bats brew

On 12/29/2023 at 8:22 PM, noynekker said:

Hey bats brew !  . . . very much enjoyed this one . . . influence wise I'm hearing more like Kansas, or even Styx . . . but I date myself, lol . . . I think this is the trickiest genre to mix . . . getting that round analog sound for rock and roll in a digital world, and I think you've done a great job. Top shelf guitar work as always !  . . . and I listen with great appreciation to the hard and detailed work that went into this one.

Glad you're hearing what I was going after!

Yea, its hard. Mostly training the ear to hear the difference between hard clarity and smoothness the ear really wants to hear.

Thanks for the comments 

On 12/23/2023 at 3:37 PM, FreeEarCandy said:

Really nice tones. Vocals have a strong Ozzy influence. So much so, I really think you are Ozzy hiding behind the name Bats Brew ;-).  Kidding of course. Yeah, the 1:30 drum thing through me off too. Perhaps a key change at that spot would clean it up and also add a surprise dimension to explore? I'm sort of imagining the guitars dropping out and you have something in a lower key going on between the bass and drum. Sort of like taking a breath/rest  before charging in again. Along the lines of what the band Rush did 3:00 in to the song La Villa Strangiato. Even if you don't use a key change, I think backing off the guitars and letting the bass and drum play it though would accomplish what I think you were trying to do in that area.

All the above aside, I like your tune, Ozzy!

ha! ozzy!

i dig ozzy. one of my first albums i ever bought, was the black sabbath Paranoid album..

so i can't see he's NOT an influence! 

love rush too...

the meter drop out has to be there, to match up with the lyric...

i've made it more obvious now, and i already had a key change after the 1st verse... what i call the middle eight, happens twice, there is a full step up, then a step back down to the main key. 

not a bad idea, for sure, but wouldn't really work with the flow i'm going for.

i appreciate the comments, thanks for listening!

10 hours ago, Ron_Pko said:

Man if you still don't have it, I recommend getting a license for ''Waves Sibilance''.
One of the things that I most hated was going after those ''s'' sounds to correct them, it was a pain in the S indeed lol

After I got Waves Sibilance my nightmares with it ended. It handles practically 99% of the problem every time automatically without affecting

the voice itself and just attacking the evil S's. You just need to figure out the best settings for your voice, then save a preset and use it every time.

Listening again here, the S problem happens in many parts of the lyrics.
As for the crash... I am not sure if it is really the frequency or just a bit too loud.
I am sure you will find out though. Everything else sounds great! : )

 

excellent idea!

i have waves Renn de esser, and De esser, plus a de esser with studio one, but haven't tried sibilence.

you know, some plugs just work better than others by design, so yea, on sale, i might nab it.

the crash, i processed the pitch a bit lower, and lowered the volume a bit, and voila.

 i actually like the pitch of the cymbal now. it's a keeper.

i wont post another mix of this, til i release for album. 

appreciate the help along the way!

20 hours ago, Ron_Pko said:

As always a great taste for composing songs!
As for the mix, I like. Except two things that are bothering me with the higher frequencies.

One thing is the crash cymbal on the right side. I am listening with headphones, and it sounds a little bit harsh, pierces my ear every time it hits.
And another thing in some words there is a harsh ''S'' sound, like for example in the word ''nice'' around 0:32.
Also I am noticing some harsh ''S'' sounds from 2:04 to 2:09 specially on the word ''sky''

thanks for listening ron!

good ears you have..

i'm going to find those freq's, and kill them with extreme prejudice!!!

LOL

actually, maybe just a touch of a dynamic EQ on just the one frequency,

i think in the case of the cymbal (superior drummer rooms of hansa), i may just drop the pitch of the cymbals a smidge,

and see if that shifts that frequency to make it a bit richer.

if not, same deal with the vox, i'll deess it with either deesser or dynamic eq, which i'm using more of these days for problem solving.

On 12/22/2023 at 7:54 AM, mark skinner said:

 Robert , I Really liked the mix and I thought your vocal harmony's were Fantastic! I really liked the drum "flams" and drums as a whole. The drum change up part threw me off a little (only for a second) and then I felt what you were going for. Very creative , I wasn't trying to dance to it ..        Enjoyed it ..   mark

hey mark! i'm glad you dig this mix,

i suppose it will appeal to some, and not to others, that's ok with me... 

those drum flams, are fills i took from the 'rooms of hansa' SDX kit with Superior Drummer.

i really like that set. i've built a custom drum kit, i'm still working on what i will call my 'signature' kit.

the drum part change happens as the arrangement changes, and the mood of the song changes,

it keeps the groove going, but releases the tension completely, hopefully aligns the listener's ear with the next section.

i thought about just dropping the drums out completely at that point, as the music plays on, and letting it come back in with the full band a few bars later...

i may still try this approach, as i finalize what i want to do with the song.

thanks for the input!

On 12/21/2023 at 1:55 PM, markno999 said:

Bat,

Cool song, like it overall.   The vocals seem pretty far back in the mix.   

More on the production side than the mix side, the only other thing that threw me off was the drum thing starting around 1:30.    I think you had so much momentum going with that driving drum  beat and bass part, I found breaking that momentum to be a little distracting.    I think it would work better when you drop the instruments out to keep the same general drum beat going and maybe add some offbeat percussion instead of changing the drums completely.   

