mark skinner

Andrew , Nice start on a killer song ! I also agree with Tom. You've a smooth mix here , but I think you are being a little conservitive and I think it needs to be a little more "edgy". I really like the "loose skins" snare but think a little crack in them would help also. For me , besides the kick/bass I think it would be improved with some gain and highs. Just my 2 cents on this one. Enjoyed it .. mark

Beautiful song Rex. It flows amazingly well for one with this slow of a bpm. If you are looking for any suggestions .. I believe I would back off one of the doubled vocal tracks on the word "forever" . I would also bring the vocals in a little louder after the horn break. Loved it .. mark

Delete the broken project and carry on .. This has happened to me a couple of times and not worth the effort to keep fighting it. Especially one with very little recording done. If it happens again take a close look at all your vst's and amp sims I've found problematic projects always come back and bite you again later ..

Paul , I Like it ! Grab some highs and boost them .. mark

I always just export out the audio of the entire mix (without the fade) and import it into a separate project. I can then do a fade in or out on the stereo mix . Super easy and if you don't like the fade you can easily change it on the one stereo track.

Hello , I'm working on a new song with Sliding chord changes and am using several instruments. I'm having a Rough time with string finger squeaks and they're all building up in the same spots. It's especially bad on a "dulcimer" I'm using. I picked up a pair of thin Kevlar gloves from Amazon (G&F Products , yellow) for a wood burning project . I put one of these on my fretting hand for a test and was Amazed at the result. No Squeaking at all ! My strings and fretboard feel "smooth as silk". Unreal effect on fretless instruments and I can actually wear one and play everything with the exception of my mandolin. Doesn't look that cool but it sure works .. mark edit: I've been having a hard time with it.. the gloves are too thick on narrow fretboards . ms

Cool song Jack ! You've got a lot of energy going in this one. Great start for the New Year. Enjoyed it .. mark

Cool ! I enjoyed that . I think that was me , with the pen in the cassette .. Great Job .. mark

Hello , I Really enjoyed the song and agree with PhonoBrainers comments. I especially liked the interaction on the vocal tracks. Pretty cool the way some of the phrases swelled into the next ones. I also appreciated the live drums . There are some really good virtual drums out there , but they can't come close to a well recorded drummer. I thought the deep kick was perfect. Enjoyed it .. mark

Bruce , I found this to be a Hard song for me to mix and master .. I think You did a Superb job of it ! On the other hand , it was an Easy song for me to embellish playing against your wonderful vocals and writing skills. I thoroughly enjoyed working on another collaboration with you. I hope it's the shape of things to come. Sincerely .. mark

Keith , Great remix again. You had me smiling with this one. I noticed you also dropped the problematic lead break part , Good Call .. The transition is Much better now. Thanks for reposting this , you've for sure got a winner here . mark

"Amazing" you can play a saxophone that well in such a short amount of time. I have a room full of instruments I can't play , but the sax and violin are the only ones I've ever given up on. Maybe I'll revisit them .. mark

Great Chilly track. Sax is soo Soulful and you really bring out the soul and relaxed breathy notes . I always wished I could play one .. I do own one that needs a really good mechanical tune up , but I honestly don't think even that would help with my honking . Enjoyed the relaxed feel .. mark

Peter , Great song ! A couple of tweaks and you'll have this one nailed. But I think it's Fantastic the way it sits and have no crits or valuable suggestions . This sounds like Tom Petty and Peter D joined the Beatles. Enjoyed it .. mark

Great break at 2:07. I really liked the pristine sounding mix. Beautiful singing and harmony from Eva .. Enjoyed it .. mark

This was pretty dark and convincing. It really put me on the edge of something I've felt before about someone over the edge. Very effective.. Take a close look at 2:14 and 3:39. I think there's a little unintended stutter step in both places. Good Job .. mark

Perfect .. I enjoyed the crisp clear and icy visions this song invoked. I thoroughly Enjoyed it .. mark

Great Gary ! I actually listened to this yesterday .. I got a notice from Soundcloud about what I was listening to exactly 1 year ago. Seems like yesterday .. Always enjoy your vocals .. Merry Christmas mark

Thanks , @Lord Tim The #1 suggestion worked. I also found a thread saying that a "bounce to clips" would work also. I didn't want to go that route not knowing exactly what I wanted to keep without editing .. mark

Hello , I lost "all power" to my studio this morning while recording a vocal track. Of course I also lost the last 2 short sections I had sung. About an hour later my power was restored and my pc (and project) was opened up when I returned to my studio. Strange .. Looking at my tracks to see what I had lost , I saw all the waveforms were missing on all the clips on the vocal track. I can still hear it fine , but just a straight line where the waveforms should be. I couldn't find a way on my own to restore them or find any old threads about it. The track was "armed" but wasn't recording when the power went out on this beautiful 6 degree morning. I was reaching for the "save" button when it happened . Thanks for any direction .. mark

Keith , I'm by far no expert on de-essing , but a general rule is "before compression and after EQ". If the EQ is drastically boosting the highs , de-essing may not even be necessary .. only an EQ adjustment. It really depends on how well you control your voice and your proximity to the mic that causes sibilance issues. You normally do a Very good job of this , I'd just try an EQ correction first . If it gets dull sounding I'd go with de-essing. mark

Keith , Great Job on the remix ! You got the magic back. All the backing sounds nice and clear with good highs on my normal listening system. The vocals however are still pretty shrill in the real high frequency range. I believe I would look at your boost in the 8 to 12k range. Lowering it may reduce the amount of de-essing that it Really needs. This is for sure now my favorite song you've done. As far as tagging someone in a response , just type in the "at" icon and start typing their screen name. A list will quickly pop up of the names to click on and choose.. I hope you continue to improve this one to 100%. Later .. mark

Keith , I've been waiting for someone else to weigh in before saying .. your first mix was Way better. You lost the dynamics and magic you had going in the first one , even with the lower volumes on the verses. This one seems slammed into a limiter and for sure needs de-essing . A quick look at the waveform and listen between the two should confirm it. Best of luck with the song .. Respectfully .. mark

One thing I noticed is how "clean" the mix got when you dropped out the distorted guitar. The same thing happened at the outro. I think if I were mixing this , I'd try a little cleaner FX on the guitar , ease it down some and get it away from the center of the mix a little. Cool song .. mark

Evris , Have you tried dragging the "live track" into the timeline at the top of the page , letting Cakewalk build a tempo map based on the track ? Sometimes it works well , sometimes it doesn't . (depends on your source track). I run into this problem every time I do a cover song and try to use the original for reference. I usually just cut it up and move parts to keep somewhat in line with the metronome at a steady beat just to learn the parts. Mike from "Creative Sauce " has a good video in the tutorials section about making Cakewalk play with "you" instead of the other way around. May be an option .. mark