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Hello Folks,
This is a project I've almost completed. I'm still mixing and listening to/applying suggestions, ideas and commentary. I hope to have it sorted fairly soon so that I can sent it to the UK for mastering.
This track has BIAB Real Drums - Brit pop A narrow EQ boost for snare snap, a little cut in the high hat region and a small boost for the click in the kick.
Anthony Andrulonis wrote this with me and he provides vocals which he recorded in his home studio in the US.
I recorded the guitars using a Squire HH Bullet Mustang into a Marshall Superlead 100 - sometimes with a clean boost pedal in front.
The Vantage bass was recorded through a BDI21.
Foscusrite 2i2 into a rather new W10 computer.
The cabinet was mic'ed with a Shure 57 and a Sennheiser e609.
Tracked into and mixed in REAPER.
[Link no longer valid]
Suggestions and thoughts gratefully received.
Oh, lyrics...

Circus, City, Sewer.
Come to my circus,
My city, my sewer,
Exhibits are many,
Clay menagerie.
You can
Come to the grand ball,
My truncated lover,
The legless, the armless,
Come love’s amputee.

Red cellophane eyes
Waving stumps at the moon,
Come and see!
Build your own
Come and see!

Come to the grand ball,
My truncated lover,
The legless, the armless,
Come love’s amputee.
Won’t you
Come to my circus,
Spectators are few,
Another red nightmare,
You can’t hide or flee

Preach gangrenous love
Buy my pinup religion,
For a fee,
Have a taste!
For a fee!

Come to my circus,
Spectators are few,
Another red nightmare,
You can’t hide or flee
They all
Come to the dark house,
My frustrated lovers,
The carefree, the careless,
Loves not meant to be.

See comic book heroes
Pretend not to bleed
Please don’t look so sad
Come and taste,
Come and see.
For a fee.
Ray, overall this is very good. For me however I felt the harmonies were a little lost in there. Maybe widen the harmonies a little or even lift them but I am being super critical. But then I get fussy when it comes to harmonies it’s my age I’m sure.

Really well done

Tony
Originally Posted By: Teunis
... the harmonies were a little lost in there. Maybe widen the harmonies a little or even lift them ...

Tony,
Thanks mate.
That's the sort of response I can use. I'll try that recco tomorrow.
A really Rockin' tune, Ray. Great energy.

The guitars are terrific. Cookin'. And a good vocal.

The snare sounds great, but I'm not hearing the kick at all. I thought the snare could use a bit of reverb - seems pretty dry for this type song.

The bass line is terrific. I can hear it well, but it seems to be missing the bottom it ought to have. No "oomph" (one might say "Where's the beef?"). It's worth a highlight.

Those are just suggestions. Overall, you got the "big rock sound" going... and I enjoyed it.

fj
Ray

I like the song a good rock write, with some nicely played guitars which sound good(like the feedback ending). Like floyd I can't really hear the kick drum all that well. At 1.42 perhaps the little guitar leads could be louder in the mix.

Peter
Tony, Floyd & Peter,
I've attempted to address all suggestions in this mix.
I've done no faux mastering on this one so it'll sound a little quieter and drier than the previous BUT it should more accurately reflect the mix.
I was unable to come up with a reasonable solution for snare reverb.
I tried a few tricks but had no success - reverb on the whole kit was causing problems with the kick drum, (smearing it), which is why the kit is dry now.
I did lift the kick end of the kit though and added a tiny peak where the click of the beater is.
Harmonies are split either side now and panned a little wider.
lead lifted a bit.
I did note that the track played through a different streamer had more kick so it may be Soundcloud's compression & freq cut off s but that's the way with streamers.
Subsequent mix
Thoughts?
How are the drums done? Sometimes when I use RealDrums I copy the drum track and use a low pass filter on one track and high pass on the other. This way I can boost the kick a bit without the same happening to the higher end. I can get some subtle differences on the snare. Is it perfect NO. But, it can make overall control better.

I do like the harmonies better. Overall I like the song. Well done.

