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[notstewart]

Hi Aaron,
I listened to “Down the Avenue” a few times and really like it!! To me the song would not be out of place on a David Bryne or David Bowie record. I just kept thinking this guy is light years ahead of me as a musician and songwriter. The mixing is professional in my opinion, there is allot going on, but everything is clear and well separated. I think the song would work quite well in a movie soundtrack.

I’m glad I checked it out…and man you have allot of songs!

Paul

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Hi Aaron,
Thanks for taking the time to listen and review my songs!! I’m always surprised when someone says something complimentary about them, especially the vocals. That is why I layer them (not copied tracks), time consuming yes, but I don’t feel the cringe effect as much when the vocals are doubled (4 layers in “down the road”, plus 2 harmony). I’m a big fan of the song writing part, but not so much when it comes to singing and mixing. I gave up on trying to master.
Also, thanks for the website link and tips for that site, I’ll check it out.
When I get a chance, I’ll check out your song “Down the Avenue”.

thanks again,

Paul

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Hey Aaron,
I enjoyed the song; it kept my attention throughout with the many changes. The second vocal coming in seemed a bit odd at first listen, but I was fine with it on the second run through. The only thing that seemed a bit out of place to me (and maybe you were aiming for this), was there is a build up at the end and then it just abruptly ends. I was expecting maybe a delay fading off or something, but that’s just me. Other than that I liked it (and some of your other songs also). Your mixing sounds good too (which I suck at).

Paul

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

I enjoyed the hell out of that, thanks guys!

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment!! Glad you like it.
The airy sound is probably the result of my limited knowledge of setting up and using reverb channels (short and long).

thanks again,

Paul

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment BigJguitar!! I really like the idea of the bus track for the vocals and panning them L/R while leaving the Stereo panned Centre. Up till now I always had the lead vocal centre and the doubled vocal track panned off to one side and pulled back. I guess the reason for that was to try to “hide” the second vocal track and make it sound as one, but I’m definitely going to give that a go. I’ll also play around with the EQ around the 400 hz area (and thanks for the Andy Mcgee tip). As far as cutting up to 200hz, I only do that with the second vocal and second acoustic track, but you may be right about cutting too much. I put a Pre mix analyzer on the stereo bus and it showed way too much going on in the low end (between about 150-250 hz) and that made me think it was causing the problem. I’m presently at work and I don’t get the box like sound on these speakers, perhaps its time I tossed out my old home computer speakers, on those it sounds as if I recorded too close to the mic (that is what I called perhaps wrongly a box sound). At work I’m not getting that ear pressure sensation, but I do get it on my home computer speakers and sometimes when mixing on my recording monitors (older Yorkville YP-1). It mainly appears on tracks that were recorded with the mic (usually vocals). I’m going to try to find a piece of funiture to throw a blanket over and put it behind the mic. I have wood panel in the bedroom and it’s probably feeding back into the mic. Thanks again for the help, really appreciate it!! One other thing that may help is that I’m trying to learn to use finger picks, it’s going slow, but so far I’m making progress with a thumb and middle finger pick. It feels too awkward for me with three picks. If I keep at this I won’t have to add a second ficking picking track anymore.

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Pretty cool!
I would like to get into video, but so far audio takes up most of my time (and trying to learn photography).

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Very nice!!
Are you using imovie for video software?

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

I forgot to mention the poor sound quality.
I’m not very good at mixing, but the uploading processing on their site made it worse.
When I complained, they said they heard from many others also. I tried re-uploading with a 320 bit instead of 256 bit, but it didn’t help much.
There is still a bad jitter at the start and other parts.
Oh well, nothing I can do about it…

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

That’s good advice from your sister, worth heeding. It’s funny I just read a similar quote a few days ago that went something like…”we experience cold, hurt, and pain alone, but we only feel poor when we compare ourselves to others”.
Thanks for the compliment on my vocals! I originally didn’t want to sing, but figured the only way I was going to get any songs done was for me to sing them myself.
I hated them at first, and still have issues with them, but I found if I double tracked them, I was able to live with the results. The downfall is that it’s quite time consuming trying to match the tracks as close as possible.

thanks again!

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Yeah it’s working now. Great tune!. I like how you blended the heavy rythm with the lead, very Van Halen like. I also listened to Life ahead and loved that! The acoustic and electric work very well together and great build up at the end. This would be a great driving song or I could see it fitting in a movie. Man there are some very good guitar players on here, makes me want to just put mine down. Very creative songs, nice work!!

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

I clicked your link, but I can’t find “we are blue monkeys”. The link brings me to an artist named “Flume”.

Paul

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

I agree with the above posters and also add…excellent mix!!

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

I love Just One World and Blood of Mercy!!
Man, you have allot of tunes, I will have to check some of the others out when I get a chance.

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[notstewart]

Thanks Jason!
I listened to a few of your songs and I wish I could play and sing like that. Loved “Just One World”. I feel that my song should be heavier with more anger, but I don’t have the chops to pull that off.

@The Now
Thanks for listening and posting a comment. I did see the documentary “thrive”, and thought it was very interesting. Some of it I found a bit out there, but I agree with allot of what they were talking about.

Thanks again guys!!

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

[Author]

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