Guest
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Shining Star
Hi, Jeff Hillius (composer) liked what we did on 5:30 and asked Ed, Mark, Ron and me to do one of his songs called "Shining Star" so here it is: Shining Star credits ( and good friends!! ) Music and Lyrics: Jeff Hillius Arrangement: Jeff Hillius and Jeff Markham ( OTM) Vocals and BGVs: Nicole Willard Drums: Ron Wikso Guitars: Mark Morris Bass: Ed McGlaughlin Keyboards and Percussion: Jeff Markham Mix and Master: Chaz Smithhisler This is an all Sonar production ... and critiques and comments are most welcome. thanks for listening, jeff [edit .. two h's .. not two s's in chaz's last name .. ;-) ] [edit2 .. ron uses nuendo .. da foo .. so it's not *all* sonar .. but since it's the drummer, it doesn't really count i guess ;-) ]
post edited by jmarkham - 2005/09/23 11:01:04
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M
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 10:14:03
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Oh my gosh! Major kudos to Chaz! Best mix on this one, ever, Chaz! I like how you balanced the acoustic guitar with the keyboards. I always thought that we needed more of Jeff in there. The bass and drums sound great, too, on this mix.
I admit that there were points where I had my doubts on this track, but this came out very nice indeed, IMHO.
Hey, Jeff, I didn't realize Nicole was a whitey-white girl until I saw her web-site, just now! Um, that's a high compliment to her vocal quality. I just like the sound. Plus, she's evidently more attractive than the rest of us jokers!
Major thanks to Jeff Hillius for having me on his project.
Great job, guys!
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Guest
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 10:51:57
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you done good on this one M ... love the guitar work.
chaz did fantastic at teasing out the instruments .. this is a pretty
full arrangement so i know it wasn't easy to find a spot for everything, but
he did.
yea, nicole is pretty white .. but she's a star pupil of seth riggs, so she can sing
in a lot of different styles (thereby transcending her intrinsic whiteness ;-) ).
why a label hasn't gobbled her up yet is beyond me. hope they do 'cause
she's good kid.
anyway, glad you liked it.
jeff
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M
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 10:58:59
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thereby transcending her intrinsic whiteness ;-) Love it!  I hope I occasionally transcend *my* intrinsic whiteness, too!
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SteveD
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 13:15:45
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Great job guys. Very nice mix Chaz. 
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hornplayer
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 13:21:34
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Sounds excellent on my PC speakers at work. Except the sax player sucks. Oh, wait, there is no sax player! Seriously, you guys did a great job. Jeff H., nice song. Nicole, outstanding vocals! And to the rest of the 5:30 Band, two thumbs up. 
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Guest
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 14:18:41
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Oh, wait, there is no sax player! thanks charley ... but .. i'm writing one right now that'll feature you prominently ;-) i think it'll be cool .... jeff
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hornplayer
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 15:41:10
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ORIGINAL: jmarkham
Oh, wait, there is no sax player!
thanks charley ... but .. i'm writing one right now that'll feature you
prominently ;-) i think it'll be cool ....
jeff
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ed_mcg
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 16:54:08
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This mix turned out really well. Nice solo, Mark. Nicole has a very nice looking web site, she has real star potential. ;-)
Nice sunglasses, Charley.
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hornplayer
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 18:06:01
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Nice sunglasses, Charley. Thanks, man. You motivated me to change my avatar. I noticed I had sunglasses on there too, and I was thinking that maybe people are wondering if I have eyes. Or, with the psychedelic colors, maybe they assume other things. So, here's a more normal shot with eyes. Ok, they're closed--or half-closed anyway--I can't really tell. It's those bright lights, ya know...
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SteveD
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 18:14:31
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M
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 18:17:18
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So, here's a more normal shot with eyes. Yep, Nicole's better looking than all of us!
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Guest
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 18:48:45
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ORIGINAL: M
So, here's a more normal shot with eyes.
Yep, Nicole's better looking than all of us!
and if she could play sax .. it'd be a slamdunk ;-)
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M
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 19:08:32
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I was going to be a wise-acre and change my avatar to one with shades -- but I couldn't find one I liked!
