It's sounds a bit dark, specially the vocals. As for performance it's hard to say if your intent was to reproduce the song exactly but I would've like it to take another direction.
A real drummer different arrangement, more energy. But hey that's just me thinking Prince can't be replaced ;)

pcrecord, post: 456727, member: 46460 wrote: It's sounds a bit dark, specially the vocals. As for performance it's hard to say if your intent was to reproduce the song exactly but I would've like it to take another direction.
A real drummer different arrangement, more energy. But hey that's just me thinking Prince can't be replaced ;)

Indeed Prince cannot be replaced! You're observation is spot-on. I am in fact going for a darker aesthetic with slightly heavier guitars and drums while still honoring the stark funkiness of the original. I want a sadder, more shoe-gazey vocal since, after all, the track is supposed to be dark, sometimes hopeless poetry. My goal was to redistribute some of the vocal energy into the guitar and beat.

I've heard a lot of strange covers of this track - and they all either 1.) zap the funk out of it (i.e. Muse) - which is the most critical part IMO or 2.) they sound so far gone I can't even recognize it's a cover (Simple Minds).

Anyway, no more explaining from me! The cardinal sin of any artist lol :)

stevie_m, post: 456728, member: 48189 wrote: the track is supposed to be dark, sometimes hopeless poetry.

By dark I ment missing high frequencies.. We don't have to undermine the clarity of a recording for it to be dark (which comes emotions transmitited to the track by the signer's perfo)... For exemple in film, you can have a person who bleeds in the dark and we nearly don't see the blood OR you can have someone who bleeds in bright daylight so can't miss it.
This explain how I don't associate emotions with mixing choices (at least not conciently) I prefer lead vocal tracks to be in front of the band and clear sounding because they carry the emotions and the story of the song... Clearly this is a personnal choice and I respect yours !
Anyway, it's all good if it pleases you. !

pcrecord, post: 456730, member: 46460 wrote: By dark I ment missing high frequencies.. We don't have to undermine the clarity of a recording for it to be dark (which comes emotions transmitited to the track by the signer's perfo)... For exemple in film, you can have a person who bleeds in the dark and we nearly don't see the blood OR you can have someone who bleeds in bright daylight so can't miss it.
This explain how I don't associate emotions with mixing choices (at least not conciently) I prefer lead vocal tracks to be in front of the band and clear sounding because they carry the emotions and the story of the song... Clearly this is a personnal choice and I respect yours !
Anyway, it's all good if it pleases you. !

Ah, okay. For the vocal, I just did a gentle 2-3db cut on the low and high mids to boost clarity. New version should be on my original SC link above.

Love this tune, and not a bad remake at all. The mix sounds a bit on the high-midsy side to me. Not much on the low or top end, or at least not a "good" balance. And it may just be a matter of taste, but that clicky type kick got little wearing by mid song. Still had me groovin tho.

Interesting you say that. I'm listening to the Prince original and that sounds incredibly toppy and thin with that very lightweight bass - but of course in a good way. The kick is pretty much the same linndrum sample in the Prince original, but I accentuated around 80hz for a bit more low end thump. Glad it had you grooving :-)

LeeDee, post: 456782, member: 51266 wrote: Love this tune, and not a bad remake at all. The mix sounds a bit on the high-midsy side to me. Not much on the low or top end, or at least not a "good" balance. And it may just be a matter of taste, but that clicky type kick got little wearing by mid song. Still had me groovin tho.

Interesting you say that. I'm listening to the Prince original and that sounds incredibly toppy and thin with that very lightweight bass - but of course in a good way. The kick is pretty much the same linndrum sample in the Prince original, but I accentuated around 80hz for a bit more low end thump. Glad it had you grooving :)