a fun one. Another one day wonder. I’ll definitely remix it when I get some time. I kept trying to push stuff up, forgetting I had limiters everywhere lol
I did a “mix 1” and the waveform looked like 2 solid black stripes hehe. So I backed off the limiter and did this mix 2. Still needs to be redone though
I cracked up numerous times making and mixing this. Sort of a mix between ‘Witchy Woman’ and Hearts “The Wolf”
Mix2
Hey! I’m liking this tune so far! Mix is coming along decent. The lead vocal seemed to blend in with the guitars just a bit too much during the verses, but I’m listening on earbuds, so it could be what I’m listening on. Thought I’d point it out anyway 
Good tone man!! 
Loved the howl. Ha ha Big sound bud. Wow love that sustain. The everything changed after midnight is very good there. So how many cups of coffee are you drinking each day??? You have alot goin on in these and I can’t imagine the work load. I can do a ballad in a few hours, but that is with just a few elements. Much enthusiasm in your vocal. You’re feelin it for sure. I might be 69 years old, but I dig this stuff. Congrats
Paul
its not really mixed at all. it was a template from another song that itself was only rush mixed lol. I forgot I had limiters on the busses etc and I kept pushing the vocals and stuff up not realizing it was just getting more compressed hehe
its a decent tune though so when i get a minute ill clean up the stems and redo the mix
haha. nah I knew this “5 songs in 5 days” challenge was coming up apr 2-6 I took Tuesday off and I already had Wed/Thurs off so i did a song on Monday, finishing up at midnight, did a song in tuesday finishing up at midnight. Wednesday i was totally shot and did nothing lol. Then Thursday I did this song. But thats it for the meantime, gotta rest the ol’ brain
Sounds like something I’d do. HAHA. I’m digging this song so far.
Impressive! One-day wonder indeed. Nice playing JJ!
im always impressed with the writing and complex stuff going on around here, this is another one. bridges breaks and layers…great stuff
Nice job!. There is a lot that I like about this, particularly the early 90’s feel:) The bass guitar line doesn’t feel like it is playing nice with the drum line to me. The bass doesn’t feel like it is anchoring the song IMO. It feels like it is trying to stay out of the way of everything instead of holding down the tune. On first listen I found myself loving the guitar lines but listening to the bass trying to figure out where it was going. I think the tone is fine but it is hard to tell. I don’t mean to be overly critical this is a very well done production. Cool writing, great vocals, guitars etc.
I was waiting for someone to say that so that I could check off that check box of things that usually get said on my songs hehe. Of course if it gets said a lot by various people then there is obviously some truth to it.
Objectively speaking, id say bass playing is the thing ive done the least by a long shot. Even though I feel it is super important it does get sort of tacked on at the end of things. So whether or not id be called an “expert” at any other aspects, im dang sure NOT an expert on bass.
I think I struggle with it due to 2 main things:
I tend to be behind the beat on everything I do. On guitar you can kind of get away with that (see—>Keith Richards whole career) but not as much on bass. So couple that with the fact that I dont really know what im doing and/or know basic bass cliches and therefore im sort of hesitant and it makes it hard for the bass to really groove well
The nature of the instrument. The bass can sort of follow the kick drum…or not. It can also follow the guitar or not and sometimes just mimic the vocal lines. it can also just do its own thing. So I generally just play what seems right at the moment but im not always too sure about it. Left to my own tendencies id probably aim more towards overplaying…so if I try to compensate for that I might go too far the other way
of course the ROOT of the problem is that I might not play bass EXCEPT for when I actually record which might be every couple months lol
here is the drum/bass mix with bass turned up a bit:
I aint even mad since no one (yet) has pulled out “uhmm, not to be overly negative but the vocals are sort of pitchy”
If I were posting a lot of songs to be reviewed id try to get more efficient with it all. Like for pitchy vocals people just post “#1” and for sucky bass just “#2”…to save them some typing lol
Speaking of being “behind the beat”, this bassline is quite noticeably in front of the beat, and making the whole thing feel awkward. I’d be inclined to drag the entire bass track back until it’s sitting a bit more in the pocket.
like I alluded to…im generally anywhere EXCEPT on the beat. Shows up more on the bass
While there are no “rules” for bass, in the style of music you’re playing we expect bass to anchor the song rhythmically and harmonically, which means that it doesn’t so much as follow the guitar but rather it cements the tonality of whatever the guitar is playing. You can completely ignore this but you should at least be aware that you are deliberately choosing to not conform to this trope.
Since it has a very important rhythmic role you need to make sure it plays nice with the drums, a guitar player can get way with being sloppy rhythmically but a bass player will get called out on it pretty quick. I usually prefer to track the bass along with the drums soloed as it makes it easier to lock in with the drums.
what style would that be?? lol. I wouldnt really know what to call it so i definitely wont worry too much about putting expectations on it.
Besides being ‘dad rock’ what is it? classic rock? Post grunge? Its deffo not 80s rock since its not polished yet. I have discussed it before that I dont even know what to call it
For sure I feel the music is only about 40% where I want it to be. And even IF I knew what label to put on the music, I still wouldnt have any clue what the bass would be doing technically. I just havent had the time to put any focused study into it. Add that to me doing these whole songs in one day and we get about what we gt here lol
in any case i’ll definitely need to improve things going forward
I think the bass and guitars work well together, it’s just the fact that the bass is out in front of the beat that makes it a hard listen. Actually the the guitars seem off-time(advanced) too just listening back.
Can you possibly throw up a guitar stem, bass plus a drum mix? Just a snippet of each would be cool.
After listening on my studio monitors I am hearing a big hole in the middle. The drums are very “pushed back” in the mix with FX. They feel almost too stereo. They are good sounds. I would take off some reverb and elongate some of the decay on close mics. Things go very wide in this mix. Wider than they are deep which makes me feel like I am missing some of the forwardness in the middle. I would rip back all the FX on everything and only add them if you can’t figure out another way to achieve what you want.
Keep in mid low frequency ambience is much better in mono. That is how our ears hear it. Stereo low frequency fx mostly muddy a mix.
I hope that helps.
Have you done the trick with duplicating the bass part and using one for lows and one for distorted mids and such?
I have done it but not on this track. this was a “one day wonder”…all done in one day
There’s a special place in music heaven for the one day wonders. For me it is hard to decide to advance or delay tracks. In this song I thought the bass/drums were spot on, but it is possible a tweak could improve something.
The vocals and lyrics were engaging and very well delivered but a little too buried in this mix in my opinion. I think this is always difficult in loud music. For a clever story, you want it understood, maybe a hair better than barely. I’m thinking a one day remix would be well deserved.