General Music Chat

Man , all that analog editing.. Id be at Bellview after all that... ..Drummers are hyper , flighty people who suffer from delusions of grandeur,and of more often than not are ADD,and have many other psychoisis..Mixing is NOT one of their better functions in life..(HEY! I resemble that remark..LOL) BUT, I do consider myself a good producer..Im a stickler for how arr. parts come together , BD and bass trx meshing, Melody VRS counter -melody , voice timbre' etc...Man , Ive got a tune comin up I sware Id bout pay somebody to mix.Its gonna have 6 vocal parts at the end...Man , last nite I sent 5 hrs just goin back over the lead vocal VRS the harmony volumes, and the other parts coming in at the end, and just fried my ears..Had to quit... ..Maybe I need some mastering parameters..SOMETHING to take so much guess work outta all this...(I think its called $$$$$$.. )..I may take ya up on comparing notes..Im tryin my best to learn and grasp this new way on my own so it will stay with me.BUT, my GOD ,Ive only got 15 , maybe 20 good yrs left..I wanna do this right ,NOW..

John

sounds good.. what do you record the drums with... the songs sounds good...maybe play with the pan a little more to get a better even sound i dont dig the synth being so far to the right maybe bring it a little more to the center along with the rest of mix bring it a little closer together...... but other than that it sounds good...

I'm like you, 15 or 20 good years left....got the big 50 comin' up in January. Mixing in analog is easy for me, I have been doing it so long. If I want to touch up a eq , tighten up a gate or ease off on a compressor on a channel........just turn a knob, no menus or screens screens to look through.

The best thing I ever did was put a RTA on my control room out line, I can see the frequencies of my mixes, I can see the freqs of any instrument I PFL, I can compare the freqs of my stuff to commercial stuff that I really like the sound of.

I try to find holes in the frequency spectrum for instruments to lie, and not step on other instruments ( I consider every thing a instrument, including my vocal instrument when mixing). I typically use the low and high shelfing on my channel EQ to trim off stuff on the top and the bottom of the instruments that are not needed in a mix. I always try to cut with EQ, and try to not boost here. I then use the mid bands to add clairity to the instruments IN THE MIX. I try to keep the EQ boosts here to a minimum also.

If something sounds muddy in a mix I try to cut bass, or lower mids, and not add presence or treble.

Thats the basic principles of how I mix.

What I would like to get rid of is the sometimes raggedy sound my instruments have, make them smoother....any suggestions ??

Hey Kiddo,
"Home on the road" is an excellent example of a near perfect 3 minute song. Good song writing and definitely worth the time you spent recording it.
I listened to it in a "non-critical" kind of mood and just enjoyed the "up" kind of feel of it.
Not everthing sucked in the 70's!
Howlin'

Hey Boys,

Man , sorry I havent gotten back here to comment.Ive been sickernadog.
Heads a poundin, ear ache (EARACHE MY EYE.. ), fever, etc.

Ill try to reference some of yall commnts now bacuase you all leaving them and keepin this thread going is MUCH aprreciated!!!

Lanzar 13......Thanks for the critque..Yeah , heck, I honest dont know what Im doing with the pan knobs yet..Just doing like WE did in the 60's , Pan L Pan R ..case closed.. But will play with it..I noticed what your talkin about in this NEW tune Im "tryin " to mix now..Got 12 trx on this baby.Im using the Ensoniq SQ1 drums sounds triggered to my kit..I love those drums "ROMS".AND , what do you mean Synth???Thats a B3 BY GAWD .. Man!!!! I didnt fool ya...POOP...

Gtr. Mann.....Wow, you provided some valuable commentary for sure.Now , if I can just get to feelin better to be able to understand what it all means .. Im assumin RTA means "real time audio"???..Yeah , this diggy mixing is absolutely killin me .. Theres got to be an easier way for mixin harmonies..With this new tune,They're the kind where the 3 parts have to blend perfect to sound right..Yeah , Ill listen to your instrumentation again more critically and see if theres anything I can offer.

HOWLIN....thanks for the kind words..Buddy, that 70's reference brought tears to my eyes.No kiddin ... made the oldman s day here..
GAWD , I long for analog so bad right now.Im so frustrated with knowin what I want to hear , but cant get it...

Anyway boys , thanks again..Im goin back to bed..

John

John,

Hope you are feeling well soon!

. . . hey man . . . I had that . . . whatever it was . . . two weeks ago ! I would get dizzy when I stooud up . . . didn't even want to get high !

Great tune though . . . love that song . . . but . . . I am "That`70s Guy" too.
I do a good ol' Kentucky version of "Dead Skunk" . . . I'll have to get it loaded sometime ?

