Helpful ReplyNew Song "Blues Boy"

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danalyze16@gmail.com
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2015/08/28 21:10:43 (permalink)

New Song "Blues Boy"

Hello everyone...I am new to the forums and hope I have done this properly. I wanted to let everyone know about a new song completed by my project (Fused In Blue) called "Blues Boy". Was hoping to really get some insights and comments from all on the tune, production and well, anythign that crosses your mind to say about the track! :)  Thanks in advance for your time. I am really striving to learn as much about utilizing Cakewalk as we record and do this all DIY so all input is welcomed! Please check out the song here... "https://soundcloud.com/d-s-49/blues-boy-final"
 
 
post edited by danalyze16@gmail.com - 2015/08/28 21:19:35

Rock On~~
Dan S
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Larry Jones
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/08/28 23:32:14 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/08/29 03:52:08
Nice guitar playing! You are definitely "doing this properly." You might want to see if you can make the drums keep up with the guitar as the intensity rises and falls. They get buried a bit.

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synkrotron
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/08/29 01:39:36 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 11:55:08
Hi Dan,
 
Welcome to the Cakewalk forum 
 
Which flavour of Sonar are you using to create this stuff?
 
I'm not the best to comment on mixing and mastering because it's not what I am best at. One thing I would say, listening to Blues Boy, is I'd prefer to hear the drums in the centre of the mix... At least the kick and snare anyway, with the other elements panned to left and right to suit...
 
I listened to Long For Home next. The drums in that is what I would expect in a mix.
 
That said, it is only my personal preference, and perhaps I'm being a bit of a stick in the mud on that issue 
 
Guitar playing is fantastic... I wish I could play like that haha! Nice tones too. Care to share your process?
 
cheers
 
andy

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Rikkie
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/08/29 02:49:07 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 11:55:16
Hi Dan,nice ballad. Solid guitar playing overall but intonation on a couple of slow bends is a bit iffy,imho.
 
Rik
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danalyze16@gmail.com
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/08/29 04:05:27 (permalink)
Hey everyone...thanks for the initial input from all...I'm not a big "forums kind of guy so here goes my best shot at responses...I am using Sonar Producer X3. 
 
Larry...Thanks for that tip! I did not think to ride the faders on the drums while I was doing the final mix and it would have made a big difference for sure!
 
Andy...Thanks too. I gave the drums a little width on the channel tools and didn't touch back with it on a second set of speakers. As for guitar tones, I mainly record with a 2014 Les Paul (but do not use the boost toggle at all) and I live in an apartment so most times I am running through a Digitech RP500. I have a setting called "Eric Johnson" that I vary between using the built in Blackface (rhythm work mainly) or Soldano (lead work) and I change the cabinet to a Digitech Alt 4X12. I shape everything with either a tube screamer or DS1 (again depending on rhythm or lead work and how gnarly or how much sustain I am looking to get). Then I toggle the digital delay on and off as needed. I tap tempo it to the tune and usually have the repeats and level both  @25. Tone wise on the amp models themselves I generally start with Bass at 7.5, Mids at 7.5 and the highs cut back to between 4 and 5. That should get you in the ballpark nicely. I also used a Hamer Monaco XT on this track for one of the rhythm guitars and some of the cleaner things.
 
Rik...I checked out one of your pieces and was inspired / blown away. A LOT of Django in there and superbly played. I totally appreciate your comment and need to watch that. It is a weakness in my playing that I am aware of but loose concentration on in the midst of the performance too much....great constructive advice that I appreciate.
 
   Thanks a lot gentlemen...I really appreciate the insights. Hoping this weekend to get some more time to look around here and get into others' music as well. Take care all and many thanks again!
 
Dan S 
 

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Dan S
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synkrotron
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/08/29 04:19:39 (permalink)
Thanks for the info Dan

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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/09/02 14:26:25 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 11:56:29
I liked it...    It's got a cool vibe to it, and the lead guitar playing is very nice - great style.   Your input chain seems to be working well for ya!
 
Mix-wise the only thing that stood out to me (using cheapo headphones) was the extreme panning of the drums.  Otherwise I probably wouldn't change much.
 

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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/09/02 17:38:14 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 11:56:27
Good stuff...good control of the arpeggio and smokin lead.
 
This would be cool to hear live!!
 
 
Cheers,
 
 
Billy

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polarbear
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/09/02 18:04:05 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 11:56:33
Killer guitar work. Very cool track.

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dcumpian
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/09/02 19:59:24 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 11:56:38
Really well done track. Drum panning, while a little unusual, actually doesn't sound that bad, but all of your high frequencies are off-center, which does tilt the mix a bit. Right side guitars are a bit indistinct as well...
 
I'd center the bass and drums, because the bass sort of slides around left of center and center and is muddying things up a bit. Tying the kick and bass to center as the foundation is pretty critical to getting a solid underpinning for a song.
 
Really good guitar performances though.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/09/04 23:20:23 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 11:56:49
Really nice track and great playing, agree with the comments about the drums apart from that couldn't really fault it.

Nice one,

Steve

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danalyze16@gmail.com
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/10/16 11:42:33 (permalink)
   A big thank you to all here with your insights and comments! It is really helpful to get the input of others who are in the know. I really appreciate the thoughts given. Learning all the possibilities with X3 Producer is daunting but very rewarding :)
 
Dan 

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Dan S
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/10/16 12:33:51 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby danalyze16@gmail.com 2015/10/16 13:00:40
Nice track with some nice playing, channel tools for width on the kit explains the strange panning.  What kit/softsynth/??? did you use for the drums?
 
Thanks for sharing.

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danalyze16@gmail.com
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/10/16 12:51:10 (permalink)
Hey Wookie...this was done with Session Drummer 3 in Sonar X3 Producer. I believe (in hindsight) what I might have actually done was used a "kill center" on the drums rather than just keeping them centered and applying a stereo imager to the whole track in the mastering stage ....living and learning :) 
 
Dan

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bapu
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/10/17 12:28:00 (permalink)
This one is mixed much better than Anthema. Maybe just a bit much on the drums verb. Especially on the break.

 

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ohgrant
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/10/17 13:46:54 (permalink)
Salute for the masterful soloing work, really enjoyable piece. I thought the mix was spot on too.

Me
 
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Re: New Song "Blues Boy" 2015/10/17 15:20:28 (permalink)
Nice.  Always love to hear blues guitar played with an edge. 

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