Xyanthus - New Mix 5/5/2011

Hi Ian , I like the composition and that djembe  is a nice touch. I personally don't like the distorted e-piano, sounds to dark and distorted, duh , maybe some more compression and less distortion would smooth it out a bit, just an idea.

Greetings, Rik

I love it!  Djembe works fine.  Piano playing is wonderful.  The guitar sound doesn't thrill me...or maybe it's just too much of a good thing.  But on the whole I really like the composition.  I love the way it builds here and there (for instance, at 3:05--marvelous!)  and I love the paths it goes down, if that makes any sense.  :) 

How did you mic the djembe?  The only thing I thought of, regarding the djembe, is that with a real kit it's easier to 'build' where you want to.  (I would have been pounding on the toms in a couple of places.) 

But I still just love this.  I haven't heard you play in awhile...I've been missing out.  :)  Thanks for posting this.

you could try a bit of parallel compression on the djembe to see if that helps to bring out the sub-frequencies. distorted e-piano, huh? pretty cool idea! nice tune on this song, as ever, and well played.

http://www.hometracked.co...for-fatter-drum-tones/

also known as 'new york' compression. lotsa web articles on the thing, it may or may not work..

OK - thanks guys... I messed with this for the last 1/2 hour.  I definitely get a fatter sound.  I think I'm going to stick with the thinner sound, at least for now because now it sounds too cluttered in the low mids... IE especially as the djembe relates to the kick, bass and 'guitar'.

It's a great technique though and I'll use it in the future.  I think starting out with the fatter djembe sound and then building the mix around it would be the way to go.  It's a great tip.  I'll probably use it on a bunch of stuff...

Thanks!

Peace,

Ian

There's actually a few discussions out there:

http://www.remo.com/forum...=1&tpg=5&age=0
http://recording.org/pro-...-micing-a-djembe.htmls

Bottom line is that there's lots of way to mic a djembe.  For such a simple instrument, it's complicated, sound-wise!

I DO like the parallel compression idea.  It occurs to me that you might get an interesting sound by micing both the head and the bottom and applying that heavy compression to the bottom mic only.

Peace,

Ian

Instrumentals are hard to do, good job, gave me a sound track vibe. 

Cool tune not keen on the distorted piano sound.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Ian, first of all it's a great piece of music and I certainly enjoyed listening to both versions several times. I personally love the alternative mix, to me that Djembe now fits very well. I think it drives the song forwards as opposed to the first mix. Somehow I thought the alternative mix sounded like a live performance, and a good one at that. Even that distorted e-piano is starting to grow on me . Off course all of this is totally subjective and it's your music so it's your call , thanks for sharing.


Greetings, Rik

Hi Colonel , it's a Lâg 112nce nylon-string electro-acoustic.

Greetings, Rik

Ian, I loved this! What's not to love? I just hits home to me and I really enjoyed it. On the guitar thing, yeah that's a tough one...but you did a nice job on that considering. One thing you may want to consider in the future...and I so hate admitting this because it's putting guys like me out of work...but....*gulp* there is an alternative that is so realistic...if you don't watch this dude playing keyboards and turn your head, it's the most convincing thing I've ever heard hands down.

http://www.prominy.com/SC.htm

I'm still in awe over this thing and thought of buying it "just to have". Check out the vids and then listen to the assorted mp3's...it's mind blowing for those that may not be guitarists or have the resources to print guitar.

On the p-comp thing, I personally wouldn't use it on this particular tune as I think fatter would make it a bit more dominant and less intimate. The only thing I'd change would be the guitar thing...but even that isn't anything that bothers me. I just know it's a sim of sorts...but try to put that in the back of my mind and enjoy the tune for what it is....and enjoy I did. :)

hey Ian, i like this new mix. the percussion is more upfront and really drives the song.

just a FYI, but you can do the same kinda thing using eq, which sometimes works better on vocals/bass and other sources - really extreme eq'ing accentuating either the highs, mids or bass, just mixed under the original source...

  This is awesome man!!!!!  I like the vibe this tune has on it. Very cool.

No complaints here. Just maybe one slight thing, maybe add a bit more treble to the lead guitar, it sounds fine as is, but I think it might give a bit more edge and ring to it. Don't get me wrong, my hearing lately hasn't been all that great, and that's a personal preference you might say, perhaps a speaker thing also. I listen to everything from the internet flat with no EQ or nothing like that.

Eitherway, I enjoyed hearing this, thanks, excellent!!!!!!

I've been watching this thread and finally got a chance to listen again.  I guess I missed the alt mix, but I like this one, having the the djembe a little more prominent.

Still really diggin' your piano playing most of all though, and how the orchestration builds in all the right places.  I really love this piece.  Makes me want to sit and pound the heck out of my keyboard.  :)