"Consumption" -- ITB mix ...

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:22 am

Consumption

I just put this through a complete makeover ...

The mix is still on the rough side -- it's a headphone mix after tracking and comping the vocal -- so certain sonic decisions may sound funky. I've not yet heard this on my monitors (Note: NOT an endorsement of mixing on phones btw ... I prefer speakers -- my college age son is sleeping next room over)

I thought I'd put it up anyways ... to solicit comment and opinion while things are still in formation/production ... whatever strikes anyone that I should pay more attention to.

Any/all thoughts appreciated ... this one is a little different for me ...

Best (and thanks!),

Kev-

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:37 am

The effects sound cheesy, but it kind of compliments the song. The phasing is cool but sounds cheap. The genre I feel that it's pulling from, early 70's acid pop-melt, the phasing needs to be dirtier, some form of colour.
Seriously though, you're writing tunes with drifting spacey solos named for TB and you have a kid my age. Now I know why you peg for the 50 something house wife... More power to you.

Rockin' soloing there Smile

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:18 am

Greener wrote:

The effects sound cheesy, but it kind of compliments the song. The phasing is cool but sounds cheap. The genre I feel that it's pulling from, early 70's acid pop-melt, the phasing needs to be dirtier, some form of colour.
Seriously though, you're writing tunes with drifting spacey solos named for TB and you have a kid my age. Now I know why you peg for the 50 something house wife... More power to you.

Rockin' soloing there Smile

Hey G!

You're right ... the reason my stuff sounds late 70/s is that's when I was HS/College age ... it was my musical formative years ... so Beatles/Eagles/Billy Joel/Cat Stevens/Elton John/Steely Dan etc ... are the ones I most tend to emulate.

My son, otoh, leans more towards Wilco, Decemberists, Flaming Lips, The Shins ... etc ... the younger housewife crowd. Very Happy

I'm married to that beautiful 50 yr old housewife btw ... and she's the lyricist on this tune.

Spot on about the need for dirt on the phase effect. I was already thinking about running the vocal through a distortion unit ... maybe amplitube or a Gearbox plug ... I'm "hearing" it too. Good call.

Sad thing about the guitar solo is the gentleman who performed it, my good friend, Mark Crumb ... passed away a couple years back. Mark was also a fellow member of Rec.org ...

Getting to 50 is bittersweet at best.

Kev-

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:54 am

Finally got a chance to audition it through my monitor setup.

I thought the mix was wimpy.

So I made it MUCH more aggressive ... and

... swapped out the vocal effect ...

... pushed the drums to "in your face" levels ...

... brought the bass git up 3db ...

... brought the ahh's down ...

... kicked up the guitars ...

... kicked the vox forward ...

... brightened the piano to cut through the dense end...

... softened the verse guitar (freq clash w/ the new distorted vocal) (Thanks G!) ...

... I left the B4 completely untouched ...

... added compressor pressure to the two buss for definition and level ...

And voila!

Newer, shinier, more aggressive mix now up top.

Best,

Kev-

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:00 am

Heaps fatter, the keys ( i think ) or whatever is that stabbing 6ish notes that plays over the solo chokes it big time.

Damn that solo rules.
Your mans soul lives on.

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:06 pm

Thanks G -- I miss him more than anyone knows ... we musically "understood" each other ... like starting a sentence and having the other finish it. He was a good friend as well as collaborator ... he's the one that originally pushed me into learning recording.

I'm not sure about the piano at the end ... it does tend to obfuscate the lead ... but it operates in a higher freq range so I thought it was up enough above to not be too intrusive.

I'll keep listening ... see if it bugs me.

Thanks!

Kev-

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:02 pm

fwiw ...

bunch 'o changes ...

Entirely new mix ... details of the mix addressed.

Which is sort of how I work.

I hit the highlights initially, getting the main direction in place, then I focus on the details ...

fwiw ...

Best,

Kev-

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:30 pm

k-dub wrote:

Getting to 50 is bittersweet at best.

It's a milestone! A turning point to display boldly, to use mixed metaphors.
Considering what we put ourselves through in the name of living, it's a wonder I can think at all ;)

Good tune!

It takes one to know one,

Brien

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:11 pm

So much easier to listen to, by the end of it I was rockin' out.
For the first 2/3 of the song there is one bass note that sounds like a click, distracting but I can force myself to just ignore it.

I totally dig it and may try and rip a copy later today.
Is there a less pirate way I can dl a copy?

Interesting times.

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:21 am

Excellent ears, G.

Yes, there is a click. I'll correct it. It was caught by a friend of mine on another forum too. I didn't hear it because of the snare masking it partially, but once I brought the bass forward, so came the click too.

Good catch!

I'll get it corrected and PM you a link for the fixed version. You want a high quality MP3?

It would likely be late today or tomorrow before I can get to it.

Best,

Kev-

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:48 am

Click fixed ... compressor -- 5:1 ratio -- ultra quick attack --10ms and release @ 20ms -- just enough to kill/dampen the click and get out of the way.

I also removed the distortion effect entirely from the verse vox.

I'm wondering if it binds the verse/chorus better in the arrangement.

G - Let me know if this one is good for you.

K-

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:02 am

K - Excellent job getting rid of the clicks, nothing distracts now. Keen as to play it really loud.

The vocals with distortion was better to me, but I know your target audience digs your crooning so best leave it like this.

Side note, is the title regarding consumption as in consuming or as in Tuberculosis?

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:06 am

In answer ... Holly's lyric:

Consumption

We love a million lights burning
We want our cars to eat up the road

Big, Better, Shiny and Newer
Our just desserts for hard work
We're told

It's what we want
Not what we need
It's our reward
Not simple greed

And we will vote to hear
The things we want to hear
To just give us our piece ...

Too many wrong people out there
So many reasons for resource wars

It's not our over consumption
The fault's not ours
Yes, it's clearly yours ...

YOU must conserve!

It's manifest
What we deserve ...
We are the best
On all the earth

And we will fight to take
The life we want to lead
And there will be no peace ...

© 2008 A Little White Music
Music by Kevin White
Words by Holly White

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:08 am

G- PM me a private email, I'll send the file (8mb).

K-

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