• Songs
  • "Secrets", 2nd mix, rock guitars and synth
2018/10/15 14:45:14
batsbrew
 

https://www.dropbox.com/s.../secrets-2_eq.wav?dl=0

this is the 2nd mix of this one i've posted, dialing in the mix with previous comments and suggestions.
this is a tune written on synth, which for me, is a bit of a departure....
so i'm delving into new territory with this one.
my issues have been carving the right frequencies for the synth (which originally had a huge low end) and letting the kick and bass guitar still do their things....
this is my most recent effort.
2018/10/15 14:45:42
batsbrew
so, some lyric backstory for those that are intersted:

I got to thinking about aboriginal beats, for some reason....
something in the music that Virtualan (co-writer) offered up, drew me to this....

anyway, i found an aboriginal story, that has a tie-in to telling stories thru songs and dances....
the aboriginal people have this thing they call the dreaming:
The Dreaming -- also means to 'see and understand the law'
 
the aboriginines believe that the Ancestor Spirits came to the earth in human form and as they moved through the land,
they created the animals, plants, rocks and other forms of the land that we know today.
They also created the relationships between groups and individuals to the land, the animals and other people.
Once the ancestor spirits had created the world, they changed into trees, the stars, rocks,
watering holes or other objects.
These are the sacred places of Aboriginal culture and have special properties.
Because the ancestors did not disappear at the end of the Dreaming, but remained in these sacred sites,
the Dreaming is never-ending, linking the past and the present, the people and the land.

one of the most famous of these stories is the Wagilag sisters....
 
The Wagilag Sisters

The story goes that the two Wagilag sisters, one of whom was pregmant, were fleeing their home and were being followed by clansmen. On their travels they come across many animals and plants and brought them in to life by naming them. Eventually, the Wagilag sisters set up camp beside a fertile waterhole at Mirarrmina. There, one of the sisters pollutes the waterhole and the pregnant sister gives birth, which causes Wititj the python to wake up angry and insensed. Wititj creates a storm on emerging from the waterhole and attempts to wash the two Wagilag sisters in to the well with his downpour (the first monsoon). The two Wagilag sisters dance and sing sacred songs in an attempt to diffuse the situation and keep them safe, but when the sisters become too exhausted to continue, the python is able to swallow them up (including child and dog)! However, soon after, Wititj develops stomach pains and groans skywards above the land where he attracts the attention of other great snakes who also rise up in to the sky. The great snakes talk and they discover they all have different names but they wonder why the python is ill. Realising he made a mistake, Wititj lies about what he has just eaten but the pain becomes so unbearable Wititj falls back to the land and vomits up the sisters who regain their life from the stinging bites of caterpillars. Undeterred, Wititj beats them with clapsticks and eats them again. Later, the Wagilag sister's clansmen, asleep in the hollow left by the python's fall, were visited in their dreams by the sisters who revealed to the clansmen the secrets of the songs and dances which had been performed in an effort to stop the rainstorm.

leads to my version of the story:
"the secrets of the songs and dance"
2 sisters, 1 with child
runs away to trees and water in the wild
birth of a child brings out the snake,
and both their lives it will take
rain and song to no avail, both are swallowed inside the tail
snake does lie about the meal, the caterpillar bites to heal
eaten again, and snake is gone,
the dreams reveal before the dawn---
the secrets of the songs and dance...
secrets of the songs and dance...
the secrets of the songs and dance.

2018/10/15 16:59:52
jamesg1213
I've heard this before, isn't this 'Secrets of The Song & Dance' off one of your earlier albums? I'm sure I have this track on a CD...? Maybe going nuts of course..
2018/10/15 17:05:18
batsbrew
jamesg1213
I've heard this before, isn't this 'Secrets of The Song & Dance' off one of your earlier albums? I'm sure I have this track on a CD...? Maybe going nuts of course..


yep, going nuts!
 
LOL
well, only sorta.... yes, you heard this back when i first started working on it.
 
the original title has been truncated.
 
the first time i posted this, was just for mix help.
has not been released on any album yet.
 
2018/10/15 19:49:18
bjornpdx
I can't offer anything helpful with the mix but just wanted to make a suggestion.

You have this really interesting story about Aborigines told in your own words and music (and the music is top notch as usual) but I wasn't making a connection with what inspired you to write the song. If you hadn't explained the background I wouldn't have known what the lyrics were about.
So I thought maybe add in something "Aboriginal" to get the listener in the ballpark. And of course that would likely be a didjeridu which would also likely be kinda weird in a rock song but the instrument can sound pretty cool.
Just a suggestion and despite what I just said, I really like the song.
2018/10/16 17:59:14
Wookiee
Not bad Bat, . That 80hz region is tricky to manage when mixing those bass heavy synth parts, I can feel your pain.  Nice enough track, musicianship up to your normal standards.  I use quite a bit of Mid/Side (channel tools) with pads and the like so I can scoop a hole in the middle of the mix for guitars and the such.  Just a furry brained idea for you to consider.
2018/10/16 18:24:30
Freddy J
Great story and great music.  Nice one Bats!!
2018/10/16 21:53:36
MarkusClinus
gonzo, I love this man - I love your playing - but sometimes I like your voice more than your playing. I love your voice on this one.
2018/10/17 14:35:52
batsbrew
bjornpdx
I can't offer anything helpful with the mix but just wanted to make a suggestion.

You have this really interesting story about Aborigines told in your own words and music (and the music is top notch as usual) but I wasn't making a connection with what inspired you to write the song. If you hadn't explained the background I wouldn't have known what the lyrics were about.
So I thought maybe add in something "Aboriginal" to get the listener in the ballpark. And of course that would likely be a didjeridu which would also likely be kinda weird in a rock song but the instrument can sound pretty cool.
Just a suggestion and despite what I just said, I really like the song.


hey bjorn,
thanks for taking the time to check this one out
 
i like your take on the idea of a tie-in to the aboriginine part..
 
that idea of the digeridoo would be perfect, eh?
right in the beginning.
 
i know someone in seattle that plays a mean digeridoo, i just don't think he's able to record it....
hm.
 
maybe a sample would work.........
i'm gonna hunt one!
2018/10/17 20:13:34
batsbrew
Wookiee
Not bad Bat, . That 80hz region is tricky to manage when mixing those bass heavy synth parts, I can feel your pain.  Nice enough track, musicianship up to your normal standards.  I use quite a bit of Mid/Side (channel tools) with pads and the like so I can scoop a hole in the middle of the mix for guitars and the such.  Just a furry brained idea for you to consider.


hey wookiee!
i can tell you this, i learned a lot from our collab,
i've got a single stereo synth track for the running arppegiated thing, 
and same for the 'sound effects', which includes all the 'pad' type things....
 
that i have spread with an s-1 plug to outside,
and the arppegio track is just the opposite, with the S-1 bringing the stereo field tighter,
sitting in the middle mostly, but sometimes panning around.
 
i'll continue to play with this some more,
and i've also started playing with a cool vst called 'Vitamin', another waves plug that is very interesting.
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