PhonoBrainer

Well Lynn, truly kind of you! I just ruthlessly carve away anything below say 400hz if it's not a bass instrument, and often suck "350hz out of most of the bass tracks (like bass guit, piano, kick) because things usually sound better with a big hole in them, around 300-350 hz. You can always add it back. Other than that, I've got nuttin'. Appreciate the comment and the listen, thanks!

Hi Steve! I was emulating a fretless bass with a patch from Dune 3, primarily, mixed in with a bit of ABJ jazz bass in spots. So glad you liked it, and thanks for the comment! Thanks Douglas! Glad you dug it, and in the end I chickened out and dropped the horn leads 1db just so as not to kill anyone's hearing. Many thanks for the thoughts and the listen!

this is a totally legit comment, I think it could go either way. thanks for the listen!

also hi @thegaltieribrothers, and @David Sprouse, much appreciated your comments, and I in the end pulled the horns down a smidge, just for safety's sake. Thanks much for the listen!

hi also @AndyB01! I appreciate the song thoughts and here's what I did - I dutifully took your advice on board about hating the vinyl crackle thing, I was not married to it - so I opened up Omnisphere and spent an hour going through presets, grains, noises, pads, hisses, then went through my file collection for sound effects, then opened up a few Output plugins and looked for whooshes and such. It was alas a fruitless search so I kept the abhorrent crackles, having no other option other than simple city traffic noise, which I thought might be overly cliche to start the song with. But I do feel this fruitless process at least put me in mind to use the also-cliche crackles a bit more sparingly in future efforts, because yes they can get annoying. thanks both of you for the observation . . . cheers, my musical friends, -Tom

Overall I liked it a lot, but I couldn't help thinking that you have given yourself, or anyone really, a fair mouthful to sing. You could polish and in spots tune the vocals, it will sound great and be a good song indeed! But there's a lot of words going into measures with a midtempo feel, and I was thinking to myself, dang I'm not sure if I'd want to sing this! A tough ask, lotta words, and you actually do a very decent job! In the second half the rhythm guitar comes is and picks up the drive nicely, very cool add there. It's a bit of a depeche/tears for fears vocal on top of a older Irish feeling song. cheers, -Tom

Friggin great! Keep the t-rex! The owl/harrier and that kid with the ball were also amazing. Full kudos to those crisp chromakeys, wonderful stuff! Let's not forget the music - I agree it's meditation worthy and the panning especially was duly noted and appreciated! Super clean and clear mix. loved it! cheers, -Tom

I appreciate this on many levels. The music holds interest, grooves well, lyrics are solid. Your video presentations are amazing - such detailed editing moves and fun ideas. A total treat for the eyes! I agree, drums could get punchier but with this song you may not want to overplay that. So here's my question - to me it looks like you love the inventive videos, the gobsmacking color, the trippy effects, and the eye-candy fun! But I could only watch your vid @720p in the lower quality AVC codec. I have no clue what original rez your source files are, or what your video editor has for export options, or if your computer can only process files of smaller sizes? But jeeeebus if I was doing such fine video work as you are, and spending all that editing time, it would be so worth it to upgrade what you are putting up on YouTube. For example, let's say your original source files (like the trippy space backgrounds and brain images and such) are standard 1080p stuff. 1) Does your video editor have the ability to output the final render at 2560 x1440p ? . . . if you upload a high rez video like that up to YouTube, then YouTube will get "tricked" into processing your video with a much better codec - the vp09 codec. The result will be detailed clarity of video image, no smears and pixelations like the AVC codec always leaves. You probably know this already, apologies if you do, but on YouTube, watch your video, then right-click on it, and go to "Stats for Nerds" - there you will see the codec they used. AVC bad, vp09 good! Whatever limitations you face, you are doing a helluva job with your music and videos - well done indeed. cheers, -Tom

Of course the mayhem is well appreciated, and this one has groove as well. As an old-ish guy, I'm confident I can't hear much above 13kHz but this mix left me feeling there might be icepicks somewhere up above my threshold. You might roll off a bit of high upper eq, just to be safe? Do you have a visual meter on your master bus eq, what's going on up yonder? cheers yo.

