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Disappearing Man


X-53mph

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Guys, I would really appreciate your input with this track. It's a tune that has gone through a million edits, retakes, redoes over the years and I finally think it's getting over the line. I won't say what it is that's still bothering me about this mix (let's see if anyone picks up on it) but I would really appreciate any input you may have.   I've been getting some invaluable help from a music engineer in NY who has got me to this stage, and his input has really helped.

Some technical info - I'm playing all the instruments (no loops or samples). The only synths are the bass (Trilian), Piano (Westwood Felt) with some additional live piano, Strings (Spitfire). Everything else is live.  It was recorded in CbB and Mastered in Ozone 9. Unfortunately, Soundcloud's compression doesn't do the mastering any favours :(

Hope you enjoy.

Edit: I've removed the link to the first mix because I'm taking down from SoundCloud. Final mix is further down this thread.

Edited by Philip G Hunt
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Phillip , Nice song and structure. I am listening on a laptop with Cheap headphones  , but what is getting my attention is the volume of the bass guitar and the boom in some of the notes , masking the mix. The vocals sound "muffled" like predominant low mids and not enough highs. (especially the highs). For reference , flip your master bus to mono and the bass problem should really stick out.  Good luck I'm sure you will get it right ..  mark

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Sounds good to me. If I were to be picky, I might suggest panning the piano slightly more away from the centre to keep the vocal a bit cleaner. As David mentioned, I was partially expecting a bigger ending - maybe drums coming in with some electric guitar power chords - though maybe that's just a reflection of the type of music I might listen to.

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Philip . . . really love the song man, that acoustic guitar riff that recurs, like after "disappearing man" is so excellent, it's the main driving factor, and the lyrics and vocal are right there as well. The drama in the lyrics and vocal that you open with is bang on, and sets the tone for the rest of the song. My mix suggestion, since you mentioned Trilian Bass, would be to use a more percussive picked bass sound to cut the bass part through to be more obvious. What might sound great to your ear in Cakewalk 32 bit floating . . . well, by the time you upload to Soundcloud, it gets mudded, unless it's more percussive in the original mix, at least that's what I've found for projects like this one. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've listened to all your feedback (thank you all, I really appreciate it). I went back to the premaster mix to tweak some sounds before remastering and this is the result:

 

 

Edited by Philip G Hunt
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The second version addresses what I heard in the first version, pulling some low mid out of the vocal. This version is much cleaner down low! I'd also be tempted to add a bit of tight delay to the vocal, or maybe a reverb with a lot of the low end return cut away.

 

Dig the structure of that riff after "Disappearing Man".

 

Version #2 is soooo much better! Cool tune!

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17 hours ago, PhonoBrainer said:

The second version addresses what I heard in the first version, pulling some low mid out of the vocal. This version is much cleaner down low! I'd also be tempted to add a bit of tight delay to the vocal, or maybe a reverb with a lot of the low end return cut away.

 

Dig the structure of that riff after "Disappearing Man".

 

Version #2 is soooo much better! Cool tune!

I did add some reverb to the vocal in this version. Maybe not enough. ?‍♂️

I know what you mean about the vox being upfront. It's so hard getting the exact balance. I decided to go more Pop on this version. ?

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Philip . . . a great song just got greater with this mix ! This song has something very special about it, I hope you know that. The vocal up front totally works for me, especially in the intro section, you dial in the first time listeners attention right away, they can't wait to see how it goes . . .

I'll have to be careful not to use that cool acoustic guitar riff in my next song, Lol, it's just so catchy. It's perfect you get it 3 times in a 3.5 minute tune.

Don't see it available on your bandcamp yet, but I look forward to buying this one . . .

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11 hours ago, noynekker said:

Philip . . . a great song just got greater with this mix ! This song has something very special about it, I hope you know that. The vocal up front totally works for me, especially in the intro section, you dial in the first time listeners attention right away, they can't wait to see how it goes . . .

I'll have to be careful not to use that cool acoustic guitar riff in my next song, Lol, it's just so catchy. It's perfect you get it 3 times in a 3.5 minute tune.

Don't see it available on your bandcamp yet, but I look forward to buying this one . . .

Wow! Thanks ? that really means a lot to me. This song is very special to me.

I'm just putting together the artwork and I hope to have it up soon on all platforms.

Thanks again. I really appreciate all the input people have given me.

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I'll echo the praise above. This is a fine tune.
How did I miss it?

t

one little crit and suggestion. My acoustic "chops" are not what they should be and "squeaks" drive me nuts.
I've gone to using D'Addario Flat Tops, they've really helped me. Buy an extra G, they wear out pretty fast.
They're not as "bright", kind of a "played in" tonality, but your guitar is not sounding "muddy" to me so I think
you'd get satisfactory results...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi guys,

I just want to let everyone know that this track had been playing on various online radio stations. One in particular let's me know when it will be played. For anyone interested in hearing new music, and supporting new acts, here is the message I got from them with dates, times and links:

Radio Wigwam https://www.radiowigwam.co.uk/


We will be featuring you on the Indie Jukebox show (Monday 21st February and Thursday/Friday 24/25 February)!
 
The Indie Jukebox show will be aired this coming Monday 21st February at 6 - 7pm GMT (i.e. 1pm EST, 10am PST) & Thursday 24th February 8pm EST/5pm PT (i.e. 1am Friday GMT). Be sure to spread the word and join in the fun!

The full line-up includes: LUNA SCOTT RUSSELL, Matt Saxton, Those Men, Eric Linden, Steven Garcia, Ultravice, Birrell or Biscuit, mp clarke, The Mease, Grassy Knowles, Crosstalk Club, 53mph, Paul Jack, Karen Harding & The Spase.
 
Remember you can catch the show at radiowigwam.co.uk
SmartSpeaker, TuneIn and much more and watch out for the tweets!

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9 hours ago, Wookiee said:

Did not hear the initial mix, to me the vocals a tad forward but that cna be a personal choice.  Mix generally sounds OK here, you did not let Sound-clod (I know) master it after you had put it through Ozone-9 did you?

Hi Wookie,

No I didn't let SoundCloud master it..as far as I know. ?

To be honest, I've kind of abandoned SoundCloud. I only put it up there for the peeps on here. I prefer to listen on Bandcamp.

Here's the link if you like: 

https://53mph.bandcamp.com/album/disappearing-man

Edited by Philip G Hunt
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