Factory Yoyo presents: Waiting for the End

I'll have to hold off on a techy listen when I get gome in a couple weeks...so I'll just jump in with a general comment and say I love it!!! She moves so well across the soundscape...and the lead break is killer...

this is an A++ but I'll be back with a better listen in a couple week...

Love it...

What a sound James! I wish I could make my stuff sound this good.

Definitely a rocker in the U2 vein, and very well done.  The track sounds great and so do the vocals.  Who did all those BG vox voices?  The only comment I have is that you've got an intriguing lyric there, but it's a bit hard to pull it out, so maybe the lead vox lines need to be a bit more out front?  Excellent tune and performance all around though, James.

I can definitely hear the U2 influence. Nice song and production. This rocks .... I know it's the way U2 does it often, but I think I would bring some of those really tasty leads up front a bit - there are quite a few which are right up there but occasionally there are some really tasty tidbits that are washed out. This sounds really fine with my headphones with a decent usb interface, but I'll be back tonight to listen on my DAW.

Allah Akbar! I'm offended by the infidel!!

I like it, it's definately what you said, sounds like U2. 

I think the overall mix could be a little brighter? like on the mains? But maybe not. 

Send it to me, and I'll redo the bass and drums and mix it for you? LOL! 


And I'm waiting for the "end?" Butt it has a different connotation...

jimmyman


  Your stuff is always so well (put together) that "that" comes to the forefront of
my perception (of your work) as if to say that I notice (that first) and the "mix"
secondly in contrast to me maybe noticing "the mix" first. Often times your mixes
are similar in "tone" to the concept of clean. What your mixes don't generally
have is what I'd call fatness. I'm not implying that your mixes lack in any way at all,
because everyone knows just how great you are at it.

You displayed just how great you are at mixing etc on Robbys tune. The parts in
it are very lush and warm sounding yet clear and distinctive. It really brought out the
performances and made them shine so well. Maybe in the case of having less
stuff to mix or the style or other things had you think differently or go for that
difference in what and how that you approached and did things.

"On this" at the start I was noticing a compressed sound. Later I got used to that
but things started sounding "washed" and a lack of low end punch. And the "verb"
subject was a little bit strong. In comparing the concept of your mixes to U2
and such (I'm not an authority) on that subject as I don't have the experience
with that that you do. What I do have is an "idea" or at least some small
(I've heard that) subject.

It makes me wonder if back then (If I'm using the term back then properly)
that if they had todays technology that they would have focused more on
"tone quality"  and less verb. In other words less "verb space" and more
low end, warmth or punch.

I don't know and can only speculate, but that is what I wonder here in your case
on the mix. Such as more fatness, less verby? more distinction whereas the
amount of parts in itself will give it a bit of space by the nature "of more parts".

This mix also has a chorusy sound to it in the way of sounding layered. I perceive it
that way anyway.

  Anyway (as usual) you did an awesome job on this and all I'm doing giving some
thoughts as you seem to (in your thread) speak of wanting a fresh perspective.
So I'm not thinking of crits in my remarks, just thoughts.

  Oh? I've been noticing your bass guitar sound lately and playing. it sounds very
good. If your doing something differently I hear that (or) I'm just noticing the
bass more.

    Great job James

I think the reason my Robbie song sounds "fatter" (a qualitative, not quantitative, perception) is that I had an easy anchor to build around: that man can sing. I cannot. So I am forced by my own shortcomings to focus on styles and mixes, as opposed to performance (which believe me, would be so much easier!). In this U2 style that I chose, it is all about using reverbs and delays to create a wall of sound that is fairly indecipherable, and many of the U2 records are not what anyone would call "fat", but actually kinda sparse.  When I was younger I tried to figure out "Pride in the Name of Love", but unless you understand how the Edge layers his guitars, you would scratch your head trying to figure it out. While the Edge uses multiple guitars and setups to achieve this effect, I am using sadly only a single guitar, and am finding it is becoming increasingly difficult to pull off these immensely layered guitar parts with its singular tonal qualities.  I am looking to get a Strat next month as a result.


As for the clean mixes statement, I agree. I am still learning all this mixing stuff, and while I am becoming proficient at the "clean" sound in all genres, I long to get good enough to mix with "style" and "character", which I think any honest listener would not say about my mixes. Doing a decent job of giving each part of the arrangement its own space kinda prevents the nice harmonic distortion that gives a fat sound. 



