" Old Tennessee " -Final Final Mix -

[mark skinner]

 Hello , Here's an acoustic song I wrote quite awhile back . It's about living on my boat on the Tennessee river and compairing it to the gulf. I never took the time to record it , but I've played it a good bit at solo gigs. I'm in the final mix /master stage and think it's getting close , but I always want fresh ears on a song for suggestions.            Thank You for listening ..           mark      Final mix ..

https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14682410

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by mark skinner
remixed per suggestions

[noynekker]

Hey Mark . . . first of all, this is a great tune ! Really like this one . . . recorded with great dynamics. I listened on your SoundCloud a bunch of times, and was going to say the first vocal part needs to come up a bit, then I listened to the Soundclick version you posted here on Cakewalk, and WOW, so much clearer mix ? Made me wonder if all us audiophiles should be on Soundclick, and you mentioned here before about it being a higher quality stream. Either way, I thought the harmony vocal part seemed back a bit, maybe too much room ambience on it ?  

There's an interesting thing around 1 minute in where the tempo picks up, nicely done., caught my ear.

As you know, I love your guitar work, acoustics recorded here are excellent as usual.

Bruce

[corey sparks]

Hi Mark, this is a great tune and your voice is well suited for the song. I think the mix is close, could be a little more cohesive. I like the drums but the snare seems a little loud or in the forefront at times ( that's my personal opinion).  I hear a lot of ghostnotes on the snare so maybe that's why it's mixed the way it is.   

[KSband]

Nice song and guitar work! The tempo change felt weird to me, maybe a pause and the then change? Is there a bass in there? If there is  it's very quiet. Other wise the mix sounds good.

[jack c.]

real fine all around job.jack c

[mark skinner]

@noynekker Thanks for the listens ! Yeah it's the exact same mix on Sound cloud and click. I wish someone with the tools could do a good compairison. Sometimes I think it's more than their streaming bit rates. I've started a remix and did some further volume automation on the lead vox. The first part was for sure lower. I also brought the harmony track up a little. I also found the pro channel Breverb was accidently left on . Good catch. @corey sparks I couldn't find a drum loop I liked , and did this with SI drums in piano roll. The snare has been troublesome and have used several kits. On an interesting note , lowering some of the snare hits seemed to make them sound worse instead of quieter. Seemed to bring up the honk and hollow tones and lose the crack. There's a real big difference at 99 and below velocity compared to 100. Some of the hits I wanted quieter were in the low 90's. Raising them to 102 cut some of the lows and brought back the crack. I've noticed this before in other projects about the 99 velocity setting. I was then able to just turn down the synth and retain the EQ. Thanks for the reply .. @KSband Yes there's a bass. I'll look at it closer in the remix. Never thought about a pause before the tempo change. I'll play with that. Thanks for the listen and reply ..   mark

[Bajan Blue]

Hi Mark

Have to agree with KS re the tempo change and the Bass, but apart from that really liked this - excellent guitar and vocals

Excellent stuff

Nigel

 

[mark skinner]

@jack c. Thanks for the comment , I Really appreciate it. @Bajan Blue Thanks for the listen and comment , the tempo change thing really surprised me . That's why it's so good to get different opinions.

Both links now reflect a Remix. I addressed the volume on both vox tracks and fixed the reverb problem on the harmony track. Bass guitar volume is up with a little more clarity . I also added some low saturation on it. Spent a good bit of time on the "snare" I don't know how much improvement I got.. I also put in some "seagull" sounds in a couple of spots. I tried not to let it get too "cheezy".  I did a "save as" and will try to improve the tempo change part in the morning.   Thanks for the help and suggestions given so far.  I can use all the help I can get ..  mark

Edited November 11, 2023 by mark skinner

[KSband]

I can tell there's a bass now but still pretty faint, also seems like some mid bass is missing,  just very low frequencies so some of the notes kind of disappear. I think if the bass is brought up it might help the snare not seem as loud.

[hsmusic]

Hi Mark, on a quick listen on Soundclick to my ears the kick/ sub @35-40 hz. is too much. I think you might try lowering the whole drum track 2-3 db as the high end on it seems a bit hot too. Also try boosting the bass 400hz- 800hz a tad.

Grain of salt I'd use either the drum stick or Side Stick but not both & alternating them as you're doing & simplify the part a bit (might try brushes too if you haven't already.)

Great tune, enjoyed it. Nice warm vibe I think you just need to dial in the drums a bit..

[John Vere]

What ever you did to the snare It was the thing I really liked. You say that’s SI Drums? Which kit I want it! I like that it is dry. Mix to me is really good and most certainly fits the acoustic style. Bass is fine. 
The tempo change does sound strange. At first you think something went wrong. Then you get it.
Not sure how I would approach that

Normally people stop the song and bring it back with the faster tempo. or the drums do something to lead into the tempo change. 

[Paul Bush]

Bloody loved this , sounded so fine , Oh so polished , loved the rythum changes within, kept me on my toes had to listen to it three times and still wanted more so sweet this was so special cheers paul

[mark skinner]

OK , several remixes have been uploaded and taken down. I think I've now gotten the bottom end where I Like it. Thanks to @KSband  @hsmusic  and @corey sparks for your insights. I've done a good bit of editing on the drum tracks , and a lot of volume automation on Vox and bass. 

The pause before the tempo change was a Real pain to get the tracks cut and moved properly , but was Well worth the effort. I think it sounds much better now. Thanks to everyone convincing me to change that !

@John Vere The SI drums were the "groovin" kit . I did have to do a little tuning on them .  They sound fairly dry  , but do have 25% of the kit reverb and "fast and clean" from the prochannel Rematrix Solo. 

@Paul Bush I Bloody Loved your comment ..   That made my day.

The link(s) now reflect the last remix per your suggestions.   I'm going to let this one rest for a little bit.

          Thank You ..  mark

[Wookiee]

@mark skinner what a beautiful song.   Some excellent playing.  If I was going to offer anything personally where it picks up at the 0:51 spot needs just a bit of finessing.  That is just the opinion of my furry lugs.

[KSband]

Sounding much better. The tempo change still sounds a little awkward, I think the drums need to be delayed a beat or two,  or a simple fill, feels like they start at an odd place. Otherwise it's a good song and sounds beautiful.

[mark skinner]

@KSband You are not going to Quit until I get this Right are you ??  @Wookiee Thanks for weighing in and confirming a problem. I am in fact , 1 beat off on the return , (after the pause) and tempo change.  A Big mistake I made in this project , was sending my metronome to an Aux track , and recording it for a shaker/maraca track and Not resetting it for further work on the tracks.   Lesson learned..    

I fished all day and fixed the problem when I got home.  Burned out now ..   I'll repost the changes tomorrow without bumping it up.

I Honestly can not   "Thank You"  enough for your persistance , and not giving up ..                 mark  

[KSband]

Hey, it's a nice song it deserves to be perfected. There have been times when I've left little things thinking I won't care later-not true it continues to make me shudder every time I hear it.

[bjornpdx]

Mark,  I love the leisurely pace, love the guitar and voc.
This is one of those songs that transports me to happier times.

IDK the pause at 0:52 took me out of it a bit, but just me.

-Bjorn

[Miguel Carzola]

Very beautiful, Mark. While I understand what others are commenting on,  I find it perfect as is. Congrats

[Leadfoot]

Mark, this is awesome. Your voice sounds so authentic for this type of song. Very soulful. I love it! I'm good with the tempo changes. I could listen to a whole album's worth of this.