Whoa Robby --- you nailed it.  Excellent work and stellar vocals.  You managed to get that bit of grit in the vocals that this song needs.
Sweet chicken right down to the bone!!!!!
 
Freddy J

Hi Robby,

Sorry to hear about the DAW...that totally sux!

I've always liked this song ( and the Band in general ) and I'm sure your version is outstanding but, for some reason, I can't get anything on your Reverb Nation page to play 


I'll try again later.


RIP Levon Helm

I wrote them a love note ;-) It's working now.

Hate to hear about the lightning sneaking in on the DSL port. Dang.... 

When you have a mix with lots of things in it like this one does, it is imperative that you use envelopes to bring things in and out in their proper place and time.  I will often spend quite a bot of time planning out what instrument I will have doing fills in a given verse or chorus. That is subject to changes as I mix.

Plan out exactly what is going to play and where.  Try to avoid having 2 competing things playing in the same place at the same time..... it's distracting to the listener. I understand the desire to have everything shining..... but resist that impulse. For example if you have a really nice piano part playing in the background and want a mandolin to fill, when the mandolin part comes in drop the piano out....even though it's the background.  Neither you nor the listener will miss the piano for those brief few seconds since the mando will command center stage.... then after the fill, bring the piano back..... This is something I do all the time in my mixing to keep the sound from being too cluttered. 

My envelopes are usually pretty drastic things. They stay a zero unless they are planned to be there for a fill or a part. Here is a pic of what I mean>>> 




The piano is doing fills and I pull the piano down completely when it's not playing a fill. This opens the soundscape up to allow the other back ground instruments to be heard and gives dynamics and space to the sound. The back ground is being handled by acoustic guitars on some other tracks. And while the piano parts are all together really nice..... I only let the piano play fills...... restraint on my part but the song is clean sounding and open as a result.

I'm not saying this is the issue in your song..... just a reminder to leave room for the various instruments in the mix. This commentary was triggered from a comment you made above about not being able to hear the mandolin. Instead of simply turning it up so it can be heard,,,,,,, which adds to the musical confusion in the mix, try enveloping other things down instead. This is how I mix. 

When accenting the fills I just automate the compressor on the individual instrument tracks to compress a little less to accommodate the fill...still there but not as prominent and allow the element to shine through.

Yeah, I'm really hoping to get the DAW back this week... If I do, I really need to dive in to a colab I've been working on, and I "may" bounce a little brighter snare track and try to blend it, and I could look maybe at some compressor settings or envelopes as well. I tend to make fairly extensive use of both (envelopes and compressors) but I don't know how to use the compressors as well as I should, which ones, and how hard. It's a process... I am just hoping I don't need a spanking new DAW, Win7, X1 and reinstall/repurchachase all of my SW. That will have me down till mid Fall.

Nice tip, James.

jamesyoyo


When accenting the fills I just automate the compressor on the individual instrument tracks to compress a little less to accommodate the fill...still there but not as prominent and allow the element to shine through.

excellent cover of one of my favs... Great work Robby...  I like the added lyrics too... dobro is a very nice touch... Piano could use more sustain pedal, and less chorus... Vocals are tops as always... Well done...

I thought this was great! Really like the vocals. I'm jealous. Wish I had a nice soulful voice like that. You should keep that in mind on future songs, just sing and forget about the polishing. As far as the mix, I ended up not really analyzing anything but just enjoyed the song. Isn't that a sign of a good mix? Like nothing really stood out as odd. As reference, I listed with Bose quiet comfort 15 headphones on iPod. 

Only Make Believe also had nice sounding vocals. 

I really appreciate everyone's input on this one. I'm a little ticked because I've been DAWless for over 6 weeks now... I lost my system, recovered it, and now I'm fighting issues getting my soundcard (Firewire) to be seen/recognized. I'm really hoping to be back on-line w/in the next few daze. Or else I'm going postal. That's right, to the post office, to write a letter to someone to complain. Then I guess I need to upgrade to a new system... Drink the X1 coolaid.

But I just got back from karate camp with the boy? (Panama City Beach) and that was basically a new DAW... (but worth it) So I'll be saving my pennies I guess. I can't really go much longer without being able to do anything in the studio though. It sucks "hard..." And not in a way that I enjoy either.