Get well soon Bro !

What day is it?..DAY or NITE???.Dang , I feel like one of those hungover weekends where the chicks hung around till SUN (from FRI nite) but ya dont remember any of them. and your dehydrated drinkin everything in site and main linin asprin. ...I tried to mix 12 TRX last nite and had a "hidden" rhythm gtr track that I accidently unmuted...It was too hot causing all my harmonys to have middy contour to them and really the whole mix.I had just done the first mix and it was great except for the volumes of each harmony part..Funny how WAV to MP3 messes with vocal mixes...I fought with the thing all nite tryin to figure WHY that first mix was SSOOOO much better..ONE STINKIN GTR was killin the whole thing..I kept turnin down the REAL rhythm gtr and couldnt figure out why it wasnt makin a diff..Ya get that many tracks runnin with paino , B3, 6 vocals etc. TOO MUCH for someone in the ozone... NOW, Ive goofed up the whole mix with no head room,and the harmony EQs all outta wack.Moral of the story? DONT MIX with a bad head cold, the galloping scours, and fever..
Thanks Robin for the get well wishes....

Yeah Rob , Im just an old 70's guy myself thats outlived his time.Just gettin a kick outta this new fangled home recording.Doing what I couldnt have done very easily on a 4 trk without LOTS of ping ponging.. ..
Heck , I CRRRYYY when I hear some of my old 4 trk stuff and wonder WHY I cant duplicate it on this computer??? Hell, Im gonna take out the hiss and put one up in my player just for kicks..

John,
I have a request/challenge for you. Is there any way you could record easy by the commodores and leave the lead guitar, lead and backing vox for me to do? Do you have access to an acoustic or roads or wurly electric? Do you have a myspace? whaddya say?
thanks

John,
I have a request/challenge for you. Is there any way you could record easy by the commodores and leave the lead guitar, lead and backing vox for me to do? Do you have access to an acoustic or roads or wurly electric? Do you have a myspace? whaddya say?
thanks

Neanderpaul,
The concept of a Bandmix cyber super-band, based on pooling our various skills and technical resources, is an great and reoccurring idea that I have been interested in for quite some time. (I liked the Neanderpaul-Jimmy Danger thing)
Unfortunately, My situation (Full time job and building a house) does not afford me to much time for my musical endeavors. I'm currently "chompin' at the bit" to get a gigging band up and running. Still, I would enjoy listening to anything that You and Kidd might put together.

P.S.
How's the congregation choir doing?
Y'all still conducting?
Where do you get your energy?

The kidd on drums, HowlinJ on piano, Mike Gentry on lead, me on vox, who kills on bass here? I could do it but surely there is somebody here who shines.

Hey Guys,

Man ....I covered that tune back back when it was a hit..Prolly had to play 2-3 times a nite 6 nites a WEEK for months...I can remember Lassie bitchin about it being in Ab..He told Paul, now damnit , you cant tell me you cant do that tune in A. .Yeah, the timing on that one was crucial..The success of that tune nitely depended how much we all drank before 9.. ...Hmmm, My actual skills as a keyboard player are pretty weak...The theory of it wouldnt be a prob..Me getting it to sound right with the correct syncopation and added embellishments would take someone with my skill level some time to work up.Yeah , If you wanted it in Ab , I would just play in A and and Let the SQ1 take it up a 1/2 step.. My folks are comin back for a week on MON.Wouldnt be able to spend a whole lotta time on it till they leave..Anyway,let me know more about the project.What instruments will be in the session, Key, arrangement properties ETC.. I have a piano RAM that sounds similar to Lionels..I came up with it when I worked up SPOOKY.. Anyway, you can mail me at [email protected] with details..A real keyboard player could do it faster but Id be willing to try...Im watchin this right now...
Actually , now that Im messin with it, its not that hard outta Ab...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-xrzAnj ... re=related

John (the young one... )

I actually had a chance at work to sing karaoke for 2 hours while on the clock on friday! I work for advance auto and it was for a fundraiser. I sang super freak - Rick James, It had to be you - Harry Connick JR., Easy -commodore, and Green Eyed lady - Sugarloaf. I did ok on the first two but after I got warmed up I killed easy and Green Eyed Lady. Now I'm itchin to record. I've always wanted to record those. I've sang them at karaoke in the past. I figure the first track that needs to be laid down would be the piano. I know it's a lot to ask for but I'd really love to get a wurly on it or a Rhodes. maybe Howlin J could get the piano down and with a click and then send it to The Kidd for drums. Do you two think that is feasible for the first steps?