PhonoBrainer

Wowsa! You are very worthy!!! Congrats, you overnight sensation!

Care to divulge the culture? Got a set list you could share?

That was a good one! And similar, stylistically, to this:

Just heard both mixes, second mix is better by half, and I'd post that second mix confidently as a link at the top of your first post in this thread. Why is the second mix better? Less vocal reverb, I think you did add some predelay? And the bgv's are a must have for this song, I'd get them louder in their spots. Your second mix solved a lot of problems that I heard, so well done. I'd say one area might remain to be addressed, and that is your snare is masking the vocal a bit when the snare hits. I don't know if you have already, but I like the snare's sound - just volume automate by hand a little dip in snare volume whenever it happens to beat down on a lyric. That should only take you another 10,000 hours, but well worth it. Of course it's also doable with fancier ducking setups but that's like mowing a lawn with a riding lawnmower - it's faster but doesn't do as nice a job. Lyrics are great. As for your hyper self-awareness of the vocalists' age, hey if your going to mention James Taylor and Dire Straits then we expect a seasoned vocalist. I think it works a treat. And if you listen at lower volume, the vocal tends to sink into the mix a bit - I'd be tempted to add just a .25 db at least to the vocal volume so it is out front where it belongs. OK, so you aren't 38, but this is Special! cheers, -Tom p.s. your wife is right about Bruce, now I finally get it about that dude!

I have it from when it first came out and have sung its praises before, very high quality electro drums in a decent to use interface. But to say its evolved in any way is crap. It came out years ago, has never had any version revision, is only capable of midi pattern export intermittently. I still love it even though on certain days it is quirky and unstable. Instead of fixing, the devs move on to their next "evolutionary" drum machine, and dump this into the Vstbuzz world with the rest of the failing genetic mutations. Fairer marketing would point out how it's at the end of an evolutionary development branch, and when using it, it requires some adaptation. Which is all to say, if you need quality electro drums, at this price, it's low-hanging fruit.

I was in Canada recently, in a decently nice hotel restaurant, and noticed the background music in the place was a nice 80s r n b mix, Patti Labelle, some Bonnie Raitt, so all good. Until I became VERY AWARE that the muzak service was cutting out a beat of the songs every 15 seconds or so, the song skipping ahead in time, like a CD player skipping. So annoying! I thought it might be a Canadian muzak thing. Came home to USA, was just in a grocery store, and same thing. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" with sliced beats removed, becoming "The eck of the Edmund Fitzerald" Is this fresh new auditory hell an attempt to avoid copyright issues? Whatever it is, it must stop now. The innocent nonmusician public may not notice the beatectomy, but for a musician it's a horrorshow. Anyone else noticing this?

Did you get drunk and forget that you self-liked? ?

If he would only realize how many mere mortals have beaten him recently with deal posts?

Ohhh, ahh mmmm na (b)iiii nnnnn.

Awesome. The bass has a very live tone yet is controlled in the mix. Saxes excellent, loved the occasional double tracking there, very smooooth. Maybe a tad less rvb on the electric guitar funk riffs? YMMV but they seem a tad out of the way. they are panned right side which is nice but a bit back, maybe add back some upper-end EQ to the elec guitar to bring it out a bit in the mix? I dunno. Loved it! cheers, -Tom

Very good, I listened on headphones and enjoyed the mix and separation a lot! Cool bgv's, and I felt myself wanting to hear ther cool skanky funk rhythm guitar a bit more. It kept the drive of the piece going nicely. I recommend headphones for this! cheers, -Tom

As in, when some grown-***** man "discovers" for the "first time" something like "Hotel California" . . . really, we need to hear your "hot take"

Excellent. Love the arrangement architecture and the stellar leads as they take their turns. Such a cool throwback! As great as this is, I think "will the kids of today ever dig this?" And the answer is "no" and it's their loss, I'm afraid. Great tune. cheers, -Tom

Lemme know when they come out with the Leghorn.

. . . and there's a Roku app for Roku TV's . . .

Best ever. Long time listener. Multiple swags from the store purchased. Groove Salad is beyond excellent. Recently discovered Black Rock. Lusine, Tycho, the New Deal, Alex Cortiz. Jon Hopkins of course. Without GS, how would I ever have heard of Ulrich Schnauss?? Oxygen by P O N G M A N? Anything by Smooth Genestar??? Fanboi stops now.

Hopefully, an ensemble of thousands that you can't turn off.

This, exactly. To be Larry's friend in this space is to allow and expect him to drop out as he pleases, for whatever reasons, just as we all get to do. And I'd go just a bit further, asking hey is there a psychological downside to hunting and posting deals all day? Not for me to say what floats another's boat, but that's a whole lot of time spent wrapped in a cyberscape, isn't it? I know for myself, and have seen it in others, too much webbery gets us stuck, wrapped up, poisoned. It's called "doomscrolling" for a reason. So bravo Larry, thanks for what you give to this group. I am eternally grateful! Let your time here be the "break" from whatever else you find more important in life.

Loved it. Morricone is in good hands here. The Gypsy holds up well in this spotlight! If you are using Spaces II, sounds like a perfect soundstage. Well done! cheers, -Tom

It's a pleasant listen, and I'm glad you are enjoying the process! I agree, and for me these efforts always require a thousand hours when I go in thinking it will be one. Around 2:34 a mischording perhaps? the theme you had going in the 4:20's area and later was really a winner. Loved it. Got drums? would be my only other idea. nice one! cheers, -Tom

Yeah wow. That's uncool and unusual.

You are correct, which is exactly my point. I use Studio One, among others, but sounds like Fender wants a new pre-entry level offering, like Tracktion or GarageBand used to be. I don't see any cause for concern here, he said, hopefully.

So, Tracktion.

Yes because obviously guitars are analogous to software. So as Squires are made in Bangladesh or wherever, from inferior and cheaper components, so too will this new Studio One Simple be compiled with cheap inferior code written by inexperienced 13 yr olds in some third world programming sweatshop.

Well, I know how compressors work. You fart around with knobs randomly, print a zillion mixes that are too crispy and baked and spitty to be heard in public, and then after 30 years you learn the simple lesson that less is more and that more knobs invite more inefficient rabbit-holes. In that light, the simple S73 represents I think the biggest no brainer purchase in the history of plugins. I love that simple, simple plugin. Used correctly, it treats tracks with respect, it has sonic options, it allows a % of its application strength to a source, has a wet/dry mix knob, has an "add air" button. It is not the solution for every track (I actually use it on tracks, never on the master bus!) AND it isn't light on CPU. But it makes things sound great. $35 bucks, no brainer. I've been waiting on the multiband 1973, that's a good sale too, but my Fab MB and Lindell 354e seem to cover that ground ok.