when I was alive

[chuckduffy]

When I was alive
06-26 Final Mix

When I was alive by Hotel Limbo | Free Listening on SoundCloud

06-21-2020 mix four
deleted/space cleanup

06-14-2020 mix one
deleted/space cleanup

When I was Alive
06-20-2020 mix two
deleted/space cleanup

This is an old one of mine from the vault my son and I re-did during quarantine. He played bass, rhythm, crunchy guitars and editing. I did acoustic, vocals, drums, rhythm, synths and lead guit. We played drums and bass together while I hummed the song. Then we overdubbed everything else. I sang it end to end while playing acoustic, then mixed. This was a whole ton of fun to do, I probably wrote this song 25 years agoGAK!

Youtube here for laughs.
[url=https://youtu.be/j7LR2725rLg]YouTube[/URL]

 

[mjbphotos]

The guitar that comes in for the first chorus is overpowering the rest of the instruments. It's not as loud in the 2nd and 3rd chorus.
Can't really hear the bass.
There's an underlying reverb I hear occasionally, it could be the room you tracked the drums in, doesn't fit when I hear it.

 

[chuckduffy]

The guitar that comes in for the first chorus is overpowering the rest of the instruments. It's not as loud in the 2nd and 3rd chorus.
Can't really hear the bass.
There's an underlying reverb I hear occasionally, it could be the room you tracked the drums in, doesn't fit when I hear it.

Hi, thanks for checking it out. When you say can't really hear the bass - do you mean in the choruses because it is being drowned out, or do you mean you never hear adequate bass...

 

[Chili]

Gotta agree with MJB on the glaring guitar part during the chorus. That should be priority #1.

Really like the song a lot and looking forward to hearing mix revisions.

 

[Deleted member 203901]

I really like this song/composition! The vocals are amazing, both the performance as well as the tone. I just wish in some parts of the song the guitars weren't overpowering the vocals as much as they are.

 

[FairWarning]

This is insanely good

 

[mjbphotos]

Hi, thanks for checking it out. When you say can't really hear the bass - do you mean in the choruses because it is being drowned out, or do you mean you never hear adequate bass...

I only occasionally really hear the bass

 

[Bruthish]

During the intro and chorus....sounds like a wall of sound, not much dynamics...just 0 to 100. The verses sound good in contrast. Needs to be more separation. Lots of potential with this, just need some of the issues worked out.

 

[chuckduffy]

Hey all, thanks for the great feedback. I can hear any/all issues mentioned now that I have a little distance on the original recording mix. Will hit this up tonight and see what I can do. I am terrible at getting loud distorted guitars to lay in a mix, that is for sure. I do want it to be like a giant wall of guitar in the chorus, but not that wall of guitar.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Great track. I really like those guitar parts with the synth on the intro and then repeated later. Vocals are real good too. Remind me a little of Tom Verlaine in parts. Wall of sound in the chorus works very well. Props to chuckduffy junior. Nice job, this one's a classic

 

[mcmac74]

Brilliant synths and I love the verses..vox awesome in tone and style...and well recorded.... You seem to lose your way on the chorus. The lead is irritating and seems thrown in for no benefit and the distorted guitar is not sitting well at the mo. The song deserves working on.

Mark

 

[Mickster]

I agree with what most people have said so far........especially about the lead.......but I really love this song. It's a great throwback and I have to say that your voice and delivery remind me a bit of Jim Morrison. Polish it up and you've got a great one there.

 

[Snowman999]

I could hear every, so I'm not going to mention the mix. But, that's a really good song.

 

[chuckduffy]

Thanks to everyone who replied, really great feedback. I put mix 2 up top in the original post.

* cleaned out a bunch of low end sludge
* got rid of a bunch of effects
* eq/compressed bass differently
* Changed synth patch and panning in chorus
* Changed guitar, panning and eq in the chorus
* Changed out the drum and 2 bus limiter

I have no idea if this is getting objectively or subjectively better cause my ears are shot. It does sound better to me in that I can hear vocals much better and track seems more even but who knows.

 

[Manslick]

yes i love this

 

[FairWarning]

this is so good i have to comment again it has a QOTSA and Mark Lanegan (his solo stuff) mojo mix going on. really a high quality tune you've whipped up here

 

[fuzzsniffvoyage]

Great tune, love it. I'd pay for this.

 

[chuckduffy]

Added mix 4.

* Dropped strings in chorus by 1 db
* Dropped solo guitar in chorus by 2 db
* Raised vocal in chorus by .5 db

Thanks to everyone for the incredibly helpful feedback. I think I am moving on - there's lots of ropey playing and mistakes and stuff but I would save that for a redo when I get a little further on my drum journey

 

[mcmac74]

There comes a point in every song ey!

Its sounding great and vocals on chorus much better for the tinkering ?

 

[Bulls Hit]

Mix4 on headphones is nice and clear. Almost too light in the bottom. Vocals are spot on for this jam. You've captured the zeitgeist for sure, it really resonates. Top track, great job