Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24

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Razorwit
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2012/06/23 17:01:23 (permalink)

Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24


EDIT - new version.  Warmed up and with the bass git boosted some. Somebody let me know if I got out of hand with the bass?

A Long Way Lost - 6/24/12




Hi folks,
Just finishing up a song and I could use some outside ears on it. It's got a huge number of elements in it and I've been working with it so much that I can't tell if I'm losing objectivity on it. The song is designed for film/TV (think big dramatic/romantic endings) so I'm shooting for big drama and cinematic feel.

I'm really looking for things that don't sound right here...elements too loud/quiet or sound funny, someone noticing that at 2:10 you can hear my wife knocking on my studio door...that sort of thing. I think I'm pretty close to done but I'd like a couple more ears before sending it out.

A Long Way Lost - 6/23/12



Thanks,
Dean

post edited by Razorwit - 2012/06/24 15:05:52

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    jamesg1213
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 07:58:47 (permalink)
    Fine song Dean, this is great stuff. The only possible nit I have is the sound of the strummed guitar in the right channel (comes in on the second verse I think), it sounds very brittle and thin. It really is a nit though, 'cos this sounds fantastic to me. Lovely vocal sound, tasty guitar break, great dynamics, neat little details like the xylophone/marimba..it's all good.

     
    Jyemz
     
     
     



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    foxwolfen
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 09:01:00 (permalink)
    A very well written song. I like the arrangement, and performance. Mix is a bit "cold". I do not know how better to describe it. I want to hear this on my hi-fi for reference, but its a bit early here and the neighbors get upset with my sub .

    A scientist knows more & more about less & less till he knows everything about nothing, while a philosopher knows less & less about more & more till he knows nothing about everything.

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    notnat
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 09:26:30 (permalink)
    This is so fine Dean... really, a wonderful arrangement... I 'd love to hear more of an intro and ending though... and maby a few subtle reverb tails on the stops... Great work... Vocals are outstanding...
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    Lynn
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 10:27:53 (permalink)
    What a good song and production this is.  This song breathes and is very 3 dimensional.  This is a good example of what Sonar can do.

    All the best,
    Lynn

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    Razorwit
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 11:06:24 (permalink)

    Hi folks,
    Thanks for the ears. Good to know I haven't gone way off the deep end with this one. 

    jamesg1213 and Foxwolfen - you're spot on with the acoustic guitar. It was tracked in a room with some problems so I'm fighting that a bit, but I need to go back and see if I can fatten it out some. I think the other thing going on with that part leads right into Foxwolfens comment about the mix being cold. Since there are so many things going on in this piece my goal was to keep things clean and separated and I wonder if in doing that I haven't made things too sterile. I'm probably going to try and liven up the bass guitar sound a bit and try and fix the acoustic guitar and then maybe play with UAD's FATSO or Studer to make things a bit more chunky. Hmmm...might just try to run the entire mix through a couple channels of the Sebatron tube pre to see what that does as well...

    Frank, thanks for the listen and the kind words. We actually left out any sort of intro on purpose. Music directors are frequently "get to the point and get there fast or I'm moving on to the next song" kind of guys, so we wanted to grab them fast. Might play with the 'verb tails a bit though. Now if I could just get that super-cool gooey warmth you have on all your stuff. You're not gonna be in SLC any time soon, are you? :)

    Lynn, thanks for listening. I've always appreciated your comments both on my work and on others.

    In any case, I might bug ya'all with one more version.

    Thanks again
    Dean

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    californiamusic
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 11:07:07 (permalink)
    Sounds nice!  The only thing that stood out on my monitors was it sounded Tinny, or too much hi-EQ.

    What VST instruments and guitar plugins are you using?  ; )

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    foxwolfen
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 11:09:14 (permalink)
    Don't over think it Dean. It seems like a very simple eq tweak on the master would be all it needs. You are 95% there IMO.

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    drumstixkev
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 11:26:48 (permalink)
    Hey Dean
    FANTASTIC piece of music from the arrangement to the performance.  Love how this song builds up with the percussion beats and the cello/bass line.  Lyrics and vocal performance are GREAT.  Nice... tone on the electric how it just floats in the background and sits perfect in the mix.  If I had to nit-pick and this is really reaching because it's such a FANTASTIC sounding mix it would be the EQing of the lead.  The recording/mix of the instruments has a nice warmth that I'm not hearing as much in the lead vocal.  When your talking the vocals it blends perfect with the mix, a nice low and high end warmth.  When you really let loose that's when I'm hearing the high end take over making you sound a smidge brittle.  Maybe its just me and my room/enviroment. IMO it needs maybe a touch of mid EQing or backing off the high end just a hair.  Some, tape saturation to add the warmth. I really can't put my finger on it. But I only hear it when you let loose.  All in all I can't say enough about this piece.  I would  love to be able to write/arrange and perform as well as you have done here.  KUDOS!



