mark skinner

@treesha Thank You for the listen and response . I just recently got pancake. I'm Really liking the "slow walker" preset. It adds a lot of depth to a guitar without being very obvious. I agree with you Jack. First time using an arpeggiator with a controller and not being a keyboard player , it's like having a new toy. I've now settled the track down but kept the fast flurries that I liked. The keys were the main thing I wasn't sure about in the song. Thanks for that. @steve@baselines.com I Really appreciate that. I wish everyone would include a little info on how they processed their guitars.. @bjornpdx I try not to be too cheezy , sometimes it doesn't work out. Thank You. @daryl1968 I struggled with the bass on this one , and deleted several days work playing slap style with a different bass. I went with a more subdued track. I tried getting a little more presence on it in the remix. I guess funk should always highlight the kick/bass. Thanks' for the observation. The top Soundcloud link now reflects Remix 2. mark

@Johnbee58 Thanks for the listen and compliment. @Bajan Blue Nigel , I actually treated the guitar tracks on this one as if I were playing an electric. L/R and lead guitar was sent to TH3. Chorus, Randal "clean" amp (no cabinet), digital delay , and tremolo on the lead guitar. I also used Pro Channel "saturation" on the lead . It's also got a mild sweeping pan from "pancake". Cool Vst. The biggest thing I've found for a couple of my guitars (going direct in) is an EQ preset in Quad Curve. It's called "big and bright". I think it used to be called J200. I'll usually adjust it some but it usually does a good job of removing a lot of the piezo quack. I prefer using a mic but this thin bodied guitar honestly doesn't sound that good but it's a Dream to play . Thanks .. mark

Hello , here's a new instrumental I'm trying to finish up . I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I put my Washburn Monterey custom studio guitar thru a workout. I'm Just now learning how to capture it. Piezo and built in magnetic neck pickup (21st. fret) were used . Drums were cobbled together from 3 vst's , Ibanez active bass and piano thru an arpeggiator. Any suggestions for improvement will be Greatly appreciated . Thanks .. mark Here's a mix I've settled on after everybody's help. - Final Mix-

Do you not think your metronome also goes thru your interface ? I guess the answer to this is no ..

Very Hypnotic. I could feel some primal possession creeping in.. Intensely wonderful. mark

Such a Nice Clean mix. I thought this was Great writing and a Steller performance by all.. mark

Enjoyed that ride. I especially liked the acoustic guitar Suttle strums in some of the sections and the interweaving you did with the various instruments. The bass guitar groove was hypnotic. Nice .. mark

Very Nice ! You've got a cool live feel in this one. Sounds like I was in the back of the club with the room reverb shining thru. I thought the guitar solos were spot on especially for the genre. Great Job! mark

First strange thing I see is , on track 2 your gain knob is "maxed out" . Your "master" gain knob is at +2.3 , but your master "fader" is turned down to -4.3 ?? Leave your gain knobs and master fader at 0 while recording . Adjust your "interface" input to get a proper recording level. If you're not using one , get one. If you did in fact record something , you may have been hearing it Way louder than it was being recorded. Typically bass tracks are also recorded in "mono" and easier to get a punchy loud track as opposed to stereo. I would suggest going to the tutorials section and check out some "getting started " videos. Respectfully .. mark

Have you checked your bus outputs and your interface in preferences. I've lost a driver before for no apparent reason but , I've always gotten a message about "silent outputs".

Billy, I've found one cool effect for reversing. Record your part "dry". Reverse it , apply a strong reverb. Bounce it to track , reverse it again. Straight part with reversed reverb. Sounds Way better than inverse verb option. Might be something to mix with the reversed swelling chords .. Might be in TFM , don't know , never read it. mark

Your Buss section has probably been minimized. There's a -+ button on the bottom right of your page for this section. You can also go to "console" view , click on your master buss . Go back to your track view and it will be there.

I believe this qualified as a simple direct answer to the OP .

Enjoyed that Rik. Cool how you can Nail a blues song shortly after Nailing a classical nylon guitar song. mark

So well written. This sounds like a Classic with hints of Steele Dan. Horns were Cool .. mark PS- This flowed nicely into "When the muses call"

Steller performance and mix! I absolutely loved the drum tracks. Fantastic song. Truly enjoyed it .. mark

Very well sung ! You've got a Fantastic tone on the backing rhythm guitar. I think the only thing I would tweak would be the brightness of the bass guitar. It sits fine in the mix but is slightly dull sounding to me. Another Great song , Enjoyed it .. mark

Very Nice ! You sure did a good job of getting that tighter lute like sound out of your guitar. Well done . mark

Bjorn , Very Cool . Loved the tabla drums. They were Very convincing. I also enjoyed the video. I've tried a few of those AI sites and you can really lose track of time playing with them. I once traded a double necked guitar for a sitar. I honestly can't remember what I did with it. Sure wish I still had it .. Enjoyed that .. mark

Kevin , Very Nice smooth mix . Enjoyed it . mark

Kevin , I can't get it to load up. Same at Reverb Nation ..

I caught information about this guy on an online IR shootout video. He wrote the program and made it available for free to make your own IR using your own acoustic guitar. I'll probably try him for a few of my guitars. mark

I've used a few free acoustic IRs from "worship tutorials" (I think). They all worked well , but they're a little quiet. They were easier to get the volume up with theTh3 cab IR , than with the pro channel convolution reverb IR loader. These were used on an exotic bodied Washburn. Thin body , arched back, deeep cutaway with a large oval sound hole. It's not real quaky sounding , but the Ir's made a Big improvement. Of course who would take the time to make an IR for a guitar like this ?? "Any" acoustic IR can make an improvement if the signal is properly EQ'd etc.. I've found using the quad curve EQ preset called "Big and Bright" does a pretty good job of reducing piezo quack on it's own. I have to adjust it a little , but when used with an IR it sounds more like the guitar was captured with a mic. mark

Loved the reversed stuff and the guitar work. You sure kept this one Interesting. I'm Really liking the Modo bass! Its got the tone and drive I strive for but never quite get. I Really Enjoyed this .. mark PS- 5 stars for the title alone ..

I" finally" got a Remix done , taking into account Everyone's suggestions. There's "lots" of Suttle changes that probably I'll be the only one to notice. Besides those , I punched the kick and bass harder more towards a funk feel . I also added 8 bars with a lead break. I baked in a change in the intro that I didn't want to keep , and had to cross fade the part from the instrumental version to fix it. Lesson learned about not working on a "save as" copy. Also went through 2 days of Blue Screen Crashes. Finally figured that out. I'm going to let this mix soak and get away from it. Thanks for Everyone's suggestions , they Really made a difference.. mark https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14565499