Loved it when those whispy strings came in. Enya-esque! Cool composition, ends too soon for me! cheers, -Tom

So when does it come out and how do I buy it? Take my money!!! Awesome!

Love the guitars, great bends! Vocals and bgv's are getting there quick, you might bring up the lead vocal volume. The lyrics are working for me big time! I agree with Wookie on the toms, a bit pokey loud in the mix when the fills come along. I'd also somehow get the bass guitar tone more focused, you might eq it more narrowly and pump the volume of the bass guitar a bit so it drives the song a little harder? those guitars, back to those - awesome! As you dive a bit more into the mix, try your ears on the snare hit, very much the same exact sample each time. You might room up the kit a bit with a a killer drum compressor of some type. It wasn't too long for me and I'll definitely check in to see where you take this! cheers, -Tom

Great singing, I must have caught vocal version 2.0 . . . Lyrics and feel gave me a Rush vibe, no finer compliment possible. Guitars are a treat. I agree you could ramp up and let loose in the bigger chorus! Easier said than done, but you will definitely find your way on this. Great song. Catchy to say the least! cheers, -Tom

What a great tune with some very high mix highlights! First off the vocals, great as usual but holy crap the bgv's are smoooooth. All guitar tones are spot on, the arpeggiated noodle is crisp without being pokey, and that dreamy guitar in the "chorus" has great panning. Maybe an idea would be on the bass guitar, in the intro, back it off a bit? Seems like as the song advances, the bass comes down in the mix a lot. In the intro, it seems boomy, like you might want to lower volume and suck out some 250hz from the bass. This idea comes with a heavy disclaimer: I listened on headphones, and I'm getting over a wicked sinus infection! So my ideas could be more rubbish than usual. that was a good listen, thanks!

I think a wonderful musical event just unfolded and washed over me. Many thanks! Great listen as is. I did drift away a bit in the middle as there was no "second part" really coming, but it was undeniably a pleasant and thought-provoking drift, so all good sir. cheers, -Tom

Your mixes are improving for sure, well done here. Love the chord choices, the guitar tone as well, and the vocal delivery (particularly in the first half where instrumentation is sparser) really has impact. A mix thing to try would be eq'ing away all of the bass guitar above 500hz or so, it sounds like something in the upper mids or mids is masking a bit of vocal? Worth a try perhaps. You also seem to have a buzz in your vocal mic, but weirdly the buzz is louder (much) when you are not singing. Louder buzz in the vocal gaps. Totally worth getting rid of that, wherever it's coming from. A skosh of reverb on the vocal (to match the guitar's space a bit) would be interesting as well. But, super creative chord changes, all good, and I couldn't ever predict what was coming next. Very good! cheers, -Tom

I've been eyeing this one for a while.

I was going to get you a plugin, but you already have them all So just a "happy birthday" will have to do. Cheers!

Brian May is not pulling Queen's catalog from Spotify, he needs the money. He's just a Po boy from a Po family.

As I was already in the black hole, I played it backwards and wormed my way out. A very exotic sonic adventure! Well done sir

If you've got it, flaut it, baby.

Do it!!! Bring those papers out of the attic of memory, where the mice of time have been nibbling the edges away, and into the light of this very forum. Love to hear that! As for cringe, I'm sure all the rest of us smiths started penning nothing but stately and profound lyrics of wisdom and pathos, with a full knowledge of the vicissitudes of the human condition, since the age of 15. ?

Beautiful chords and voice!!! More bass would also be my vote. Bgv's are absolutely killer, what a treat for the ears! cheers, -Tom

Yes to the vocals, and I think they could be a smidge louder in the mix, unless my headphones are suppressing the midrange, in which case nevermind. I got an Alan Parsons vibe which I quite liked! Video-wise I found myself wondering, how do these different people know each other??? I think less people helps us build our own narratives. Maybe? cool tune! cheers, -Tom

I think it's a Photoshop morph of Chuck Norris and Pat Boone???