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stuartsmithmusic
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 20:53:50
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nice song jeff.
the bass is very out in front, is that intentional?
it sounds good where it is but i was wondering if there was any maths to that?
nice song, nice voice. thanks for sharing
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M
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/23 23:56:42
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Oh my gosh! Major kudos to Chaz! Best mix on this one, ever, Chaz! I like how you balanced the acoustic guitar with the keyboards. I always thought that we needed more of Jeff in there. The bass and drums sound great, too, on this mix. Y'know, I thought this sounded great on my PC speakers at work (when I made the statement, above) - markedly better and more defined than I had heard it previously; but I'm having some reservations now that I've heard it at home on my monitors. Stuart asked about the bass, but I definitely think bringing the bass forward helped a great deal. And I still like the keyboard/guitar balance - even though the acoustic is a little bit by-his-lonesome sounding over there on the left. The areas that still bother me are the sound of the drums and the vocals. There's an unflattering EQ/compression thing on the vox that we haven't gotten rid of in our last several mixes, and, even though Chaz has made some improvement in the drum sounds, they still don't sound good, to me. It's getting late here, but I'll give it a fresh listen in the AM.
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Paul Russell
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 03:32:18
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The areas that still bother me are the sound of the drums and the vocals. There's an unflattering EQ/compression thing on the vox that we haven't gotten rid of in our last several mixes, and, even though Chaz has made some improvement in the drum sounds, they still don't sound good, to me Oh,Chaz is gonna hate me for this, but..... I was playing this at around 75dB and Nicole's voice was actually painful to listen to at peaks. There's a real 'ouch' frequency band in there, which could have been the mic she used. I can imagine it would be hard to get rid of without losing some of her punch. Maybe a multiband compressor might be more use than EQ on its own. The drums could easily be given a lot more punch, they sound very 70's right now. Maybe that's the effect you want. I'd pan the acoustic a little toward the centre to balance the keys, too.
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Guest
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 12:29:22
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hi M and Paul,
I'll try working on this a little more (i'll never finish this you know ;-) ). We used an AKG C414 XLII
on the vox .. which is pretty flat around the vox range ..so i don't think it's the mic. it went into a
focusrite pre and out .. so it's probably natural or lifted out by compression. chaz used a waves Rvox
with the compression up pretty good .. so could have lifted some stuff i guess. i'll take a print on
her voice to see where the naturals are and see if i can tame 'em down a bit.
and yea, the acoustic needs to come over a bit ...
the drums .. boy we really worked hard on those .. pulling several tricks to get them to
sound as they do .. we may have to rethink some voicing choices there.... M, can I borrow
your BFD disks for a little while ? (j/k . i'm *not* one of those ;-) )....
jeff
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chaz
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 13:20:38
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and yea, the acoustic needs to come over a bit ... No..... It is where it needs to be, Jeff. If you move it too much in one direction you will throw off the balance it has in relationship to the other tracks in the mix. Well, it might be okay in one section, but not another. I placed it where it work with all the others parts in all of the sections.
post edited by chaz - 2005/09/24 14:30:57
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chaz
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 13:22:19
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the bass is very out in front, is that intentional? Everything I do in a mix in a intentional, Stu.
post edited by chaz - 2005/09/24 13:37:35
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chaz
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 13:29:50
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I was playing this at around 75dB and Nicole's voice was actually painful to listen to at peaks. There's a real 'ouch' frequency band in there, which could have been the mic she used. I can imagine it would be hard to get rid of without losing some of her punch. Maybe a multiband compressor might be more use than EQ on its own. Hey Paul. Actually, the vocal track does have some problem areas. In fact, I ended up cutting some high-mid freqs to get it to where it is now. It is also the first time I played around with the RVox, so I may go back and replace it with a RComp. I did notice that the RVox made the track slightly brighter. Could be the internal settings. As for the drums..... It took a some work to get them to this point in the mix due to a number of things, but they are what they are. I was going for that sound though in the mix. Anyway.... Thanks for the comments.
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chaz
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 13:36:22
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Y'know, I thought this sounded great on my PC speakers at work (when I made the statement, above) - markedly better and more defined than I had heard it previously; but I'm having some reservations now that I've heard it at home on my monitors. Figures! 
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pluto
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 18:14:05
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I like the song. She has a good voice. But, when you
turn up the volume it sounds like there is a little too
much high end on her vocals. The drums could use a
little more punch, but for this type of music what you
have is good too IMO. Overall, very good job
production wise and very good musicianship.
Pluto
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M
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 18:25:31
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Figures! Of course! Hey, Chaz, how're you doing, man? Are you through the surgery?
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Dazed
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/24 20:29:55
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Wow!
Nicole his a standout. Excellent vocals to say the least. She really makes this piece shine.
Great mix and arrangment guys.
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chaz
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RE: Shining Star
2005/09/27 10:43:55
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Thanks for the comments guys!
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tazman
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RE: Shining Star
2005/10/05 14:54:54
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Nice song. For some reason it made me think of the show "Fame"
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