bats brew

wookie's got that right, Old Joad... these are 'working' mixes, meaning, they're active... in fact, usually an early mix i put up, like this one, is obsolete by the 3rd day it's up!! LOL so, just so you'll know, i posted EVERY song on this new album, right here, looking for help from my 'peer' group, and in most cases, i got GREAT help! sometimes i posted early mixes, and then later, final mixes, just to get enough feedback to dial in the songs, so at this point, i have 10 finished instrumentals, my first album of instrumentals.... i have 4 other full length albums of vocal songs... this album will be called "Elemental", doing album art right now.... tweaking final mixes.... then very light mastering, targeting -14 LUFS... then off to the cd printers, and they usually take a week to turn it around... off to Amazon, once that's done, i'll put out some links. hope you pick one up!

howdy ho, gary! i don't know how different this one really is, but it's cool that it hits a new chord... hi hat too hot, check. i've completely edited that hat, new hat choice, new eq and level the rhythm guitars, are all mono, and hard panned... the solos are a mix of mono and stereo, typically i don't pan the stereo solos, and soft pan the monos, depending on where the balance is required.

hello douglas! i'm glad you dig this stuff.... hi wookiee! glad you caught this one too, it will be one of the last things posted, time for me to wrap this project up. i'll be beginning final mixes tweaks, then start mastering. meanwhile, i have original artwork to begin before sending it to the printers for a batch of cd's.

hi paul! thank you for listening bass was stepping on the synth bass, and vice versa, so i worked on that quite a bit...

https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/neon-blues this is the first mix of this tune, 1st time i've posted it. need some feedback on the mix in general. mix is kinda 'faders up', so i'll be tweaking the mix quite a bit, so feel free to include your ideas. this is song #10, of a ten song instrumental album by Bats Brew, called "Elemental". hope you enjoy it! Neon Blues

U MISSED one of the best ones! ?

alright, i took this one down now, it's just gathering dust, i do want to say, i appreciate EVERYONE who has helped me put this project together, with insights and comments and suggestions. i may have one brand new one to post, that has never been posted, but then that's it until the discs are printed!

THANKS HARRY C appreciate the comments it's gonna be a fun album to listen to

hi douglas! thanks for the comments man, it's very cool that you pick up on the Vagaries of my playing style...! ;hehehh, playing out? you know, i did so many gigs when i worked full time ...almost 6 years. i lived on the road, and played mostly 6 nights a week, 5 hours a night, from town to town.... one thousand, two hundred and seventy two nights (gigs). a guestimate, for sure, but if anything, it's on the light side. that was my 'playing out' time. LOL

https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/center-of-everywhere-mix-3 just looking for spectral balance on this one, if you hear something off, please let me know. and get up and boogie if you feel like it.

hi douglas yes, a bit funky indeed.... i played on the road for 6 years full time with a band, that did a LOT of funk, as well as rock. i have an affinity to it. thanks for listening

alright mark! thanks for listening to this one.... the chime part, yea... that's fun, a bit of gain, a bit of compression, then just pop em out! heheh, a little indulgent, but works so well.

hey wookiee! yep, i went ahead and took the first one down, because the 2nd one was the correct one! LOL it is a groovin' kind of thing, very simple and straightforward, designed for shaking tail feathers.

OK, NEW MIX: https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/poppin-2-eq re-mastered, with drum part changes, mix changes, re-eq'd guitars, changed the overall reverb IR from a big stadium setting, to a wooden room chamber, which sounds so much nicer than the other one.

https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/poppin-tight when i say 'final mix', means i'm not writing or arranging any more, my best last pass before i tweak and master. so, my demo of this had a more roomy drum kit... and made it set back a bit, and seem more mellow and groovy.. this kit is less roomy, with a more muscular kick...slightly more aggressive. i like it, but it's so different, i no longer have a feel for it. any thoughts?

where did you hear it, freddy? i took it down this morning.....