Tony
Originally Posted By: Teunis
How are the drums done? Sometimes when I use RealDrums I copy the drum track and use a low pass filter on one track and high pass on the other. This way I can boost the kick a bit without the same happening to the higher end. I can get some subtle differences on the snare. Is it perfect NO. But, it can make overall control better.

I do like the harmonies better. Overall I like the song. Well done.

Tony


Tony,
thanks for the response.
It's the usual BIAB stereo drum exported to .wav.
I have a narrow peak on the snare, another at the beater noise on the kick and a little cut bellow the thump.
I used the high & low pass trick on companion tracks but, when it came to just putting reverb on the snare, it wasn't accurate enough. I could locate the snare sample and build a companion snare track to add reverb to but that's a lot of effort and I've only had the one comment re that issue. Adding m ore kick - def is there on another forum which has its own upload, stream & download facility - being that it's a critical listening forum it probably has less crushing & trimming than SCloud.
I'm glad the harmonies have improved.
Ray,
nice tune and good, tight mix. I am "average" listener, and to me it sounds pro.
I am sure it sounds much better outside of sound cloud... Besides in my opinion this genre might actually benefit from little dust.

P.S. I would put a tiny hint of reverb on MB to make it a little wider, but that is how I would do it, not a suggestion.

Misha.
What a tune! I'm getting an almost Talking Heads vibe on this. Really catchy, and delightfully quirky. Really love the mix personally - everything flows perfectly and I found each element added to the others.

You should be proud of this one - thanks for sharing smile
Very cool tune. Really liked the drums and guitar. Vocal was excellent. Well done
Originally Posted By: Rustyspoon#
Ray,
nice tune and good, tight mix. I am "average" listener, and to me it sounds pro.
I am sure it sounds much better outside of sound cloud... Besides in my opinion this genre might actually benefit from little dust.

P.S. I would put a tiny hint of reverb on MB to make it a little wider, but that is how I would do it, not a suggestion.

Misha.

Misha,
thank you very much.
I used a hint of reverb in the previous mix - this has nothing on the MB. I'll leave that decision for the Mastering Engineer - I get my "finished" stuff professionally mastered so as to milk the best from them. I will post the mastered version when it's done.
Originally Posted By: Deryk - PG Music
What a tune! I'm getting an almost Talking Heads vibe on this. Really catchy, and delightfully quirky. Really love the mix personally - everything flows perfectly and I found each element added to the others.

You should be proud of this one - thanks for sharing smile

Thanks Deryk,
Having solid BIAB drums as the basis makes it much easier to get a half decent result.
I've used drum machines - & they had their place in time & space. I've used excellent drummers but it's a big ask & I asked too often.
Now I have a tool that frees me to create.
Originally Posted By: Scott C
Very cool tune. Really liked the drums and guitar. Vocal was excellent. Well done

Thanks Scott,
The drums thump away perfectly don't they?
Ray

I like the subsequent mix sounding good.

Peter
Dear "rayc"...

Well, your "Circus, City, Sewer" song is quite a phantasmagoric production with its driving, somewhat downbeat rhythm and darkly fantastic lyrics. It's drenched with atmosphere and has a weird energy that is quite unforgettable.

Something different and daring, for sure, "rayc"!

Haunted,

LOREN
Originally Posted By: PeterF
Ray

I like the subsequent mix sounding good.

Peter

Thanks Peter,
A couple of very, very small tweaks t that one & it's flown off or mastering.
Originally Posted By: bluage
Dear "rayc"...
Well, your "Circus, City, Sewer" song is quite a phantasmagoric production with its driving, somewhat downbeat rhythm and darkly fantastic lyrics. It's drenched with atmosphere and has a weird energy that is quite unforgettable.
Something different and daring, for sure, "rayc"!
Haunted,
LOREN

Loren,
Thanks for the amusingly grandiloquent pat on the back.
This has a great retro feel going on. I particularly enjoyed the bridge. Rob
Ray,

The remix is certainly better - the bass is way thicker and I thought the overall sound
more balanced. Nice guitar tones- love the feedback ending.
Lyrics are dark-not a bad thing ( suited to the feel of the music), I think I`d need a lightshow and substance assistance to really get into them!

