mark skinner

Here's one I've been going back and forth on for quite a while. I keep getting road blocked on the lyrics and vocals so , I'm just posting it for now as an instrumental. All feedback is welcomed . If anyone want's a shot at it you're more than welcomed. Thanks .. mark

Treesha , the guitar parts were just about impossible for me to tell they were midi , and the notes played sounded like natural choices for a guitarist. I also think the preset was Much better , especially on the real low notes. Some sounded like they had a very small bit of tremolo that smoothed out the attack and let the note swell a little bit. I think the song could resolve using the note coming in at 1:29. maybe even looped and faded. mark

Treesha , The reverbs were Very nice and clean. The first thing that hit me was that Great low drum track that kept everything flowing. That's one I would definitely over use. The second was the vast improvement on the guitars from when you first posted using the Strat. Nice. I do think the ending could be improved. It left me hanging and didn't feel resolved. All in all , Very nice song . Enjoyed it .. mark

David , I liked how massive the total mix was. It reminded me of a production I once heard while visiting my Grandmother. Giant cathedral , massive pipe organ , excellent string section. Besides the composition , you captured the room nicely . Nice and inspiring. mark

Miguel , Extremely well done on the vocals. Your vocal range is Very impressive. I love the cadence of the lyrics on a well sung song in Spanish. I also think it takes a lot of confidence to post a cover song with the original. Enjoyed it . mark

John , I made an interesting observation yesterday that may or may not be related to what you are describing. I imported a finished song into a project. I had pre mastered it in Ozone at -14 Lufs with a max peak of -1.1db. I brought it in just to see how it would sound about 4 bpm faster. I used the "stretch" tool at the end of the clip after changing the bpm in the project. Listening I didn't like it. Looking .. I was clipping everywhere. When I stopped the song I was up to 1.7 db peak at that point. I undid the clip stretch option , and the levels returned to normal. At that point I wondered if an imported loop was changed to the project bpm , would do the same thing .. Didn't investigate and moved on . Always confused .. mark

Cool ! Very "Floydish". Mix wise , I think It's a very wet song for such Dry vocals. I think there's a lot of room for some more Highs / reverb & delay in the main Vox to make it more dramatic and sit better with the rest of the mix. The outro lead guitar could also use a little EQ work . Just sounded a little loud , but subdued at the same time. All in all Very nice . I Really enjoyed the listen .. mark

Tom , Fantastic song and mix. Sounded Great on my laptop with ear buds. The horns were a little shocking , but in a Good way. Very creative and well produced . Loved it .. mark

JW , that was a Very cool production from the first note to the end. I loved your choice of instruments and especially liked the fast flurry of notes from the keys in a couple of spots. Excellent . Thanks for the tour .. mark

Michael , I Really liked this song . I Really liked the main vocal track and the lead guitar. There is something about the left guitar and at places on the right guitar that's creating an out of balance feel for me. Like maybe just too much FX and not enough highs or a different EQ on the left one. Maybe they're panned too far or on the wrong side. If I got this one for mixing , I'd just start with the drums and bass , bring in the backing instruments in pairs , clean them up and find a nice balance. I'm sure you've already done a Lot of work , but I think this song is Very worthy of a remix. I hope you don't think I'm too picky , but I Love it when people get Real picky with my stuff. I still enjoyed it .. Much respect .. mark

You've got that Great string attack and tone going on again. The way you swelled the synth after the passages was a Really nice touch. I also think you picked the perfect spot to bring in the convincing sax . The only thing I would change is maybe a little different spot to fade out. It's real hard to not like your songs even before hitting the play button . Your cover photo shows your excitement about making music. Highly impressed .. mark

Terrific job on Everything , especially the main lead break. Enjoyed it .. mark

Miguel , Very nice energy . I think your guitar work is Fantastic ! Listening to your other songs I think you sing as well in English as you do in Spanish or Spanglish. Very talented .. mark

John , I Loved the bass and Steely Dan feel. Those were some complex melody lines that worked fantastic! Great song . mark

Bjorn , I Loved the intro. The saz has a hypnotic soul stirring quality and paired with the tabla sounding drums was fantastic. My only suggestion would be to lower the flute volume. I Really liked the "air" in the mix. Enjoyed it .. mark

Hello , Remix #1 , I settled the drums down and moved them back a little in the mix. I'm not really sure if it was enough or too much. I also added cello on the chorus(s) and a few other spots. I feel better about it now. Thanks for getting me this far. Any more crits and suggestions ane more than welcomed. Thanks again .. mark

I Love wasabi ..

Thanks to Everyone for your comments and suggestions . It seems like everyone is in agreement about the drums. I'll definitely work on them before I finish the cellos. @PhonoBrainer Believe it or not the upright is from Cakewalk Sound Center. I used the pitch wheel a lot and EQ'd to try and get a little fretless buzz. I'll keep plugging on , Thanks .. mark

Thanks David and Bjorn. I only downloaded the free AD version to check it out , I'm definitely going to purchase it. I love how the cymbals take So long to decay. I've watched Mikes video a few times , as usual very informative. The song now sounds to me like backing tracks with the main instrument left out. I started a cello track early this morning , It's filling it in nicely. Thanks .. mark

Here's a new one still in the works. First experience with Addictive drums. I damaged a finger on my fretting hand so I'm leaning pretty hard on my one handed midi controller. I've done all I can do with guitars , may try a backing cello track. First time using the pc leveling amp , and I'm really liking the simplicity of it . I'm using basic included plugins, and nylon strung guitar. All crits and suggestions are welcomed. I know it's pretty basic . Thanks for the listen .. mark (The link now reflects remix #1) https://soundcloud.com/user-810058643/fairfax-198

Fantastic job on everything , especially mixing the great vocal performance. Bill Withers songs just Grab you. mark

Wonderful song . I Really liked the short break at the end. Those were Fantastic smooth vocals especially the harmony tracks. This sounds like a classic .. mark

Very Nice. Easy to tell you're an ex horn player. I Loved the change around 2:30. This song put me in mind of the band Traffic. (low spark of high heeled boys). Nice playing .. mark

Treesha , I absolutely Loved the intro and start of the song. Very nice . I play a "real touchy" Native American flute and the only way I could even come close to reproducing the sound , is with Constant use of the pitch wheel and a real "airy" reverb like the free Raum reverb. There are also a lot of notes that can't be played , but only implied . Great job , I very much enjoyed it .. mark

Eric , Thanks for the details on your signal chain. I figured it was something I couldn't reproduce . Loved the rubber band trick. I usually use a piece of foam trimmed from a square of acoustic wedge. All my acoustics hanging on the wall have a piece under all the strings . Hope to hear more from you soon .. mark