Hi All,
 
I want to thank all those that commented on my original posting of Why I'm still here. That was a mix done on Logic Pro 9. This is my first recording/mix on Sonar X1/X2. I solved the following.
 
1. Timing problems... hurray for Audio snap!.
2. Guitar re-recorded, mixed.
3. Vocals remixed. New copy of main vocal mixed in.
4. Lead solo mellowed out.
5. General clean up etc of EQ and balance.
 
http://soundcloud.com/tony-carpenter-1/why-im-still-here-final And, here it is. Hopefully I am a bit closer. I am at the point of too close and not getting any further on my own now though, not sure if finished or not LOL.
 
Thank you!
 
Tony
 

Hi, Tony, I haven't heard this song for a while, and I forgot how good it is.  The contrast between your lead and acoustic guitars is nice, each part and tone complementing the other.  The chord changes are well thought out and play well against the melody.  This is also a good vehicle for your voice, which I think is well produced.  My main suggestion would be to balance the volume levels of the two guitars.  I thought the acoustic in the left channel was a bit loud in comparison to the solo, but that could be because I didn't hear much of a counterbalance in the right channel.  Would you consider panning the lead guitar to the left?  There's plenty of energy in the center of the mix, so moving the lead gtr to the right could widen the mix and put the lead in its own space.  Regardless, you must be getting better at mixing because this version made a bigger impression on me.

Lynn


Hi, Tony, I haven't heard this song for a while, and I forgot how good it is.  The contrast between your lead and acoustic guitars is nice, each part and tone complementing the other.  The chord changes are well thought out and play well against the melody.  This is also a good vehicle for your voice, which I think is well produced.  My main suggestion would be to balance the volume levels of the two guitars.  I thought the acoustic in the left channel was a bit loud in comparison to the solo, but that could be because I didn't hear much of a counterbalance in the right channel.  Would you consider panning the lead guitar to the left?  There's plenty of energy in the center of the mix, so moving the lead gtr to the right could widen the mix and put the lead in its own space.  Regardless, you must be getting better at mixing because this version made a bigger impression on me.

 
Heya Lynn,
 
Thank you for your kind words, MUCH appreciated it!. The lead guitar (keyboard actually LOL) is put into a delay that is supposed to L-C-R on tempo.. I guess the effect is not moving quick enough, on my setup it sounds broad... I wonder if that did not translate down on mixdown for some reason?.  Acoustic guitar is actually 3 tracks. 2 are a 4 series Taylor Acoustic on mic at bridge and DI, the other is an Ovation on DI with some chorus and stuff. I'll take another listen to the tracking of that delay... :).
 
Cheers,
 
Tony

Hi Tony.  I'm just taking a quick listen on my laptop, so I can't say too much about mix quality etc.  I like the song and it seems well produced.  I'll take another listen probably tomorrow in the studio so my comments will mean more.  

The one thing I noticed is timing.... strumming seems faster than the drums frequently best I can tell, and also in the little breaks it's off.

I'll check back though.....

Nice work.

tbosco


Hi Tony.  I'm just taking a quick listen on my laptop, so I can't say too much about mix quality etc.  I like the song and it seems well produced.  I'll take another listen probably tomorrow in the studio so my comments will mean more.  

The one thing I noticed is timing.... strumming seems faster than the drums frequently best I can tell, and also in the little breaks it's off.

I'll check back though.....

Nice work.

Hi Tony, thank you, yes, it's going out of time on the double time guitar bits. The issue I am having is, Sonar seems to move around on tempo on me. I have had it stall on me a few times, requiring restarts. Any ideas?.  This can't be fixed by Audio snap with the drums as a groove template this time. I will try again. Bass sits very tight to the drums, but my guitar is floating around for sure :((.
 
Tony

Hey Tony,
Try this... turn on the X2 metronome during playback, and SOLO the drums.  See if the drums are keeping perfect time with the metronome.  If not, try to fix the off-time measures.  If you don't get your "pulse" right, the strumming will never match except by luck....(or you know exactly where the mis-timed drumming is.)

