PhonoBrainer

@Johnbee58 - thanks, it was fun to do. @amiller - many thanks - this is either a "cool" piece, or a "huh?" piece. Glad you liked it! @bjornpdx - thanks Bjorn of pdx! The vocal effectery starts with a scat patch from Talkbox Jr (Kontakt I believe) and then I slather liberal amount of Filterfreak and other goddies from there. @Grem - thanks! I liked that wet/dry combo a lot as well. Glad it meets the scaly standard of George Noory and crew!!! For whom I wrote this one: @Wookiee - you are correct sir, mud still lurks in the lowers, I think it's a kick drum allowed to wander north of 200hz. Will attack with reptillian vengeance. It's in my DNA. Thanks for the thinks! @jesse g - thank you my quirk brother. It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that wtf. cheers, -Tom

Loved it. Joplin would have been proud if this were his. The drums I admit were unexpected, and while they are cool they are I think superflous and kind of distract. The horns, same thing. Not to be all purity here - the filled-out band has a fun quality as well. I like how you mixed the piano way out front, that's the entree. It's really cool to hear someone's original ragtime, you don't get that much around here. Extra points for originality! thanks, -Tom

Sweet guitar tone. Sustain like Satriani. Cool delay effect on it as well. Very well played maestro! I think you might consider mixing those bongos a little lower when they come in, just a thought. To be completely honest, this tune didn't strike me as entirely that much latin. It's more straight ahead 2 and 4 without too much syncopated fluffery. Maybe its ballad quality hides the latin. But at the end of el dia, it's all about the guitarra, and holy crap this is really well done. The horns are sturdy, the piano hits the spots. The drums seem a little quiet, maybe a couple of more flashy bits for them? I dunno. Good stuff! cheers, -Tom

That is f oud for thought.

Klayportshiyesh??? ? Do you have kontakt yet? It probably covers a lot of the territory you already have, but it is the very definition of versatile. Plus it puts you in the realm of the various third party libraries, which is where the magic lies. The expensive magic. Or, Dune 3 is worth a look.

Wow, I'm so very sorry for your loss. Thank goodness, as you say, it was painless. How old was she?

This is a quick mix (any suggestions?) on a song that defines the axiom "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" . . . Critiques sincerely appreciated: Youtube vid with a weird "audio visualizer" . . . or Soundcloud . . . many thanks for the listen! -Tom

Sorry, this is way more Waylon or Merle than it is Chris Issac. Holy crap this is great. Love that big full yet controlled mix. MAybe just a hair less reverb on the vocal, and your "quiet aside" vocal parts are getting swamped, can't hear them. This is old-time country that would have killed 40 years ago. That tele tone - please tell me you are playing it for real - is absolutely spot on. AWESOME JOB on 'murican country, I don't care where you are from. Nice job! cheers, -Tom

I like the simplicity and your vocal stylings are uber authentic. In fact in a three part mix (rhythm guitar, lead guitar noodle, and vocal) I'd want this vocal mixed a bit more out in front. You might add a measure of silence to your song file, it starts immediately with a strum and old guys like me get all dyspeptic when that happens nice tune Bjorn! -Tom

Hi Freddie! Sweet harmonica as always, and the guitars are of course well played. At any given moment, however, the guitars are jamming on top of the harmonica, all during the vocals. I think your mix works best when one or two things are featured at a time, instead of a pile-up. I get that that can be a blues style, sort of a jam, and if that's what you want here, then mission accomplished! Maybe consider some selective pruning here and there? I love your blues style - maybe I like my blues arrangements a little less densely packed with goodness! ` cheers, -Tom

That's a fun mix. Everything sounds pretty up front, but nothing really clashes. Whatever chorus you have on the ep is lovely, and the vocal one works too. Any room for more bass guitar? Or are you playing that on the ep? The chorus on the guitar lead, wow, so clear. Your song wins the Finest Chorus award. It's great, whatever it is, and it doesn't mud things up at all. Your drum instrument is probably the improvable spot here, what did you use? Even the illuminati likes a good chorus effect. You are safe. cheers, -Tom

