Try And Stop Me (Cover)

[Mr Clean]

Strangely, this is my first post of a recording on here and it is the first song I've recorded since 2016! I think I had a bit of writers block for a while and I've literally only written 4 songs in 6 years, which is just bizarre for me as I used to write prolifically. Luckily, I have recently started writing again ( I found my moose) and I have a backlog that spans nearly 30 years to revisit.

Anyhoo, as I've not recorded anything in an age, I thought I'd just quickly throw a cover together and get my sh!t together as it were with all my gear. I picked a song I'd never played before, learned it up and threw it together. Everything is one take, warts and all, apart from the drums. I had to re-do the end as I broke my first drumstick right on the last roll.

Now I've written all that nonsense I need to work out how to actually upload a track......sussed it!

The track is Try And Stop Me and was originally by the 60s UK Mod band The Creation.

Try And Stop Me.mp3

[vomitHatSteve]

Sounds pretty good.

Is the vocal leaning a little left, or is it just me? Or maybe it's that the mix is a little darker on the right?

Harmony work is nice.

[rayc]

The Creation getting a little more Who that Painter Man.
I've not heard this so can't compare but I like it.

[liv_rong]

Nice work, well played and sung. I would only say the drum panning kind of bothers by ears, I guess normal for a mix of that time. But the ride is way out there with the occasional crash on the same side and the tom fills are left but sound a mile away. I wish I got some more of the kit on both sides of the field. I struggle with this myself.

[Mr Clean]

]

Sounds pretty good.

Is the vocal leaning a little left, or is it just me? Or maybe it's that the mix is a little darker on the right?

Harmony work is nice.

Thanks for listening and the feedback, much appreciated. Vocals are al straight down the middle but I think the darkness on the right side might be to do with the issue I'll mention further down in reply to liv_rong

The Creation getting a little more Who that Painter Man.
I've not heard this so can't compare but I like it.

Cheers Ray. The were a great little band who deserve much more recognition than they received at the time.

Nice work, well played and sung. I would only say the drum panning kind of bothers by ears, I guess normal for a mix of that time. But the ride is way out there with the occasional crash on the same side and the tom fills are left but sound a mile away. I wish I got some more of the kit on both sides of the field. I struggle with this myself.

Thank liv. I appreciate your feedback. After reading your post I went back and looked at the mix and something that I did different with this first recording after so long created the issue you mention with the drums. I always used to record the drums and then render the tracks down to their own channels and mix them. This time I left the drums as a midi file and didn't notice that Superior Drummer was panning them in their own way. I've since rectified this for a new mix and it has brought the mix more alive, to my ear anyway.

Being deaf in one ear, I really struggle with stereo mixing and generally keep things mono with a little panning on double tracked guitars, vocals, etc.

Here's the new mix if anyone fancies another listen. If anything, the drums are probably a little too loud now but I'll come back to it when I get chance. (Going away for a few days tomorrow)

Try And Stop Me New Mix.mp3

[TripleM]

Lot's fun to listen to this. Great energy.

Was the 2nd mix supposed to be mono?

Overall I thought things sounded pretty good.

I think the bass is dominating the guitar (and the kick to a lesser extent). I'd turn the bass down and EQ out some low end. I'd go for a light low end for a song like this. These mixes are pretty heavy.

Great playing.

[JD01]

@Mr Clean I like 2nd mix - mono?
Sounds very 60s... but in a good way. I can hear the kick and bass which are often absent on 60s recordings.
Oh, not quite mono is it? Just very narrow.
Crashes are too loud throughout - they take over the mix every time you hit one.
You can normally turn them down individually in Superior so this should be an easy fix. Or compress your drum buss a bit more to push them into the rest of the kit. Mix of both techniques would probably work.

Basically, if you were after a great sounding 60s style mix I think you've done pretty well.
Impressive that you're mixing like this if you are deaf in one ear. I get various ear troubles and I can't listen to music when they're playing up.

[Alison]

Hi @Mr Clean don't think we've met yet. I post mixes here occasionally but not quite as much as the others do. . .

Don't know the song or the band but I thought all the playing was excellent! I agree that the crashes are a bit too loud but, really, other than that, I enjoyed listening. Great 60s feel for sure.

[Mr Clean]

Lot's fun to listen to this. Great energy.

Was the 2nd mix supposed to be mono?

Overall I thought things sounded pretty good.

I think the bass is dominating the guitar (and the kick to a lesser extent). I'd turn the bass down and EQ out some low end. I'd go for a light low end for a song like this. These mixes are pretty heavy.

Great playing.

Thanks for the listen and the suggestions/feedback Trip. All noted. It isn't 100% Mono but not far off for reason I'll add below in reply to JD.

@Mr Clean I like 2nd mix - mono?
Sounds very 60s... but in a good way. I can hear the kick and bass which are often absent on 60s recordings.
Oh, not quite mono is it? Just very narrow.
Crashes are too loud throughout - they take over the mix every time you hit one.
You can normally turn them down individually in Superior so this should be an easy fix. Or compress your drum buss a bit more to push them into the rest of the kit. Mix of both techniques would probably work.

Basically, if you were after a great sounding 60s style mix I think you've done pretty well.
Impressive that you're mixing like this if you are deaf in one ear. I get various ear troubles and I can't listen to music when they're playing up.

Cheers JD. I appreciate the listen and feedback. You're right, it's not quite Mono but there's nothing wide on it. Some double tracked guitars are a little spread. The whole being deaf thing hinders me with stereo mixes and I find myself kind of chasing my tail a lot as what I think sounds good with one ear, sounds crap to people who can actually hear in stereo.

Other than the stereo thing, I don't have any problems with my hearing really. I was born deaf in my right ear and have never known sound any other way. My one ear is as good as and in some ways better than most peoples two ears, according to doctors. The only real issue I suppose is I like to have speakers close together to hear everything as a wide stereo spread means I miss out on a lot of the sound. Early 60s stereo mixes of bands sound utterly dreadful to me. It was actually a Beatles LP in Stereo that helped to figure out I was deaf when I was 6. So that is why my mixes are generally very close to Mono.

Hi @Mr Clean don't think we've met yet. I post mixes here occasionally but not quite as much as the others do. . .

Don't know the song or the band but I thought all the playing was excellent! I agree that the crashes are a bit too loud but, really, other than that, I enjoyed listening. Great 60s feel for sure.

Hi Alison, pleased to meet you. I have seen some of your posts on here in the past and I have listened to quite a lot of your music. Haven't heard your new post yet, heading there next. I'm usually more of a lurker than a joiner-in-er. Thank you for your comments.

Try And Stop Me (New).mp3

Here's a new mix. I haven't altered too much. Just a little off the low end of the bass and a few tweaks on the drums. When I corrected the issue I had with Superior Drummer I neglected to really listen to the drums and make sure they were still sitting well with the mix. The crashes were too loud. Hopefully that is rectified now.

And yes, I was going for a 60s type mix/sound. It is what I tend to do as that is the majority of the music I listen to.

[JD01]

This latest mix sounds pretty good to me, mate. The only thing I'd change now is vary the cymbals a bit in the chorus so that you're not just hitting the same cymbals three times in each bar, just go across to a bigger cymbal for the 2nd hit before the drum fill and then back to the main one.