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Fool_Patrick Talbot_mix by Tommy Marcinek
#1
Angel

Hi Pat! Here's my contribution to your song....another great tune btw!!!

I wanted to try making this a warm sounding kinda mix. I also tightened things up a bit in places, and used the bass midi file to trigger a Scarbee bass plugin (which I love...almost sounds like a fretless at times). I welcome your careful listening and thoughtful critiques.

Sincerely,

Tom


.mp3    Fool_5_Mastered.mp3 --  (Download: 7.77 MB)


tommymarcinek.com - Tommy Marcinek
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#2
Hey Tom, glad to hear your mix, they are always very creative and different, I like that!
This one makes no exception Smile

I like the general ambience, the vocal treatment and the tightening you've done. One simple thing I noticed that I thought was very welcome was the addition of the distorted chord after the guitar solo, I think it adds a lot.

One thing I'm not convinced about in your mix is the replacement of the bass.
Honestly as much as I like the Scarbee's tone as such an agree it is has a sweet tone, I don't think it fits in the context of this song.
It's much too low and growling to be driving the tune properly. The low notes are overpowering everything in your mix, actually the level of the bass is too much, but even so, I think the tone of that bass is not appropriate here. I much prefer the original one (which is Trillian Studio Bass Brite I think), which is lighter and fits better in this context IMHO.

Apart from that (but it's a biggy!), great tone and nice little touches that are really well done. Cool stuff! Smile
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

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#3
(05-03-2015, 04:36 AM)ptalbot Wrote: Hey Tom, glad to hear your mix, they are always very creative and different, I like that!
This one makes no exception Smile

I like the general ambience, the vocal treatment and the tightening you've done. One simple thing I noticed that I thought was very welcome was the addition of the distorted chord after the guitar solo, I think it adds a lot.

One thing I'm not convinced about in your mix is the replacement of the bass.
Honestly as much as I like the Scarbee's tone as such an agree it is has a sweet tone, I don't think it fits in the context of this song.
It's much too low and growling to be driving the tune properly. The low notes are overpowering everything in your mix, actually the level of the bass is too much, but even so, I think the tone of that bass is not appropriate here. I much prefer the original one (which is Trillian Studio Bass Brite I think), which is lighter and fits better in this context IMHO.

Apart from that (but it's a biggy!), great tone and nice little touches that are really well done. Cool stuff! Smile

Hey Pat.....thanks for the feedback. After listening to my mix again with fresh ears I have to agree with you about the bass. I think I'll go back in there and use your original bass and see what happens. What's great about you is that you give feedback to everyone and that's very cool. It's almost like YOU are a real client and it's OUR job to make the client happy. :-) Thanks, Pat.

Tom
tommymarcinek.com - Tommy Marcinek
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#4
Ah ah! Well, the best would be that we're both happy! Wink
I don't want to impose my vision on your mix (or any other mix for that matter), just saying what I hear and how this works or not for me. Then it's up to you to take into account or not. I think I'm capable of enjoying radically different mixes as long as they show a coherent vision and good taste.
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

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#5
Big Grin

Pat, I went back in and took your suggestions about my first mix. Here's the mix with your original bass. Did a few more things too...cleanups and such. Let me know if this mix comes closer to what you might like overall.

Later....

Tom

P.S. The bass might be a bit loud (after uploading this mix it seems like it) It's ok to me though, cause like you said, the bass kinda drives this song, so it being a little on the loud side doesn't make me cringe or anything. What say u?


.mp3    Fool_7_Mastered.mp3 --  (Download: 7.77 MB)


tommymarcinek.com - Tommy Marcinek
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#6
Thanks for the new mix Tom!
I like the tone of the bass better, but agree it's a bit loud, although I wonder if you could not compress it (transparently) a little more, because I hear it sometimes too loud and sometimes it sounds like it is at the right level.
Now I'm noticing the saturation you've added on the Rhodes, it's fine but I think it's a bit too much during the intro, at first listen I thought it was clipping during that part.
Apart from that, it sounds good to me! Smile
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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#7
(06-03-2015, 02:53 AM)ptalbot Wrote: Thanks for the new mix Tom!
I like the tone of the bass better, but agree it's a bit loud, although I wonder if you could not compress it (transparently) a little more, because I hear it sometimes too loud and sometimes it sounds like it is at the right level.
Now I'm noticing the saturation you've added on the Rhodes, it's fine but I think it's a bit too much during the intro, at first listen I thought it was clipping during that part.
Apart from that, it sounds good to me! Smile

