What Am I? - NEW MIX again...

[Mark Kaufman]

Bill, that was a good call...I have those Classic plug ins too..."Bass Attack" helped it out I think.New mix posted! And, as usual, a new mix means new problems...

[wta]

Mark, this is a la Costello fer sure, love it. Though mix cause there is so much going on, esp in the mid ranges. I think I'm listening to the new version but this tune is sounding solid in my cans. I really dug that bass tone during the guitar solo. wta

[cjdenecia]

jumping in before I even bother to test the waters ....WOW - midrange heavy!!! look at this song in a frequency spectrum piece of mastering software man! it hurts! no chance of this getting past the first 15 seconds in anyone's workday at the old A&R department.song itself is stuck in the middle of being a bit black crowes and a bit tom petty playing with great white .... and I'm not sure that's all that great a combo ....lyrically ... (god, I'm not coming off very positive here am I?) .... a lot of over the top forced rhymes that are really making me turn the tune off before I give it a chance .... come on - "the strings of my guitar" ?? that's just pure lyrical laziness man.the good news is that despite the bad production I hear a lot of a good performance in this - especially from the vocalist. he's convincing and tho not all that unique, he has a bit of charm - AKA dylan rocking out ... harms well with himself too. some good stuff instrumentally tho there are some real dead moments that stand out as "why?". piano action is pretty cool tho I don't like how it disappears in the mix instead of being front and center .... tho after the 3rd listen I wonder why the keys didn't do some off beat counterpoints instead of just pounding predictably the whole way through?drums and bass seem a bit loose and happily sloppy - which fits .... guitars are just ok and the lead area doesn't ring my bell much .... don't like the willingness to expand the box outside the comfortable scale territory here without at least giving it a off the wall and in your face approach.jumping around ... good melody .... that's the strongest aspect of the song. scale of 1-10 in cj's book .... and 8 to 10 being very very hard to come by (hell, most of mine don't warrant those scores and I love my stuff) - this gets a very liberal 5.0 (and that's cus I'm new and I don't want to label it the true 4.2 I'd normally give it)biggest immediate problem? fix the mix. there's lots of frequencies available - put them into the song.

[heinsite]

hey mark--great fine tuning!!--dig it more man, was that organ in there? i might have missed it, but a lovely add (or did you bring it up?) --dig the piano--now don't get pissed, but it still seems a bit light to me--all the way to 2:26 when we hear it crystal, but until then still a bit in the back for my taste (it is NOT IMHO anywhere near werewolves from zevon, it's YOU,) i'd bring it out more...--the solo guitar work in my opinion is brilliant, and that's why my old ears would love to hear it more out front at 2:06 or so when it comes in...seems unjustly a bit hidden--it's a great highlight i for one would love to hear louder...ok, i'm going back to listen for #3 and fix what i'm off base on...--the mix does get a bit muddy (allot of action man, i understand...) but some cleaning up toward the end is needed.--yep, piano needs to come up, ESPEICALLY before your vocal! and in the turnaround....and i'll stick with all the other comments--great tune, oh, almost forgot, the bed lyrics are now friggin' RIGHT ... as hard as i try to find one friggin' "problem", i can't--and i do not read the lyrics, i listen over and over--GREAT job...ok, that's my lousy 2 centavos, i think you're almost there!the bestwarren

[Mark Kaufman]

Nov 18, 2008, 4:49pm, wta wrote: Mark, this is a la Costello fer sure, love it. Though mix cause there is so much going on, esp in the mid ranges. I think I'm listening to the new version but this tune is sounding solid in my cans. I really dug that bass tone during the guitar solo. wtaThanks wta! Well...it's getting closer, but it ain't there. And you're right about the mids...too much!Thanks again!-Mark

[Mark Kaufman]

