United States

Up on my BM player, let me know what needs to be fixed in the mix.

I wrote the lyrics just after the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, want to have the video released on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles 1st Ed Sullivan show appearance.


50 Years Ago copyright 2014 Michael J Birch


It was a different time, it was a different place
Men in suit and ties, the first man in space
Women wore pretty dresses, took care of kids and homes
Cleaning up the messes, talking on princess phones

50 years ago, shots heard 'round the world
Flags at half mast, all flying unfurled
Wasn't it just yesterday, no it was a long time ago
So much has come and gone, times moves fast and slow

It was a different time, it was a different place
Selma to San Francisco, Martin's dream for the human race
Fighting in Asian fields, destroyed so many youths
Students wouldn't yield, trying to expose all the truths

50 years ago, music heard 'round the world
Rock and roll, long hair, the screaming of the girls
Wasn't it just yesterday, no it was a long time ago
So much has come and gone, times moves fast and slow

Where did the time go
What happened to innocence
Where did our minds go
Nothing makes any sense

50 years ago, music heard 'round the world
Rock and roll, long hair, the screaming of the girls
Wasn't it just yesterday, no it was a long time ago
So much has come and gone, times moves fast and slow

Where did the time go
50 years ago ...

Whole drum kit needs to come up, pull the rhythm guitar back a tad, and perhaps roll the highs back on the rhythm guitar a few cents as the cymbals are being swallowed in frequency.

Thanks for posting music !

Very Retro sounding Mike.
I like this one a lot. The music captures the theme so well. I could hear the Kinks or even CSNY doing it.
I'll listen again tomorrow when my ears have rested.
Nice tune though.

Whole drum kit needs to come up, pull the rhythm guitar back a tad, and perhaps roll the highs back on the rhythm guitar a few cents as the cymbals are being swallowed in frequency.

Thanks for posting music !

It's funny, guess my ears were getting tired towards the end of mixing yesterday, I kept turning up the drums and they kept getting buried again. Guess I need to just push the instuments and vocals down a little instead.
I did cut both rhythm guitar parts down a dB in the highs towards the end, probably another dB would do.
I had an accent synth part ready for the choruses, too, and forget to push the slider up!

I find it very difficult to mix my own music, especially after working tirelessly on composition.
I've heard / learned about ear fatigue and sonic familiarity issues, yet with my new job ( I run the boards for a local church on Sunday morning ) I see how much easier it is to isolate sound when your not as familiar with the composition.


It's a good song Mike, really enjoy your music.

No question that having someone less intimately involved with the music doing the mixing can pay dividends, but I'm the only mixing engineer I can afford! That's why I post here when I want some opinions/ideas - real musicians who will give good suggestions. FOr me it helps to put a song aside for a while, then go back to it with fresh ears -I'm now got 7 songs (I think) at this stage although I'm still waiting for a drummer to finish tracking one song, and still looking for a sax player to track one).
When I've posted stuff on the homerecording forums, its the minute little details of the recording that get looked at, not the whole picture (the difference betwen an engineer and a musician, I guess).
I appreciate your comments, George.
Back to mixing tonight!

New mix is posted now. Drums up, everything else down, rhythm guitar highs muted a bit.
Thanks for listening.

I instantly liked this version better.
Then I got to thinking . . . it could not be that much better, could it ?
Maybe ol Mike is fluffing me and did not change anything ?
Run out to the studio and grabbed my headphones.
Even with the volume up loud in the phones the high frequencies of the rhythm were not beating the heck out of my ears.
( Oilfield engines / compressors, gunfire and rock music have rally taken a toll on my high frequency hearing )
I have the hardware, now I'm going to have to get some software so I can get back to dabbling in mix/ master myself.

Gee thanks Mike.

I'm not distracted by performance or something in the mix. I like it.
Definitely a keeper.

Came back for another listen.
Just to enjoy this time.
Music, real music, what a pleasure after being inundated with the insanity of 'modern life'.
Exposure to televised insanity today while waiting on my Nephews induction into the Navy.
Unfreakin believable what passes for publishable material in this moral desert.
TV is so much bullshit . . . difficult to understand how supposedly sentient beings waste their time with it.

Sick sick sick . . .

Sorry for the rant . . . thanks for an oasis of real heart felt music.

Thanks guys. Another set of ears, even machinery/rock-and-roll abused ones, help to find things. It's kind of like doing your own proofreading - it doesn't always work that great! However, I am finding that now I've got some bass traps in my room, mixing with the monitors is easier and more accurate.

George - for software for recording I 100% recommend Reaper. Free to download the full version, register it for $60 when you want (otherwise you just get a reminder, it doesn't limit you). 400+ page user manual (free to download), very extensive user help forums .
http://www.reaper.fm/
It can do anything much-more expensive DAWs can do. Easy to customize the look of the 'mixer', etc. If you've ever run a soundboard mixer, it's basic configuration is the same, plus you can automate the sliders and knobs, and add FX easily (just like using sends and returns on a mixer).

Thanks Mike.
I recall your recommending Reaper before.
I've dabbled with Audacity some.
My new position running sound board at a local church on Sunday has been greatly beneficial.
It's amazing what one can hear and distinguish, even at my age and condition of abuse, when not riding the lightning of an amp directly behind or beside you for a whole performance.



P.S. Got the REAPER program, and will be downloading the manual in segments as not to get overwhelmed by it all.

Thanks!

Thanks Mike.
I recall your recommending Reaper before.
I've dabbled with Audacity some.
My new position running sound board at a local church on Sunday has been greatly beneficial.
It's amazing what one can hear and distinguish, even at my age and condition of abuse, when not riding the lightning of an amp directly behind or beside you for a whole performance.



P.S. Got the REAPER program, and will be downloading the manual in segments as not to get overwhelmed by it all.

Thanks!

Yeah, the manual is pretty frightening! There are huge chunks of it that you can ignore until/if you ever need that stuff - MIDI, and advanced routing, for example.

I use MIDI a little - drum program and keyboard synths, and can work it a little now (after 2 years), but routing ... You can do things like 'automatic ducking' where the the rhythm guitar gets quieted down by a compressor whenever the lead singer sings. I end up doing things manually, which may take longer but provides results I like.

The included FX are fairly extensive and there are many many free VST FX you can download online, too. When you get to the FX section in the manual, read the part about ReaVerb, the reaper reverb VST. You have to download impulse files (basically sampled rooms), then select one to be your 'room' for reverb, but they sound really good when you work them right. Free to download the impulse files, too. I use the LaScala Opera House and St Nichelaus Church files the most, but they have a huge selection available and they really do sound good.