David Rossi

Thanks guys. Tbh, singing with northeast fall allergies and consistent post nasal drip is so damn challenging. My take count was way higher than normal with this tune. Nice to know I’m fooling a few people 😃

Sure Nigel… Posted it on our band camp temporarily which isn’t ideal because BC streaming is like mp3 quality but I did enable wav download https://theunderhills.bandcamp.com/track/gone-2024 Made some tweaks last night: * enabled a de-esser on the acoustic from the drums in until the outro to duck / reduce from 6.5k and above the harsh percussive strum. Seems to have tamed it… *rolled high end off acoustic and lead vox a little *cross delay on chorus harmonies to make them wash a little more * still need to increase vocal level on second half of verses as they seem to bury a little once the second rhythm guitar comes in * reduced overall loudness of track

Hey Mark, thanks for the detailed listen / game plan. I will definitely try to engage a few of these tweaks when I roll back to this tonight. Haha no apologies man. I post this stuff to get it over the finish line. The drums are drums on demand so it’s really only a stereo field I get to work with: the compression is in the product. Only other compression is an SSL G on the master bus and it’s only like 2 to 4db of compression. There’s a slight L2 to push the volume for car listening until I can get it mastered but it’s not actually doing much. Thanks for the listen!!

I’m not sure what genre is targeted here but it has really amazing musical theater / broadway energy. It was a very nice piece…

Thanks Andy, Definitely dig the building energy of it and I’m just trying to get everything to fit in there to do it justice. Thanks for the listen and comments…

Omg yeah, the acoustic is on my main hit list for the weekend. The tone is actually quite good, it’s the pickup of the right hand strum that needs to be tamed, eq’d, and ducked. It is somewhat harsh in that it is all you hear once everyone comes in. The mic was a bit too close to the source and my right hand wasn’t quite as clean as I needed… thanks for the listen and comments!

You got pipes man. I wanted a little more filth on the guitar rhythm to match the strength and energy of the late 80s hair vocals but good job on a cool rock song. 🤘🏻

Putting the finishing touches on this mix before sending to my mastering guy. Anyone wanna pick it apart / lend tweaks? I can take it… (besides the heavy breathing on the acoustic track lol, this I’m aware of) Gone / The Underhills https://theunderhills.bandcamp.com/track/gone-2024

Really nice vocal performance and easy listening song. My only issue is the drums are just a little too robotic. / repetitive. What are you using?

Easy flowing man. Sounds good on a few passive listens…

Pretty tight man. Dig the guitar work and build. The effect on the vocal isn’t quite there for me. It almost sounds like the Zeppelin “ What is and What Should Never Be” treatment which is cool but maybe for shorter runs. I’d rather see a reverb wash or something.

Hey Pwal, yes, I’ve tried side chain. The issue I have with the drums is that I only have a stereo track to work with. So it’s a bit trickier not effecting everything in the kit in the frequency range!! Thanks for all the comments. I rolled off on the low end on the drum mix and on the bass and hi pass filtered all the guitars. it’s a lot more palatable… https://theunderhills.bandcamp.com/track/faith-2024

Hey Mark, thanks so much for the listen And kind words. The intro Eq is just that basic lo fi vinyl EQ ear trick to make everything sound so impactful when It all comes in! It’s changed a few times and I’m narrowing In on it. I’ve spent a ton of time trying to get everything in its place and the bass guitar has just been a problem child. It’s much closer than it was tho. I’ve used every re-amp and bass plug I have. Finally found a path forward and I'm trying to narrow down!! Thanks for the listen man…

Landr is just a stepping stone with light processing before I go to my mastering guy. It’s better than grinding / limiting thru the mushy L2. …and thanks so much. Translation is important esp for phone speakers.

I have spent wayyyyy too many hours trying to tame the low end in this song. The floor toms and kick just ate up all the space where the bass guitar would normally sit, making it just disappear or be way too boomy in the low end. I think I’ve gotten it to a point where my self loathing is finally minimized. if anyone with a good monitoring setup or car system wanna turn this up and help me out a little, it’d sure be appreciated. Faith / The Underhills https://theunderhills.bandcamp.com/track/faith-2024

Thanks man. This came together nicely and hopefully we’re doing it justice. Larry, the first chunky E-guitar when the second verse comes in or that first pre chorus blow up??? Thanks for the mix comments, I’ve wondered how the reverbs are sitting on the vox as well. I never quite feel like I’m finished ?

Damn man this is really nice. Big mix, clear presentation, well played, and the vocalist had a nice voice and groove. My *only* suggestion would be bump those harmony vox by 1 db or so across the board.

Haha It is questionably predictable and yes, forced, but when building drama early on it tricks your ears into thinking that first all in is way bigger than it is. Dichotomy is the only reason it’s there… Thanks man! It’s coming to together

Hey Rikkie, thanks for the listen and suggestions. Oddly I have another set of guitars takes that are muted that are more chunky / rhythmic and I still feel it fights a little. I dropped the eq of the guitars a little in that low tenor range and they seem to fit a little better. Still not quite there…

This a fun interesting track. A little quirky in both presentation and vocals and instrumentation and has a nice little groove moving with it. There’s almost no low end on the entire track tho and the drums could be pushed a little to give a bigger sound. I would also suggest maybe shortening it a little, as it starts to feel a little repetitive at almost 5 minutes. Dig it, nice work.

Nice melodic sparse use of the guitar. Very impactful. Definitely a soundtrack looking for a short film feel…

Hi all, Would love some critical mix feedback on below. Seem to be fighting the volume wars in the chorus and can’t tell if my ears are getting tired or it needs some readjustment. Kinda like the way it’s shaping up tho… The Underhills / Faith

Thanks @KSband and @jack c.. We’re trying to record a full album stripped down ala the Milk Carton kids with just guitars and vocals, maybe a little piano here and there. Unfortunately my voice hasn’t left the grunge era lol. @treesha so much de-essing. My next task is to load the vocals in Melodyne and tamp those down. It is a sibilant nightmare track for sure. @markno999 this was a good suggestion. I have a tendency to overuse the UA EMT140 and just loaded up the Ocean Way on the last run as well as the hittsville chambers. See if I can back off the wetness a bit… @FreeEarCandy yes, I agree this track needs some housekeeping. Even the bleed through breaths on the guitar tracks are frustrating me. Gonna de-ess and try to back off some of the harshness that the neve high air EQ tends to give if overused. Thanks all for the listen

This is a really nice faithful recreation. My only constructive suggestion is that the vocal cadence seemed maybe a little “straight” / robotic in a few places. That’s nitpicking tho cuz the notes are there and it was really nicely put together…

This kind of has a David Byrne feel to it? A little quirky and upbeat but with a somber message. I liked it. I agree with the other commentators tho I did have to work a little to understand the words. Michael Stipe made a career out of that tho so your mileage may vary on your intention. Good work…