"Winterset" - song and video - some wool sheared

Hi Tom,
 
The piano sounds a bit woolly to me at the start and could be clearer but fits nicely when the drums arrive + the strings could be louder as well.
 
Hope there's a winter video in the making as well.
 
Thanks for sharing.
 
All the best
 
paul

That's a very cool, mellow composition.  As far as the mix is concerned, it think it could use some more right to left separation - if that makes sense to you.  Keep in mind I'm no expert You panned the strings in the mix - that worked well.

I was stationed in Alaska back in the 70's. I remember walking guard duty under the northern lights during Jack Frost Maneuvers out in the woods during November of 1977. I totally get this song, Don't you dare change a thing.
 
Bill

Bill, Bjorn, Daryl, John B, Paul - thanks so much for the checkout and the thoughts. They did indeed help.
 
I revised the mix a skosh, and added a vid.
 
Keep pluggin' away y'all, the world needs music.
 
-Tom

Sounds like the native instruments sample library, una corda (felt piano).  The felt piano sound is ubiquitous now.  You might want to put a high pass on the piano to make it pop more.  Great tune.

Hi Tom,
 
The video is great, it both complements and lifts the music to another level.
 
You really have a good touch of matching video to music; some of the others I have watched remind me of a combination of the film style of 'Breaking Bad' and the video style of the Talking Heads 'Once in a Lifetime' which I really like.
 
This provides a nice interlude to the hectic schedule that has become winter time.
 
Good Job!
 
paul 

Well I don't really know anything about you, your playing skills are great. 
To each their own.
I hear lots of good parts.
IMO, To me, and if you want to move forward in your creations. You need to shorten the intro, less repeat and get to the meat of the song faster.
As a bit of advise.... once you have the basic melody (that's really nice) and stayed with me, Expand it into different directions from the heart of the work. Get out of the box of the melody. 
 
Peace! 

really nice arrangement
 
the piano at the beginning sounds like it had a blanket over it.
but i love the pacing, and the voicings, i just think the mix missed it's mark.

Thanks all!
John B, glad the video fits it for you. Thanks for the comments!
 
Bats, and Eph, you both took a look at the piano/mixing of piano, and I agree the piano is the most troubling part of this. I went with the Woodchester piano, which is a Kontakt instrument felt piano. Hammer hitting felt hitting strings. I personally think that particular tonality fits a winter mood. On my little piano at home, I usually play all felted up.
 
However, the listener is expecting "real piano" in a song, and so something seems wrong somehow. I get that. Don't know what to do there. I did try it with a real piano, but "felt" that felt was the winter choice here.
 
And as I learned, mixing a felt piano is difficult. Or at least the Woodchester was for me. Probably, the less you do to it with plug-ins, the better it sounds. Compression makes the initial transient a mile high. I can still hear a few spots that pop too much on the initial strike of the hammer. 
 
So, good vote for better piano sounds, I will mull it over. Many thanks there!
 
 
James, many thanks. I was shooting for sumpin' pretty. A nice chill-out.
 
Foggy! Many thanks for the ideas! The goal on this was not to get right to it, so much. This is a slow pour of an adult beverage at the end of a long day. It's four minutes of looking out a window. Your advice I think stands true for anything aiming for top 40 territory or even just tight songwriting in general. 
 
As for developing melodies off of melodies, and themes off of themes, you might find my other funk rock stuff more appealing. I'm on overkill mode on those . . . there's 12 themes at once when only three would clearly do.  :) Again, thanks for the listen and thoughts, much obliged.
 
Starise, much appreciate the kind words.
 
Paul Galtieri Bros, any work of mine that you can connect to any Talking Heads effort is super appreciated! They are in my top 5 of all time. Thanks!
 
Wayfarer, Ha! I wish I could globe trot and film beauty!!! Good question though, they are clips off the rack as it were. Thanks for checking it out . . .
 
Daryl, much obliged, glad you liked it . . .
 
cheers,
and happy Thanksgiving to y'all if it's your thing.
 
-Tom
 

Hi, Tom,
 
Absolutely beautiful piece of music, buddy, and I really love the gorgeous scenery in the video and how it fits the mood of the instrumental perfectly!
 
Great composition and playing as usual, and the mix is warm and well balanced.  I do think I'm with Paul and Bats on possibly nudging up the high pass EQ on the felt piano to remove a little bit of the low end to make it a touch less muddy, or possibly adding a tiny bit of sparkle to the high end on the piano track.  But, as always, everything about music and mixing is subjective, and it's your baby, and a beautiful baby it is!
 
Fantastic song, Tom, excellent work, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Bob

Dan, hello again! I shaved a resonance out of 205 hz by about 1.5 db with a tight q. Seems to help. I also put "Intensity" by Zynaptiq to work, bringing the high end up, but not too much. There is still some "bite" to some of those initial piano transients. It's a weird beast, the felt piano. Thanks for the encouragement and advice.
 
Bob, always a pleasure to get your take on it - I think I got rid of a little mud this time. Thanks so much!
 
James, I looked up "The Bridge" - that's creepy goodness right there. Thanks again!

Love this -- music and video both. I've done my share of winter camping -- it's my fav time of year, I'm totally a winter person -- and both the video and music are very evocative. And I love how it ends, the music sort of goes still and drifts off into the ether and radio chatter. Great piece all around, and the recording sounds fine to me. 

Thanks Manny - less is more sometimes, eh? Thanks for the drums idea, too.
 
Thanks, Amicus - I was kind of stoked how the ending came out, too! Just a happy accident, actually, I pulled that radio patch out of Omnishpere 1.0 while mindlessly trolling through presets. Who knew?
 
Glennbo, thanks, glad you liked the vid.
 
cheers,
-Tom

Thanks for sharing Tom. I found that to be really calming and thought provoking/reflective. How did you make the video?