Condolences on your loss, and the emotion of that is very present in your piece. I like how the bass is actually doing jazz moves - it sounds great in the mix, maybe you could add just a bit more low end bass back in on the bass guitar? The piano's bass is nicely controlled - overall your mix I think has a slight favoritism for the upper frequencies. Of course, flute leads do that! When you listen to it without the flute (mute the flute!) does the mix seem balanced between high and low? I suspect you might get away with popping in half a db on the bass guitar, around 150 or so hz, I wonder if that would help fill out the bottom a bit more? Or could you bring up the kick drum a tad, which I think usually has a fundamental slightly lower than the bass? Or that's just me. As for the flute, for me it's mixed just a bit loud, and just a bit dry. But this is 100% personal preference, it just depends how much of a feature or spotlight you want on it. It sounds totally valid as is, and I agree, for a freebie, that flute patch sounds pretty good, sort of in a pan flute direction. I'd probably add too much reverb and ruin everything - as you have it, it certainly has clarity. Piano? Well then. With sampled pianos, every single different person on earth will give you a different opinion as to tone, velocities, eq, patch quality . . . my point is, get the piano to where it sounds good to you, put a little reverb on it, and call it good. You can massage piano samples for days and days only to chase your tail. What you have (is it ez keys or some such?) does the job, pretty well actually, but you might look around for some of the kontakt pianos that might have a bit more 3D depth in the sound field. And if you get a better piano patch, it will still be tricky to mix. Fun, huh? Just my .02 cheers, -Tom

Great fun to listen to, very nice collab guys. Jesse your vocal clarity on this one is great, the vocal is nice and up front in the mix. Whatever your vocal mixing chain was, it's a keeper. well done both of y'all. -Tom

I am #777 with the Rick 12. My cliche' lava lamp needs a new friend.

He brings a lot of jam to the jam.

This is how you do it. Great company, and it doesn't hurt that their product offerings are top tier.

Welcome back David! Looking forward to your new tunes! and if he was in Portland traffic, he would have rejoined us months ago. If he was in Seattle traffic, he'd be a skeleton in his car.

Hopefully she is spiritually prepared for that Great Gig in the Sky.

this post reminds me of something the Talking Heads would post, if they had a love child baby with Porcupine Tree. Joad, I think most people can handle being compared. I do that occasionally when I comment on other's songs . . . isn't that part of the fun of listening / interpreting / commenting? Maybe the people who have that particular sensitivity could post their songs with a disclaimer, warding off any unwanted comparisons. But that might be weird.

He sure had a thing for black strat copies with white pickguards. Maybe she wanted more shades of grey.

Anyone who busts out of a self-imposed genre prison has my respect. Cool tune, Daddy-O . . . good to hear your stuff again. And I liked the ambient stuff as well! I honestly dont know enough about early Supertramp jams, but if so it's fun. I got a Yaz feel myself. Love it. cheers, -Tom

I love the mundane subject matter presented with quirky urgency. Mix is super clear. Everything is very distinct and enjoyable. You did a really great job from conception to execution. Some ideas for improvement? I dunno. It's great. but I would almost bet a Thanos snap that it was mixed by a guitar player. That's clearly the focus. And the guitars totally shine - but I'd bring up the drums a fair bit in the non-vocal sections, and there is no discernable bass guitar. Is there a bass? If not, there certainly could be . . . in a piece like this, Primus-like, more bass please? Anyway, it matters little. It's still very listenable as is and the clarity is outstanding. Plus it's fun. I nominate your song to be the Official Song of the official amphibian of the great state of Pennsylvania. cheers, -Tom p.s. where's that confounded chorus? ?

Excellent! I'd back the lead vocal down maybe just a half a db. But it's a quality vocal, great feeling throughout. What a standout, that pedal steel - did you play that? Whichever, it's great! And the fiddle is decent as well. Great chops all over this one. cheers, -Tom

Did you get a power surge? Are any other appliances fritzy?