"I Don't Mind" (1% Country, 99% Rock) Mix #3 - 10-17-15

Hi Bob,
 
Great to hear a different flavour to the usual, but still probably keeping in theme with an album you might create.
 
2 things cropped up for me:
Some of your vocal timing particularly at the starting verse, doesnt click with the beat riff enough. Sway you head to the beat and then sing it, dont let the words break the sway!
Thought another element could of been added to this to help diversify it, and i was thinking a bruce springsteen type electric keys here and there, off rhythmic block chords.
 
Only thoughts, the song is all there. and well for mixing, people never pay as much attention that that as you think, not bothered me anyway!
 
Cian

Sounded very good Bob (great tones on the guitar as usual). Your vocal/guitar recording/mixing sounds great on my headphones!!! (love BIG guitar sound). I also agree with Cian on the vocal timing (although it's very slight) and also with Andy regarding bass needing to be a little more clear/not so much lost in the mix.
 
A few slight tweaks is all this very catchy tune needs.....well done!!
 
More than Modern Country, it sure sounded closer to Dokken......and that's a very good thing.  

Bob Oister
 
 
Rock with maybe just a little touch of Modern Country
 

 
Uh huh..this is about as 'Modern Country' as ZZ Top.... Great track, fantastic riffs and a cool key change into the break, 2:39 was real Billy Gibbons territory, loved that tone! Superb vocal, you really hit the roof on the chorus.
 
Excellent little touch with the 'dawn chorus' at the end, so I guess everything turned out 'alright'

Fun heavy rawk. Nice job! I caught the timing issues as you went into the chorus . . . editing sure is fun, eh? I'd also vote for dropping your volume down like 2db when your vocal is shining. It will make your vocal seem louder and more up front.
 
Because your guitar sounds so great and you play it so well, I can see why you would want to leave it loud throughout the song! But I'd cut it back a tad for the sake of your vocals.
 
Other than that, I thought the mix hangs together pretty well. I didn't mind the bass the way it was, pretty tucked away, because in this song it's not really about the bass. It's just doing it's job, pretty close to a percussion instrument. So it fits this mix in my opinion.
 
cheers! cool tune!
-Tom

Really great tune Bob. Kind of reminds me of the time right before 80's Metal became mainstream, a dash of "Loverboy" Great performances and production.

classic Oister "in yer face" stuff!  love it!
 
great guitar work, Bobster! 
 
I'm listening to mix #2, and you said you've worked on the vocal timing, but I'm still hearing problems there at the chorus- maybe you're trying to syncopate there?  IDK, but it's not working, IMO, the timing of the vocals in the chorus is killin' my buzz for the song! 
 
sorry - I think this is the first time I've had anything harsh to say about any of your songs...but I'd still look at the vocals on the choruses again.
 
otherwise - great rockin stuff Bobster!

CreatingNoise:
 
 
Hey, Tony,
 
It's great to hear from you, bro, hope you're having a dynamite weekend!
 
Thanks for stopping by on this one and for your always good input, observations and kind words!
 
I really appreciate the Sammy Hagar comment, he's another one who's always been a big musical influence on me, and over the many years in my cover bands I've played and sang tons of Sammy Hagar songs.  Beginning way back with "Rock The Nation", "Rock Candy" and "Bad Motor Scooter" from the first Montrose album, moving on to all kinds of stuff from his "Red Rocker" solo albums, then the Van Hagar stuff, and the post Van Halen solo stuff with the Waboritas, and I also really love the new Chickenfoot stuff with Joe Satriani, too!  I saw Montrose with Sammy three times on the very first tour and then multiple times with his original solo band and then with the Wabos.  His bio book was a riot and also a great read for any rock musician.
 
Anyway, big thanks, Tony, I always look forward to and greatly appreciate your input, observations, friendship and support!
 
Have a good one, buddy!
Bob
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ohgrant:
 
 
Hey, Grant,
 
How's it going, buddy, hope you're having a Rockin' weekend and doing great!
 
Thanks, brother, I really appreciate you giving this one a listen for me, and also your very encouraging comments!
 
