PhonoBrainer

I don't think there's too much wrong with the vocal. There ends up being 1 billion choices of how to process vocals, and I've used Nectar to get a start on things before. But more and more I find less is more, and less Nectar for me ends up being more. I listened to the first (compressed) mix, and I liked the vocal very much. But for me it's being killed by the loudness of the piano. You might duck or volume automate the piano down maybe 1.5 db when the vocals are vocalling. I bet your loud piano (which sounds quite nicely compressed and full ) is really masking your vocal. The vocal should pop when the piano is moved a bit lower. Just a thought. cool song and I respect your chops on this one! cheers, -Tom

Lots to like here, but particularly ther BGV's, sweetly hard panned? Lovely chorus effects? Care to dish the secrets of the smoooooth bgv?? As advertised, toes were tapping. And I loved the mix, nothing poked up and out of place. The lead vocal was clean and crisp without being crispy. Well done! cheers, -Tom

That was fun, very cool setup to say the least! Must be hard to leave the house. That keyboard, or whatever patch it was controlling, in the 3:20's area, very floaty! What is that patch? Thanks for sharing your good time! cheers, -Tom

This is my favorite one of yours yet. Video hits the phone on the head. Great vocalist and vocal mixing. Loved the panned electric crunchiness of the guitars. So good! cheers, -Tom

You've got a great voice! And the heavy chops surrounding it are killer! I couldn't help but notice your video had copious areas of black background all the time, and I thought maybe a fertile field for chromakeying other visuals supportive of the song's concepts. ? Heavy ain't my go to for a listen, and I still found that well sung, well mixed, well done! cheers, -Tom

The sparkly chime melody is a pleasant happy wisp, which fades away as swells of lower register bassy synths come to overwhelm it. Yours is a tone poem built of musical language, and the first reference I thought of was J.S. Bach. Best of luck to you and yours, sir.

A quality voice and hand at work. I wish it were longer! Well done! I agree with Bjorn's comment about your chords having a recognizable signature of sorts. That was a pleasure. cheers, -Tom

Thanks Jesse! I never had an Ensoniq to fill the hours with back in the day, too spendy. Now I've got nearly every synth ever made on a hard drive palette, for cheap, but hardly any time. Cruel trick, if you think about it.

I like it.

Yup. thanks for that acknowledgement, I'm sure you know how the video is a time beast. I think I started this one back in 2018 or 19, and I just kept at it. I think audio editing is actually more painstaking and difficult than video editing. It's easier to see what works! many thanks again!

Your talent is immense, and your ability to spot-on cover is even more so. Love those hard panned guitars with that nice crisp tone. Different chick on the wake up, sure why not. Excellent work! Check out John's "Dirty Laundry" if covers are your thing. cheers, -Tom

The last time I jaywalked across Miramar Blvd I was sober, it was 1987, and there were three lanes each way doing at least 55 mph both ways. Not good as a sobriety test. I'm sure, however, that Robertos was involved.

Hey Andrew, great Q's! Could you share what you are mixing and monitoring this baby on? What speakers or headphones are you using? And the wisdom is so very finite . . . ?

You are the Universe. I want to attend the church where this is the liturgy. I counted the dreams, I got a few more than 9, so that's gravy. The gated guitar around 6:30 scared my houseplants, but I dug it. Something new around every corner, none of which are 90 degrees. cheers, -Tom

Wow. It just so happened I caught this one with me good headphones on, lying on the couch. My immediate response was to close my eyes and drift. Great work, nice panning, super calm, suitable for yoga or meditation session. Not a crit at all, but another choice would be to add back a little more low midrange to the piano? It sounded like an upright floating in space. If I'm in space, how about a grand??? I mean, I'm dying out there in the cold vacuum, throw me at least a six footer. ? So nicely done, thanks for the voyage! cheers, -Tom

It's introspective, it's rubato, it's having a conversation with itself. It's a pleasure to experience. Love the mix clarity. Wish it was longer! cheers, -Tom

That was great from every perspective. Maybe the vocals could be .25 db louder. Maybe the bass .5 db louder. Maybe not. Freakin swampy greatness. Say "hi to Amos Moses if you see 'im. cheers, -Tom

What??? A conversation on getting old??? In THIS forum?!? "Piffle!" I say. I say again, "piffle!" Meanwhile, the Perspective Department reports that the seminal "Sweet Dreams (are Made of This)" by the Eurythmics . . . was released closer to the end of World War II . . . than today.

Who will invent the hydraulic speaker stands that lower to a convenient speaker removal height? @BostonDynamics might as well make them sentient

I feel like the mix needs to catch up with the performances, only because the energy of the performances are at a really high level. This is a great song, reminded me of the almighty Elvis Costello in the lyrics dept. Keep it going, bring this one home! Some drum fill timing issues perhaps? You are going to have so much fun I bet in the final stages. I'm looking forward to hearing the results! cheers, -Tom

Thanks, Steve, glad it worked on your end! I'm never sure if the visuals and references have hit the Goldilocks zone, so I appreciate your comment! Thanks! It was us! It was all of us! Said the dinosaur. Thanks for giving it a listen, much obliged.

It's got rock writing chops, I liked the guitar, and the smooth and nicely intune doubled vocals! I'm missing bass guitar in the mix, is there one? For the genre, that's mandatory, I believe? the drums have excellent fills, love the hi hats and fast cymbals. The snare and barely-there kick drum need to be put through the biggerizer a few times. Guitar tones and performances were killer! And with those excellent vocals, you've got something to build better low drums and bass around. Very. Cool. Song. cheers, -Tom

great chops, was that bass fretless? dug it. I did get some buzzing in right speaker around 3:25 but it might have been a hard-panned brass instrument? I couldn't tell. Those drums are so fresh sounding, I can hear the skins. Not bad for a 20 yr old recording! cheers, -Tom

I mix a lot on good headphones at first, with car listens. Car listens are always a brutal experience. These headphone mixes have taken care of the most detailed editing. Clicks, breaths, plosives, pops, weird resonance clashes, I hear them better on headphones. Then finish up on good monitors, on low volume, where I get the bass right (as my skills allow) and then give volume a good crank up on the monitors, to check for overall balance/tilt issues. I do periodic earbud checks, I think that's a must these days. Unfortunately.