Very cool upbeat song and enjoyed it very much.

Regards

That drum break is my favorite part mark! Heh, no, I think I'll keep that part, its inherent to my sense of humor!

vox are up now. Tnx for getting me to think about it

On 12/21/2023 at 11:21 AM, jack c. said:

right on brother.jack c      merry christmas

Thanks so much!

so, i remixed this today,
worked on the vox quite a bit,
reduced the actual 2nd lead vox tracks, and moved them off center, or mute them at times..
left the harmonies, but repositioned in the stereo field, and added some more room verb, which made them sit in the mix even better.

i have the magma bb tubes on the vocal bus, i reduced the high end a bit, and reduced the odd order harmonics (beast) and that made them quite a bit smoother.

see how you like the new one please!
(same link, i never keep the older mixes.)

https://batsbrew.bandcamp.com/track/running-free

ok, remixed the entire thing, using the ideas folks gave me! thanks for that...
and re-eq'd the entire drum kit.
it's getting closer

On 12/22/2023 at 1:49 AM, Bridget Murphy said:

It's always helpful to get input, especially on maintaining momentum in certain sections.

 

That is why I posted

https://batsbrew.bandcamp.com/track/running-free

would love some feedback on the mix,

working this one up right now

another favorite from way back, of mine.

great cover, mick box is just a bit different than any other guitar player i heard at that time...

and trying to sing david byron, is just as hard as trying to sing freddie mercury, or elton john.

it's a task, not for the faint of heart.

gary thain is still one of my alltime favorite bass players, rip.

great job on this one.

LOVE THIS ONE.

you know, i just don't care about covers anymore, haven't for years,

but i love this.

what love for sabbath.

sabbath is what started me off as a guitar player, so it's a life long love affair,

and i dig anyone who cares enough to make such close covers, it's not karaoke, it's pure fandom.

dig it.

On 11/21/2023 at 10:54 AM, Bapu said:

Tumbling Jezebel?

Nice song Bats.

hey thanks bapu!

appreciate it.

https://www.eventideaudio.com/plug-ins/spliteq/

this might work

i love ed kings playing.

a lot of character there.

16 hours ago, Leadfoot said:

This takes me back to some of that great rock in the mid 70s. Great mix. Everything is sitting perfectly. I'm able to hear every instrument, and nothing is trampling on anything else. Great guitar work, as is always the case with you. Vocals are great too. Love the bounce to this song. Great job!

wow leadfoot, thanks!

this mix was fairly easy, compared to some of my other stuff...

and i guess the 'bounce' you mention, is me trying to play ahead of the backbeat drum track,

which i programmed backbeat, knowing i was going to push the beat with the guitars.

i like playing with meter that way. and yea, it does bounce! heh

ok i changed the bass in the mix slightly,
see if that makes it sit nice

On 11/12/2023 at 7:43 PM, John Vere said:

Dang haven’t hat a Batfix in way to long and as always 1000 miles above everything else I’ve listened to in months. Your whole mix is just so huge on headphones. All the details you put in are not missed by me. Stereo image heaven. I think it’s definitely finished. 
On my 3rd listen. Of note is the way you move the delay around. The ring in the snare is awesome and drum compression brilliantly done panning of fills and of course a wha wha 

thanks a lot, john!

glad you liked it!

drums are very dialed in, and i just tried to balance the eq with the panning in a way that spread everything evenly, and offered the most clarity.

every mix is kind of like an experiment, eh?

?

Remix today if anyone has suggestions

On 11/9/2023 at 10:09 AM, 53mph said:

@bats brew

If you delve into Daniel Johnston, it's probably best to watch the documentary on his life, The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He's a real outsider in every way....but a genius.

is the doc on utoob?

a great cover of a cool sab tune,

i went back and listened to your national acrobat cover, wow, that one was really close!

excellent.

On 11/7/2023 at 7:10 AM, 53mph said:

Great fun track. You can hear the enjoyment in the music. Love the guitars. Only crit would be that you bring in the lyric 'Jezebel' too early. I kind of feel that should be in the pay-off line, not the second line. Apart from that. Great.

I know you may not take this as a compliment, but your vocal tone reminds me a little of Daniel Johnston (who is one of my favourite artists). 

hey 53! thanks for listening, glad you dig those guitars. it was fun tracking them.

i thought about leaving that first jezebel out, like you suggest...

funny you mentioned it.

now, much later, i still think it works as the 'hook', it's like petty used to say, dont bore us, get to the chorus.

LOL, maybe i could exchange the lyric right there with something similar, but different.

i'll mull that one.

daniel johnston, had never heard of him before you mentioned it here, thanks for the headsup, i will investigate.

ok, but this:

"Deliberately avoiding certain frequencies"

YOU DONT want to avoid frequencies,

you just want to get good at mixing them at the right level.

gabriel is an outlier...

that album is great, but stands in it's own little corner, specifically because of arrangement decisions.

if you are emulating an old gabriel recording for a specific purpose, simply NOT using cymbals cuts out a lot of high end.

but i'd never place an eq over the mix just to take out certain frequencies... that gets done at the track level.