I'm always grateful for your input, support and friendship, and your observations and opinion really mean a lot to me.
 
Have a good one, Grant!
Bob
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gruverider:
 
Hey, gruverider,
 
Thanks, buddy, I really appreciate you giving this a listen for me, I’m very grateful that you enjoyed it and also for your kind words of encouragement!
 
LOL, Ah, yes, many good memories of touring with my bands during the 80’s, lots of good times!
 
Thanks again for checking this out and commenting, have a great week!
Bob
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stevec:
 
Hey, Steve,
 
How’s it going, buddy?  Hope you’re doing great!
 
Big thanks for checking this out for me and for your good input, observations and kind words!
 
For Mix #3, which I’m hoping to post late tonight or tomorrow, I’m going to bump up the vocals a touch, as per your suggestion, add some organ to the third chorus and touch up the timing and chorus transitions a bit.
 
Thanks again for giving this a listen and for your always good input, advice and suggestions, greatly appreciated!
 
Have a good one!
Bob
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Yeah... I like your stuff, but man, that ain't country... not even close. Compared to some of your other stuff...it's not as heavy, but it still ain't country.
 
But nothing wrong with that.
 
Love the guitar tone.
 
You gotta have some lyrics about momma, prison, pickup trucks.... wait that was old country.... new country is... pickup trucks, sugar shakers, kegs on ice, bonfire in the country, and ya gotta have a fiddle or a dobro, but a banjo seals the deal....and you can still keep the sweet guitar tone you got going on. A nice clean tele filling the licks works too.

I just wrote a song that tells you how to get that all done.  http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13216873  lol...
 
 
Good song Bob... I like it.

NOTE: New Mix Up - 10-17-15
 
After all your great input, I beefed up the bass low end just a touch, added the organ under the third chorus, drastically simplified the drum fills because after close examination, I think they were the root cause of the slight timing issues noted by some of your good ears, and raised the vox and guitar solo each by just 1dB.  I'm hoping I've got the overall volume levels pretty close now.
 
If anybody thinks the instrument or vocal volume levels are way off or anything is poking out too much, please let me know!  Thanks again to everyone for all your input, advice and suggestions!
 
Bob

Beagle:
 
Hey, Reece, how's it going, buddy?  Hope you're having a great weekend!
 
Big thanks for checking this one out for me and for your good input, observations and suggestions!
 
On this new mix (Mix#3) I slightly tweaked the chorus vocal timing, but I think it was actually the really overdone drum fills that I had going on in the chorus making it seem like the vocals were the culprit.  I soloed and inspected the vox and drums together and checked the transient alignment, then the guitars and vox, and everything was hitting on the beat, but when the drum fills came in it seemed to make the chorus vox seem either slightly early or late!  Pretty weird and annoying, so I drastically simplified the drum fills and it seems to be much better.
 
And, Reece, there's absolutely never any need to be sorry for voicing your true opinion on my stuff, and I didn't think your comment was harsh at all!  I truly appreciate you taking time to listen and offer your input, advice and suggestions, and I always try my best to isolate and figure out the things other people are hearing and commenting on to see how best to fix them.  In my opinion, that's what makes this forum such a great place to keep learning and improving, and an invaluable tool for anybody working in recording, mixing and producing.  So, never worry about offending me when commenting on my stuff, it's what I'm here for and I'm the one asking for your opinion.
 
Anyway, really nice work on your last two Scandalous Grace collabs, really good stuff!  You guys make a great team, and the musicianship and productions skills are always top notch!
 
Thanks again, Beags, I always look forward to and greatly appreciate your input, friendship and support!  Have a good one!
 
Bob
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kevinwal:
 
Hey, Kevin, how's it going, brother?  Hope you're having a Rockin' weekend!
 
Thanks so much for giving this a listen and for your input and very encouraging words!
 