Robert
Sounds nice and crisp over my speakers, and the balance is good.
With a title like that.... curiosity got me.

Like a horse race.... and they're off at the sound of the bell.... full tilt boogie... reminded me of Stix a bit. And oh yeah.. the lyrics reminded me of an LSD trip....

All in all, this was a rather good song. Lots of energy and sounds like it's mixed well
Man, that is powerful...in the lyric, the vocal performance and the guitars.

There are very few posts here that effectively use this much energy in a rock song (as you have done).

Mixing a song like this is waaaaay above my paygrade but it sounds excellent to us. I listened on the small KRK monitors and our larger system and all was hittin' the note on both systems.

Nice!!!

J&B

PS: FWIW I almost always double the snare drum and sometimes the kick for RD's. I find them at the end of the wav file for the respective RD in BiaB's RD folders. I then eq out a bit of the kick and or snare in the primary RD track. For the doubled snare and the doubled kick tracks I used one of CLA Drums snare or kick presets. Seems to work OK for me. At least I have more control over them.
Originally Posted By: Rob4580
This has a great retro feel going on. I particularly enjoyed the bridge. Rob

Thanks Bob,
I'm retro aged so it fits.
Originally Posted By: Robertkc
Ray,

The remix is certainly better - the bass is way thicker and I thought the overall sound
more balanced. Nice guitar tones- love the feedback ending.
Lyrics are dark-not a bad thing ( suited to the feel of the music), I think I`d need a lightshow and substance assistance to really get into them!

Robert

Thanks Robert,
Loud Marshalls do have a certain vibe don't they?
It was loud enough in the room for me to wear hearing protection.
Light shows - oh, I remember them being on the promo posters along with the band. A definite draw card.
Originally Posted By: dcuny
Sounds nice and crisp over my speakers, and the balance is good.

Thanks David,
balance was what I was aiming for. I had the guitars rather loud for the 1st dozen mixes but started to see & hear the light (& shade).
Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
With a title like that.... curiosity got me.

Like a horse race.... and they're off at the sound of the bell.... full tilt boogie... reminded me of Stix a bit. And oh yeah.. the lyrics reminded me of an LSD trip....

All in all, this was a rather good song. Lots of energy and sounds like it's mixed well

Thanks Herb,
It wasn't all as frenetic in the 1st iteration. It was about 50 bpm slower and sounded like a Glitter band song...I'll post a link in a few moments - it's a laugh.
Hello Folks,
For those interested in song genesis here's the original iteration of this sonog - recorded in late June of this year...
CCS as Glitter Band material.
Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
Man, that is powerful...in the lyric, the vocal performance and the guitars.
There are very few posts here that effectively use this much energy in a rock song (as you have done).
Nice!!!
J&B

Thanks J&B,
The mix process was protracted - about 10 versions once the vocasl were in place and numerous sets of ear s too. Tinnitus means I do need to refer to otehr listeners incase the frequqncies masked by my ringing head cause grief.
I'll give your strategy for drum augmentation a go. I've resisted that process thus far but it may make the difference in the end so is worth a good try.
Rayc, I sent you a PM regarding the drums and how you might get what you were looking for.

Tony
What a GREAT classic rock sound on this Rayc!! Had me thinking BOC/Tull. Your mix sounds outstanding to me. Vocal processing on this is pure gold! Great work! Thank, T
ray,

Powerful Rock!
Everything is energitic.
It reminds me of some British bands like The Kinks.
Nice guitar tones. The feedback ending is very nice.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi
Ray,

Excellent rock song. Cool yet a hot piece of music. There'[s not much of that on the forum - this was a real nice change. Enjoyed my listen a lot!

Alan
Great rocker!! Love the vibe, the production, the mix, and especially the vocal!! Everything works for me. Great job!! Take care. Greg

Very nice song; excellent rockin' sound and vocal.

Sergio
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