The Cask

[T.C. Elliott]

I was pretty impressed with the detail musically. There is a lot in there but it doesn't sound cluttered, which shows a nice job mixing. A nice clean recording for sure.

[Bosko Schwartz]

FRANK!  This is so progged out!  I am impressed once again by your diversity.  You can do it all!  I really DO have some competition here!

Love the chord progressions -- very melodic yet prog at the same time.  Something I attempt to do but never can seem to figure it out.  Crazy lyrics!  The synth is phenomenal -- I LOVE the beginning and the synth solo near the end.  Also a great guitar solo thrown in toward the end.  IMHO, the bass should come up in the mix, but I'm a bass man.  The vox are just a tad flat, but I think that considering all that you have going on here, that is beyond forgiveable.

Just an OUTSTANDING job; I know for a FACT this mofo was a BEAST to mix!!!

[Frank53]

FRANK!  This is so progged out!  I am impressed once again by your diversity.  You can do it all!  I really DO have some competition here!

Love the chord progressions -- very melodic yet prog at the same time.  Something I attempt to do but never can seem to figure it out.  Crazy lyrics!  The synth is phenomenal -- I LOVE the beginning and the synth solo near the end.  Also a great guitar solo thrown in toward the end.  IMHO, the bass should come up in the mix, but I'm a bass man.  The vox are just a tad flat, but I think that considering all that you have going on here, that is beyond forgiveable.

Just an OUTSTANDING job; I know for a FACT this mofo was a BEAST to mix!!!

Thanks for the listen, and the comments, Bosko! I agree with you regarding the bass. I find bass to be the hardest thing to record and mix. The level here is a bit low. It has so much competition. LOL! I shudder to think that I may have to remix this again, but that is probably the case.

I classify my voice as bland. "Flat" is a pretty accurate term. If I remix this beast, I'll probably try to add some life to it with some high EQ (4 or 5K, and 10 or 12k shelving). That's about all I can do at this point. LOL!

Thanks again,
Frank

[lg]

Simply incredible!
Wow! This is quality material Frank!

LG

[Frank53]

Thanks for the kind words, LG!
I really appreciate it.

Frank

[Pine]

From the opening bell..GREAT PRODUCTION! I loved this mix Frank...vox out front where they can be enjoyed without straining. Minimal efx on them and good lyrics. All the instrumental performances are so smooth and well thought out. oh..one other thing i hear...alot of WORK!!  ....a labor of love though no doubt. Nice job man. I think i am too lazy to ever pull off something like this.

[Frank53]

Thanks, Charlie. I appreciate the kind words. Yeah, this one was a real challenge. I don't think I went near my recorder for a month after I finished it. LOL!

[Bosko Schwartz]

Thanks for the listen, and the comments, Bosko! I agree with you regarding the bass. I find bass to be the hardest thing to record and mix. The level here is a bit low. It has so much competition. LOL! I shudder to think that I may have to remix this again, but that is probably the case.

I classify my voice as bland. "Flat" is a pretty accurate term. If I remix this beast, I'll probably try to add some life to it with some high EQ (4 or 5K, and 10 or 12k shelving). That's about all I can do at this point. LOL!

Thanks again,
Frank

There's another way to raise the bass up slightly but not have to re-mix the entire song (an absolute NIGHTMARE, I know, and I completely understand not wanting to mess with this one again).  That is to mute all tracks but the original bounced stereo master track (not the master track after it has been mastered) AND the original bass track, and just slightly raise the bass track so that it has a tad more presence, and then bounce the master track + bass track onto another stereo track, creating a second version of your master track with more bass.  I hope that description wasn't too convoluted.  Try it and see what happens -- it can't hurt to give it a shot.  It is a lot better (and WAY FASTER) than trying to re-mix the entire song again, because this one was done so well, it would be hard to duplicate it.

As for your vocals, let me please clarify that I did not mean to say your voice in general is flat -- and certainly not bland -- but just this particular recording in certain parts sound flat.  I just think you could get a better take, and I am basing this on some of your other fine vocal performances, such as "Adult Education" and "Out All Night."

Love Live Frank!

[Blooby]

I thought I had commented on this one.  Just came back for another listen and realized I hadn't.  My apologies.

I'm a big fan of soaring melody over busy rhythm or simple rhythm under complex melody.  What I like about this is the simple melody and the simple piano coupled with all sorts of sounds swirling around that bed.  It really works well.  Nice guitar solo, by the way.

I admit I was taken aback by the subtle vocal delivery, but now I can't imagine it any other way.

Spoken word section and uttering "leviathan" = prog in my book.

Peace.

Blooby

[Frank53]

There's another way to raise the bass up slightly but not have to re-mix the entire song (an absolute NIGHTMARE, I know, and I completely understand not wanting to mess with this one again).  That is to mute all tracks but the original bounced stereo master track (not the master track after it has been mastered) AND the original bass track, and just slightly raise the bass track so that it has a tad more presence, and then bounce the master track + bass track onto another stereo track, creating a second version of your master track with more bass.  I hope that description wasn't too convoluted.  Try it and see what happens -- it can't hurt to give it a shot.  It is a lot better (and WAY FASTER) than trying to re-mix the entire song again, because this one was done so well, it would be hard to duplicate it.

As for your vocals, let me please clarify that I did not mean to say your voice in general is flat -- and certainly not bland -- but just this particular recording in certain parts sound flat.  I just think you could get a better take, and I am basing this on some of your other fine vocal performances, such as "Adult Education" and "Out All Night."

Love Live Frank!

Ah, yes! Now I understand. I had considered re-recording the vocal, as well as the drums. We'll see... I tried using pitch correction once. It sounded worse than the original. LOL! Technology isn't always a good thing.

I'll take a look at tweaking the bass level as you indicated. Might save me some trouble (and a few curse words).

And Blooby, thank you for the kind words. It was a mixing nightmare, but I wanted to try some big production piece, and see if it drove me crazy. I have now use "leviathan" and "recapitulate" in song lyrics. I don't know what's next. 

Thanks guys,
Frank