funky stuff - temptation

[boody]

Hi,

thanks to the weather, here's an almost finished mix from a funky song by Xilke

Temptation

As always; every comment/critique is more than welcome!

Thanks in advance for listening,
Budy[/url]

 

[akisd28]

Hey Budy,

\"Temptation\" made my body move! What can I say... Waiting for the next one! :wink:

 

[boody]

Hey Akis,

how's the Olympics coming on? Wish we had a bit of your sunshine. Here its autumn

see ya,

Budy

 

[akisd28]

Everything will be fine with the Olympics; Greek people have a tendency to do everything on the last minute, but they're always ready on time. :wink:
It's too hot here as always - I'm very happy I cut my hair short! Less sweat... What's the news from the weather broadcast for the Netherlands? Will it be the same on August?

That was really off topic, but what the hell!... It's summer... 8)

 

[boody]

they have no clue as to what the weather will be like next month. They even don't have a clue about the weather tomorrrow :?

not so sure if we should call it summer here. The whole day was rainy, abut now when the sun goes down the sky's blueer than blue :-({|=

Good weather for mixing though :mrgreen:

 

[akisd28]

Time for making music here, too - Marina went to Crete today and I got my new bass... :wink:

 

[ATOR]

Hi Boody,

Oh Yeah! you've got a groove going. Great song, great arrangement, great playing. The sound is fantastic. Could you tell me how this was recorded?

Some comments:
I think the song would open up if you'd add more highs on almost everything, it sounds kinda muffled now (are your monitors too bright?).
I like the bonedry sound but if you could add more space-information, especially early reflections, the soundstage would get more definition. Maybe you could place some wooden panels in your recording-room.
Also, but that's more a taste thing, I like a short plate on snare/percussion just so the attack get's more pronounced.
A last thing and then I promise I'll shut up :wink: , maybe you could experiment some more with the compressor settings on the snare to make it more snappy, or try a transient designer to bring out the attack some more.

I hope you don't mind me scrutinizing your production, it's just that I really like what I hear.

And yeah, dutch summers...........

 

[boody]

Hi Ator,

thanks for the comments!!

The bright part is obviously my weak point. My monitors aren't too bright (Bm6's), it's more that I seem a bit sensitive for high tones so I always tend to be too modest with them. Ofcourse I don't like it when other songs sound fresher, but untill now I fixed that with mastering. It's no good though so now I'm trying to mix it in sufficiently. My setup isn't exactly high end, so I need to do a lot of boosting to compensate, which I already do >12k (mostly in the range of 16 to 20k). I think my lack of highs lies between 5 and 10k. Is that correct?

Another allergy of mine is hearable reverb. I guess I'm too shy with that too, because there is an ambient reverb on the overheads that works on the snare too & there's a mono ambience reverb behind trying to give it more depth.

My record-booth is _very_ small. There are movable wooden panels in it, but not too much for it will sound like a shoe box :-({|=

enough moaning & excuses I'm flattered you like my music: within the next week there'll be a brighter version 8)

 

[ATOR]

I think my lack of highs lies between 5 and 10k. Is that correct?

I think it's higer, more from 10k and up. But eg the bass could use some more 3k to bring out the attack and the pops. If you have to apply lots of eq at the mastering stage the song almost gets remixed and it will never sound as good as eqing at track level in the mixing stage. I try to get the spectral balance right in the mix by comparing to a reference track and I'm not afraid to boost the highs of a vocal with 18dB if I have to. :twisted:

I don't like reverb either I always turn it down to the level where you just can't hear it anymore but you'll miss it when you turn it off. I did find that the better the reverb the less annoying it gets. Have you tried a convolution reverb with some great impulses?


Goodluck with the mix and looking forward to hearing it,
Pieter

 

[boody]

the bass on this song is quite lo-fi. This version has a deliberate muffled sound in the verses (vocals are made lo-fi too) so the contrast with the chorus is bigger. The singer did not agree with the experiment so it will change anyhow.

I work with references also (often Meshell N'degeocello) but I don't get it there yet, although I'm not shy with huge boosts either. Don't have that recording quality either :wink:
I found that if the overall frequency balance is right a high boost with mastering will leave the mix reasonably intact, but ofcourse it's not the way to go.

The reverb I use is a lexicon pc90 (2 pcm90 chips on a core32 soundcard) which is quite good, better than most plugs I heard. I haven't got too deep into convultion yet, maybe I'll give sir a go in the near future.

I've got to make three more new mixes before I make final mixes on all 10 songs. Hope to get at it in a weeks time.

I'll be back :twisted:

 

[Jeroleen]

I listened a few times to your song Temptation, It took me back to when jams like that were happening all over. It is nice to hear straight up playing and music instead of programmed, looped, quantized and corrected data.

I have a few comments and would be curious what you think. I was wondering about the vocal line. To me, I would have thought that since there is not alot of pitch modulation, that is, the vocal sort of hangs around a certain main pitch area and stays wtihin a limited harmonic bag, and the vamp behind the vocal just grooves along, the vocal would seem more dynamic if there were either different registers used or possibly a harmony here or there ir something. I saw the comment about lofi and hifi bass(if I read it correctly). I would think you would want contrast in the vocal to sort of mark the main part of the song, the improvised parts etc. The other thing was that there was a nice call and response on the vocal and I think before that there was a part where the female singer sang a hook type part (can't remember the lyric at the moment but i could go back and check) every four or eight measures. I was simply wondering why you put them where you did rather than sooner in the track. Just wondering what considerations you contemplated when making t he arrangement.

I am curious about this because I would say that I sometimes write and play in a similar griive ioriented style. Hearing another persons approach is great.

By the way, the Rhodes sound was very nice. I think it was a real one but nowadays I suppose it could be a sample.

I guess in summary what I am wondering about is that when you take the approach of a deep groove that for the most part stays in the same pocket rhythmically and harmonically except for the break down section, how do you keep the music interesting. How do you keep the audiences attention, make changes, build the song to a climax and what are the things you need to consider.

One other thought. I was wondering about the overall dynamics. What did you do with respect to compression and/or limiting and why?

Sorry to be so long winded. Its just late, I can't sleep and I felt like doing this.

 

[boody]

hey there Jeroleen,

thanks for the response. Sorry for the late reaction but I'm not much on the internet right now. I'm sorry to say that part of the song is programmed and corrected, but all on a need to do basis. The building of the song was somewhat awkward because the whole idea behind evolved over the years (!) that it exists. The vocal line was the basis of the song. The writer had recorded the line before and wanted me to recreate the recording, but the original was lost. I made an own version and added the chorus and the ending. The idea behind the vocal is a sort of rap-melodie that reflects the hectic subject of the text. I put the bass/drum combo behind it to enhance the feeling of chaos and brought in the hamony in the chorus to make the contrast: the chaos of egocentric life upposed by the simple need for company.

The whole concept of this production is to enhance the story. It's all about the lyrics and the spirit behind them. In this song it is: trying to cope with the temptations in life reflected by the need for company, the confusion that it brings and the need to keep going on.

I still feel i did not succeed in completing this song. What will do next is try to enhance the story further with the mix. Right now I'm occupied by rebuilding a house I'm moving to, but somewhere next month I'll post a new version which will hopefully make the message complete and bareable

regards, Budy

ps; sorry for rambling buit it's late here too and I'm a bit tired after tearing down some walls...