    Kev
    On my 6th listen!

    post edited by drumstixkev - 2012/06/24 11:29:52

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    Razorwit
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 12:38:17 (permalink)
    Hi folks,

    californiamusic - Yep it's a bit brittle. It's funny, I had a look at the master bus found an instance of UAD Precision EQ strapped across it that was boosting 3.25 by 3db. Once I pulled that down it made a ton of difference. Re: VST's and such, Synth's are mostly Absynth, the bass guitar is Scarbee Pre-bass. Synth drums are Battery, Acoustic drums are Sup Drummer. Guitars are a mix of Guitar Rig and a Bogner amp and some mics :) Various fx plugs are in there as well...mostly UAD and T-Racks. Vox was all tracked with a U87 through Great River pre's and an 1176.

    Foxwolfen - Yeah...I think that EQ that I had forgotten about will likely solve most of it. Should have a new version shortly.

    Voxbox - Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. I think you're spot on with the brittleness...hopefully the EQ work that I'm doing will solve it. Thanks for the listen.

    Dean

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    #10
    Razorwit
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? 2012/06/24 15:06:49 (permalink)
    New warmed up version at the top.

    Thanks again for the help on this folks.

    Dean

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    Lynn
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/24 18:40:17 (permalink)
    Dean, I just listened to the remix, and you got it right.  It was great before, but now it's better.  This  is one of my all time forum favorites.  That's why I keep coming here, for gems like this.

    All the best,
    Lynn

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    drumstixkev
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/24 19:34:28 (permalink)
    Yessssssssss we have warmth!  A wonderful piece of music/talent. KUDOS Dean!


    Kev

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    #13
    paulo
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/26 18:11:51 (permalink)
    This is great. Love the composition and textures. I thought the vocal seemed a little buried on the first couple of lines and a little too forward on the lines just after where it breaks about 2/3 of the way through after the sustained violin note - sorry can't give you the timing as this comes up as quick time player for me and there is no timer on it.
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    ABeautifulVirus
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/26 18:37:32 (permalink)
    This is splendid. Very balanced mix. The vocals remind me of Sunny Day Real Estate a bit. How did you warm up the 2nd version?  Just EQ or did you use like an Avalon or other tube pre? 
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    foxwolfen
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/27 03:39:15 (permalink)
    Outstanding.

    A scientist knows more & more about less & less till he knows everything about nothing, while a philosopher knows less & less about more & more till he knows nothing about everything.

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    Razorwit
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/27 17:29:14 (permalink)
    Hi folks,
    Thanks for the comments.

    Paulo, thanks for the listen and the suggestions. I know just the spots you're talking about. I'll have a listen and maybe ride fader a bit.

    ABeautifulVirus - Thank you. I boosted some mid-range frequencies in the bass guitar, eased off a bit on the shelving on the vocals and, probably most importantly, found a UAD Precision EQ instance on the master bus that was boosting 3.25khz by 2.5 db. Not sure when or why I put that there (yeesh, how much am I drinking?), but once I removed most of that bump the song became less harsh immediately.

    foxwolfen - Thank you. I appreciate the comments and suggestions a ton.

    Dean

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    Thatsastrat
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/28 12:15:30 (permalink)
    I almost missed this. So glad I jammed on the brakes to give this a listen.
    Very well done. I really like the song, and have no comments to give about the mix.
    Bravo!!!

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    Wookiee
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/29 15:26:04 (permalink)
    for the Remix

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    twisted6s
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/29 16:36:05 (permalink)
    Excellent Dean, great arrangement!!

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    Razorwit
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    Re:Borrow some ears for a song? New version June 24 2012/06/30 12:54:52 (permalink)
    Hi Strat, Wookiee and twisted - thanks for the listen and the kudos. Always nice to get good reviews from long time forum folks.

    Dean

    Intel Core i7; 32GB RAM; Win10 Pro x64;RME HDSPe MADI FX; Orion 32 and Lynx Aurora 16; Mics and other stuff...
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