Then, Mute the drums, Solo the guitar, and see if the strums are in time with the metronome.  If not, check the location of the mis-timing, and see if it's the same places as the drums were.  This step is just a check.

Once the drums are keeping time with Sonar (and I really don't think Sonar moves the tempo around unless there are tempo changes in the tune), you MAY need to re-record your guitar part, depending on how far off it is.  I honestly have good luck with Audiosnap on rhythmic pieces but NOT melodic phrases.  Maybe I just don't know how to use it properly yet...  But it hasn't worked well for me.  I generally have much better luck by analyzing my wave, trimming the mis-timed parts, and moving those trimmed clips back or forth to fit, either manually or by using Nudge.

Check your Event List just to be sure Logic Pro didn't insert some tempo changes into your song.  Take them out if you find anything unwanted.

I'll take another listen to your song shortly.  Take care.

tbosco


Hey Tony,
Try this... turn on the X2 metronome during playback, and SOLO the drums.  See if the drums are keeping perfect time with the metronome.  If not, try to fix the off-time measures.  If you don't get your "pulse" right, the strumming will never match except by luck....(or you know exactly where the mis-timed drumming is.)

Then, Mute the drums, Solo the guitar, and see if the strums are in time with the metronome.  If not, check the location of the mis-timing, and see if it's the same places as the drums were.  This step is just a check.

Once the drums are keeping time with Sonar (and I really don't think Sonar moves the tempo around unless there are tempo changes in the tune), you MAY need to re-record your guitar part, depending on how far off it is.  I honestly have good luck with Audiosnap on rhythmic pieces but NOT melodic phrases.  Maybe I just don't know how to use it properly yet...  But it hasn't worked well for me.  I generally have much better luck by analyzing my wave, trimming the mis-timed parts, and moving those trimmed clips back or forth to fit, either manually or by using Nudge.

Check your Event List just to be sure Logic Pro didn't insert some tempo changes into your song.  Take them out if you find anything unwanted.

I'll take another listen to your song shortly.  Take care.

 
Heya Tony,
 
I appreciate all this. In the end I believe Sonar is indeed playing up with my Mackie 1640i. I tried both WDM and ASIO modes. I am getting a audible latency even at 5ms and with PDC turned on. That being said, I did *I THINK* get it fine this time. It's a pain, drums, bass and vocals were tracked in from Logic, so, once all those were lined up, it was fine. Only new recording work was the guitars. Those were originally out because of how I tacked the song together originally. Bass was out, but audio snap had taken care of that. All sounds ok against metronome now to me.. if not, then I am at a loss now LOL.
 
Lynn, I have moved the lead, and changed the delay over to a measure slap instead of the L - C - R :).
 
 
Take another listen, should sound much more cohesive now. I am not happy with the latency on live inputs.. never had that on the Mac in Logic...
 
Cheers,
 
Tony

Great stuff, my fav part was the guitar interlude...reminiscent of "Cat's in Cradle" -=>Shawn

Hey T.....  Just took a second listen, on better speakers.  I really like the tone of your acoustic... kinda mid-sy with a hint of edge on it so it seems.  Man, I really want those drums to take off and ROCK after the 1st guitar solo! (big snare)  LOL

Timing seems to have gotten MUCH better.  The Cakewalk guys told me I had to turn off Plugin Delay Compensation (click the PDC button) to get rid of latency issues while recording live guitar through TH2... so I'm not sure how you're recording yours... but something to think about.

Vox sounds great... sorta reminds me of Gordon Lightfoot.

Are you familiar with Haas effect?  It would sound awesome on this tune on your acoustic guitar.  Just copy the track to a clean one and delay (nudge) it 20-40 ms later (to the right) (you have to experiment with this to see what works.).  Then hard pan one left and one right.  Instant "big, wide, stereo  guitar sound"!

Much better my friend!

hi tony great vocals and arrangement mixed very well thanks for sharing eric