Entourage Paul Tucci
EntourageForum Replies Created
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Jeremy,
I’m late to the party on your new offering and I think it’s toe tapping good. I can imagine all the goodness Dana was suggesting to relentlessly keep the groove moving forward. The more I hang around here the more I see his keen insight. Hell, I might even come to like reverb. 🙂
I do like the forward nature of you bass and kick sitting in front of all that ambient wall of instrumentation and vocal. I love your dynamic between the chorus and how it drops down for the verse. It’s very compelling and effective. I would offer up this perspective. The hand claps in the chorus feel too present for a couple possible reasons. They are close to leading the charge during the chorus whereas in the verses the interplay of percussion elements has me focusing in on them. Its an abrupt change distraction when the claps come in hot like they do. Secondarily, the claps are decidedly electronic. Would the party groove not be better served with real claps, humanly imperfect, sitting in the mix, but not leading the charge? I’m thinkin’ that’s how they do it on Discovery Channel.
I certainly look forward to the next iteration of this infectious song.
To the point of your second post which was heard to be “scooped out.”.
Does anyone concur that it’s mono as mono can be?
I took each version, the first, obviously stereo mix, and then the second, “scooped out” posting and ran them both through my Imaging module of Ozone. The display is a polar plot of sameness. Think of it like a Venn diagram. Whats common to both left and right channels are in the intersection of the two circles. What audio information exists only in one side lives in only that side but not in the intersection of the two. The mono version, which I contend is the state of your second post, is a straight tertical line, indicating NO DIFFERENCE between the left and right. The Stereo version, your original post, shows a different concentration of energy. There’s a bunch of energy concentrated around the middle (in both circles of the Venn diagram) but a substantial amount poking off to the extreme sides occupying the left only or right only circles of the Venn diagram. That extreme one-side-only-energy is most likely that ambience you’ve got going on. It sounds spacious. it feels luscious, but is extremely dangerous when combined to mono because of the time difference between the two. When combined to mono it gets way weird. I love the spaciousness it provides and pity the fool who listens in mono. They’re missing out. I’m not suggesting you remedy anything about this other than checking the mix in mono and then undoing that button.
PT
Happy to be back.
I kinda missed you guys
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Jeremy,
Probably best to refrain from sending this mix to mastering until after you check the MONO button!!
PT
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No cacti (?) were harmed in taking of this photograph. It’s a found prop in the parking lot of the hotel.
PT
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Dana,
That’s fucking brilliant. You managed to distill decades of music production down to an easily digestible nugget of high density inspiration. If your allegory doesn’t make a trade mag article or at the very least, the monthly highlights of MP, the world would be missing out. It’s that good.
The muse visiting me lately said … “Less is more,” … paused for a good long while ..
then continued with “and more is better.” I took that to more or less to mean don’t let grubby hands get at your (my) guitars and allow the sonic space that opens up as the crunchy fades to reveal the calm quiet behind the the aerial barrage delivered by ACE, your imaginary bombardier friend.
The quiet before the next explosive chord is either proof of the #1 rule in show biz, “Leave them wanting more.” or an effective terrorist psy-op leaving the listener aching for more incoming rounds. I believe the guitars got in your head. Fortunately, I know where my heart is.
Thanks
PT
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Jesse, Jeremy, and Dana,
Thank you for listening and commenting. I probably should not have posted that work yet. It was nowhere near ready for public consumption as mentioned in my “raw as a cowboy in the saddle ” preface. Perhaps that disclaimer wasn’t strong enough. I’m good with words, but prefer the subtle approach.
As you could imagine, I found it difficult to dive back into this project without feeling some discomfort. (You see, subtle)
So Jesse, I’m so glad you metaphorically, saw the window and then took the invitation into my interpretation of the song. That’s a success.
Jeremy, yea man, wide 🤘crunchy guitars!🤘
Dana, your suggestion to break the song down to its core and support that with the rest of the instruments flipped a synapse for me and I’m now aiming for the intensity with less bombast. Those flanged-distorto guitars are still there, and they seem even more country-death-metal dirgey because they no longer compete with the lead guitar lines. There’s a path in contrast to be mined in this song. The crunchy guitars against the mandolins, the heavy dirge feel without drums, though I have the idea to have my drummer play brushes on this but play like a half drunk Keith Richards speaks. You can’t understand a fucking word but he makes the point nonetheless. If the drummer stumbles around but bumps into the acoustic guitars occasionally, that may loosen the rigidity of the acoustics that really are the driver of time.
There’s an accapella intro now. It worked for Jay-Z.
And finally … not yet Jesse. I leave next week for my motorcycle trip in the southwest. That squished bug picture is from a previous trip to the Salton Sea.
PT
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Patrick,
Congrats, you and your old time piano are getting rave reviews and 40 something replies at this point! Re: the Imager module… I recall doing something very similar with the controls. I believe I took the sub 100 Hz to complete mono (all the way down on the control slider,) halfway ish down on the low mid, almost full up on the upper mid, and finally, back to normal on the tippy top band.
I was out on my motorcycle earlier this month in Austin, Nevada. It’s an old mining town with some period architecture. Straight outta the Ponderosa. I was hoping to see Ben Cartwright in the saloon I stopped at to have lunch. Apparently, he’s dead but the piano sitting in the corner was talking to me. Sounded exactly like your playing.
PT
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Jeremy,
I checked the Mono button by looking at the Imager section of some mastering software and the data agreed with Dana and I. There is no difference between the L and R channels. The scooped out sound that MixMaster D heard is most likely the result of comb filters created by the destructive interference of the addition of two identical signals of equal level but with different arrival times. ie, those beautifully W I D E KBs and BGVs that are created with time based FX differences left to right, combine to a lifeless mono with large EQ cuts determined by how large the time differences are. I think I can make some measurement aids to help visualize what’s happening.
PT
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Jeremy,
That offering was certainly just-for-fun but your “too pristine” comment struck a chord for me regarding reverb. Having fought the battle of mixing in reverberant, hostile, acoustic environments for so long trying to achieve the acoustic equivalent of photo realism that when I have the bone dry, highly intelligible possibility available, I lean into it.
Perhaps I should make friends with impressionism.
I was off grid for a solid month and see you have a new song up. I’ll give a listen as i catch up on things and especially my lawn.
PT
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Jesse,
Yes, you have could go harder on the de squeak and still retain all the delicacy of your guitar playing. I would however, avoid de-squeaking the birds. I love the resonant low end that you captured. It adds a second deeper level to the calming and meditative intent of the piece.
Definitely yes to your feathered friends exiting stage right into the reverb.
Well executed!
PT
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Yea man, attached is the URL to the tool I used though this free version is not frequency sensitive as is the paid version. First one is always free….
PT
https://www.izotope.com/en/products/ozone-imager.html
