Strike It Rich-New Mix!

 
I'm in the process of doing the final mix for the tunes on my next CD. This is the first one I've tackled, I'd appreciate any feedback anyone could give me. Does this sound like a final mix to you? 
  
Strike It Rich 
 
Thanks for listening, hope you like it!
 
(uh, I was a little stressed the day I wrote it, LOL)
 
Progress Report:
I've done some tweaking (see my post below) hope it's better now.
I've had a fair amount of questions about the instrumentation on this tune so here's what I used:
 
All guitars are my Les Paul through a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2X12 amp
Bass is my Yamaha w/Bartolini pickups recorded direct
Piano is the Amber True Piano module
Violin is Dimension Pro synth
Drums are Session Drummer 3
 
The song was actually recorded in SONAR 8 PE and mixed in SONAR X1c Expanded 
 
Thanks for all the interest!!

Really enjoyed the tune and your vocals on it. Nice guitar break. On my system I'm wanting to hear a touch more low end and slightly less snap/high end on the snare. The mix sounds very close. Great work!

This is a good song with strong performances.  I agree with Guitarpima, somewhat, regarding the drums.  I hear a bit too much reverb on the drums which make them sound as if they are in a different space that the rest of the instruments.  At least, something is filling in the places where I think the use of space makes more sense.  In other words, the mix sounds stacked rather than wide and airy.  All else sounds very entertaining to my ears.  I think just a small tweek or two and you'll be good to go.

Excellent playing and arrangement, but i have to agree about the drums letting the side down.  They do sound overly-compressed and too bright for the track.

The bass lacks some ddefinition as it's difficult to distinguish between notes sometimes.

Loved the lead guitar solo and tone. Is it a strat?

With some work on the mix this track will show it's true potential.

I dunno about the complaints about the drums. I think it makes it unusual and not just another 'standards compliant' tune. I think it's not a bad thing to have these 'too loud' type things in songs sometimes, to make them stand out and have a character of their own.

Guitarpima



The drums are all wrong sound wise. Too compressed? The bass is to low with little definition. The bass drum needs more oomph.

+1

To:
radio, Squashman, Guitarpima,Lynn, Tim, Blipp, GColbert,
Droddey, Phil, Bapu, Slugbaby

Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and comment, it's much appreciated! I think the consensus opinion was pretty much right on, so I've done some tweaking, mellowed the drums a bit (although just a bit, I wanted the drums to kinda "push" the tune along) and brought the bottom out a little more. Thanks again guys you're what makes this forum the BEST!

guitarpime: Elvis and the Allman Brothers? LOL man, that made my week, thanks so much for that!

Sounding good Bob. The main ingredient in my mind to this song is the message. Your lyric prowess on this is really incredible. The mix, to me, is irrelevant. I'm not sure if the busy drums detract or not. Maybe I'm old, but, I'd just as well hear the lyric more in my face without much distraction. It all does sort of bang you over the head as you listen. BTW, I love the turn around thing you did. Did you program those drums? If so, HOW?

IHansen- Yeah, the intro with the violin and such is sorta Cajun I reckon. Thanks so much for the kind words!

Starise- Not sure what you mean by blending the guitars in stereo but thanks for listening and I'm really glad you like the tune!

timidi


Sounding good Bob. The main ingredient in my mind to this song is the message. Your lyric prowess on this is really incredible. The mix, to me, is irrelevant. I'm not sure if the busy drums detract or not. Maybe I'm old, but, I'd just as well hear the lyric more in my face without much distraction. It all does sort of bang you over the head as you listen. BTW, I love the turn around thing you did. Did you program those drums? If so, HOW?

Thank you so much Tim, the lyrics on this one are a bit different for me. Like I said on the song page, I had some stuff on my mind that day, LOL.
Actually I wanted the music to kinda "bang you over the head". It kinda seems to me like that's the way life is these days, we're just constantly bombarded with a cacaphony of bullsh*t and it makes it hard to concentrate on what's really important, ya know? Well, enough of the preaching. heh
Glad you liked the little bridge turnaround thingy, it was a lot of fun to do and again, not my usual style.
Most of the drums are stock midi patterns from Groove Monkee that I sorta "massaged" a bit, pushing some hits ahead of the beat, moving some behind, etc. except for the turnaround, I had to pretty much do all of that one. I program drums in the piano roll view, it's more work that way but that's the way I've always done it. I never got used to using the step sequencer or anyting else.
All my midi is done that way. It takes more time but it ain't like I got anything else I'd rather be doing.
 
Anyway, sorry for being so long winded, and thanks again for all the great comments!

Great song and I really like your voice on the song. You remind me of someone that I can't put my finger on. I like everything about the song except the organ/trumpet sound that is at the beginning. It gives the song a tinny, midi feel to me. Overall, great job.

This is a cool song.  After a few more listens - either you have tuned down the drums or I'm starting to realize that I just don't like the snare.  Not the tempo or where it sits in the tune/mix, I just don't like the sound of this snare.  I think I'd put a monster notch on it from 5K - 7 or 8K or so. 

I agree that the snare could use some EQ, but more in the lower mids rather that the 5-8kz range.  I think it has enough upper harmonics the way it is,  but could use a little low end punch.  There may also be another snare drum in SD that would be more appropriate.  Even if it stays the same, it is a good effort.

gcolbert


This is a cool song.  After a few more listens - either you have tuned down the drums or I'm starting to realize that I just don't like the snare.  Not the tempo or where it sits in the tune/mix, I just don't like the sound of this snare.  I think I'd put a monster notch on it from 5K - 7 or 8K or so.