noynekker

@jack c. This is an excellent reply to Lynn's post Jack . . . and I see what you're saying, you've been a live performer for many years, now, the recording studio is more about keeping within the science and parameters of loudness and dynamics. The idea is to record it so it sounds as good as possible on the many different ways and systems that people listen to music. ie. if you mixed just for headphones it would not sound right on 12" speaker cabs. Your mix has most things max loudness, might work on a club PA system, for dancing . . . but streaming online, or late night radio, ear buds . . . well, robotic generic processing will pull the volume down, mess with your EQ balance . . . often with not pleasing results. Nothing to do with the song . . . your song is a great idea, it just might not get delivered properly to all those listeners. I'm just reaching out here to you, because of the last line of your reply to Lynn, you know there are some really helpful folks here ! . . . I've heard your stuff here, it seems you have a very large creative spirit . . . I learned a lot here about recording science here on the Cakewalk Forum.

Barry . . . another great tune, from that big heart ! You're not just a storyteller, but an insightful storyteller . . . yes the lyrics and your vocal performance are top of the shelf (where grandma keeps the cookies, as they say here in Canada) Since you mention this is MIX 1 . . . I noticed the feel at the start, or maybe it's the drum fills, feels a little clumsy . . . though it certainly gets it's mojo after that. I was expecting the guitar solo earlier, but you've gone past that 4:00 min pop song limit in order to tell the full story, so it works out fine . . . may I say I never lost interest, it unfolds very well, and the ending is excellent. That background instrument, think it's horns ? . . . you've got it mixed louder in the end . . . and I thought it could be a bit louder when you use it earlier in the song. Looking forward to MIX 2, it's gonna be great if you keep working it, others here will have ideas too, I'm sure.

Steve, glad you could have a listen . . . thank you for the compliments !

@freddy j Thanks for your input Freddy

Thank you for the positive input Douglas.

@PhonoBrainer Thanks for your help Tom . . . yes I wrestled with your suggestions as I tried to put this together . . . decided to keep the Bass as just some root pitch pulsing with the kick drum, which I heard in another song, leaving more low room for the mute guitar panned right. I like your idea of Bass up and perhaps more sustained in the Bridge, think it would help build things more. I'm glad to hear you found some "hookness" to it . . . because that's what I heard when I first read Carroll's lyrics. Thanks again . . .

@mark skinner Thanks for the great comments Mark . . . I had to really work this mix to keep the vocal clear, mostly by taming the bass guitar . . . appreciate your input.

Thanks for the listen David . . . I will forward your cudos to the lyricist Carroll Kiphen . . . glad you liked my melody . . . envy energy gratefully received :D:D

Some excellent guitar playing here John . . . you always seem to have that "never know what's coming next" thing happening in your projects. Mix is really easy on the ears too, all clear no mud. Like the gentle fade intro . . . and wild climax. Great stuff, as usual.

Real sonic feast Bjorn, always that question, all the way through . . . I think your decision to add the vocal part was very well inspired, it really adds an extra dimension to the piece, liked listening to this a lot . . . will swing by again for sure.

RexRed . . . simple, beautiful, effective. Your vocals and harmonies are always spot on, and fit inside the instrumentation perfectly. Are you using some virtual instruments here ? . . . they are well done . . . sounds like like you hired Kenny G for the session (but maybe nobody here can afford that) . . . the ending is very smooth . . .

Oh Yeah . . . of course you're going to keep it ! Nice one, and thanks for describing your creative "digital" process . . . the end result sounds like some folks just jamming with a great feel. I was listening close, and don't think you repeated many guitar patterns, just a free for all . . . very relaxing piece.

I read some song lyrics by a guy named Carroll Kiphen, who has written a ton of song lyrics . . . and immediately heard a song idea. I've just been inspired by folks here on the Cakewalk Forum to try different things, so this one was something different for me, since I usually write the lyrics. It's great when you have the road map of a song already, made the process smoother to complete it, maybe less personal attachment helps ? Who knows, just go with the flow . . . thanks Carroll. As usual, I trust you'll let us know if anything jumps out ?

jack c. . . . this one's kinda' catchy, nice groove, drums and synths . . . though, mix is a bit over cooked as far as compression or limiting. ? Seems you have something to say, but I can't quite make out all the vocals. Would love to hear this with more dynamics.

Douglas . . . had a listen, and I'll say I always appreciate all your songs posted here . . . but this on has a little extra shine to it (for me). I'm really liking the rhythm guitar in the verses especially, think you've done something different here. So good, so well done !

