ORIGINAL: hornplayer

Steve did do a good job on this one

Yes, Steve, you did! Nice job playing and mixing.

Thanks Charley. Been looking for the right vehicle to work with you for some time now. I hope to do more with you, and I'm glad Randy put us together on this great tune.

Glenn McClelland plays with Blood, Sweat, & Tears, and Ween. He appeared on Letterman last year with Ween. He's a good friend of mine... and we tracked the piano here at my studio for Randy in a true bi-coastal collaboration. Glenn showed up here at 10pm on his way home from another gig. He did 7 takes... with little suggestions from me on register changes and playing style for the second verse and sax solo, and he was outta here in about an hour and a half. Amazing. His last take was kept as is except for one punch-in near the end and he played it the rest of the way out. I took the MIDI and a mono direct line out. Perfect.

Ed lays down the easiest bass tracks I've ever had the pleasure of mixing... and I've told him this. Sits nice, compresses well, no mud. And great playing too. Just eq and compression there.

Randy's playing is great. His guitar track had some low mid-range that needed to come out, and I rolled off at around 100hz to eliminate some unwanted low-end energy.

I love the UAD-1 Plate 140 on sax... but I still can't seem to get happy with it on drums. I used a PCM91 HALLS Live Arena image response through SIR with customized settings on the drums. That's a favorite of mine. Sweet.

It took a LONG time for me to get happy with the mix and master (right Randy? ) I just didn't want to send it back until it translated well everywhere. Too much talent here to blow it in the very last stages of production!

I still hear stuff I'd like to change, but I agree this one came out well.

Glad folks seem to like it.

P.S.
I don't know about you, but I really like behind the scenes stories... so I thought I'd share a few from the "Rainy April" sessions.

ORIGINAL: rgfors

Well gang, here is the final version of Rainy April.
Talk about a total forum collaboration! Let us know what you think, all comments are appreciated...

Hey Randy,

You, and everyone involved should be very proud!
This is a really nice smooth jazz piece. You captured the genre and the musicianship is top notch!

This is the type of stuff you want to go have a nice dinner on the town and sit back with your favorite drink and favorite gal and just chill
Loved it!
Congratulations to all,

Toby

Hello kiwisdontdrinktea, We're honored you took the time to listen and comment! Thanks, and we're thrilled you liked the song (and changes).

Hello Telecaster, Thanks for taking the time to listen, and we are thrilled you enjoyed it! Charley is indeed a terrific sax player, and his collaboration on this song is what has made it as good as it is. I'm sure we will have another one up at some point!

Hi Randy

mmm, beautifully played and mixed. Overall top notch performances from everyone. The drums especially sound superb. I have three niggles, tho, the first being that opening piano riff, which someone else has noted makes the band sound as if they weren't ready. The other is the fade at the end, when a proper finish would have been so much more satisfying. But the big one for me was that the stereo image seems rather right-heavy. This is the piano, of course, but it might be better balanced by panning the guitars and Charley's exquisite sax over to the left a bit, make them stand out 3-dimensionally if you know what I mean.

Despite all that pickiness, it's certainly a great taster of the upcoming album.

Cheers

As Randy indicated earlier... the intro was non-negotiable. Glenn didn't even want to attempt it... so I just used Randy's MIDI track for the intro and Glenn began playing on the downbeat. While it sounded very... um... unique at first... I've gotten quite used to it and I really like it now.

It just feels to me as if it should start on an upbeat. What would it sound like if you moved it back by one beat (so that it starts on one rather than 2)?

Just curious... what would have been a proper finish? That's more of a compositional comment... no? Not much I could have done about that. Everything was tracked when I got it... except the drums were loops.

Even just a two bar slow down on one of the loop phrases with a finish on the 'one' with a defining chord. Or maybe a coda fade out without a solo going on, just bass, drums and rhythm guitar might sound nice. Only suggestions.

Regarding the stereo image... I tried LOTS of possibilities. ...Try it with headphones. I just couldn't change it... but I do understand what you mean, and I can see why you might have done it differently for sure.

I tried it with headphones tonight and it still seems strong on the right. The VU's give it away, of course, but still a slight leftwards pan of the lead guitar, sax and their ambience might give you that balance. You could also try panning the very subtle rhythm guitar waaaaaay over on the left, which might make a difference. Or maybe just reverse the kit and have the hi-hat coming out on the left as if you're the drummer. You've probably tried all these already.<g>

Thanks for listening Paul. You already know I have a great deal of respect for your work. You have "big ears" and I value your insight. All comments become a part of who we are the next time we sit down to mix a project, don't you agree?

Steve, thanks for the compliments, although I'm tempted to answer 'I'm not Big Ears, I'm Noddy' You're obviously no slouch yourself. As for those ears, I just put it down to good monitors in a room that I'm used to. That will change soon cos I'm buying my own apartment and will get a chance to custom build the next studio.

It's why we post here.

absolutely

An absolute pleasure to listen to. Thanks for sharing! I'm inspired now....<grabbing guitar>

- Jason

Hello Jason,

Thanks for the time and hope you had fun with the guitar!

I thought I would pipe in too. Overall excellent work. Only one mix item to comment on. Listening on my little computer speakers at work the piano chord changes stick out a bit. It sounds fine on the runs/melodic fills but on the basic changes it could sit back a little more behind the soloists. Again, excellent work!