hi wookiee! furry lugs, funny.... pretty furry.... you'll have to buy the album to hear the 'finalised' version!! ;heheh

howdy chappel! thanks for listening.... steve morse, now THERE is a name to drop! heheh, i've seen steve play live many many times, have always been a big fan since even before the 1st dregs album was released. wouldn't call him an influence, but i love his music.

hi lynn! thanks for listening, and glad you liked this one! low volume, check.... i don't think i've done that with any of the 10 tunes, thanks for reminding me of due diligence!! heh i think, if you crank this song up thru a full range system, you will be shocked at how much low end there is in the mix. i MAY have to put a plug, like MaxxBass, on the keyboard bus just to see if i can tweak up the feel of the low end for low volume listening. truth be told: i don't care if anyone EVER listens to my stuff at low volume!! heheh, not how it was mixed.

hey douglas! yep, imagine a cool, crisp, sunny early morning in spring... that's kinda what i was going for. i'm still tweaking the mix, trying to find the right balance between the acoustic rhythms and the electric rhythms. i bring them up and down throughout at different times, to build and relax, but didn't have it dialed in on this mix.

https://soundcloud.com/bats-brew/spring-morning-demo-eq this is my 9th demo i've posted, will move into final mix this weekend. i really don't know how to categorize this one... any ideas? it's a melodic idea i've had for 20 years, finally put it down on virtual tape. love to get some feedback on the mix and balance of freq's.

hi andy! thanks man, appreciate the kind words. this is going to be a great album, if i may say so myself... i think it will be a fun listen.

HI DOUGLAS! thanks for the kudos on the drum tracks, i spend a fair amount of time writing those.

thanks man............ ha! insignificant, indeed! i'll tell you the story behind this one... in west virginia, there is a river called the Gauley river. the upper gauley has white water rapids that are world class. High volume, only runs in september and october, because it's an earthen dam release. Class III to Class V. you need to be experienced to do this river, the consequences are anything but insignificant. so the wifey and I did the Gauley some years back, and we had a guide, who went by the name 'gonzo'. she was very experienced, a good guide. there is a section of white water with a Class V rapid called 'Insignificant', and this particular rapid requires an extremely aggressive approach; there is a 'hyrdraulic' at the beginning that is basically a great big hole and it wants to suck your raft down in it....if you don't have the speed up, you can fold the raft. we had 2 couples that were completely inexperienced in the raft, who had lied about their ability level. when it came time to charge the rapid, their pulling (hard rowing) fell apart, and the next thing i knew, we lost both the guide, and my wife, down into the hole as the raft bent in half... i had my feet wedged proper, so i could immediately bend over the side and reach down in the water, i found one set of floatation gear straps; it was the guide. my wife had gone down into the hole, about 15 feet deep, and didn't come up until she was spit out about 12 yards down stream. again, this is a Class V rapid, one you do not want to swim. but swim it she did. and did NOT lose her paddle!! which was heroic on it's own... i pulled the guide into the raft, and she immediately swung the raft backwards, and we headed after my wife as fast as we could. the guide did everything in her power to catch up, and we did, but by then the rapid was done. Wifey was fine, just a bit spooked, and the guide read the riot act to the 4 people who did not paddle and follow directions, so it was a weird situation... but the guide, my wife and i more or less bonded over this precarious situation, and we ended have a great time for the rest of the trip (several hours). this song, is a sonic representation of how wild, and at the same time, mellow, this experience was. when i wrote it, i had mapped out the song in chronological time, to match the time we prepared when we got there, the put-in, the first few rapids, then the approach to Insignificant, then the raft collapse and the ride thru the rapid, the chase to get her back, the big sigh of relief, the re-grouping of the raft team, finishing the rapids and the time afterwards to reflect. so each change of the arrangement is basically telling the story as i told it above.

alright furry paw man, thanks for the comments.. yea, this album, perfect for a road trip. i mean, it will work that way, from beginning to end, that's how i hope people will listen to it.