Barry Seymour

Very kind, thanks Mark. I recorded the drums and rhythm guitar prior to the surgery; the vocals are the first thing I did after I came home from the hospital. The slide work I did on an acoustic guitar - it was the only thing light enough that I could pick up at first! (Doctor's orders.) It was only a few days ago I was allowed to pick up my Telecaster again, so I could play lead. I'm still waiting on a buddy to provide a harp solo near the end.

EDIT: This is now the final mix! Okay, here's a new mix for 28 May. I did some low pass filtering on the guitars, adjusted some volumes (bass!) and balances, and added a little more distortion to the lead vocals. What do you think? https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/sneakin-up-on-the-blues

It does, thanks. I'll give it a shot.

Your ears are true; I went into the drum mixer and panned stuff out from the center, including the snare. Toms were added manually to a separate track. "High pass" as in reduce the treble, or increase it? And to which guitar, the backing guitar or the solo?

Eh. Walk in the park. (NOT!)

I actually did that, but it's subtle. I may crank it a bit more.

EDIT: Final mix is in this post! Hey everyone! Sorry, I've been out of circulation for a while. A little matter of quadruple bypass heart surgery. ? But I'm doing great and am back with a new song. This is a rough mix; still missing a harmonica part. But I'm soliciting advice on how to mix this. So many of the parts are busy, or dirty - I even applied a little distortion to the voice. (Black Keys FTW.). But does the mix need more clarity? Or is it good to sound swampy? Let me know your thoughts, thanks. https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/sneakin-up-on-the-blues

Download it here: https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/the-silence-of-snow-drifts Click the '...' button to see a "Download" link.

Thanks for the kind words. My actual problem is that my voice is not as solid and effortless as it was when I was younger. It took several passes and multiple takes for me to get this, and even then I hear places where I'm not quite on the note the way I want to be. So I'm definitely not inclined to try and show off!! ?

I basically wrote this by plunking a few keys to get the basic rhythms down; I then transitioned to fleshing the parts out by clicking in the piano roll. Then I quantized it. I think I used my elbows at one point. ?

Thanks, everyone, for the detailed feedback. I re-did the lead guitar as there was a ringing string in there that I didn't hear until I soloed the track. I boosted the bass a touch. https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/the-silence-of-snow-drifts-0328 As for the other remarks, I will digest and remix. Good stuff, thanks!

No, this is good. Critical is what I want. So one of the strings is 'pinging' a bit too loudly? As for 'static,' what do you mean? It needs more movement? I'm playing the keyboard with my thumbs here, but I am getting better at editing the notes in the piano roll. Suggestions / clarification welcome. And thanks.

It means a lot to me that the song moved you. That is, after all, the point! ? Thank you for saying that.

I'm asking for real scrutiny on this one. It's quiet and contemplative; if there are any hiccups that distract, I need to know about them. My bassist friend Jack provided upright bass on this, both for the pizzicato bass and the solo. I am indebted to him. I've been working on it for a long time, I need some perspective. Thanks in advance for any / all guidance you can provide.

My ears are rent-free, Lynn. ? Just as long as you don't borrow them for too long.

I upped the bass, re-sung a few vocals and tinkered with the mix.

I usually burn my MP3s at 192kbps - it's an acceptable compromise between size and quality.

We used to DREAM of living in slurry tank!

I suspect this goes to your more recent question about my 'microphone chain.' I always like a big u-shaped curve on my audio, especially my vocals - rich, full bass, crisp treble and then back off on the mids. By 'AM' I mean 'AM radio,' which as you know does not have the fidelity of FM. However, I get that 'lo-fi' is often a desired and appropriate choice - see the Black Keys - so all I can say is it's my personal preference.

Thanks, Lynn! Not sure what you mean by the 'recording chain,' but I'll do my best... Electro-Voice ND 457 mike - a holdover from the Eighties and my all time favorite Mackie ProFX6 v3 mixer TDR Kotelnikov VST for mastering BREVERB 2 VST for, well, reverb I hope that tells you what you want to know.

A totally fair point. After all all we have to offer are our opinions, mine was just that - only an opinion.

You need a singer who can sound like Forrest Gump, I'm your man! LOL.

Very kind, thanks.

Chops up to heaven. Superb playing. Is this drum programming or analog drums? Brilliant stuff. A slightly low-fi sound to it - it might benefit from a slightly thinner sound for some tracks, but that's just me. Stellar!