I used BIAB for drums, bass, guitar and the background aaahs, which I auditioned to fit the piano, which I'd written in EZKeys. I and a Fiverr freelancer, Yamille, sang. I added a bit of Orange Tree Samples' Passion Flute, and I mixed everything in Mixcraft, using various basic VST fx.
On the master buss I used upward compression to reveal detail, using a preset named, oddly enough, "Reveal Detail" in ToneBooster's multiband compressor, dialing in the wet / dry mix to taste. I'd suggest trying the trial version. Used judiciously, it can be a nice magic fairy dust plugin. I fed its output into a normal compressor (Tokyo Dawn Labs' free Kotelnikov) set very lightly, i.e. ratio of 1.5, with the threshold set so that gain reduction ranged between 0 and -1-ish.
Whatever your thoughts, I'd like to know what you listened to this on (cans, ear buds, studio monitors, grok box, hi-fi, phone speaker etc). So tricky trying to mix fort so many devices!
Sweet sounds, Ken. Excellent mix and I really like all the pieces you've mixed in there. Each one does so well to lift the song. Cool lyrics, and a terriric job with the synths, especailly those neat harmony lines. Because you asked, I listened on 3 of the speaker configurations I use here. It's sounds good on all three, but my headphones got me closer. The final test would be the car speakers.
Enjoy whatever happens! marty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@babumusic51 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marty-straub Band in a Box, Reaper, Cakewalk, Ozone 12, EZDrummer
This is a lovely sounding track! All the different elements you've pulled together in this work/fit seamlessly! IT has a beautiful melody and the vocals are very well done!
Really interesting song and production. Plus thanks for that Abbey Road technique link.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
This is a lovely sounding track! All the different elements you've pulled together in this work/fit seamlessly! IT has a beautiful melody and the vocals are very well done!
Thanks, TB
Thanks for the kind words, Torrey. I'm not going to tell you how many iterations it took to decide which elements to include/ exclude. BAIB threw out so many good suggestions it was hard to choose!
Really interesting song and production. Plus thanks for that Abbey Road technique link.
Thanks WaoBand. The Abbey Road trick has been a game-changer for me. Really excels when you want to get a vocal out of your face without obvious trickery. Often gives good results which you don't actively hear until you mute it
Really lovely, intimate tune. Love the you-are-there, up front feel of the production. Nicely textured vocals, and those harmony parts are very inspired. (There's an ever so slight vocal glitch at 1:08 on the "will" lyric that may be fixable)
I use Abbey Road Reverb Plate on just about every vocal, but had not used the trick you referenced. Will give that a shot. Have been using a side chained compressor to cut the vocal FX a few dB, which has a similar mud-clearing effect. But your trick is definitely worth a listen...
THANKS for posting!
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
This is a very promising song. Loved the piano intro and rich backing. Also the vocals are excellent.
Lyrics - a suggestion: You seem to have one too many words in many of the lines which stops the flow and rhythm of the vocals. - just a suggestion on a very good song.
Well done.
Best Regards Nigel
Nigel Spiers Christchurch, New Zealand info@nzacoustics.com
Really lovely, intimate tune. Love the you-are-there, up front feel of the production. Nicely textured vocals, and those harmony parts are very inspired. (There's an ever so slight vocal glitch at 1:08 on the "will" lyric that may be fixable)
I use Abbey Road Reverb Plate on just about every vocal, but had not used the trick you referenced. Will give that a shot. Have been using a side chained compressor to cut the vocal FX a few dB, which has a similar mud-clearing effect. But your trick is definitely worth a listen...
THANKS for posting!
Thanks, Don, that's validating, I'd sweated and fretted over the harmonies (which I've only started trying to write recently) and vocal mix (vocalists should not mix themselves), so I'm glad to worked in your book!
This is a very promising song. Loved the piano intro and rich backing. Also the vocals are excellent.
Lyrics - a suggestion: You seem to have one too many words in many of the lines which stops the flow and rhythm of the vocals. - just a suggestion on a very good song.
Well done.
Best Regards Nigel
Thanks very much, Nigel. There are indeed some metre "cowlicks" in there. I'm glad the backing managed to poke through, initially I'd almost "released" it as just an instrumental.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
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Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
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FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
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Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
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