Kevin Walsh Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) Update: Fellow forumite @garybrun reached out to me and asked me for the stems to this song so that he could take a crack at producing a mix and master. I was both flattered and very interested in what another pair of ears and set of skills could do with this song and I'm not disappointed, to say the least. I think he's done a great job and it's very cool to hear the choices he made compared to those in my mix. Here's a link to a share with his mix. I'd love to hear compare/contrast commentary on his work. My final mix is still accessible below. Thanks! https://1drv.ms/u/s!AguGELRT6OXyhdgsAOrpn-3rNMuD0A?e=oeGBbL Well, I got this one together in time for Christmas. My ear finds lots of problems here, hoping for some good feedback on mix, instruments, playing, arrangements, etc. I appreciate your time! Update 1: Updated the mix with the suggestions below and monkeyed with speed and drums to snap things up a bit. Update 2: Next mix, reigned in some out of control background vocals. Overall, much nicer sound, you guys' feedback has been spot on! There are still some vocal issues I think here and there but it's come pretty darned far, thanks. Update 3: Re-mixed and re-mastered Update 4: Posting garybrun mix Edited January 11, 2022 by Kevin Walsh 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPAREELS Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 Typical you, I was looking forward to this when I saw your post ... didn't disappoint, one thing would be to take the chorus down a tad or maybe widen it as I feel it's to much in your face .. v. small crit .. I love you stuff and the smokey Dillon like vocal .. so well done? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 Pleasant enough song, sung with a certain amount of conviction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 22, 2021 Author Share Posted December 22, 2021 2 hours ago, SupaReels said: Typical you, I was looking forward to this when I saw your post ... didn't disappoint, one thing would be to take the chorus down a tad or maybe widen it as I feel it's to much in your face .. v. small crit .. I love you stuff and the smokey Dillon like vocal .. so well done? Steve Thanks for your ear, Steve! I appreciate your kind words and I'll give the thing another listen and do another mix after work. You're the man! (presumably. ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 22, 2021 Author Share Posted December 22, 2021 2 hours ago, Wookiee said: Pleasant enough song, sung with a certain amount of conviction. Thank you, wookie, I appreciate you taking the time to give it a listen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Smith Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 You are a very talented singer/ guitarist. The arrangement seems just fine to me. Any comments I have about the song itself are only opinions on what I might experiment with if it were me. I would probably try pulling up the harmony in the choruses some. If I could pull the midi up for the drums I would maybe try adding some extra drum hits in key places especially highlighted toward the end. At about the 5:00 time mark I would try delay automation on the guitar to give the ending a more spacey take away. I would not leave it in all the way but add it in that one part. The key idea would be variation here and there is more exciting and sounds more spontaneous if done well. I'm on earbuds here at my job so I can't really comment on the mix critically. Comes across on these buds well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve@baselines.com Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 (edited) I like it - you asked for suggestions so I have some. You may hate it, but they're my comments anyway ? I think it would benefit from being shorter. Get the vocal in there quicker. Maybe excite the snare a little. Pull up the under 50hz a little and the over 10K a little. Maximize a little higher, perhaps -7.8db Widen the mids. I did some edits which you can toss if you don't agree, but here's my idea. https://www.baselines.com/brand_new_day.wav Steve Edited December 22, 2021 by steve@baselines.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSband Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 Nice song. I do think the recording sounds a little flat. Maybe the guitars need some sparkle, top end. Really there's nothing wrong with it the way it is too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 21 hours ago, Tim Smith said: You are a very talented singer/ guitarist. The arrangement seems just fine to me. Any comments I have about the song itself are only opinions on what I might experiment with if it were me. I would probably try pulling up the harmony in the choruses some. If I could pull the midi up for the drums I would maybe try adding some extra drum hits in key places especially highlighted toward the end. At about the 5:00 time mark I would try delay automation on the guitar to give the ending a more spacey take away. I would not leave it in all the way but add it in that one part. The key idea would be variation here and there is more exciting and sounds more spontaneous if done well. I'm on earbuds here at my job so I can't really comment on the mix critically. Comes across on these buds well. Tim, thanks for listening and for providing the feedback. I will certainly give your suggestions a try. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 18 hours ago, steve@baselines.com said: I like it - you asked for suggestions so I have some. You may hate it, but they're my comments anyway ? I think it would benefit from being shorter. Get the vocal in there quicker. Maybe excite the snare a little. Pull up the under 50hz a little and the over 10K a little. Maximize a little higher, perhaps -7.8db Widen the mids. I did some edits which you can toss if you don't agree, but here's my idea. https://www.baselines.com/brand_new_day.wav Steve Steve, thanks for listening and thanks for taking the time to demonstrate your ideas, it's above and beyond the call of duty and I appreciate it. I personally like the intro the way it is. I more of an ease into the business at hand kind of guy so your edit sounds kind of abrupt to me. On the other hand, the EQ changes you made do sound better, and I will give the other ideas a go here when my wife lets me work on this stuff again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 18 hours ago, KurtS said: Nice song. I do think the recording sounds a little flat. Maybe the guitars need some sparkle, top end. Really there's nothing wrong with it the way it is too. Thanks for giving it a listen, I agree with you, it does sound a little flat and a little dull. To be honest, it's pretty hard for me to tell because of hearing loss in the upper frequencies, but your suggestion is in-line with the ideas from steve@baselines.com so we seem to be developing a consensus here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack c. Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 nice but tighten the song feel.jack c. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 Thanks jack, I was doing just that as you posted. I've used the suggestions above and also adjusted the drum track to be a little more ahead, sounded like it was dragging or got micro-shifted when I was doing stuff. I also took a page out of George Martin's playbook and sped the thing up by a few bpm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Smith Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 The new mix is a huge improvement. ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve@baselines.com Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 4 hours ago, Kevin Walsh said: Steve, thanks for listening and thanks for taking the time to demonstrate your ideas, it's above and beyond the call of duty and I appreciate it. I personally like the intro the way it is. I more of an ease into the business at hand kind of guy so your edit sounds kind of abrupt to me. On the other hand, the EQ changes you made do sound better, and I will give the other ideas a go here when my wife lets me work on this stuff again. That's fine, Kevin. My length comment was more oriented towards a single. People (younger) tend to get bored REALLY quickly these days and will switch away after less than a minute. For an album cut, it's different. Good luck on the final product, I'll be listening for it. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 Yes, I figured that was the objective of your mix, and if I was catering to a youth market or if indeed I had any prayer whatsoever of selling any music at all I'd probably follow your advice. Your advice is always spot-on and your production sensibilities remain an influence for me. In the end I think one of the (very) few advantages of playing, writing and recording music in your 60's after all the dreams of hitting the road in a van with your band are long over is the absolute freedom to be self-indulgent. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Tim Smith said: The new mix is a huge improvement. ? Thanks very much for checking back in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve@baselines.com Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 11 minutes ago, Kevin Walsh said: Yes, I figured that was the objective of your mix, and if I was catering to a youth market or if indeed I had any prayer whatsoever of selling any music at all I'd probably follow your advice. Your advice is always spot-on and your production sensibilities remain an influence for me. In the end I think one of the (very) few advantages of playing, writing and recording music in your 60's after all the dreams of hitting the road in a van with your band are long over is the absolute freedom to be self-indulgent. ? Absolutely!! And no more carrying that Ampeg up two flights of stairs and back down at 3AM LOL!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bajan Blue Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Kevin - really like this - great guitar and vocals - cool stuff - Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted December 23, 2021 Author Share Posted December 23, 2021 Thank you for taking the time to listen Nigel, I appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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