[Dana Nielsen]

What a feel-good banger, @shimmerisland!! Love it! I’m on my laptop and only listened intro thru chorus 1 on each option (cause I couldn’t wait to hear) but will give a real proper listen when I’m back in the studio tomorrow. My initial partial-listen “laptop thoughts”:

• would be great to hear these level-matched while comparing. Turning down the loud one (via volume knob or fader or clip gain) will at least give the quieter one a fighting chance. Otherwise we humans of the 21st century will choose the louder option every time.
• Feel like the louder one (“C” as it’s titled) the vocal is, as u mentioned, tooo loud. I would request from that mixer a “vocal down” version for comparison. Just have him/her turn down the vocal like 2db.
• I can hear the bass gtr much more clearly on the laptop speakers on version “C” which is fun
• The song is already stuck in my head! Great work!! Look fwd to giving a proper listen to each option all the way through, volume-matched, tomorrow!

[Paul Tucci]

Jeremy,

This is a cool, well constructed song with many separate vignettes in it that all add up nicely. Toe tappin happiness from the top! Ilistened to each one this AM. Tonight I’ll go back and dig deeper at a thought or two I had upon first listen.

PT

[Jeremy Roye]

Thanks so much for listening and the kind words, Paul!

[Jesse Lewis]

Hey Jeremy,

I’ve just had a chance to listen to both! First of all – What a freakin amaaazing song. Such a great vibe all around from the lyrics, singing, production choices, etc, etc. SUUUPER catchy too!

They weren’t the same volume so I tried to adjust the volume lower on the 2nd mix to match when listening for a fair comparison.

This is just my own two cents, and purely subjective but I much preferred the first one (Shimmer-Island-Believe-In-You-SW.mp3) There are a few reasons but the main thing I can tell you is, at least for me, when I listened to that mix I got lost in it (in a good way) I was tapping my toes and boppin’ my head. I felt really happy and really “inside it” . It felt balanced and all. the choices felt like they served the song.

the second one, while being louder, and having some other things that I missed in the first mix (louder vocals/more bass) didn’t take me on the same journey nearly as much. The hi hat panned far left in the intro immediately distracted me compared to the first mixes treatment of it, for example.

There were some times on the first mix when I wanted to hear that bass drop a bit more but I feel like that could be adjusted fairly easily? I loved the vocals on the first one too, but after listening to the second version (where they were much louder) I kinda thought maybe you could also make the vocals a little louder in the first mix as well.

In short, if I was the producer, I think I’d pick the first mix and see if I could explore getting a little more bass at times and possibly vocals. Other than that I just thought it breathed so well.

That song is a hit! I hope the world gets to hear it! Congrats!

Best,

Jesse

[Jeremy Roye]

Jesse, many many thanks for the listens, thoughtful notes, and words of encouragement. Means a lot.

I agree with everything you said. You nailed it, and it sounds aligned with Dana’s video notes as well.

Really appreciate it and hope to get it out soon and bring some feel-good to the world. (shooting the video now!)

[Dana Nielsen]

Figured I’d turn on the camera while checking out these mix options and share my thoughts on the mixes as well as my exact process for assessing mix and mastering shootouts in general. (zero video edits here, haha, just me riffing)

AMAZING SONG AND PRODUCTION, @shimmerisland!! Jeremy, let me know if you’d like me to post the quick “pseudo mastered” version I made of the SW mix here. Also would be fun to turn this into a proper blog post if ur into it (I could clean up/edit the video, add chapters and some info about you, Shimmer Island, and the creation of this great song, etc.). Lemme know!

https://vimeo.com/mixprotege/believe-in-you?share=copy

[Paul Tucci]

Dana,

There will be no commas in this reply but there will be an exclamation mark or two. What a powerful display of your insights to make better Jeremy’s even better! Thank you for spontaneously making that video. That’s great content for the viewers!

PT

[Dana Nielsen]

Thanks, Paul!!

[Jeremy Roye]

Wow, Dana!

Amazing. How generous of you to share your thoughts and further mentor us all in the process on a video! What an honor.

Thank you so much for the kind words, means the world. 🤯 Gotta shout out my co-producer @nate in the group as well! I would love to hear the mastered version SW-DN! And a blog post sounds rad.

It’s super helpful to learn more about mastering for mix listening and makes all the sense to line up and exclusive solo back and forth for proper listening. Love it!

Your producer notes were spot on for me and I was totally picking up what you threw down. I think that’s a great pop instinct and I’ll give it a whirl, especially if I can overcome my mixer anxieties! ha. Especially the A-part chorus-3 fly over after the drop. Curious to hear the A-melody under the C-melody as well! Might be giving too much to the listener <i style=”background-color: var(–bb-content-background-color); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; color: var(–bb-body-text-color);”>and I bet it’s sweet as candy.

I totally agree with all of the mix notes and am wanting to pull bits from C to SW (more bass, vocals, a bit of clarity). I’ll ask for vocal up/down (1.5-2db) revisions. My biggest question with the SW mix, which I definitely *feel* more, is that it sounds a bit washy, I believe from SW using (or over-using?) mix bus processing and some widener. Which my mastering guy says one shouldn’t really do as it makes it harder to master, reduces dynamic, and makes everything sound upfront or lacking depth. 🧐

Do you hear that at all or have thoughts about that process?

Ps: Nice lightning-fast Dad-retort to your daughter in the video. ha! Gotta be ready!

Many many thanks,

Jeremy

[Jeremy Roye]

Thanks everyone @dana @detective @JLEW for the feedback and kind words. Really appreciate you listening and your notes. All great tips and validation about many of my feelings.

We feel like it’s an impactful song too and therefore super anxious about the mix – wanting to do it justice. @Nate is my co-producer so gotta shout him out for his incredible work!

[Dana Nielsen]

Woooo! @Nate you bad boyee! Both of you – great production and great song!

Here’s the quick-n-dirty “dana master” of the SW mix… granted, it was in headphones and very fast, disclaimer, disclaimer, bla bla blaaaa 😂

Believe-in-You_SW-Dana.mp3 0 MP3 - Click to view

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[Nathaniel Earl]

Wow @dana ! What an above and beyond response! You’re such a swell guy. Loved hearing that exchange between you and your kiddo too haha. Such great insight on the mix/production, and great advice on A/Bing! Yet another amazing Mix Protege addition to my production routine.

And thanks @JLEW and @detective for some great insight/feedback! Love this community. Stoked for the meetup next week

@shimmerisland 💜

[Dana Nielsen]

Awe, thank you brother! And, damn man, fantastic collab work producing this happy-party-good-vibes jam!!! It is so good. ❤️‍🔥

[Nathaniel Earl]

Thank you! Working on this record with @shimmerisland was an absolute blast. Can’t wait to share more from it!

[Alex Gage]

Super late to this party but Wow @shimmerisland for a great summertime smash of a record. shssshh. Also big props to @dana for such an insightful breakdown. I feel lucky to be apart of this group. A lot of talent, way to go guys!!!

[Jeremy Roye]

Ah, thanks Alex! Appreciate that, man. Nice to hang today on the call and looking forward to hearing your work.

[Alex Gage]

Absolutely man, such a highlight to hang with everyone!! Will be Sharing stuff soon

[Dana Nielsen]

Love this thread, this song, and this crew! So wonderful hanging with you all on the Zoom the other day!!