"Take Me Away" - Hopefully Final Mix for This One! 6/24/16

 
"Take Me Away"
 
NOTE: Hopefully Final Mix for this one! 6/24/16!
 
Hi, guys, just uploaded another new test mix!
 
The song is called "Take Me Away", If you can spare a few minutes to check it out, as always, any and all helpful comments, suggestions, constructive criticism, input and ideas are very welcome, and also greatly appreciated!

Sincere thanks in advance for any observations, suggestions, comments and ideas!
 
Bob
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"Take Me Away"
 
128kbps MP3 on SoundClick at:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13382812
 
Or Better Quality 320kbps MP3 at the top of the Player at:
http://www.boboister.com/test-mixes.html
 

Hi Bob, nice rocker. For me the drums are way to loud and the rhythm guitars to far back. It sounds more balanced during the guitar solo, imho.
 
Rik

stevec:
 
 
Hey, Steve,
 
How are you, buddy, hope you had a great Memorial Day holiday!
 
Thanks for checking this out for me and for your good input and observations!
 
I just uploaded Mix #2 after fine tuning the vocal timing during the choruses and a few spots on the rhythm guitar tracks, but I'm not sure what you meant about an extended turnaround.  I also lowered the drum bus about 2.5 db and re-eqed the bass for a bit more presence.  I'm hoping it's getting closer to where things should be.
 
Thanks again for lending your good ears and your input, greatly appreciated!
 
Have a great weekend!
Bob
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Rikkie:
 
 
HI, Rik,
 
How are you, my friend?  Hope you're doing well!
 
Thank you so much for giving this a listen and for your very good input!
 
You were 100% correct about the drums overpowering the other instruments!  Since my many months away from mixing, my biggest struggle has been balancing instrument buses  and vocal levels, and I had the drums way too loud on the first mix.  For this second mix, I dropped the drums by 2.5 db and jacked up the guitars and bass a little to hopefully get things back in the ball park.
 
I'm very grateful for your good ears, Rik, and I wish you a fantastic weekend!
Bob
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ABull:
 
 
Hi, Allan,
 
 
Thanks for taking time to check this one out for me, and for your good input, observations and very kind words!
 
I'm hoping this new mix addresses your observations a bit, and also Rik's.  I think the overly loud drums were sucking the life out of the guitars and bass during the earlier sections, so I tried my best to re-eq and boost the bass, re-eq and lower the drums, and beef up the rhythm guitars to fill things out and make things punch better, like during the fuller sounding solo section that you both mentioned.  I'm thinking things are sounding fuller in general, LOL, or at least I hope so!
 
Thanks again for your input, greatly appreciated, and have a Rockin' weekend!
Bob
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Hi Bob. I love a heavy sound that is melodic - you don't hear that much these days. The vocals are just fantastic. I have to tell you - I'm not a fan of those kind of drums - the double bass thing. Other than that small nit pick - this is one of your signature great tunes.

Monster riffs and big choruses, classic Oister.
The drums sound off, and the kick pattern I found annoying. But I am guessing you are going to fix that along with the things previous posters mentioned.

Nice WIP Bob. Others have said what needs attention.
 
Waiting to be taken away by the final version.

Hey bro...this ones all over the map for sure! Lots of great stuff going on for sure...ok now I'l going to plop my Producers hat on and suggest something for the intro...
 
I think its great to have things out front (in the intro) to mix things up and catch the listeners interest but this kinda had too much of that....meaning; when I heard the harp it sounded more of less in a smaller room then when the distant guitars came in pushed far back and they seemed to be in a BIG ROOM..but again pushed way back...THEN...you opening vox can in and it was in a room somewhere in between the two (verb wise) which made it feel all kinda disconnected for me...then the main guitars dropped and it was back to that fat killer sound I am used to. Sooooo I do like the idea of mixing things up but here's what I'd suggest (as your new producer..lol)
 
1) nix the harp
2) keep the distant intro guitars
3) push your into vox back in the mix and add verb to more or less get closer to the intro gutiars
4) @ :34 "you shine on me and make it Right" I'd add a "stop and pop" there between (make-it and right) and maybe let the "righttttt" (hang about w/no instruments) and then drop the bomb and have everything big and in your face from there on....
 
Not sure if that accurately describes what I hear in my head but  I tried...lmao
 
anyway great tune and with a little timing work tween the kit and guitars....you'll be on your way!!!
 
good stuff bro...keep on gettin it!
 

New Mix 3 Up 6/11/16!
 
Okay, Guys here we go again!   LOL, After the majority general consensus I finally cried "Uncle" and dumped the experimental (or should I say mental?) double kick drum stuff completely!
 
I replayed the main drum parts with a much simpler, mostly basic pattern, fixed a few off-time cymbal crashes and fills, and I think I finally corrected the second halves of the 2nd and 3rd chorus vocals where apparently I was coming in both early and late on the "Take Me Away" parts.  Major thanks to MGH (thanks, Mark!) for precisely pointing that problem out, because I was blaming the double kicks alone for the timing trouble and sliding things back and forth all over the place and I still couldn't get the vocals to lock in correctly.
 
I'm hoping it's starting to sound better at this point, and I TRULY want to thank ALL of you for your fantastic input, help, suggestions and great advice!  I really mean it when I say that every one of you guys are all amazingly helpful, and every comment, idea or observation you post helps me get things back on track and see the little details that I'm missing after hearing a mix a gazillion times and becoming immune to some of the problems.
 
Sincere thanks to each and every one of you for you input, and please let me know if anything else might be sticking out like a sore thumb while I continue to tweak this mix.
 
Hope everybody has a Rockin' weekend!
Bob

AWESOME STUFF BOB!!! I would love to work on a complete album with you singing and songs written by you and me. You have a great voice man. And your guitar riffs and vision on the idea for the song is great!!!!! 
 
Either way, enjoyed hearing this one Bob, BTW my name is Bob also hahahahaaha...... 

Thanks for sharing!!! 
 

Had a listen to the first version a couple of weeks ago, prior to me having to return to my own galaxy for a wedding.  It did not have your usual polish and flare Bob so I thought I would wait until you had some sound advice from those here who know how better than I do.  This is a much better version.
 
Thanks for sharing Bob.