LAST ONE for mix review...for now

[rdance]

i think this is the last one we can get to before final re-mix and mastering for the rally.

yours truly singing the the lead on this one...tryin' to get my plaintive on.

any and all comments welcome!

https://soundcloud.com/richard-dance-mu ... -man-mix-1

ps...chuck and i have chosen our songwriting team name for this catalog...ready?...THE JETHROSEXUALS.

i'm not kidding.

[andygabrys]

sounds great over here. no major comments.

dig the clean drums....I was feeling like after the chorus that the drums needed a little build - ya know like if you have a room mic on the kit and you squash it to make the room sound more noticeable and mix it under the main kit sound - none or little on the start, and then when things get thicker in the instru-mental break after the chorus ride that up a little to make it sound like the drummer was trying a bit harder.

that's it. nice tune.

[CrimsnSyrn]

Hi Richard!

Great track - and really fun!

I'm not very qualified to comment on mix, so take what I say with a grain of salt...

The only two things that I noticed -

1) I thought the strings were a little bit too loud....

The next comment is about arrangement:

On verse 3, where your backing vocals repeat the last word of each phrase 4 times - you should definitely change that up ....

I remember going to a class at the RR a couple years ago, given by (I might get his name wrong here) Jason Brawner(?) (I don't mean Jason Blume - for those of you about to chime in).... - The name of the class was something like "30 Things Hit Songwriters are Doing that You're Not"....To paraphrase, he said, 3x MAXIMUM for that kind of repetition (and ideally 2 times - these days) because people get bored really easily and they want change....by the 3rd repetition they're uncomfortable that you haven't changed it up - if you do it 4 times, it's death!!!!

BTW - i really like it when YOU sing vocals - I much prefer your voice to the other guy who often sings your tracks (sorry - don't know his name)....your voice sounds more contemporary than his.

Just my 2 cents.

HTH,

[nick.moxsom]

Wow, disco strings !!!

Impeccable sound as usual from you, Craw. Gotta be honest and say that I was absolutely convinced I was gonna hear a chord change to the chorus... and didn't... so (personally) I think you missed a trick there. But the vibe is great and I agree with Juliet that your vocals are the right thing.

Nick

[funsongs]

my spare change: 3 cents' worth:
1) as an ala - the strings part reminded me of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xorg5SkKvU
(which is a good thing).
2) like that ear-candy lick (guitar & bass) at 1:15-1:17.
3) agree that some changes in place of repetition could be a positive thing -
for example: use the "ooo"s as an echo in place of the 4th time that occurs over "what else to do";
or something along that line, instead of echoing the lyric. (agreeing with Juliet?).

Q: what snare drum and hi-hats are you using? just curious. The kit sounds great.

HTH: Cheers.
Peter

[rdance]

thanks all...

andy, cool idea. we have two overheads on the kit. so you're saying copy those two onto another pair of tracks and do a squashed swell mix and blend that in with the original kit?...and what is your definition of squashed?

juliet, good call on the somewhat busy background vox. gonna fiddle with that.

nick, interesting what you felt about the chorus going somewhere else...hmmm...not sure why that direction didn't get into the writing.

peter, cool link to darrell's house/train/papa was a rolling stone. so funny, because when a younger person (mid-20's) recently heard some of these tracks we've been writing, she said we sound like the band 'train' playing throwback soul. i thought that was odd, but your link kinda confirmed something...strange indeed, i've never had 'train' in my mind.

[andygabrys]

thanks all...

andy, cool idea. we have two overheads on the kit. so you're saying copy those two onto another pair of tracks and do a squashed swell mix and blend that in with the original kit?...and what is your definition of squashed?

yeah that could work if you don't have a separate room mic. might need some eq if the cymbals get out of control. squashed is in the eye of the beholder. I often make them sound distorted and crazy cause its mixed low, if I want to hear it more I might squash less. I am talking 5-20 db of gain reduction in 'all buttons" mode on an 1176 with fast attack and release.

[funsongs]

thanks all...
juliet, good call on the somewhat busy background vox. gonna fiddle with that.

peter, cool link to darrell's house/train/papa was a rolling stone. so funny, because when a younger person (mid-20's) recently heard some of these tracks we've been writing, she said we sound like the band 'train' playing throwback soul. i thought that was odd, but your link kinda confirmed something...strange indeed, i've never had 'train' in my mind.

Chez groovy, Man!!

What about them drums? snare? metal/wood? size/deep? 13" K hats?
Just trying to learn better tone & hearing-recognition. Por favor, Seenyor.
Muchas Gracias.

[rdance]

peter, that's a yamaha 'black beauty' ( i think it's metal). i believe there is an sm57 micing the top head, and a condenser micing the snares underneath...or maybe it's the other way around...hats are those titanium or platinum things i mentioned way back in an earlier post, on a song long ago. would have to ask the drummer again.

andy thanks...you gave me some ideas.

[johnlewitt]

Richard,

When you said it was your vocal, I was expecting something low down. I like this velvet voice of yours. Cool track.

John