Entourage Jesse Lewis
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Yo Joe! Nice to meet you! Fellow guitarist here:)
Just getting to hear this now! What an incredible, joyous, fun, and virtuosic song! I’ll defer to Dana on the mix advice but DAAAAMN you sound incredible! That was my take away — that and I need to go practice haha
Best,
Jesse
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Hi Cammy!
Nice to E-meet you!
I Iove this song! Sounds wonderful! It’s so refreshing to hear a band playing in a room, too! Nice!
I’m excited to watch Dana’s video too and see what he does!
Congrats on this great song!
Best,
Jesse
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Bro!
This song, production, and mix is absolutely bonkers great! You’re incredible. Everything about this was resonating with me, from the vulnerability of the vocal, to the masterful production, and compelling use of super processed versus raw sounds. I was listening on headphones and it took me on quite a heavy journey. I really don’t think personally anything needs to be changed about this, but I will point out two things that I experienced while listening – just in the spirit of giving some constructive feedback, both of which are highly subjective.
There were two spots where I was momentarily distracted and thus left my deep listening experience – and I just wanted to point them out. I believe they were both probably intentional -because they both represent that feeling of uncertainty in the song that you were trying to convey. The first was when the drums come in at :33. Is the drum beat turned around on purpose, meaning the snare is on beat 1? It gives it a beautiful nebulous feeling of uncertainty that finally snaps back when you hit that first chorus but I only mention it because I found myself trying to figure out what was going on with the drumbeat in my brain more than listening to the song at that point, granted, I’m a total dork, that’s normally what I do when interesting things happen in music, but there was so much other interesting stuff happening in your production that was serving the music and they didn’t make me think in that same cerebral way as when I was trying to figure out what was happening with that drum beat. Also, just to continue dorking out -were there an extra two beats before the first hits when you say “maybe someday I will find you?”
The other spot where I felt a slight sense of imbalance was the section between 5:30-5:40 when the chiming guitar is on the left side, the information coming out of the right side was much darker in tone and maybe was a little too out of balance? But I’ll leave that to the more experienced Mix Proteges to see what they felt about it.
Again, I’m only bringing up those two points in the spirit of feedback because they went through my thought process. I think what you have created is an absolute masterpiece and I’m just completely blown away. Many congrats on creating this.
Best,
Jesse
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Hey Jeremy!
Such a crushing song, man! Every one I’ve heard so far is a hit and this is no exception!
It sounds really great to my ears!
I got the sense that the choruses, especially towards the second half of the song, could be bigger. Maybe just volume-wise? if there is a way to make them explode a bit more or hit a little harder? I think the mix sounds totally great as is, but I just mention it because I found myself wanting to hear those choruses a little louder or with a little more energy somehow. Just my two cents, and perhaps this could be achieved in mastering as well? That being said, I do really enjoy the chillness and groove of this tune and dig how it’s not trying to be too over the top. Maybe it’s just something to experiment with and see if it feels better with an extra DB on the choruses?
I also just wanted to point out that at 2:44 I hear some kind of pop or click. I can’t tell if it’s a percussion instrument or if it’s some kind of digital click, but I hear it every time I listen to that spot, just fyi.
Can’t wait to hear the final master of this when it’s done. Again, congrats on creating such compelling and unique and vibe-tastic music. You’re amazing!
Best,
Jesse
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cats – I’ve read @dana ‘s comments thouroughly, loaded the avett bro song into my session as a ref, and watched Dana’s video several times… I’m ready to hug the living crap out of your ears. Stand by for version 3…
ps —
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This response helps me feel SO much more confident in understanding this concept. Many thanks to you and @-PT (as always) for the wisdom and generosity. Now I can finally sleep again!!!
but seriously man — this forum and community is so important to me, I thank you for creating this space.
JLew
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Thank you thank you thank you for the feedback! Dana – I had just actually rendered a mix (version 2) before reading your comments which addressed getting the vocal louder per @CMN and @dana , as well as also carving some space with some subtle izotope”unmasking” and also adding a bit of sound city room to the vocal plus a bit of UA’s plate (utilizing my poor mans reverb send sidechain) per @-PT .
Cats – Before I proceed with Dana’s other suggestions can you let me know if it feels like it’s in a better place re: vocal/guitar balance?
