PhonoBrainer

Does "self-assured" really rhyme with "doors"? What a bunch of hacks.

The Smiths and the Joneses can't play guitar half as well as you.

I had the hr824's, and I believe your picture above is the older model. Which I had. Things sound great in listening but I found they hype the bass, so your mixes on these may not translate well to other systems unless you account for that. Which is a pain. Can't speak to the others. Good luck, that's a fun search and an important studio upgrade!

Anyone have and use Drawmer 1973?

Slap anything you want, it's a great song!

The build of this was a fun ride, and the panning or movement of the sitars really tied the room together! Mix has a lot of depth and space. The exception for me is the violin or string that comes in on the left, does that seem a bit dry,? You clearly know how to soundscape so just my .02 parsecs. Great piano line. Haunting, supportive, ambient but not boring. Reverb is perfect, what did you use? The lady's voice is perfect for this, and the sampler phrases fit well, if you had Melodyne or equivalent you might pitch a few of her notes up just a smidge, 1:38-1:39 as an example. Now that's super picky of me, so I will get me coat and wander off to die alone in the desert. Nice one! -Tom

Yes, very seasonally nice. Great tone on guitars. The organ background is supportive. Scratchy Danelectro pot or jack noise @:57 ? I used to have a sweet Danelectro, so that sounded familiar . . . The drums could use some programming variety, that would take things to the next level. This I think is my favorite of yours. Cue the winter tumbleweeds! cheers, -Tom

Whichever one is on sale for $29.

Steve! A master of disaster, quite possibly. Glad you liked the video - we are all at the mercy of the Gods of Stock Clips. Here we go - to be honest I didn't line that up but now that you mention it, yes they don't match. UNLESS you view urban beauty as something dystopian in itself. Which, I do. When I lived in big cities, I was continually aware that the myriad daily stimulations could make it more than possible to live an entirely unexamined life. "The Serenity of Distractions." And as our wisest modern philosophers would have it: "And for that reason, I'm Out." The video, I agree is beautiful! It is a collective beauty, like leaning in to an ant farm. many thanks for the listen and excellent commentary! Thanks, Jack! The bass guitar is most often a clavinet patch cooked up from the Acousticsamples D9 Clavinet, and the "fretless"-ish bass is from Dune 3. The "horn section horns" are EastWest Hollywood Pop Brass, ad the solo trumpet towards the end, which I fear is too loud, is AudioModeling SWAM Trumpet. thanks for the ear time! thanks a lot Mark! I'm still sweating the horns in the mix, will keep in mind your observations. Much appreciated, thanks! thanks HS for the listen, and the retro remark as well! This is all an in-the-box version at pulling off what you and your band does so well in real time. Much respect.

I love this song. 'nuff said. Maybe the vocal could have a tad more air or upper eq? I listened to your previous version and thought that vocal had a better sheen to it, actually. No, not what anyone wants to hear!!! It might be worth an A/B comparison but I'm sure you have already done that 1,000 times! Could be just me. That piano add in the outtro is haunting. The rhythm builds as you go along, really pulls you in. cheers, -Tom

Anyone else get a heavy Steely Dan vibe from this? Maybe it's your vocal, which I quite liked! I listened on headphones and loved the separation and panning, very very well thought out. And the tune is a boppy one for sure, toes were tapping. Mixwise, what is on your master bus? Do you have a character compressor of some kind affecting the entire mix? If so, a personal choice of mine (not that you should care about that!) would be to dial it back down a hair. I know from your other songs that you often bring out the grit! And it sounds good for sure. I was listening to the hi hat or cymbal, with the little syncopated rhythm it has, and when hi hats get gritty that could be a hair much on the old beef compressor. YMMV big time. Loved the tune, as with many of yours now it lives in my head. cheers, -Tom

I also always enjoy your music, as the unexpected is expected. I was not at all offended by the video, mostly because I couldn't settle on one singular meaning for it. Thus confused, any outrage I might have felt remained completely unfocused. The synths are cheerful. Oh, wait, I found some outrage. What the hell is that cat doing in this? phew, I feel better now. cheers, -Tom

This band is tiiiii-ght. Sounds very live. Especially the drums, please tell me you had a real human drummer? Sure sounds like it. Mix wise, you might use a little more air or snap on the snare? Like a heavier transient attack on it? Might be worth a thought, or not. Usually I'm the guy who says "turn the bass guitar up a bit! and I'll stay true to form here. Not a lot. That bass part really drives the song for sure, sounds great! Guitars were killer, and you don't put a foot wrong with the rhythmic complexity. Loved it. cheers, -Tom

This brought me back to some early Level 42 memories. Loved it, "air to spare" as Wookie said. So sad that it looks like I'm third in line to buy your album at this point. Fantastic groove. Lights Out!!! cheers, -Tom

I believe Sir Isaac Newton answered it best in this video:

This once knew life as "'Round Corners" a while back, but it went to the big city, as you will see. This is now v2.0, some tweaks made on good suggestions, and the horns dropped a tad in the mix. Fun video if you like (stream @1440p if you can?) . . . audio-only is below . . . Soundcloud: I appreciate any comments very much, thanks! cheers, -Tom

Great rendition and loved the vocal! As it happened, I had it cranked in volume, and found some sibilance along the way in the vocal, you might not notice it at lower volumes . . . might be worth a check. Could just be my system or some such. Loved the pedal steel, is it real? Your vocal is the real deal! cheers, -Tom

I guess I'm an idiot because it took me a bit to figure out what time signature this was in. Once I figured out it was basically a waltz, I had to smile. Cool choice. Vocals are amazing! Mix is clean and crisp, maybe just maybe just a hair bright in spots, for me anyway, maybe on the lead ovation-sounding guitar, but the playing is impeccable. Love the outtro chords, too! wow just wow! cheers, -Tom

I f you really want a used one but find them in short supply, check out ebay in Italy. All Rhodes lead to Rome.

That's something I have experienced as well. A drum loop kicks it all off. I have the Phil Gould drum loops that often get an impeccable groove going. As for the reverb idea, a lot of reverbs have a post verb eq where you can dial out any reverb returns below a certain frequency, so you can only hear verb effects above say 500hz, leaving the kick essentially unverbed I'm betting you prolly knew that, but it took me a while to grok how useful that feature was. Great tune.

Good luck with your idea! However, it's hard to imagine what your ROI could really be on this. AI could never replace Lars. I can find what a current deal's historical track record has been with a simple google search.

they also meant what they said.

Hasn't this been around for a bit?

At last, a bacon-flavored VU meter.

I don't think your vocal on this has any problems, really. The mix might be a bit on the bright side, but I'm listening on cans so that could be that. It's ver y listenable, and super impressive to take it on. When you are in eardrums mode, you might need them up with some punch-type compressor so they are more in the same territory sonically as your real kit. Just a thought. Glad you are still able to get your licks in! Bummer about your tendonitis, but inspirational is your approach to it.