Been a long time since I posted a new tune, so here we go. This was mixed (preliminarily) on my Sennheiser HD 280 headphones. I found a list of EQ curves to smooth out headphones for mixing purposes, and applied it during tracking and mixing, then took it off for the rendering of the song.
Just wondering what it sounds like to everybody through their real monitors, since mine don’t seem to help me all that much.
Any comments about anything are welcome, hope you enjoy listening.
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StylesBitchley,
Your nice vocals sound a lot like Joe Walsh to me here! Very nice guitar playing! Very nice song and recording! Nice lyrics.
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Just in case anyone wanted the lyrics.
I was the king of the mountain, ‘til I got kicked in the head.
I wandered down a golden path, not knowing where it lead
I went all in for the money, I never made any friends
I never loved a woman; they were a means to an end
I was so blind I couldn’t see the trouble coming round the bend
Thought I had all I needed
That’s when I met sweet Mary, preaching the truth from the words she read
You’ll be a new man tomorrow living your life like the Good Book says
I learned to serve a new Master and left my past behind
I found a brand new mountain and I began to climb
I had been shown a new way of living, my purpose now was defined
Each step I took was bringing me closer to where my planets aligned
I knew that nothing could stop me now, with sweet Mary by my side
I had all I needed
Thank God for Dear Sweet Mary, preaching the truth from the words she read
You’ll be a new man tomorrow living your life like the Good Book says
I’m going to keep turning pages and see what I can find
I’m going to be a good man and lay my heart on the line
I know nothing can stop me now with Sweet Mary by my side
I have all I needed
(Chorus and outro)
Cool storytelling! I definitely got the Joe Walsh vocal style going on. Fun song and interesting elements.
After 1:00ish, the drum volume seems to drop back at times. It seems to slowly diminish through the song, but comes back at the end. May just be my ears, but maybe something to check. Could be masking from other mix elements.
There’s a little bit of clashing/masking of guitars and vocals at times. When they’re playing together. At 1:37 there’s a tricky drum fill/turnaround that got my attention. It happens a few times in the song. It sounds a little bit awkward. I assume the hits are intentional, but maybe difficult to pull off smoothly with MIDI drums? Or is it real drums? It’s a cool fill, just maybe difficult to pull off.
EDIT: I should point out that my first instrument was drums. So I’ve always been a drummer at heart. So my comment may be hypercritical of drum timing and flow. Just FYI.
Thanks for listening, Stan. The drums are EZ Drummer 2, and since I’m a guitarist I may have missed something in the translation. I’ll check your note about the fill at 1:37 too. Most of the fills were designed to match up with what the guitar is doing. I do try to keep in mind that drummers don’t have four arms, so I’ll check it out.
Thanks again!
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I think it’s more of how MIDI works. Before MIDI, drummers learned to do weird organic things that may defy “the grid” in some cases. Some people may call it “groove”. I know that, as a (mostly former) drummer, I’ve tried some things like you did there, and it required playing with the notes and sliding them around with the grid off. Going with what sounds good and correct, rather than what it looks like on the grid.
Said another way, I think your drum fill has got some 16th or 32nd notes in it, which is quite a departure from the mostly 4/4 structure.
If it’s off by a little bit, it’s not much. I doubt the average listener would notice or question it at all. Nudging it might require zircon encrusted tweezers. 
It’s a cool fill, and yes it works well with the guitar part.
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