I think I finally got to a better place mixing. It's taken me a long time to ascimilate information that I have read and heard from folks on here.... and especially what Zoltan was trying to tell me about compression.... but I think another major thing is to get the low end right...
I think there was at least 6 different stages of compression on this.... First each drum track (6)... got it, and the bass I copied and used everything below 200hz on one track uneffected, the other track was distorted at 140 hz and above)... then I compressed the bass tracks and then did the drums and bass tracks together...
and so on... I did a music mix and this was all done on Audacity... then I took the music mix to bandlab and after eqing the vocals and compressing them in Audacity I took the one vocal track to bandlab... tripled it... and effected and panned each one a bit different...
The guitars are 3 tracks all with Les Paul through the ME-25 with different effects... I saw this as a 3 guitar band here kind of toward the Cars..... the mix def sounds late 70's early 80's to me... bands like Pat Benatar and some of Foreigner, even some southern rock like Molly Hatchet had incredible guitar sounds... but I think what is very different is the drums (more toward the Cars maybe) and vocals...
either way... I really feel good about this production...
I wrote this different than usual in that I had the song idea during practice... so I roughed it out and recorded to my phone to not forget it... then I made a Trio drum track to use as a metronome on this recording... then I did the first guitar track...vocals.... then the drums.... bass.... second guitar... lead guitar... I would say total I probably worked on this thing about 30 hours over a number of days... that would be recording it, mixing it etc...
I decided to just leave it with one vocal track this time... it seemed ok that way.
so here is to celebrate 5000 song crafter posts... and many thanks to this site and all who have taken the time to listen and comment and otherwise inspire me.... this is a really great little corner of the universe... I feel fortunate to have found it.Contagious (small file).mp3
Excellent all around - production too! The single vocal is great enough that I agree it doesn't need any more. Cool lyrics. I am definitely getting Cars vibes on this. On the production, yeah, compressors on almost every track is something I do. I think it helps, at the very least to even out unintentional volume changes, and also to help increase overall loudness, so you can win the "loudness war". Actually I think I'm losing that war - I don't understand why my tracks always end up seemingly a bit quieter than most others, despite my attempts to make them loud (but not louder than -12 LUFS, if you want to get technical, since I read that louder than that is "bad"). But maybe I'm missing something there. Anyways I enjoyed your track here. Rock on brother!
You've done a fantastic job on this track Steve. I love how every instrument can be heard clearly in the mix and the placement makes this a great listen on headphones...you know I'm a fan of two different guitar tracks panned left and right ;) . I also love what you've done with your vocal track...sounds great and, in my opinion, probably your best performance. 30 hours of work has certainly paid off. Interesting to hear waht you've said about using compression...it's something I never bother with so I'll have to start doing some experimentation myself. Oh, the song itself is great too ! Going back for another listen !
Pete
I like the stumbling beat intro. Then into a punky Iggy Pop style rocker. Much enjoyed! Rock on!
First off, great drumming dude.....very lively ......it's a very polished sound....but yet still raw and live...I think you are zoning into a great recording process.....sounds very good....late 70s vibe...put some synths on and it would have a Loverboy feeling.....
Excellent production, Stephen. Research and experimentation are how we get the sound we want though compression on tracks is something of a black art to me therefore I tend to avoid it as much as I can.
This is a fine track and as Des says - something of a Cars vibe. That drumming is ace and some great work on that bass. Cool vocal work too.
Wow, a different direction in this one I'm feeling? Cool! A lot going on with fine production. One constructive comment maybe, I think you might have lost the midrange? Some of the drums and guitar rhythms seem to be somewhat undefined. This is a problem with my songs also so can't give a fix per-say but even if that's what you are going for, it's a fine piece of work that I totally enjoyed! 8)
I want to drop a different master in here... this is the same mix as before from Bandlab but this time I mastered it with Masterdesk True Peak. The one at the top was mastered in Landr... but in fairness to them I had to cut the file size down in Audacity... however, Landr only has one size option now... for download mp3...
I don't know which is better... I think I like the Masterdesk one better but I gotta listen on various platforms...
Doug and Ken got me interested in looking at graphs on this... so I may start a post about that or just drop a few in here to compare... I think it would be better served though as a separate topic...
The strange beat at the beginning sets you up to have NO idea what to expect.
The guitars and the vocals and everything combine to be a strange trip.
Cool, man.
Tight tune with production to be proud of.
The tune has an infectious quality (pun intended I guess). I especially dug the drumming.
Blooby
Those DRUMS! They are cookin! The song reminds me of the looser/jammy songs off The Cars debut album (like Moving In Stereo). Great tone on that lead guitar, got me thinking of Steely Dan at the start! Infectious riff, motoring bass and a coy vocal overtop ;). Super cool!
This is wild and rocking. You're doing wonderful classic rock stuff and keeping the 70s vibe going.
The bassline is wicked and your vocals sound fabulous.
I really like the fact that you're getting this natural / "analog" - type of warm sound / mix... And i know for sure that you don't do anything to make it so! It's all 100% proof Stephen channeling the universe.
Toe tapping goodness ...that guitar is contagious