Tyo Monked - The alternative vision

[Monk]

I had some solid reasons for mixing it this way. Having played around with a conventional sound stage, the excessive decays and density of the arrangement coupled with the style of play had me re-thinking it.

I'd be especially interested to hear from the folks here with headphones as to how it translates, and what issues you had. My gear is packed for a studio move, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this one more than ever

Thanks for listening

[Dangerous]

This is very pleasant to listen to Monk, and I am listening from a headphone perspective. The intro acoustic guitar has a space around it that I like and for me, the song as a whole progresses nicely. The only real issue for me is the left ear feels like it's missing something. I feel that if some part of the arrangement could swing this way even if it's as the drums start, it would satisfy this thirst! I'm not quite sure "thirst" is the right word, but I think you know what I mean. In saying this, I do like the stereo placement during the intro and outro parts of the song and the tease of the backing vocal in the left ear when it appears. It's just that this "tease" is leaving me wanting more.

Thanks for the enjoyable listen.

Dave

[Monk]

This is very pleasant to listen to Monk, and I am listening from a headphone perspective. The intro acoustic guitar has a space around it that I like and for me, the song as a whole progresses nicely. The only real issue for me is the left ear feels like it's missing something. I feel that if some part of the arrangement could swing this way even if it's as the drums start, it would satisfy this thirst! I'm not quite sure "thirst" is the right word, but I think you know what I mean. In saying this, I do like the stereo placement during the intro and outro parts of the song and the tease of the backing vocal in the left ear when it appears. It's just that this "tease" is leaving me wanting more.

Thanks for the enjoyable listen.

Dave

A hearty thanks for your time and contribution. I've at last got the headphones out, and found some time to catch up!

The acoustic needs swapping over to better balance the frequencies with the hat in the stereo domain; the cello doesn't quite make up for the loss of upper mids in the channel, probably because it doesn't have any In the speakers it's not a problem, but I suspected some issues in headphones due to the channel separation, so thanks for chipping in and confirming it for me.

The acoustic isn't treated any differently through the main part of the song as it was during the run in, interestingly. I only reached for the DT in the latter half to bring more energy for the conclusion as well as to keep the song fresh and moving forwards.

I also think the vocal needs better rode's control; this was mixed originally on tweeterless boxes and I can now hear it poking out too much on occasion.

The backing vocals, all in unison, for me risked being repetitive, though I think some harmonies would have worked rather well, at least in my imagination. So, I basically abandoned them, opting for mutes to deal with congestion, and flurries which I moved into an otherwise empty space to bring them into the open and unmask them when occasion permitted. It's interesting how small details can change the focus. Now imagine the power of harmonies!

If you don't mix this, is there another I could return the favour with meanwhile?