Pat,

Yeah, I totally agree that the bass is loud at times and ok at others....I can fix that. The Rhodes.....I'll fix that. But, it's the melody guitar that might be bothering you too, you see I applied saturation to that as well, and when it's playing chords and such, it really is a bit too crunchy or muddy, but when notes are playing it sounds great. I will fix both those issues and the bass as well. This is great fun and great learning. Thanks buddy!! Couple of days though....gotta go to work tomorrow after shoveling a boat-load of snow.....when will the Winter end??? LOL!

Tom

tommymarcinek.com - Tommy Marcinek
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#8
Not sure which guitar you are talking about. If this is the doubled guitar that is playing the main riff, I don't hear much distortion on this and if there's saturation it's sounding great. The (slightly distorted) that plays the rhythm during the guitar solo are meant to be a bit crunchy so I'm not put off by that. And the lead, well, it's distorted by design Wink
So all in all, no, I don't hear too much crunchiness in these guitars, just listened again and they sound good to me.
BTW, I don't know if you've noticed the various "citations" that I played during the solo, I had great fun integrating well know rock riffs and licks in that solo in slightly off way, to make it sound like a fool playing the blues.
This song really was a joke, from its inception, because I've been inspired by the riff from Deep Purple's 'Burn' song (check it out if you don't know it), but played with jazzy syncopation I thought it was funny, and then the theme came very naturally from that idea. Smile
"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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#9
(06-03-2015, 05:12 AM)ptalbot Wrote: Not sure which guitar you are talking about. If this is the doubled guitar that is playing the main riff, I don't hear much distortion on this and if there's saturation it's sounding great. The (slightly distorted) that plays the rhythm during the guitar solo are meant to be a bit crunchy so I'm not put off by that. And the lead, well, it's distorted by design Wink
So all in all, no, I don't hear too much crunchiness in these guitars, just listened again and they sound good to me.
BTW, I don't know if you've noticed the various "citations" that I played during the solo, I had great fun integrating well know rock riffs and licks in that solo in slightly off way, to make it sound like a fool playing the blues.
This song really was a joke, from its inception, because I've been inspired by the riff from Deep Purple's 'Burn' song (check it out if you don't know it), but played with jazzy syncopation I thought it was funny, and then the theme came very naturally from that idea. Smile


Pat,

No, I didn't really catch any riffs from famous rock tunes. I wasn't much of a rocker when I was younger. I was in a trio that did really avant garde stuff. Our influences were King Crimson, Yes, Gentle Giant, ELP, etc. So, all I did was listen to your solo and just enjoyed it....fits the song perfectly. And, the whole concept of the song is fun and playful. Some of my music is like that too, so I know where you were coming from. I have a song called "Mambo Flasher." Here's the link if you want to hear it: http://tommymarcinek.com/track/605320/th...start=true

The concept of that song is that there is an old homeless guy who is just an old drunk.....a harmless fool, who flashes....but he flashes his pajamas and the women just point and laugh at him (at the end I put several women laughing at him in the track....it's funny). It was fun making that song come to life. I have to go back and remix and master all my songs. That is one of the reasons why I'm doing so many mixes in here and desiring feedback. Writing and producing my own music requires that I be good at both, and I want to be good at both crafts....song-writing and audio engineering.....I love doing both!! I know you know what I mean. Big Grin ttly

Tom

tommymarcinek.com - Tommy Marcinek
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#10
I've heard your "Mambo Flasher" song before. Very cool and fun song.

I've listened and loved all these prog bands. Great influences!

What's played in the solo is rather well known, so you've probably heard them at least once:
- Deep Purple "Smoke on the water" riff
- Santana "Europa" intro solo guitar
- Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" riff
- Led Zeppelin "Stairway to heaven" intro

"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

Some air moved here
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