Where Rainbows Never Die (Steel Drivers cover) Final Mix

[mark skinner]

Hello , here is my "last" mix of a Steel Drivers song. I broke out just about all of my instruments for this one. The electric bass may be replaced with an upright at some point.   Used acombination of CbB and Sonar.

Weapons - Yairi acoustic , G&L electric , mandolin , banjo , dobro , cello , Ibanez bass , MT Power Drums. 

Any nits , crits or suggestions for improvement will be appreciated.   Thanks  ..    mark

https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=15099496

Edited September 21 by mark skinner
remix

[Kevin Walsh]

Really beautiful performances and mix and a great song choice. Love it!

[noynekker]

Hi Mark . . . this is a great listen ! Lots of amazing playing on your different instruments . . . weaponized nicely (: 

Now, I don't know the song at all . . . but a great song you've chosen to cover here . . . only thing I wonder about mix wise is the Ibanez bass you mention, I don't really here it very much filling in the bottom, you've mixed that very subtle. Sounds like you may replace it with an upright bass anyways ?, but thought I would mention the lack of low end I was "expecting" to hear.

Great stuff as always !

[mark skinner]

@Kevin Walsh , Thanks Kevin , I've had quite a hard time with this mix. Maybe it well gel a little better soon. Appreciate the listen and comment.

@noynekker , Thanks Bruce for the observation. I've been waiting for a friend to do the upright bass part for me and have been listening and working without  bass at all. The electric bass was added last last mainly as a place holder. 

I actually pulled some of the lows out of the bass track. I think I've lost some perspective and will revisit it. The electric should be easier than an upright to fill in the bottom end. Thanks ..   mark

[mark skinner]

OK , I've done a remix and addressed a few things . The fiddle break was brought way more forward trading reverb for saturation and some EQ work. Vox levels were dropped a little and minor dobro EQ and reverb change.

@noynekker , I moved quite a few bass notes to the downbeat , changed the EQ and levels. Bottom end is a lot fuller now. Let me know if I missed the target. Thanks ..  mark

[Kevin Walsh]

I just gave your new mix a listen to mark, I think it's improved although I think it was pretty damn good to begin with. I'm struck by just how good the vocals are in this. You should be proud of the work here.

[Bajan Blue]

Hi Mark

I tried to listen to this but for some reason I cannot get past the security at Soundclick - might be because of where I am - I will try later

Nigel

 

[DeeringAmps]

Liked , commented, et cetera over at SoundClick; have you?
Great performances Mark. As I noted over at SC, IF I was mixing I might roll back the verb a notch...

👍's 👏

t

[mark skinner]

6 hours ago, DeeringAmps said:

IF I was mixing I might roll back the verb a notch...

👍's 👏

t

Thanks Tom , I'm using different reverbs on different instruments and vox. Anything in perticular or the overall reverb settings pushing things back a little too much. ??      

[bjornpdx]

No nits or crits, just wanted to chime in that I always enjoy your music Mark. 
Beautiful song! 
-Bjorn

[DeeringAmps]

23 hours ago, mark skinner said:

overall reverb settings pushing things back a little too much.

It’s always “salt to taste”. Certainly not objectionable, but overall it just seems a bit too much to my ears.

my nickel98…

t

[mark skinner]

Thanks @DeeringAmps , Gave a listen on different systems and I agree with you. I went thru the different instruments and made reverb reductions. Link has been adjusted to my last mix. I'm happy with it now and calling it "done"

Thanks to everyone for the listen and comments ..   mark

[T Boog]

31 minutes ago, mark skinner said:

calling it "done"

Cheers Mark. You SHOULD call it done because it sounds great. Your voice sounds awesome and ur mixes always sound clean & wide. Bravo sir 👏

[DeeringAmps]

👍

t

[steve@baselines.com]

Really nicely done - everything, all the instruments and the vocals.  Classy.  What did you use for mandolin and banjo.

[mark skinner]

18 hours ago, steve@baselines.com said:

Really nicely done - everything, all the instruments and the vocals.  Classy.  What did you use for mandolin and banjo.

Thanks , Steve , Everything except for the drums were real instruments.    ms

[Wookiee]

Sounds reasonable here, though there is not as much weight in the bottom as I was expecting, looking at it with a FFS analyser, the bottom seems to roll of steeply at the 150 to 100hZ mark.  I did download the wave, this is just my two Triganic Pu view.

[mark skinner]

On 9/19/2025 at 8:38 AM, Wookiee said:

On 9/19/2025 at 8:38 AM, Wookiee said:

there is not as much weight in the bottom as I was expecting, looking at it with a FFS analyser, the bottom seems to roll of steeply at the 150 to 100hZ mark. 

 

  Now You've Done It !  I guess now I'll have to start putting "Span" on my master bus and start checking my mix and EQ decisions (instead of listening to Ozone saying it's ok).  I've actually never done it .. but will in the future. My ears lie to me a Lot.  Thank You very much for that. "Noynekker" pointed that out also but I didn't even think to check it visually as well. 

 I made some EQ changes to a couple of tracks and the mix as a whole. The bass guitar doesn't really come in until about a minute in , which doesn't help.  

I also converted my bass guitar track to midi and used a synth for upright bass. It seems to fit the song better to me.

The file in the link has been replaced with the latest mix.      Thanks ..   mark

[Larry T.]

Great work, as usual. I'd mix the drums a bit louder as they are the main musical engine moving the song forward 🎶 🎵