Here’s my Version 2:
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@dana One more question (haha) if you don’t mind….This one has really been keeping me up at night 😅 It’s about the amount you send to a return VS the level on the return channel itself… I made a video for the question which seemed easier. Curious to hear your thoughts (and anyone else’s) on this subject:
https://youtu.be/tprL_DAkPZ8youtu.be
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Yo Paul! As always – Thanks so much for your response. I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I’ve been away without my computer for the last several days. Unfortunately, that MP3 that you posted here isn’t available for me to listen to for some reason, so I can’t hear what you did with that reverb and side chaining technique. If you’re able to upload it again, I’d love to hear it.
Either way, I totally understand what you are describing, and had even wondered if I should try to side chain my vocal to the guitar to have the guitar duck a bit when I’m singing, but then I figured maybe I should just keep it simple… but I’ll go back now and try that technique out if you think it could benefit from it. It’s definitely worth a shot.
I’m curious to hear that reverb you used also. That sounds really cool. I’m sure you’re already hip to this technique, but a “poor man’s” version of doing this would be to side-chain the reverb plug-in to the vocal so that every time you sing the reverb ducks and when you stop singing, that’s when it comes back in again. This works great with guitar leads also – where if you’re playing lots of notes, the reverb doesn’t muddy them up, but then when you leave space the reverb comes back in. Sounds like this plugin just does it all for you with just the one plugin!
Thanks again, Paul. And if you get a chance, I’d love to hear your rendering if you get a chance to upload it again. Thanks.
– JLew
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Hey @CMN and @dana !!! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been out of town w/out my computer so just checking back in now! Thanks for your supportive comments about the song, Singing a song in such an exposed and raw way is such a different (and highly self conscious) experience for me. It’s crazy! Believe it or not, I had already pushed the vocal level so much louder than I thought was appropriate haha! But I’m so thankful for you guys’ feedback – I will bump it up another db or so and re-share it and see what you think. @dana – incidentally the original mp3 i posted is no longer available. not sure what happened to it?
Thanks again buddies!
❤ – Jesse
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and was actually wanting to ask about pre-fader vs post fader too! You’re on fire @dana !!!
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This is all great! thanks for the question and all the thoughtful responses. I was going just going to ask about the send/return and you beat me to the punch. I’ve been messing around with UAD Sound City plugin for room sounds recently. pretty cool. I need to check out the ocean way too! Thanks all!
JLew
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Hey Paul!
Hahaha “The outdoor Bob Villa”!!! I love that! I just might change that to be my new handle here on MP haha
I shall work hard to get you on the whistling train, I’ve noticed your recent crusade against it, and I’m determined to win you over. 😂
But seriously – I always appreciate your support, your ears, and your next level writing!
The boat is waiting whenever your ready! I’m seeing a whistle duet on the water in your future…
Best,
Jesse
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Hi Bar! I know I’m late to the party but just listened. SO BEAUTIFUL! I love this. I loved the first version, too – but definitely think all of the ambience and vocal arrangement changes you made help take it to another level. What a vibe!
Best,
Jesse
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Dana!
Ahhhh yes of course! This makes total sense.
So basically, if you use only one microphone, it will always be in mono, either equally on both speakers or placed to one side if it’s panned that way.
So if I understand correctly then — a cardioid mic and an Omni mic would both record a mono recording – it’s just that the Omni mic recording would most likely result in hearing more of the surroundings then the more directional mic which would reject a lot of the elements that are behind it and on the sides of it. So basically you should just pick your polar pattern based on the type of sound you want to record or depending on the specific situation you find yourself in (ie trying to reject certain things)?
And the same would hold for stereo recording, and that you could capture a stereo recording with two cardiod mics OR two Omni mics, and they would just result in different sound capture, but they would still be in stereo? I think I’m starting to get this now.
It’s fascinating all the stuff I’ve been learning about using the different polar patterns in different types of situations, especially as cool ways of rejecting certain sounds while recording the ones you want.
I’ve been doing some research on YouTube and looking to purchase the Lewitt LCT 441 FLEX Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone. It’s got a bunch of different polar patterns and looks indestructible and seems to sound really good from what I can hear on YouTube examples. Are you familiar with that Mic?
JLew