There was a great song in there - worthy of the "original" Jet J ;-)
Some things I found:
Drums were at least recorded clearly, with good separation on each track. My challenge was getting the kick to kick and the snare to snap. I also found the bass a bit woolly and it took a bit of EQ to get it to sit with the kick and guitars, adding to them without overwhelming them.
I like the singer. However, I found the vocals tended to start off strong, then tail off quite early - maybe because she drinks and smokes... ;-) Compression will only get you so far - I ended up doing a lot of automation on the volume fader to get it to cut through, but I am pretty happy with the result, especially on the bridge.
Guitar riff was good, but the second lead goes way off key in the middle... We could be generous and say he "switched to the phrygian mode" but it just didn't work for me, so I edited a new solo together with a bit from the intro. I personally like it MUCH more! It now just rocks all the way through!
Piano interesting, but so bass heavy. Massively EQed the low end out. I kinda wish he'd played the whole thing an octave higher because as it is it sits in with the bass and guitar too much.
16-07-2017, 09:00 AM (This post was last modified: 16-07-2017, 09:00 AM by CJ Fuller.)
I normally do my own mastering as a separate process, but have been playing around with the online mastering sites a fair bit. It's always interesting to see what they do to your mix, both good and bad.
I have the same song as above, but mastered via MajorDecibel.
The results are interesting. It's a smooth master, not overly compressed. I find it is a lot heavier on the bass than my master. On a decent set of speakers, I think it is a bit too bass heavy, but on headphones it is just right.
The extra bass does overwhelm the piano in the middle 8 a bit.
If you liked me previous mix and want to hear a slightly different, more bass heavy version, try this.
Hey, I've your version and I love to see how people get creative in changing stuff, that's awesome.
Since you're a guitar player, I'd love to hear your take on that solo. I went phrygian but I only thought about it now because you mentioned it, I just wanted to add a little "color" to the melody instead of throwing all my pentatonic licks and repetitive rock cliches.
But I try to listen to the mixes people make and some are really great!
My first response, and who is it? The bloody guitar player who's lead I changed... What's that saying about karma...? ;-)
Nah, just joking. In all seriousness thanks for listening and responding. I'm honoured.
As far as the lead goes, well, there was really just one note that kept pulling me out of the mood each time. And I'm fine with modes and variations and stuff - I understand. I mean, I was into stuff like Bitches Brew, Get Up With It, and Coltrane's Africa back in the day... But this song was just such a straight up, balls to the wall rocker (and I mean that in a GOOD way) that if ever there was a place to pull out the rock cliches this was it! Anyway, and let me speak frankly, I think kicking off the solo with the fastest passage kinda left nowhere to go? By moving that to the second bar I tried to create a climax, and then there's a melodic change on the last bar anyway. Also, I liked the way Jet's last "thiiiinnk" was echoed by the long bent note at the start of your solo in my mix.
So how did you know I'm a guitar player? I am, but I don't think I could actually "outplay" you here... I've got "Dave Gilmour" hands so I can do slow and technical or fast and simple :-) I mainly focus on monster riffs ala Manson or Rammstein nowdays. But there was a point I was tempted to turn it into a call-and-response between you and me! Next time maybe?
So... I'd love to hear what Jet herself thought of my vocal treatment!
Haha, it's no karma. It's actually funny to see what people do with it.
I remember someone had removed the piano and drums intro from Colton Benjamin's Sail Away, and of course it's a great idea. But imagine you, the piano player, coming in to check the mix and the piano part (that I really love to listen to on it's own) is gone and comes in later towards the chorus, you wouldn't be amused
And don't get me wrong, I wasn't daring you to outplay me, just curious how others would approach the same solo. Because I wrote it that way, listening to your version of the solo takes some adjusting
But I'm glad you guys try stuff out, and please keep doing it!
Haha. Well, I actually love to hear the piano on this song. Funnily, it is the thing I noticed a lot of mixes cut out or just neglect. Sad... I tried to get it balanced on the intro - we've got drums, guitar, a solo AND piano - well, I was trying to keep in mind a sort of Leon Russell "Prince of Peace" intro feel.
For the bridge/middle 8 or whatever you want to call it I really wanted the piano to jump out more, because it helps differentiate things. I wish, is it Jordy?, had played it an octave higher, because it would be easier to make it jump out, but he's in the same octave as the guitar and bass so it was hard, even dropping the level of the guitar during that part.
20-07-2017, 02:22 PM (This post was last modified: 20-07-2017, 03:19 PM by CJ Fuller.)
Anyway, speaking of changing things up - let me tell a story. Back when me and friends were all hanging out in bedrooms, smoking weed and recording terrible music, I had a friend who one day suddenly recorded a BEAUTIFUL vocal for one of my songs. Anyway, some time later, she'd written a song and was trying to make it as a singer and wanted me to produce this song she'd written. So we set up a basic track and recorded it, and it was terrible. So many off-key lines, etc, etc. What to do? So in the end, and a long time later, I ended up chopping up the good parts, re-writing the song and adding my own response vocals, making bridges out of "ah ha ahaha" stuff, and in general producing a COMPLETELY different song. Needless to say, when I unveiled my creation many months later she was NOT impressed. In the meantime, she'd gotten a LOT better at singing, re-recorded a new version with someone else, and released that.
Fast forward several years, and when she does it live now, there is a MASSIVE influence of my version on her live performance! She gradually started incorporating more and more of my composition in the live show that was NEVER there in her original version...
What does that have to do with you? I have no idea... unless in 10 years time I hear a Jet B live performance and you're playing the solo my way.... ;-)
Haha nice!
Well Jordy is the pianist but none of the band members recorded anything on the album. I met Jet B a while ago and I thought she rocked, so we got in a room with a band and tried it out. The line-up kept changing, we never really got anywhere. A few months later, while the line-up kept changing we decided to sit down and make an album first and then get a band. This way you don't have to deal with anybody's skill, experience in writing own parts, agendas, etc. (and another big plus: programming drums and stuff like that kept the costs to a minimum)
So I gave her like 100 rock songs and she chose like 40. And out of those, she ended up having 11 on her record. And Suit You I wrote as her story because that's really her.
So this song is actually all you and Jet? Cool.
Sounds like you like to work the way I do with my own songs - just do it all yourself in the studio. That way you know what you're doing and what you want. Also, you don't need to deal with that awful moment that eventually comes up, where you say to the bass player - "OK, play A, C, G on the first bar, then A, D, C, B on the second" and they reply "Huh? What?"... ;-)
Anyway, I really liked this song, and would love the chance to work on something else you/she does in the future. It was a fun song to work on!
I think collaboration is the key! Even though I know a LOT of musicians I have this one guy I work with and we're such a great team, since he comes up with stuff that fits whatever I came up with. So, as much as possible, I'd rather work with another musician. I hate doing everything. My goal is to, one day, afford an assistant or engineer so I don't EVER have to sit at the computer again. As much as I love Pro Tools and its' speedy workflow, I'd rather have someone else do it and I just focus on the music.
