The Aftermath

[Alison]

Yeah, I am incredibly depressed. I'm still in shock after the "election" {yes, I think there were evil forces in play),
Anyway, my usual response is to write a song.
My initial response to all of this was to flee. . .get the hell out! But, I have family here that I care deeply about so, fleeing is not an option, Songwriting gives a bit of release of all the anxiety. I think this is the first of many. . . .

Not sure I love the cello sound (mic placement may have been off), tried to tame the drums. . .my constant dilemma, My guitar playing is not the greatest but I tried to fill out the sound with it.

Any ears on this is greatly appreciated.

The Aftermath.mp3

New mix

The Aftermath.mp3

[Lt. Bob]

drums are quite tame ...... I wouldn't worry bout them at all .... cello seems a bit buried ... personally I'd bump it up just a little, bring it to the front more .... vox is good as always and seems about right if you bump up the cello a little ... over all sounds fairly good

[Alison]

Thank you, @Lt. Bob! Guess I put the cello back a bit because I wasn't happy with how it sounded. I may have to re record it.
Thanks so much for listening.

[vomitHatSteve]

The cello does sound grittier than normal. I think it's alright tho.

The bgvox with a ton of reverb is an interesting choice. I think arrangement-wise, I might have opted to use that effect more rather than as a one-off thing

[Alison]

Thanks for your input @vomitHatSteve. I think my mic placement on the cello is why it sounds gritty, I may re-record it at some point and the effects on the harmonies were supposed to enter in a big final crescendo but I may have over done it a bit. . .will definitely re-think that.

Thank you!

[liv_rong]

Beautiful sounds and composition but to me sounds a bit unglued, if you know what I mean. Everything has great separation, but too much to my ears. I feel the cello should maybe be a touch louder and more centered, or two tracks wider, for the chorus. Nice song!

[rayc]

It might be worth playing with some chorus FX on the cello in the chorus...width, texture etc.
Given the cello is mainly higher register stuff it might be worth pulling back the presence on the bass and boosting some of its lower end.
The BVox...sounds like it's in the room, in a corner. That may be the distance or, perhaps, the EQ.
Good song, I can empathize.

[CrowsofFritz]

Beautiful sounds and composition but to me sounds a bit unglued, if you know what I mean. Everything has great separation, but too much to my ears. I feel the cello should maybe be a touch louder and more centered, or two tracks wider, for the chorus. Nice song!

To me it only sounds unglued when the cello and Vox are competing with each other at the end of some lines.

@Alison other than that, I think it sounds great. I have nothing to add mix wise until I get my new computer.

[Alison]

Thanks for all the input! @liv_rong, I brought the guitars in a bit and centered the cello line, they were just slightly to the right before. @rayc, good recommendation on the bass, I cut the "presences a bit and boosted the low end, I also added chorus to the cello and rather like it. Took the grittiness out of it. Also brought the Bvox in a bit and took the chorus off that, hopefully that helps. @CrowsofFritz I noticed that too so I changed the end note on the cello in the chorus.

Thanks for the input, I've added a new mix in the original post.

[rayc]

Nice remix Alison.
I read recently that if a low instrument plays a chord third under the vocal on the same note it weakens the vocal. Interesting.
My only issue now is the 1st drum fill - at 7secs - seems a little out of time perhaps.

[CrowsofFritz]

Thanks for all the input! @liv_rong, I brought the guitars in a bit and centered the cello line, they were just slightly to the right before. @rayc, good recommendation on the bass, I cut the "presences a bit and boosted the low end, I also added chorus to the cello and rather like it. Took the grittiness out of it. Also brought the Bvox in a bit and took the chorus off that, hopefully that helps. @CrowsofFritz I noticed that too so I changed the end note on the cello in the chorus.

Thanks for the input, I've added a new mix in the original post.

I think that different note did the trick!

[vomitHatSteve]

Yeah, new mix is substantially smoother and holds together nicely.

[Alison]

Thanks guys! @rayc, it's a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation, I do prefer the note change though. Also, I appreciate you pointing out the rhythm problem, turns out it was the guitar part that wasn't in sync with the drums, fortunately, an easy fix.

Thanks everybody!

[JD01]

I'm coming straight in on Mix 2. The intro is sudden, a bit like Neil Young's "Like A Hurricane"

Quite like the mix, think the bass could do with coming up a bit and its also a little thin - do you have it hi-passed or something? Or an EQ bump in the mids? Its good though, sounds pretty complete to me.

[Alison]

I'm coming straight in on Mix 2. The intro is sudden, a bit like Neil Young's "Like A Hurricane"

Quite like the mix, think the bass could do with coming up a bit and its also a little thin - do you have it hi-passed or something? Or an EQ bump in the mids? Its good though, sounds pretty complete to me.

Guess I started with a bang . Wasn't really sure what to do with the beginning. I'll put some thought into that. I did try to boost the bottom end of the bass a bit, maybe needs more.
Thanks so much for listening, I always appreciate your input!

[JD01]

I'm coming straight in on Mix 2. The intro is sudden, a bit like Neil Young's "Like A Hurricane"

Quite like the mix, think the bass could do with coming up a bit and its also a little thin - do you have it hi-passed or something? Or an EQ bump in the mids? Its good though, sounds pretty complete to me.

Guess I started with a bang . Wasn't really sure what to do with the beginning. I'll put some thought into that. I did try to boost the bottom end of the bass a bit, maybe needs more.
Thanks so much for listening, I always appreciate your input!

Could be anything on the intro really, just a couple of hits on the hi-hat.