Added bass to "About A Girl Named Sunshine"

i dig the guitar playing...very good, I'd like to hear a little better syncopation overall and I'd also like to hear the bass and drums come a little more forward in the mix

Woops--I commented on the wrong song. Too many things going on here. Hang on! LOL

I like the bass. Good job! That 'waa-was thing that comes in at :06 got a little irritating after awhile. Maybe just a little different sound? All in all, nice song and good playing!

Very nice song; uplifting. I looooove the title!

I know you said something about flow. I think it's just a minor timing thing; not everything is snapped just right on to the grid. I'm guilty of it too. Hard when you play live and can't quantize. I like the wah.

Egevary
I'm listening here at work on ear buds..........and I can hear some bass on this track but it sits kinda of far back.........needs to be brought up some more........

Cliff

Okay, I uploaded a new version. this one has a much fatter bass in the lower frequencies, doesn't sound as busy. It does sound a bit muddy, but I don't care at this point - you guys tell me how it sounds because it's obvious my monitors are playing tricks on me. And oh, the bass volume is very proportional to the other instruments. I am not making any judgments that it is too loud or not. I really want you guys to tell me what you're hearing.

Thanks for the kind, constructive bashing ;)

ORIGINAL: Guitarhacker

Trying to give it a listen... error loading song file message from SC..... I'll try again later.

Sorry about that. I fixed it. My MP3 codec did something really weird. I didn't notice until I played it on SC myself.

hey egevary

I'm coming to realize a few things. The more we speak
the more I see what your after. I am truelly all about
sharing what I know and not about making judgments.

I dont know whether to shut up or try and help out.

I'm 54 and have studied music all my life. I'ved played
country, rock, jazz, blues, you name it

I've been on both sides of the spectrum from the
session player to the engeneer.

I've modifide tube amps , I've built eqs and compressors
I've modifide guitars and set em up

I've played everything from banjo to sax, trumpet, piano
bass, guitar, organ and who knows what else.

Maybe its time for me to chill out and let you all do your
thing. you know? in some ways who am i to say?

jimmy

Here are two mixes with just the drums, rhythms and bass:

High octave bass mix:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/443421/sunshine-bass-high-octave.mp3

Low octave bass mix:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/443421/sunshine-bass-lower-octave.mp3

ORIGINAL: jimmyman

Hey egevary

I got to here the "high" bass but the computor wouldnt
play the low one

Weird. I clicked the low bass and it worked for me. There's probably something screwy going on with drop box :(

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
the high bass is much an improvement but it dont fix
the problem.

The sound or tone is second to the main problem.
your playing the bass like your a "rush style" (the group)
bass player. this guy is a virtuoso bass player

True. I guess through osmosis, I think the bass is supposed to sound like that.

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
on the subject of the notes you play you have no choice
but to learn to play the "right" notes. That is what your hearing.

your ear is better than your abilties. To you it sounds muddy
that aint the problem. wrong notes is the problem

Actually, they are 2 different problems. The muddiness was reduced on these mixes. I don't hear much mud. There was some drum/bass conflicts and I resolved them, so no mud. I still there might be some mud with the leads actually, because when I kill them, the muddiness goes away.

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
the wrong note against the right chord cant be fixed with eq

I definitely understand that eq can't fix bad notes ;) I think my notes are correct though, no? Most of my root notes are D, C and G. When it goes to the bridge, they are B->D->G->(F->G->A) then B->D->G->A. I am inputting these notes exactly in the piano roll.

If you are hearing a tuning problem, do you think, Jimmy, that the guitars are slightly off tune to the bass... so maybe that's the REAL problem?

Is there any way to re-tune the bass in MIDI so that it's exactly the same? Maybe if I experiment with that, it will correct the problem. The base line itself, whether too busy or not, sounds fine with the rhythm to me. I'm more worried that the busy-ness is conflicting with the leads now.

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
If "rush's" bass player was doing your bass you would'nt be
asking whats wrong.

LOL... Great idea! Let's go call Geddy to write and record a bass line for my song! Where did I put his number... ;)

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
Youd be better off getting a 75 dollar bass at the pawn shop
use a heavy pick. have good low end and add high mid snap
to the real bass and play it live to the computor.

I'm starting to think you're right. I know I could play the bass line given some practice using a bass. It would definitely sound more authentic.

I wish the timing of my recordings didn't get messed up so badly on this recording, because I never had such problems on other projects. I think I'm going to get rid of my mastering plugins on the mix.

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
Playing all over the place with bass notes is an art (like he does)
you can simplify and do less but you wont be happy with it.

A C majer chord has 3 notes c e g if your playing c# e flat
and a flat against that it aint gonna work.

Learn your instrument here is an example

the c majer scale. c d e f g a b c

play up and down ie c d e f g f e d c. thats what rush's player
does.

Your jumping from say a c to f to e to who knows where.

I think I understand modes and scales and stuff. I'm self-taught, but I do understand this ;)

In this song, the key is D (I know you were just using C as an example). I think this is D-Mixolydian to be precise (at least for the verses... the chorus changes to something a little different).

When I read my bass notes, they are all in that key. In fact, almost all of the notes are D, G and C in the verses, with a B in there as a small filler to move to a different (which works with the mode, especially since B is eventually used in the chorus).

