mark skinner

The original version of this was featured on episode 11 of Mikes Creative Sauce "Featured Artists" You Tube channel. (even with all the mistakes) All in all it went pretty good . I knew they would get a kick out of my recording in a horse barn and they ran with it.. This is a remix per their suggestions. I made quite a few changes and brought in my cello and additional bass to fill in the lows and mids. I'll always like the original version , but this one is really growing on me. I hate to bump it back up but I think I finally have some bragging rights. Thanks .. mark

Very nice lead work and Great vocals. I agree some Hammond would be "real nice". I think the mix would be more Solid with a more laid back rhythm track. It seems to have some timing issues and gets a little busy to help the feel of the song. I think the drums and great vocals could come up a little . Hope you don't think I'm getting too picky because I Really did like it .. mark

PJH , Episode 12 was in stereo . It still had some streaming glitches , but nobody had to wonder about panning enhancements. Your mono mix was Very Nice , the stereo mix was "Incredible" mark

A good set of monitors will be fine for decades. Keep an eye on Craigslist for people who have upgraded and selling off older gear. Sometimes you can get a Great deal , when they eventually give up on trying to re-coop their investment. You'll eventually really need monitors and headphones. ms

Cubic lights , I have a laptop with "beats" audio speakers and they're somehow tied to the sound card so , even headphones go thru their idea of how music should sound , (and I can't seem to change it) . I know it is not a good representation of the recorded material , so "I don't really worry about it" . Some material sounds Fantastic ! Some material doesn't . Even Bose audio has put out players with no way to make EQ adjustments. I think eventually you just have to Trust your ears and monitors. About the only thing I do after exporting a song and playing it thru Windows media player is , bringing up the equalizer and toggling thru the EQ presets for the player . This at least will provide me with a few "minor" enhancements provided by different players. It's a process that I rarely get right the first few time thru . I eventually give up and accept the results before it drives me crazy . mark

@Flemming Jessen , Sorry .. I don't have a reliable answer but , just out of curiosity what do you do with a vocal midi track after you successfully capture it ? mark

Very nice and crisp. What did you use for the screen video ? mark

I thought this was Awesome ! Music and the video. The mix was wonderfully open and clear. I really got a binaural feel and felt like I was in the mix. Very impressive job .. mark

Amazing ! Your talent runs Deep and will always be with you. I feel embarrassed even attempting to give you suggestions. ms

"Finally" realizing a song of mine would be featured on a podcast that is in mono , and I Never mix in mono or even Check it in mono , it scared the hell out of me . (and I'm out of time to submit a new mix) I went to my DAW and changed my master bus to mono , then I crawled under my desk .. After the first mono mix I've ever done , I can "almost" stay in my chair , and the stereo mix sounds Way better. I never thought I'd Ever need a mono mix , but I now see how much it can help in the long run. The bad track volume choices become Way more obvious as well as EQ for track separation. Big rookie mistake I'll Never make again . ms

Jack , of All the songs I've ever heard , this has to be one of the strangest . That being said , It was Very well mixed and Finished. Your vocals came thru Very nice especially with your reverb choice. I also really liked the instrumentation especially the intro percussion stuff. I really enjoyed it .. Great job ! mark

The MT drums sure gave it more power but , really lost that laid back feel. Maybe just some additional hits on the 2 and 3 is all it needs. The vibe on the 1st version worked so much better. "Unbelievable" you've been producing these wonderful songs with headphones in your dining room . Amazing .. mark

Sometimes if I have a short quiet clip , I'll just ctrl drag it a little bit to the side , release it then realign it. This essentially will double the volume. A lot of times this works out fine. Sometimes I'll do it more than once , sometimes a fade is in order on parts of the clip. When it sounds right bounce to clips bakes it in. Fast and easy if your not getting too picky. ms

Hey , I know I said I wouldn't bump this back up , but I got an e-mail from Mike Enjo this morning and wants to use the song on this Thursdays Creative Sauce "Featured Artist" . The top link now reflects the original mix without the flute. I'm happy .. mark

Barry , I thought this was a Very cool song and the entire concept of it "hit home" for me. I think the weak point was the drums. The basic rhythm is correct , but needs to be more complex . It felt like there were missing hits that would drive the song a little harder. I think when the energy is up a little bit , it will prompt you to make other changes that this one deserves. I loved it and think it is Very worthy of reviving. mark

Fantastic performance ! I loved the tempo change around the 3 min. mark and the chord voicings. You also did a great job capturing the sound , I felt like I was sitting on the bench while listening. Very impressive .. mark

@David Sprouse I used the 6 skinny strings from a 12 string set , octave up from normal 6 string tuning except for the B and high E. (Nashville tuning) . Then a full capo on the 2nd fret and a partial capo on the 4th fret covering the A,D,G strings. Shub sells these and can be put on backwards to cover different strings. It works out a little better than lowering these skinny strings to create the same raised up DADGAD tuning I used. Minor tuning adjustments can be a little problem with 2 capoes holding the strings down , but worth the effort. mark

@KurtS I Totally agree with you. I used Sound Center flute , It's Bad but the TTS was worse. The ocarina only made it a little more listenable. I'm going to delete the tracks , but wont bump the song back up afterwards.. mark

I added combo ocarina/flute tracks to the early section and did some minor panning . The link now reflects the changes. Thank You for listening and your wonderful comments .. mark

I normally delete my track in SC , upload the new one with exact title etc.. The link looks the same and CbB used to accept it without doing Any editing in the post. I can't just replace the wav in SC with the free version , and haven't been able to edit the link in CbB. I just put in a new link to "High Strung" and it pushed the "can't find track" screen down. It will eventually disappear. Sometimes it won't accept the new link at all and I'll end up with several "can't find" screens. Changing from embed to link sometimes solves it. I am using the "share" button at SC , ctrl c the link, ctrl v to paste it in the original post with edit open. I must be doing something wrong at SC. There is a "copy link" button that I haven't gotten to work in the past. I think it's fairly new and probably my problem .. mark

What is the proper way to delete a link to a song , and replace it with a remix link. Sometimes it works flawlessly for me. Sometimes I end up with those "Oops couldn't find that track" Sometimes it fixes itself or maybe a forum moderator is fixing it for me ?? Thanks mark

Very Cool ! Congrats. I searched the internet today for "his" music. He's more than a tutorial producer , he's a Fantastic writer and musician in his own right. Keep up the Great work .. mark

Beautiful. Every time you post , your vocals get more and more refined. Amazing .. mark

Craig , welcome back. This is a Powerful well written and performed song and it's time is Now. If you were from Alabama I would swear you were singing about @Tommy Tuberville , another m.*.*.a. politician that makes me feel embarrassed to be from this state. The maniacs are out in full force Fantastic production mark

Thanks to All for your comments. @KurtS I was also thinking of a high Irish type flute/whistle in there somewhere. There's a pretty big section that repeats early in the song . Perhaps I'll try it there. @CSW I'm using a single AT3035 at the 12th fret. @Paul Bush the guitar tone was pretty easy to get. It was high passed and multiband comped on the remaining low freq's. Mids were also scooped using an EQ preset in the pro channel . A lot of videos you see about setting a guitar up for Nashville tuning recommend a small parlor guitar or even a backpacker. I think a full sized guitar like the dreadnought I used sounds 10 times better. There are some massive reverbs panned and coming in and out that also helped the tones. @noynekker I just looked up and listened to a lot of Bruce Cockburn. Wow , I take that as a huge compliment. Thank You again .. mark