"Die Hard" (Rock) Mix#3 - 4/2/19

[Cookie Jarvis]

Tight! I like me some good crunchy guitars! Vocals have a good "space" and the song itself has a nice hook, well done :)

Bill

[Bob Oister]

Johnbee58:

Hi, John,

How are you, my friend?  Hope you're doing great!

Thanks so much for giving this new one a listen for me, and for your very kind words of encouragement!  I greatly appreciate your input and observations, and it's nice to have another fellow Pennsylvania musician here on the new forum!

A few of my bands made the 2 hour trip and played in your town quite a few times back in the 80's, good times!

Thanks again, John, and have a great week!
Bob

 

[PhonoBrainer]

The guitars are a great blend of distortion and clarity.  I was bobbing my head to the riff.  Lyrics are fun.  Mix is pretty darn clean overall.

When the little "percolating" guitar comes in around 1:20, I'm not sure it's in sync. It tightens up great, right on the beat by 1:40. Maybe it's the delay that's weirding me out a little there.

This whole song is just heavy fun! 

 

cheers,

-Tom

[ABull]

Hey Bob, another cooker from you -- the mix is great.  The instruments have the perfect amount of punch and kick and your vocal is terrific.  You're a master of this genre for sure.  I'm looking forward to hearing your next song -- Allan

 

[Bob Oister]

batsbrew:

Hey, Rob,

It's really great to hear from you, brother!  Big thanks for checking this out for me and also for your always helpful, detailed input and kind words!?

As per you observations, I touched up the timing of the plucked guitars at the beginning of the second verse with a slight forward nudge, I'm hoping it's synching a little better, but I think I may have to move things around a bit more.

As for the mix being a bit hot, I'm not so sure, unless maybe Soundclick is messing with it.  Har-Bal's analyzer is showing 13 dB of overall dynamic range in the Wav file that I made the MP3 from, and Ozone's real-time live master limiter is bouncing between 8 and 13dB and showing a ton of headroom before getting close to peaking.  Weird, although it might just be the overall high energy of the mix, without any quieter parts in the song.  I always shoot for between 12 and 14 dB of dynamic range in all my final mixes because for the last few years all the major streaming services adjust the loudness to their own standards.

Anyway, thanks again for the great input and suggestions, I really appreciate it because your stuff is always dynamite!?

Have a good one, Bats!
Bob

 

[chuckebaby]

Bob, cant believe I missed this when you first posted it. Been looking forward to hearing some brand new stuff. I listened to the second mix. This is a really good, catchy song.

The chorus has a great hook and the 3rd chorus (with the delayed "die hard.. die hard..") Is my favorite.. personally I think they should all be like that but then again it would probably take away its uniqueness.

The only thing I would like to hear beefed up are the drums. They could use a little bang ! (to sound more like a punch in the face). Funny I listen to your songs and there's something I really enjoy about them. I just read your Pennsylvania. I should have known, You have a little bit of that homegrown "Fuel", "Halestorm", "Breaking Benjamin" sound. I love it.

Nice little solo too, not over demanding, just right and straight to the point.

[Bob Oister]

Wookiee:

Hey, Wook, How are you, buddy?  Hope you're doing great!?

Big thanks, my friend, I really appreciate your furry ears, always good input and very kind words of encouragement!

As I mentioned above to our buddy, Bats, I think it might be the full on energy of the mix with no quieter parts that's making it seem louder than it really is.  The Har-Bal and Ozone analyzers are showing the Wav file to be right around the same level as my usual output for the past few years, unless maybe Soundclick's new MP3 processing is messing with the levels somehow.

John, thanks again, I always look forward to and greatly appreciate your input, ideas, and observations on my stuff, and it truly means a great deal to me!?

Have a good one, Wook!
Bob
 

[Bob Oister]

Freddy J:

Hey, Freddy,

How are you, buddy?  Hope things are great in sunny Florida!?

Thank you so much for checking this new one out for me, and for your input, observations, and very kind words, greatly appreciated!?

I think it's getting closer, but I may need to still slightly adjust the entrance timing of that little guitar part at the beginning of the second verse.  LOL, it drives me nuts, with a little nudge here, a little nudge there, and before you know it, it's worse than it was, and it's time to "Undo" and start over!  Hopefully, sooner or later, I'll be like Goldilocks and it'll be "just right"!?

Thanks again, Freddy, and have a great weekend!
Bob

 

[Bob Oister]

Cookie Jarvis:

Hey, Bill,

Thanks so much for checking this one out for me and for your input, observations and very kind words of encouragement!  I greatly appreciate you giving this a listen and commenting.?

Your latest post, "Transmission", was really cool with lots of interesting elements.  Really good stuff, Bill, looking forward to hearing more!?