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
your doing this because you dont have piano player skill.

That's definitely true... but I'm also quantizing, editing, etc. to make everything line up to compensate for my horrendous playing skill ;)

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
There are many ways to get what you want using keyboard
bass but there all very diffferent and very spicific and a lot
of work to satisfie your ears.

you have two choices use keys with a lot of work or get a real
bass. both have advantiges but knowing you as i do I'd say
you'll get what you want sooner with a real bass.

A real bass may be the answer. I guess I was hoping a midi bass would be fine. Wishful thinking on my part ;)

ORIGINAL: jimmyman
this responce is general. the only way i can help you to trully
get what you want is to break it down in peices. and work on
only a measure at a time.

thats a lot of work. so maybe you dont want to mess with that
but one cannot have a masterpiece work without time and effert
in the parts.

That won't be necessary, but if there is a "wrong note" problem, maybe point one of them out to me with the exact time of the song? That way I can see where you mean. Maybe I'm not hearing it?

Thanks for all the help Jimmy!

Ken

I'll try again there must be something up with SC I couldn't get it to play or D/L

OK... I was able to listen again..... the bass is still lacking.

The other instruments sounded OK to me...nice & bright.

You might need to check into getting a better, more accurate way to monitor & mix where you can hear the bass accurately.

I just listened to "Bridge" and it also was lacking bass and drive.... however the rest of the mix on Bridge was good. If you are using stereo speakers to mix, that could be the problem. Stereo speakers are NOT flat and may accentuate certain frequencies to get a specific "brand name sound" which will throw off your mixing...big time.

Yeah..... I have MR5's and they have a "bass compensation" switch too. I have mine set to normal or "0" flat. Actually there is a high freq comp sw too. Both are set to normal.

Try that and you may have solved the problem.

That switch is there to allow the end user to boost or cut the freqs as needed...depending on the room you are mixing in. The room WILL influence the sound, as will the location of the speakers in the room....it all matters. You are supposed to EQ the room and then use those switches to get a flatter response.

hey ken

You want some praise? Wow talk about leaps and bounds
forward into mixing and producing. The low bass is it.
finaly got it to play after you did whatever you did to got it to play.

If my ears are correct you cut the low end on guitar and
gave room for the bass to come through. the guitar still
sounds nice rich and full.

now i can tell what the clashing notes are (at one point)


here is your chord proggression first two measurse
of the guitar that also repeats throughout the song
of course untill the bridges

1 2 3 4 1 2 & 3 4
D C G

the bass is playing this (or sounds like it is)

1 2 3 4 1 2 & 3 4
D G


In D the C is a flat seven chord

A G against a C in this case is the 5 of the C chord


playing a 5 instead of the root note "C" can sound
very good used very sparringly but not continually.

Many years ago all kinds of music did this at (the end)
of a verse only.. and never (as I recall) on (the flat seven chord)

it gave the song a tension but resolved to the root note
now days for some reason nobody does it anymore.

I think its because music these days music has decided
that this is a worn out thing to do. or it might be
that music now has so much more going on and it clashes
with all that stuff

other than that

Super nice job of tweeking the bass (low one)
Exelant my freind exelant


now if i could learn how to spell :) using spell check
is a pain cause it sometimes doint even know what I'm
trying to spell :)

Man I forgot all about scales untill you metioned it
its playing 5 notes of the actual scale starting on any
one given number of the actual scale.

or is it? dont remember. oh man dont get me
started. youll get me talking about poly chords
backcycling and all kinds of stuff.

I dont use scales anymore per say but i do
like to throw in some chords against chords
from time to time.

I.E play the notes of a G major chord against an
E minor and all kinds of stuff


jimmy

oh my the computor messed up what i wrote lets try again



1 2 3 4 1 2 & 3 4
D C G

the bass is playing this (or sounds like it is)

1 2 3 4 1 2 & 3 4
D G


jimmy

I am curious though... why don't I get this hum or mud when I listen to commercial stuff? In fact, with the hum, it's actually good because I know to get rid of it because I can *hear* it. And the more I ditch the mud or rattle, the more it sounds like a reference CD to me. I just think it is so odd that it sucks on your end ;(

if its hum youll need an electronic devise to fix it
if its mud you'll need some soap and water.


may be that the problem is in the guitar or anywhere
else for that matter. resonent frequencys have there way
of not showing up untill you add mre stuff

The "box" of your guitar I think is where it is.

The "box" is the wood resoinationg and doesnt have
much change in frequency.

I have used tape before to cover a little or a lot of
the sound hole. I've put towels inside the guitar.

depending on the application of course.

also I've taken a wood pencel and cut it to where it
barly will stay put inside the guitar between the front
and back of the guitar on the bass side of the bridge.

it makes the bass strings more solid and less boomy
cuts through a mix very well.

some or maybe all I dont remember violins use
a sound post/ its a wood dowel use to "tune" the violin

the top of any wood instrument has a resonent frequncy
and it affects the sound

some people put a fingerboard "cheater" or clamp
on the headstock

man there are all sorts of thing a person can do.


for strumming
if you have more than one acoustic you can put a thin
say a 10 gueage string on the third string and tune it one
octive higher than normal

or put small strings on the last four strings and tune "all"
of them one octive higher

these are all differrent methods for differrent apps

jimmy