Nov 18, 2008, 6:03pm, cjdenecia wrote:jumping in before I even bother to test the waters ....WOW - midrange heavy!!! look at this song in a frequency spectrum piece of mastering software man! it hurts! no chance of this getting past the first 15 seconds in anyone's workday at the old A&R department.song itself is stuck in the middle of being a bit black crowes and a bit tom petty playing with great white .... and I'm not sure that's all that great a combo ....lyrically ... (god, I'm not coming off very positive here am I?) .... a lot of over the top forced rhymes that are really making me turn the tune off before I give it a chance .... come on - "the strings of my guitar" ?? that's just pure lyrical laziness man.the good news is that despite the bad production I hear a lot of a good performance in this - especially from the vocalist. he's convincing and tho not all that unique, he has a bit of charm - AKA dylan rocking out ... harms well with himself too. some good stuff instrumentally tho there are some real dead moments that stand out as "why?". piano action is pretty cool tho I don't like how it disappears in the mix instead of being front and center .... tho after the 3rd listen I wonder why the keys didn't do some off beat counterpoints instead of just pounding predictably the whole way through?drums and bass seem a bit loose and happily sloppy - which fits .... guitars are just ok and the lead area doesn't ring my bell much .... don't like the willingness to expand the box outside the comfortable scale territory here without at least giving it a off the wall and in your face approach.jumping around ... good melody .... that's the strongest aspect of the song. scale of 1-10 in cj's book .... and 8 to 10 being very very hard to come by (hell, most of mine don't warrant those scores and I love my stuff) - this gets a very liberal 5.0 (and that's cus I'm new and I don't want to label it the true 4.2 I'd normally give it)biggest immediate problem? fix the mix. there's lots of frequencies available - put them into the song.Hi cj, nice to meet you. I know your critique is useful because it stings. But I actually appreciate that, because these are the posts that I learn the most from. There's a lot I still need to learn about production, and man you should hear what I was doing six months ago. I'm a one man show, no studio, no monitors, and I recorded most of this one in my bathrobe. You get what you pay for, I guess.I posted this remix from home, but listening to it on other speakers, yes, that damned piano got lost again, and here I thought I had it out front. And it's all mids, so I'll work on pulling them down a good deal on the EQ...don't know that the highs need boosting, but the bass might.I love getting multiple critiques...that "strings on my guitar" line has been describe now as both "fookin' brilliant" and "pure lyrical laziness man". I think I may still exchange the second verse "what am I to you"s for different lines...they get a bit monotonous too. I'm so glad I got EZ Drummer to sound loose! Thanks for going deep, cj. It's great to have a lot of aspects looked at.Cheers!-Mark

[Mark Kaufman]

Nov 18, 2008, 7:31pm, heinsite wrote:hey mark--great fine tuning!!--dig it more man, was that organ in there? i might have missed it, but a lovely add (or did you bring it up?) --dig the piano--now don't get pissed, but it still seems a bit light to me--all the way to 2:26 when we hear it crystal, but until then still a bit in the back for my taste (it is NOT IMHO anywhere near werewolves from zevon, it's YOU,) i'd bring it out more...--the solo guitar work in my opinion is brilliant, and that's why my old ears would love to hear it more out front at 2:06 or so when it comes in...seems unjustly a bit hidden--it's a great highlight i for one would love to hear louder...ok, i'm going back to listen for #3 and fix what i'm off base on...--the mix does get a bit muddy (allot of action man, i understand...) but some cleaning up toward the end is needed.--yep, piano needs to come up, ESPEICALLY before your vocal! and in the turnaround....and i'll stick with all the other comments--great tune, oh, almost forgot, the bed lyrics are now friggin' RIGHT ... as hard as i try to find one friggin' "problem", i can't--and i do not read the lyrics, i listen over and over--GREAT job...ok, that's my lousy 2 centavos, i think you're almost there!the bestwarrenThanks Warren! The organ was there before and buried...just like the piano. I added more vocals and re-sang the lead, re-recorded all the electric guitars. Added your line...I owe you one. That little backward fuzz guitar tag at the end of the solo is WAY loud...it was meant to be about half as loud as the solo...which is too soft.[beats his head against the wall]Thanks Warren! Back to the lab...-Mark

[heinsite]

yeah, that's cool, just leave out those screams from that lab!! LOL...

[cjdenecia]

hey mark - it's good to see people take a simple opinion for what they deem it to be worth without getting all bent about it. in the past, I've received a lot of hate mail (which I kinda enjoy actually) for saying what I think in song reviews. good on you for hearing what others have to say ...as per the lyrics - I absolutely hate putting a critique down on words that have a good melodic flow. I believe there are literally dozens and dozens of lyrical styles that work ... and can hook up with the listening public without staying in the box .... but then again, the comfortable lines do catch the ear too - just too much possible to come down hard on the words. but when rhymes sound forced - I gotta say it.btw - IMO, it is possible to come up with decent mixes through headphones - but only if you have a very good sonic memory. just make sure you can hear how your cans relate to various other systems, monitors, speakers, etc ... and to do that, you really have to understand your equipment and be sure to listen to the mp3's and cd mix masters on a wide variety of systems after the fact. and be willing to know you've messed up and learn how your phones can lie to your ears.it ain't easy but those who don't have a soundproof room where they can pound the db's out gotta do it somehow. just know your system and don't expect it to ever be as pro as the real deal. come as close as you can.

[geo]

Hey Mark .... I dig this ..... very good chorus & build leading up to it......My issue is the mix..... a lot of times it just sounds .... cluttered.... I guess..... maybe the mid thing is part of it..... if the whole thing sounded like the groove after the solo (2.25) .... it would be awesome..... Cool lyrics.... great hook!!!Peace, Geo