Have a great weekend!
Bob

 

[ChernobylStudios]

Hey Bob,

Listening to this mix on my Eve Audio monitors and ATHM50x cans. 

• Low mids are very hyped and the kick/bass/guitar is clashing hard in this area;
• Bass is too loud;
• Song falls apart at 1:16 - beat flips and the additional guitar is not in sync with the song, feels like the whole song is not in rhythm here;
• Song comes back together with itself at around 1:39;
• There are strange cymbal hits that seem to come out of nowhere sometimes (1:14, for example);
• I'd add some more presence into the rhythm guitars - something like a small 10k boost with an API for example.

Low-Mids here are the biggest issue in my opinion. Turn down the bass, dig out the 200-700 area of the bass aggressively; you can boost around 3k for some grit to blend into the guitars which will let the bass poke through as well.

Have to agree with others and say the vocals are great, though! Wish I could sing, haha. ?

[Bob Oister]

emeraldsoul:

Hi, Tom,

How are you, buddy?  Hope you're having a great week!?

Big thanks for lending your always good ears to this for me, and for your kind comments and good observations!  I always look forward to your input on my stuff because your posts are always top notch!

Yes, Sir, I've still got to touch up the timing on that little guitar part where it enters the second verse, it's still just slightly off at the beginning.  I'm still not sure if I may have added a little too much low end to the bass for this second mix, I'm hoping get some time to touch this one up by the weekend.

Thanks again for checking it out for me, greatly appreciated! Oh, by the way your new post "Dusseldorf to Dar Es Salaam" was really cool, good stuff!?

Have a good one, Tom!
Bob

 

[Bob Oister]

Abull:

Hey, Allan,

Thank you, Sir, I really appreciate you giving this a listen for me, and also your good input, observations and encouraging comments!?

Greatly appreciated, buddy, and I'm looking forward to your next new one, as well!?

Have a good one!
Bob

 

[amiller]

I like this.   I also checked out some of your earlier stuff.  I really like the video with the bike...cool.

[Bob Oister]

Chuck E Baby:

Hey, Charlie,

How's it going, bro?  Hope you're having a kick-butt weekend!

Thanks, man, I really appreciate your input, opinion and insights on my stuff, especially because we have very similar styles and taste in music!?

I'm hoping to get the changes made to this one and have the final mix up within the next couple of days.  As per your suggestion, I plan to punch up the drums for a little more smack, touch up the bass EQ a bit more, and finally fix the timing of that little guitar part in the second verse.

Yes, Sir, you're right about those PA bands, all faves of mine.  The brand new HS video for "Vicious" is pretty cool.  This is actually BB's home town and I've seen them here four times in the past couple of years.  The first version of BB actually played with my band a couple times.  Who knew two years later they'd get a contract and hit the major leagues, amazing!

Thanks again, Charlie, appreciate your good input and support!?

Have a good one!
Bob
 

[Douglas Kirby]

That really rocked Bob - that was a cool listen.  It sounds like the adjustments you made to the mix improved it - because it sounded great to me - radio ready.  Nice job.

[Bob Oister]

ChernobylStudios:

Hi, Scott,

Big thanks, brother, I truly appreciate you giving this a listen, and also your well detailed input and suggestions!?

I just uploaded a new mix, and as per your suggestion, I re-eqed and lowered the bass a bit, and I fixed up the timing of the extra guitar entry to the second verse.  I also beefed up the drums for a little more punch.

You've got some really killer black metal/death metal mixes on your Soundcloud page, I really liked the Brootal Beefecake track, cool stuff, my friend!??

Thanks again for checking this out and have a good one!
Bob

[Bob Oister]

amiller:

Hey,

Thank you so much for giving this a listen, and also for your very kind words!?

I also really enjoyed your new track, "Lift Me Up", fantastic instrumental, really good stuff!?

Also, thanks for checking out the "Frenzy" video, too, and I really appreciate your wife's Def Leppard comparison!  My cover bands did a ton of Def Leppard songs throughout the years, starting right from the first album with "Let It Go" and "Bringin' on the Heartbreak", and then right up to the late 90's.?

Thanks again for checking this out and commenting, greatly appreciated!

Have a good one,
Bob

 

 

[Bob Oister]

Douglas Kirby:

Hey, Douglas, how are you, buddy?  Hope you're doing great!?

Thank you very much for taking time to check this out for me, and for the very encouraging comments!  I always appreciate your input and comments on my stuff, and I'm extremely grateful for your friendship and support!?

Have a great week!
Bob

 

[Bob Oister]

Hi, Guys,

I just uploaded Mix#3 with all the suggested fixes/changes, hopefully I'm getting this closer to where it should be.

Sincere thanks to everybody who listened and offered input, suggestions and observations!  That's what's going to make this place get back to the "Glory Days", like on the old forum!?

Thanks again, and have a good one!?
Bob