Tears In The Rain

[bmullen]

Love a good accoustic guitar song which this one is. Decided to really change the bass sound on this one. Thanks for the listen and any input

[pauli]

Drums are fantastic... very powerful and muscular approach I don't particularly care for the effect on the bass, though it sounds a little metallic and harsh to my ears, and a bit distracting. The guitars sound great, but I think the electrics could benefit from some more aggressive EQ cuts for separation.

I really like the overall tonality of this mix, too! it's very warm, and I mean that in the best of ways. Maybe a bit more automation for longterm dynamics? That's a matter of personal taste, though... this is a very "in your face" mix of a tune most people would interpret as more mellow and jazzy, which is really cool creative thinking on your part very neat approach, and once again, the drums are rocking my socks off

[bmullen]

Thanks for the advice, Pauli. It's really good to hear from a guitar player on this one. I agree about the bass sound ... just a whim. Below is an adjusted mix with a more normalized bass sound and an attempt at creating more separation between the guitar tracks both tonally and spacially.

[pauli]

I think you've succeeded on both counts Good balance of separation and blend. There is an unfortunate tracking issue on the steel string acoustics, which is why you'll find the tonal properties from 400 to 700 and 2000 to 5000 are inconsistent, and all the mixing magic in the world couldn't fix it entirely in my opinion, but they still sound very nice for how high you brought the level up in the mix. Mixing mono acoustic guitar tracks is tough! Great job, dude!

[bmullen]

On my way home from work tonight something told me to try my Pultec EQ simulation on the bass track ... it gave me more of the sound for the bass I was looking for I also pulled back the accoustics a bit more.

[takka360]

Nice big sound here,to me the right pan acoustic seems a lot louder than the left.
Maybe the lead acoustic is a bit loud and the hats .
Good work mate.

[thedon]

Great sound bob !
As Alan Mentioned the panned soloing Guitar sounds like it has a touch more bottom end than the other panned Guitar .

[bmullen]

Thanks guys ... I'll check it out.

[bmullen]

Accoustics should be balanced better now.

[The_Metallurgist]

hi Bob,

last October i got my hearing checked by a qualified audiologist for two reasons: the first, primarily is because to be professionally engaged in mixing and mastering one is totally dependent on having good hearing. the ears of a studio mixing and mastering engineer are the critical tools needed to perform the role, like a pair of healthy hands are crucial for a pianist etc. i wasn't happy merely to assume my hearing was adequate for the job. secondly, i was also suffering a lot of discomfort when listening to people's mixes, not only here in this forum, but all over the web....and occasionally with so-say professionally produced and mastered audio CD's. as someone who started a career in heavy industry, and with a father who was an audiophile, i was well versed in the issues surrounding the hazards of exposure to loud sources and have taken the necessary precautions all my life. indeed, i'll even wear ear plugs in the car on a long drive, or during a flight, for example. last year i attended a major Blues Festival and noted only one other person with ear plugs, despite the fact that the festival was going on over the course of 2 days; duration of exposure is a critical factor to hearing loss, which many are unaware of. while one event without hearing protection won't make one deaf, it will most certainly have contributed to the risks of long-term hearing loss....the damage stacks up and we are totally unaware of it until it's too late - normally discovered during mid-life though there's a trend occurring where even kids/youths and young adults are also showing evidence of hearing loss because of their modern-day listening habits.

the audiologist's report had him surprised....as he'd never seen a client of my age with such good hearing. indeed, to quote him; "You have the hearing of a young man".

so, now when listening to records and i suffer discomfort, i know the problem isn't me.

i found your mix, while having some nice attributes, nevertheless caused me fatigue. what concerns me is that i appear to be the only one here to have experienced the problem. it's not my gear....i'm running a Lake People 103 headphone amp over a pair of Sennheiser Ovation II's, namely the HD560's which got rave reviews back in their day and still impress those who are fortunate to discover them on the second hand market. and it's clearly not my ears.