Are You Washed - Scandalous Grace **UPDATED MIX 9-16**

https://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/are-you-washed
 
here's an old hymn we "rocked up" - this was Sean's "vision" 
I had a HECK of a time mixing this one!  I thought it was going to be easy - but it proved challenging!
 
All comments are welcome!  
 
Performed by Scandalous Grace 
Words & Mu­sic: Eli­sha A. Hoff­man 1878 (Public Domain)
Sean Peifer: Lead vox, 2nd lead guitar, acoustic guitar, producer
Michael Hansen: BGVs, Bass, Electric Rhythm, 1st Lead guitar
Reece Bain: B3 Organ, BGVs, drum programming, mixing
Beverly Bain: BGVs

Thanks baps!  choruses are hot on purpose so there's a huge dynamic between verses and choruses.
 
I'll check on the lead vox, but they aren't HP'd.  I'll see what I can find on it!  thanks again!

Cool old hymn.   It sounds like you're kinda going for a David Crowder vibe.
 
As Bapu mentioned the choruses are a bit cluttered and hot.
 
To get the chorus to stand out a bit without ramming the faders up and filling the "stage" with a bunch of instruments that clutter the sound, try using a back beat on the chorus drums.... more of a 2 step beat.... change from the 1/3 to 2/4 and see how that feels. It changes the entire feel without cluttering things up and definitely bumps up the energy levels. Use 2/4 on the chorus and 1/3 on the verses. 

The solo distorted compressed guitar was totally out of character to the rest of the song.   You need to do something else in that spot.  Use a different instrument and go for a more hip sound. I just know the guitar isn't working there for right now. Think something a bit more acoustic or organic like the other instruments to some degree. Perhaps a mandolin, or a harmonica playing a sort of lead melody, or even a straight up fiddle would work well in there.

IMHO... you guys are off to a good start but there's still some work to do.

Agree its kinda muddy.
 
Also, take a look at widening this a bit, as most elements seem dead center.
 
Good energetic performance.  I love the solo. Wouldn't touch that at all!

Guitarhacker
Cool old hymn.   It sounds like you're kinda going for a David Crowder vibe.
 
As Bapu mentioned the choruses are a bit cluttered and hot.
 
To get the chorus to stand out a bit without ramming the faders up and filling the "stage" with a bunch of instruments that clutter the sound, try using a back beat on the chorus drums.... more of a 2 step beat.... change from the 1/3 to 2/4 and see how that feels. It changes the entire feel without cluttering things up and definitely bumps up the energy levels. Use 2/4 on the chorus and 1/3 on the verses. 

The solo distorted compressed guitar was totally out of character to the rest of the song.   You need to do something else in that spot.  Use a different instrument and go for a more hip sound. I just know the guitar isn't working there for right now. Think something a bit more acoustic or organic like the other instruments to some degree. Perhaps a mandolin, or a harmonica playing a sort of lead melody, or even a straight up fiddle would work well in there.

IMHO... you guys are off to a good start but there's still some work to do.

Thank you for listening and your comments, Herb!
 
We will discuss all of your suggestions.  thanks.

jamesyoyo
Agree its kinda muddy.
 
Also, take a look at widening this a bit, as most elements seem dead center.
 
Good energetic performance.  I love the solo. Wouldn't touch that at all!

Thanks James!  appreciate the listen and the suggestions!  glad you love the solo(s)! (there's actually 2 solos, 4 bars each, with each one panned slightly left and right of center, respectively).

Thanks so much, Daryl!  sounds like you really enjoyed it!
 
I've just uploaded a new version with several changes which I hope have addressed some of the mix problems.
 
everyone please let me know what you think!

Where's the link to the updated version? My assumption was the original link directs to the new version.

I listened to the linked song and it didn't sound any different to me.
 
Please post the new link and or state the changes that were made.

Mark - thank you very much for listening and for your comments!  i'll continue working on the mix.
 
thank you John (Wookiee), I appreciate your time and comments!  I'll continue working on it.
 
Herb, thank you for your time, the link is still good, the new mix replaced the old mix on the same link.  I have soundcloud PRO which allows me to replace the wave file with the same link.  I am pretty certain you'd hear two very different versions if you listened to them back to back.  I do appreciate your feedback, tho and I will continue to work on the mix.
 
for everyone:
 
On this version I high passed all of the instruments up to around 250Hz (the organ and acoustic were already hi passed enough) and I HP'd the lead vocals.  I also made adjustments to the EQ instituting cleaner notch filters and notch boosts between the electric rhythm and organ.  I also changed the limiter on the master bus by a big amount - so much that it really made a big difference in the overall RMS and perceived volume of the song.  
 
As a group we decided we did not wish to change the guitar solos, nor did we wish to change the feel of the song by changing the drums.
 
We will continue to discuss what changes we can make and try again!  thanks again for all of your time and feedback!

Sounded good on my phones....latest mix I suppose..nice job....though wish i could have heard the previous "offender" for compare  ;o)
Thx for share...liked it too ;o)
 

skinnybones Laura - thank you very much!  we appreciate the great comments!  glad you liked it!
 
Steve (bassjoker) - thanks for the listen and the great comments - yeah, we overwrite our previous mixes on soundcloud, so there's no compare available there.  glad you liked it thanks!
 
Steve C - thanks so much man!  appreciate it!  We'll continue to look at the possibility of giving the instruments more clarity in the choruses, but at this time, we've decided to move on and work on other stuff for now.  we'll leave this one as is and maybe revisit another time.
 
thanks everyone so much for your comments and suggestions!

Nice job on the song. The mix is subjective so I won't comment further, as the others have it covered.