PhonoBrainer

The lead guitar tone is very listenable, and your choices of where the melody goes have a lot of feel, so both give this tune a great start. I liked the sax as well, and the piano throughout supports everything! I think you moved the piano to the edges, to make room for the featured stuff in the center? It works! Maybe you could focus on drying the drums up a little, or making them more present in the mix somehow? The combo of the snare and ride cymbal having a sssssst sound, in addition to the string pad which seems to filter in and out with fizzyness, might be creating some washiness that I think distracts from your excellent leads and other elements. Just a thought fwiw. What do you have as a filter on those pads? I really liked it! cheers, -Tom

@Douglas Kirby - thanks for the listen and glad you liked the video as well! The video took a while with the edits . . . @David Sprouse- thanks, that's a good idea with a female vocalist, but my wife is territorial and sings like a hinge. @jwnicholson78- very glad you liked it, many thanks!

For me the vibe was Simple Minds! Very pro production, those drums especially really breathe in the mix. Killer vocals! I found the video a bit random at times but I guess you bring your interpretations to the party. loved it! cheers, -Tom

Was this one posted before? Great tune and I can't think of any mix things except the bass guitar seems to fill up a bit much of the bottom, maybe try cutting a dip out of the bass guit somewhere, does the bottom breathe more? Great voice, great guitars, great song! cheers, -Tom

Well it's a hooky tune, and the bass and drums keep the pulse and rhythm going well. Maybe a bit less flange on the hi-hat/cymbals, and I'd say the now-infamous "guitar on the left" is more of a problem in the verses than it is in the chorus. Prolly just dial back the distortion? The piano sounds like it's in a much drier space than the drums? I think you might find mixing this a more cohesive experience if you dried the drums up to match other elements - but the drums really aren't drenched to begin with. Just an observation, might be worth a look. Cool lyrics and lead vocal? I'm not sure about the high harmony part, or high unison. The strongest part was the outtro - that thing was groovin. The weakest part imho was the too long intro build. You might stick the outtro on the front, and have that be your intro? Crazy ideas, I got 'em! cheers, nice work! -Tom

I liked it, a good old pop song. That spanky Strat guitar sounded great as the bones of the funk. Mixwise, maybe more snap on the snare, your snare has mostly fizz which is ok. Maybe layer the snare with a clap or something? Cool, I didn't know that was "the Swedish trick" cheers, -Tom

That was a super pleasant tour. You are a good photographer, nice original content! Are the boats up on the dock because a tidal surge was coming, or is that the usual? cheers, -Tom

Gary, thanks! Exactly the specific feedback I need! Much appreciated, I'll track down those issues.

Some changes, better bass, better horn section (I think?) and fixed some video sync problems! Many thanks for the helpful feedback! - I would sincerely take on board any critiques, especially the mix - help me make this better? Please bump the settings up to 1440p if your connection can manage? There is a Bandcamp or Soundcloud link below the video if you don't need the visuals. thanks! -Tom https://phonobrainer.bandcamp.com/track/for-the-masses

What a great vocal! Very hooky like a classic '70's piece. The drums and bass I think sit perfectly, maybe the drum fills up a bit when they happen. I agree, the lead guitar section was too thick and needed to breathe more with some added upper frequency eq, as a starter. That chorus is great, love the background vocals mixed subtly with an organ? And the claps on the snare hits on 2 and 4! Super cool chorus. cheers, -Tom

Killer composition. It evokes the title very well. I think you could play more with the mixing, which is actually harder to do (I think) on this type of classical/new age/ambient stuff, than the rock and roll mixes where errors have plenty of room to hide. One idea, when the tin whistle comes in about half way through, there is an airy sub-rumble that comes in with it . . . hear that mud down low? High Pass filter that stuff and rumble begone! "Airy sub-rumble", I just realized, makes no sense at all. But can you hear it? Just curious. Mixing a piece like this is brutally unforgiving, because the mixing errors absolutely pop out of the spaces between. What fun! Your piece is excellent and I look forward to hearing how your bring it along! Totally worth the effort! cheers, -Tom

I very much enjoyed this normal piece, and count me in for those who want vocals and lyrics, even heavily processed vocals, or interesting spoken word snippets. It works as is, of course! cheers, -Tom

Very glad I had headphones on! A great compilation composition . . . you may have intended it, to me the mix tilts towards the lower eq regions, some of those bassy pads are filling up the low end nicely, but I'm missing some brightness in this I think. Could be the headphones perhaps? Love the journey, the "world music meets the outer world" vibe . . .very groovy indeed! cheers, -Tom

Hey Whoisp! I liked your track and video and could certainly hear the Floyd. I have also worshipped at the altar of the Visualdon and recognized some of those clips from one I'm making - very cool use of his material! I appreciated your vocal performance, it has great energy and emotion. Plus your dog liked it! I thought the mix was quite clear as well. cheers, -Tom

Those chords with that rhythm guitar(s) out wide, and the tonality of the drums - what an awesome and effective combo! You really have some great drum sounds here! But the chords are so inventive and the melody invents upon the top of that. Really original and cool. The lyrics are a mystery but who really cares! there are a couple of Level 42 songs I could think of with a similar feel, but other than that, nothing really suggests "80's" to me about this. I dunno, it doesn't matter. Great song. cheers, -Tom

Nigel/Bajan Blue stole my comments. Also, the arpeggiated clean guitar could come down a bit when you are singing. I get a little Roy Orbison vibe, very nice! And some nice bluesy bends as well! Overall, the mix is a bit guitar heavy for what should be a vocal-centered song, and your vocal performance is quite good indeed! cheers, -Tom

Hold on about the concrete. The manufacture of cement is one of the largest carbon producing sources in the world. The future is basically vacuum cleaners and filters, making carbon bricks, and building houses out of those.

If someone else owns the entire opus as well, and they manage to do so with a few orange slices left over, do they win? ? That's not me, but I've got my fair share of OTS excellence! Thanks Greg for the sale!

I wish you a real monsoon season! Your peace is pleasant and never gets dull. For how up front the drums are, especially the hi hat/cymbal, you might get a little more ambience on them as well, and maybe more programming variety as well? You might experiment with the volume on the hi hat, it might be worth a try with some light reverb and dropped down a little. Just my .02 cheers, -Tom

Sheesh! Great lead chops and feel and tone!!! Awwesome! Mix-wise, you have another guitar noodling the whole way, a clean electric, and it I think might be cluttering. It might drop a bit in volume, and the sweet lead could nick upward a bit in volume. Your noodling clean guitar is covering a lot of the same space and territory as your excellent EP anyway, so as an experiment you might be more selective as to where the clean guitar shows up. Just my .02 super cool, dude! cheers, -Tom

The bass (excellent!) sounds like a blend between an upright and a fretless, which I know an upright is fretless! But it played like an electric fretless bass - pretty cool! I would agree the AD drums have their advantages, one of which is they are the easiest drums to program well. Love that interface. I'd also agree to take them out of the front of your mix on this one. Sometimes the newest tool shines the brightest in the mix, because we are enamored of it. Your composition grooves for days, as yours usually do - always a pleasure to check out your latest! cheers, -Tom

Yeah, it's payday already.

This song was always a favorite of mine, and your version is very credible so far. Maybe some guitar tuning might be tightened up a bit? I'd also say, vocals definitely up in the mix. You've got the synth tones nailed, I think, what are you using for the synths? They sound great! cheers, -Tom

the cat puke line got me! nice perky backbeat and the lyrics of course are mature like wine. nice one! cheers, -Tom