As per your suggestion, for Mix #3 I bumped up the volume of the guitar solo just a dB to hopefully make it pop into focus a bit more.  Being a "live" player for a zillion years in hard rock and metal bands, I've always been used to cranking up the guitar solos when the full band's energy kicks in on stage, but it's made me paranoid about overdoing the volume on the guitar solos when mixing my stuff.  I'm always afraid of the solo squashing down everything else and overpowering the rest of the mix, so I always start out conservatively.  I'm still not sure if only one dB did the trick, but if you see this please let me know what you think.
 
Yeah, Sammy's big Cabo Wabo birthday bash was just last week, man, I'd love to make it down to one of those someday!  There are a few live mini-clips of this years bash on his Youtube channel with his son reporting, look like a real blast.
 
Thanks again for lending your ears, and commenting, and by the way, your song "Shot In The Back" is pure DYNAMITE!  One of my all time favorites here on the forum!
 
Have a good one!
Bob
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Wookiee:
 
Hey, Wook, how are you, my friend, hope you're doing great!
 
Thank you, Sir, I really appreciate you lending your furry ears to this one for me and also your very kind words of encouragement!
 
Greatly appreciated, brother John!
 
Best Wishes,
Bob
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Guitarhacker:
 
Hey, Herb,
 
It's really great to hear from you, buddy!  Hope you're doing well!
 
LOL, Yep, the original subject line for the post was my little "tongue in cheek" way of expressing my surprise at feeling like I was unintentionally possessed by the guy from Rascal Flats when I first played back my phrasing on the first take of the verse vocals!   I actually started to hit "Undo" and then re-record, but then I figured, what the heck, a little bit of change is good sometimes and just went with it!
 
This song is actually probably more like that old joke about playing a country record backwards.  It  might start off a very teensie, weensie bit country sounding vocally, but as the song goes on you get your job back, your wife and dog come home and everything ends up just peachy! LOL!
 
Anyway, thanks so much for checking this out for me and for your very kind words, and congrats again on your recent song placement!  I consider you a dynamite songwriter and musician, and appreciate your input!
 
Have a good one, buddy!
Bob
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Bapu:
 
Hey Ed,
 
It's really great to hear from you, brother!  Hope you're having a great weekend!
 
Thank you kindly, good sir, I really appreciate you stopping by on this one and your input and encouraging comments!  Especially because the quality of your stuff is always top notch, and you've always been a great friend since I first joined the forum, and that means a lot to me.
 
I'm always grateful for your input and support, Ed, Have a Rockin; weekend, buddy!
 
Bob
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Bert Guy:
 
Hey, Bert, 
 
How are things, buddy?  Hope your doing well!
 
Thank you so much for giving this a listen for me, and also your good input and kind words!
 
Yes, Sir, I'm still on the fence about the bass on this one.  On the first mix the bass was a little muddy so I thinned it out for Mix 2 and gave it a slight boost.  But then I though I might have sculpted out too much low end and beefed up the bottom a bit for Mix 3.  LOL, it's to the point where I may have to just flip a coin and go for it!
 
Since getting things going again after being away from recording and mixing for quite a few months, it seems like the bass is where I always run into issues.
 
Thanks again, Bert, I really appreciate your input, observations and comments, and I'm grateful for your friendship and support!
 
Have a great weekend!
Bob
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Rimshot:
 
Hey, Jimmy,
 
How are you, buddy?  Hope you're doing great!
 
Thanks so much, Jimmy, I really appreciate you lending your good ears to this mix and your encouraging comments!
 
Yes, Sir, since my long break I've been having a little trouble nailing down the low end on my stuff.  When I got back in the studio after 6 or 7 months of not recording or mixing I thought my older stuff sounded like it was bottom heavy compared to my usual reference material.  So, I sculpted out a ton of low end from my drums and bass, and some from the rhythm guitars.  When I posted my first few new songs back on here, a few guys said the low end end punch was missing, so I've been slowly bumping the bottom back up a bit with each mix, but still trying to keep from swamping the low end.  In my reply about this latest mix above I mentioned beefing up the bass a touch but lowering it in the mix.  On the bass it's seems like it's always a fine line between better definition or more oomph.  Hopefully more EQ tweaking will help!
 
Thanks again, Jim, it's always good to hear from you!  Have a good one!
 
Bob