’m pretty new to this, so don’t treat me as an authority on anything!

It's cool, this the MP3 Clinic. We are all authorities on everything! Seriously, all comments are welcome. People come with different levels of skill and experience and that's how communities are. All of us who post here regularly have improved and learned from all kinds of comments, and not just from those who have vast experience.

I hear you about the wide guitars. I keep pushing them wider to achieve that "empty space" you mention in the middle. It's an aesthetic and not everybody agrees with it, but that space in the middle is close to the Number 1 thing I try to achieve in my mixes. To my ears it makes every instrument sound different and better than it would sound in a close mix. I don't know how I arrived at this approach--it's certainly become more articulated and purposeful since I began posting on the forum. But I was listening last night to some 4 track cassette recordings I made in the mid-90s and the guitars were all wide.

JDOD and rayc, thanks for commenting. I was hoping you might. You both mention the bass and are looking at the same thing from different angles. It's a pretty lively or bouncy bass line--maybe too much so, but it's a blast to play. I can't get a line like that to cut through on a P bass, it needs the tighter, more muscular tone of a Jazz. Which I think is what JDOD is hearing. However, I have been giving the P bass some love lately. Stay tuned!

 

[ido1957]

Vocals are great but... they fade in and out depending on the volume of the guitars. The guitars swell out somehow and the vocals fade. Not sure how to fix it but that's my observation. I'm on board with the previous comments re - trim the intro/ending, lip smacks, bouncy bass.
Minor overall - great tune and playing is great too - best I've heard by you guys. Hope you keep this collab going as there is some great musical chemistry going on.

 

[Robus]

Vocals are great but... they fade in and out depending on the volume of the guitars. The guitars swell out somehow and the vocals fade. Not sure how to fix it but that's my observation. I'm on board with the previous comments re - trim the intro/ending, lip smacks, bouncy bass.
Minor overall - great tune and playing is great too - best I've heard by you guys. Hope you keep this collab going as there is some great musical chemistry going on.

Thanks Ido. The collaboration has been great. Interesting observation about the guitar/vocals swelling and fading in opposite directions. I'll have a look at the compression to see if it's causing some strange interactions.

 

[Robus]

New mix in the OP.

Changes:
1. Adjusted drums, more kick and overhead, toms EQed and louder. Snare top and bottom mics re-balanced for more snap.

2. Lots of editing on lead vocal and double tracks. Breaths, pops, esses, etc. brought under control. A few touch-ups on the harmony vocals.

3. Raised the lead guitars on the main solo, and that slowhand solo that Dave liked.

 

[Nola]

It sounds good. The vocal seems to have a phase issue (or is there autotune on it?)...it sounds thin/glitchy at times. I see you say it was doubled..I wonder if it's due to that. I'd be curious to hear it with a single vocal to see if that issue goes away. This song is your best ever, Robus. Very good movement in it from section to section.

 

[andrushkiwt]

Wow great guitar hook! Where'd you come up with that?!

New mix sounds awesome. Kick and bass sound fantastic when they come in together at the beginning.

Is this the same vocal take? If so, wow Ray, you did a great job cleaning it up. What did you do different to it EQ-wise? Did you de-ess harder? They sound great.

Oh damn, after "wild storm", the drums sound effin great. I didn't notice how nice they sound now until then. Great mix to me, Ray.

OK come on, fix that ending. hah. do it justice.

 

[Robus]

Thanks. No change in EQ on the vocals. I did a lot of manual edits to reduce the level of the esses, cut out or lower the level of the breaths. I like to hear them but they were way loud before.

 

[andrushkiwt]

Thanks. No change in EQ on the vocals. I did a lot of manual edits to reduce the level of the esses, cut out or lower the level of the breaths. I like to hear them but they were way loud before.

so... you zoomed way in on a single word, then chopped the volume for that word, or even syllable, down? So it is like a pre-deesser thing? To reduce the workload of the de-esser before it even hits it?

really, this mix sounds great. One of the best, most clear, cohesive I've heard from you. It's sounding less like a collab, particularly with the drum treatment. The snare is brighter again and the kit sounds nice and big, and more up front.

 

[ibleedburgundy]

Dude Ray, this is really nice work! I think you improved the mix in every way, with no compromises. Things are glued together much more than before. The performance sounds much more integrated and convincing as a group. Very tastefully done IMO.

 

[andrushkiwt]

Dude Ray, this is really nice work! I think you improved the mix in every way, with no compromises. Things are glued together much more than before. The performance sounds much more integrated and convincing as a group. Very tastefully done IMO.

+1 on all that. great great job

 

[Robus]

so... you zoomed way in on a single word, then chopped the volume for that word, or even syllable, down? So it is like a pre-deesser thing? To reduce the workload of the de-esser before it even hits it?

Yeah, that's exactly what I did. Took about two hours. Actually, there is no deesser on the vocal chain at the moment.

 

[beezelbubba]

The drums (particularly the snare) sound a bit too dry.Wouldn't mind hearing a bit of ambience.

 

[Robus]

Thanks for all the advice. It really helped on this one.

One last mix in the OP. I raised the guitars just a little. Ready to move on.

 

[easlern]

Sounds great Ray!

 

[Robus]

Thanks Nick. You and Dave find ways of improving the song I wrote. Step by step, I am getting better at mixing your voice. Your move to a new recording space is paying off. This vocal took a lot less EQ than did Mackinaw, and the results sound more natural to me. I did not have the same struggle with low mids on this tune. Also, I really think the double lead vocal helped. I've got the level way below that of the main vocal, about -9dB or a little more. But it really fills out the lead. It's also nice to have a second take to work with, so I can comp together the best bits of both for the lead.