I am not sure how compressed this song is, but it is kinda huge, with a ton of parts all vying for room. And while I probably have 20+ compressors running, most of that is for boost and punch on individual tracks/busses, but not limiting.  The last 15 seconds, with all the five vocal lines looking for their own space, was particularly challenging, as the amount of HPF'ing I did would shock a lot of people.  In the end, this song turned out not as I imagined it, but as I could manage it, if that makes sense.

Hope you are feeling better, my friend.

Unfortunately, my ex opened her FX bin and applied fatter.vst on our honeymoon and liked the way it sounded, so she never took it off  

-- 2:44 middle is ultra sweet to my ears ... 'tis those backing vocs

-- guitars are wonderful

-- groove is solid

-- elements of psychedelia, alt rock, classic rock, and a lot of sweet cascading melodies countering.

-- my ears inclined to 'hear the words' a bit in sections ... I suppose they'd be clearer on repeat listens and/or with some EQ sculpting or such.

In sum, despite a little 'ear adjustment' during 1st minute, this is my fav of yours to date: 10/10

Message/Lyrics, Guitars, Groove, Melodies, Vibe ... they all seem cascade into the wonderful middle and finale.  This seems a unique and powerful concept.  Great collab!

Hi, James,
 
Another catchy, U2 / Duran Duran style pop rocker with a nice clean, pro sounding mix!  Great vocal performance, and I really love that clean, shimmery rhythm guitar tone that drives the whole song.
 
Good stuff, buddy!
Bob

Philip:

It's been a while since I made a new favorite for you, so mission accomplished.

Bob:

How you doing, buddy? Thanks for the listen.

Geno:

It is indeed SD2.0, and they do sit so nicely in the mix!

Wookie:



Bapu:

The drums are almost totally dry. The guitars, by nature of the genre, are where they are, i guess. Hope you are more forgiving with Spockpit.

Hi James,

Great song!  Definitely has the U2 and 80s vibe.

Incredible mix, as always, and an outstanding arrangement, too.

Love the guitar tones.



 

This sounds great.  I really liked the guitars through the entire mix.  The vocal has a good pocket in the mix as well.  Nothing steps on it.  The only minor thing is that the drums felt like they were a little bit off center which may be on purpose.  It just felt a little bit heavy to one side because of the drums being off center.

Excellent work!

Thanks for sharing,
Tom

kk I'm back off the road and got my studio ears on...

as stated above many times this is a well lubed machine so I'll cut to the chase and tell you what I think doesn't work too well...

@ :30  your using a falsetto vox in "it has a rhythm you can feel" and although the pitch and notes are dead on it's not at all convincing to my ears...the lower of the vox there I'd push forward and maybe double up then brush back that falsetto one so it can be felt but not demanding of my attention...it (the higher notes) comes across a bit better @ :44ish when you have a go at it again as that section is phrased with a lil "schtick" or so it seems...so it does work a bit better there but it still kinda reeks of "guy doin girl part"...now if you could have someone sit in to throw the real deal in there...(Fvox that is)..I fully hear what you where shooting for and I think it would be a home run. This all once again happens next verse...but here the funny thing is...when you do the "La la la la la's" @ 1:50 it works very very well..why?...its the same tone? IMO It's because this section is spoofie and jovial...so your vox there works better than a fvox!!..and I LOVE the way it drops into the next part @ 1:58 that very serious sounding "oh oh oh ohsss".....its like sugar then salt!!...I love to hear gears shifting like that..that is a piece of greatness hidden there!




Now back up to 1:33ish....you stop this section with a double snare hit followed by the obligatory U2 double guitar gangle...I think that's much like having 2 punctuation marks at the end of the sentience...I'd like to see them hit dead on..or nix one or the other..and have a wee bit of dead space there for a breath..this song is soaked with great lil jingles and gangles...a clear breath i believe would work well here.....I think I do a pop-pop snare quarter note or half note of silence then kick it in again

The above vocal parts for me are really deal breakers sorry to say...easy fixes (for my ears) but I can't get past them....of course once I do there a gemstone..I know this..I just can't look beyond.

The 1:33 deal is like adding more or less ketchup to a burger..no more than that..but again for me...I'd work that to my taste and I think this song would enjoy the space.

From 1:58 I'm not sure I could give this tune any higher marks and that includes all the vocal parts...really really brilliant!

A++ all the way round and I think tunes like this stand tall in a world of very ordinary noise.

Great job!

Great song and production James. Kudos. Love the vocals.