Lynn (and friends) . . . very cool song and collaboration project ! You've tackled something super important that gets lost from the mainstream news, with all that other stuff going on. The bees and their tie to agriculture are a crucial part of the fragile ecosystem that sustains us all with those healthier foods. There is some very interesting bee footage in your video, so well done . . . all of it. Hope this creates a real buzz, it deserves it :)

Mark . . . I'm OK with this the way it is, endless tasty guitar interludes . . . you could just market it as chill out music, because that's what it did for me. If you must turn it into a song with lyrics, you'll have to decide which tasty interludes will go to the back, and for me, those would be hard decisions. In my head I can sing almost anything against this, because if it's sheer musicality, but I don't hear a chorus part . . . maybe that's all you need to make a "song" from it, and I can see why you may have wrestled with lyric and song choices on this one . . . will be very interested to see if it becomes more like a song, but for now, I'll keep coming back for more listens when I need to chill.

David . . . I never know how to critique the "Classical" stuff . . . so, I'll just say I had a few listens, and enjoyed both of them. Sounds well orchestrated, and balanced . . . you've changed up and moved through the orchestra sections to make it interesting. You mention using VSL, and there are a few places where the strings get very intense, and I can hear the "digitality" of them . . . so wonder if you've ever experimented with any analogue, tube, or console emulator tricks to mitigate that ? I only ask, since I've noticed it in some of my compositions, and sometimes in Jerry Gerber's posts of his midi / digital symphonic projects. Regardless . . . I always like the projects you post here, you have quite a range of styles you're involved with.

Tom . . . so much fun ! . . . perhaps more fun than humans should be having ? Oh well, we deserve it after last year. A few days ago I just listened to the music, then tonight had a go at the video . . . and I must say I got the same sense, as with many of your other projects online, that I would be coming back again and again for many other listens and viewings, you've got a lot going on in this one, just excellent. Now those horns, why so much louder > dang, there's the phone . . . likely my neighbors calling to complain about the volume (again) The whole thing seems a very interesting poke at modern society. Your educated "rap" is unlike any other I've heard . . . and I knew it was you singing when you went for that low growl around 2:24 . . . reminiscent of your other projects. Sounds great on my big speakers, my small speakers, and my studio headphones, you've mostly got it covered . . . except for the dreaded Ford Ranger stereo highway test, I'll let you know how it goes . . .

Wookiee . . . it was a moving meditation ! (except for the traffic sounds panning in and out - outside my window) . . . in the middle section I saw some whales, hope that's normal, maybe just in Canada. Your 8:11 was the most relaxing part of my day, maybe I need to stay in more ?

Hi John . . . always a good listen . . . great piano playing and surprise instrumentation, and you sure do like that melodic Trilian Bass throughout. I haven't heard much lower bass / kick frequencies in your recent songs. Sure, clear sounding recordings, but not much low end punch . . . you might be missing a whole frequency range to add some extra drama to the overall feel. I like the stops you use here in a few places, effective, and helps the song breathe out a bit. You have a very unique sound in all your songs . . . that's a good thing, doesn't sound like anyone else. (okay, maybe occasionally Boz Scaggs)

Wow ! Great project accomplishment here . . . and this is such a great and groove friendly classic song, never heard it before . . . but you've surely restored it to all it's glory. Well done Steve, thanks for posting it here . . . funkadelic.

Hi Miguel. . . . Excellent song. My opinion is that the instruments do the job, but the vocals are so well sung, that’s the main attraction ! You asked about mastering online . . . it’s a generic formula of artificial intelligence, and works like a roll of the dice. If you master in your DAW, you control things better . . . then when you put it on Soundcloud, the down sampling and mangling of your art is minimalized. Just try to keep as much dynamics as you can, so it won’t get squashed too much ? Really like what you’ve done with this song, it sounds great to me (just listened on headphones so far) What a voice you have !

Interesting you have it working ! My VST3 efx seem to all be in c:\program files\common files\VST3 . . . my 3.5dotnet is up to date, latest Win 10 update patched.

Hmmm . . . when I saw "improved VST3 support" I hoped the bug regarding inserting Fabfilter Pro-Q3 VST3 had been addressed. (a reminder . . . insert FabFilter Pro-Q3 VST3 into the FX bin, on a new blank project - - -> instant Cakewalk crash) It's been a year and a half, is this on the radar ? I launched a ticket with FabFilter back when it first appeared, but they have not addressed it on their end ? Yes, the workaround is use VST2.