Jamestoffee – Wasteland (band mix) contest entry

Archive IK Multimedia T-Racks Mix Contest (completed)
#1

I added some instruments & sounds.

Pros
Beautiful song, never got tired of listening to it
Learned more about my plugins and workflow

Cons
Spent more time on it than I planned

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0 voters

edit by @bholst to embed player

#2

Some cool touches to the song @jamestoffee! I really like hearing the different takes to this song. Was that you on the keyboard? Great playing! Just a couple quick things as I’m listening. I’d probably would’ve suggested a couple changes in terms of production.
The piano at the beginning, as well as the arpeggiated synth part are both a little bit busy. Not in a bad way, but when the original guitar is in the mix, they conflict with each other quite a bit. I’d probably either play simple “pad” chords on the piano or synth, OR not use the guitar tracks. This is totally subjective, so take my opinion with a grain of salt :wink:
Mixwise, you did a good job! I’m listening from a laptop, but I’m not hearing any serious muddiness issues. There a couple spots that the newly added keys were a tad hot, but again, that’s subjective.
Keep up the good work! I hope it was a great learning experience. It was great to see that you were able to learn more about your workflow and plugins. Gaining a better workflow will greatly improve your mixes in the long run! :beerbanger:

1 Like
#3

EZKeys

Thanks for the feedback and helping me get the embedded player in the post.

#4

Oh cool! I hadn’t heard examples of it in use. Do you use it often?

#5

Yes, it is awesome for non-keyboard players like me.

Here is another example of using EZKeys in a song from the November songwriting challenge:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t5IQkLbe2tdoImMLrBSUbkVrziekUp4Z/view?usp=sharing

original song post

1 Like
#6

Hi James!
Good job.
I agree with Holster’s comments and if I may add a couple more.
I think Vocals should be a bit louder to stand out from the instruments.
I’d prefer the L&R panning of the Backing Vox to be on some other instrument instead. The synth maybe.
Cheers and good luck!

1 Like
#7

Thanks for the feedback, ManAbyss.

#8

Hey, cool and different behavior here, quite bold actually I found!
I should say that I’m not very keen on what you did because it looks more like a remix than only a mix and I’m not sure it fits what the contest actually is… but why not.

Regarding the production, it sounds odd to me as well: it seems you added layers of tracks on top of the original song without creating spaces for them. And finally, it doesn’t glue that well :confused:
Mixing wise, I found the balance having lot of weirdos (vocal quiet at the beginning, some drum parts way too loud or disconnected, some parts are too wet and some too dry) and therefore the story is hard to follow during the song.

By the way, it could fit the artist wishes and I hope you got the result you’re looking to.
Bold job indeed!!

1 Like
#9

Thanks for the feedback. I can see how I missed the mark of expectations, but we can only start where we are at and work from there. I can also see how I was trying too hard to do a mix “my way” instead of listening to what the song/artist is intending…a fun learning process.

Thanks again.

#10

Yep, totally!
I hope you had some fun with this song.

1 Like
#11

The first part of the song you had me with the acoustic guitar. I was thinking, cool, a John Denver remix. But as it went, personally, I felt the tenderness and the story of the song got lost with all the different production sounds. A valiant effort though. It WAS a lot of fun to mix and fill in some of the spaces though, wasn’t it? :slight_smile:

1 Like
#12

Thanks for the confirmation, Mike :smiley:

#13

Definitely an interesting take on the song. The low vocals have already been mentioned. I didn’t care for the direction you took with the vocal line right before the guitar solo. I did like the fade out at the end of the song.

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#14

That was intentional to increase the emotion with the drums and gtr, but I can see how it may have been too much.

As in, “Thank God that’s over” HAHA Just kidding. :smiley:

Thanks for the listen and feedback.

1 Like
#15

Ha! I faded out the end of my submission as well.

1 Like
#16

Damn you did add some parts. I think you executed the parts you played other than the drumming in the lead section. I would have to agree with holster some of the parts don’t seem to fit the flow of the melody she is singing tho. I think overall less is more sometimes when adding parts. Things to think about does the part fit the song and what’s its job in the frame work of the song.

I also learned more about my plugin and workflow that I have a long way to go. LOL

Nice job and see you around IRD.

1 Like
#17

Thanks for the feedback :smiley:

#18

As a score writer, I appreciate the string work you did from 1:30 - 1:50 , the syncopation of the bouncing strings were playing some intense harmonies. Staccato version of the strings could have added more power to the phrase though.
Agree with most comments here already, not much to add.
Great instrumental work there :slight_smile:

1 Like
#19

Thanks for the feedback :smiley:

#20

Nice change of music!! Mix a lil weak. Sounds like most of the music is in the middle, spreading out the gtr and other elements gives the vocal a bit more clarity! Nice drums at the end!

1 Like