The Jongleurs Remix Project 8 - We Are Not The Same

[Armistice]

My turn! I'm actually working on the last two of the 13 now - the shingles thing gave me a bit of time to get onto them - so they're probably going to come in a bit of a rush. I'm also getting into the ones that probably need less work. And I want to finish it and get onto something new. Apologies in advance. I didn't dislike the original mix on this one either. It was one of the better ones.

This a particularly bitter tune - I often say that the relationship I was in when a lot of The Jongleurs tunes were being written provided me with plenty of source material - this would be one such tune. You can see it wasn't going to end well... although it's not exactly autobiographical.

This was always interesting live, as Richard had to sing the harmony line ahead of my singing the verse line - as you'll hear - and he would sometimes sing the wrong line! Which left me in a bit of a spot. And it was also a song where I had occasional trouble remembering the lyrical sequence myself. So anything could happen! I've played this live, solo, with just an acoustic guitar, including the instrumental section - it worked well.

So it's me on lead and harmony vocals, acoustic L & R, electrics, keyboard (actual from memory, not MIDI), and the drum sequencing. It has new SSD4 drums. Richard on harmonies and the other acoustic guitar part that plays the counter melody.






Update based on [mention]TripleM[/mention] and [mention]vomitHatSteve[/mention] comments.





Post JD feedback:




Original, for context:

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Jv3ylVO3k[/BBvideo]

[vomitHatSteve]

The first line has sort of an AM-esque narrowness to it now. Is that an intentional affect?

The new treatment is good for this one, I think. The clarity allows the complexity of the arrangement to show through.

[Armistice]

The first line has sort of an AM-esque narrowness to it now. Is that an intentional affect?

The new treatment is good for this one, I think. The clarity allows the complexity of the arrangement to show through.

Thanks VHS - no it's not, but there is something bugging me about the vocal that I haven't been able to put my finger on. I know what you mean. I'll go have another listen / look. The temptation to re-sing / re-play has been strong but apart from the one bass line in the second song, which was just too awful to save, I haven't.

I think I'm suffering from the "I made a clean spot! " problem, highlighting all the other dirt. Seriously, some of the EQ curves I'm finding on these tunes has me wondering what I was thinking at the time.

I was also using a bunch of compressors that I didn't really understand and they tend to woofy things up a bit. I've generally just replaced them with ReaComp, for simplicity and done bucketloads of automation to deal with levels. Not in this song, but generally.

[TripleM]

I thought this was very good. Not too much I'd change.

Maybe notch out the lead vocal somewhere around 2500hz? It's a little bite-y here and there.

And then I don't think you need to limit quite so hard.

Everything else sounds real nice to me.

[Armistice]

Thanks [mention]TripleM[/mention] and [mention]vomitHatSteve[/mention] - I've unwound some of the lower EQ on the vocal which was I think making a little narrow, but there's essentially the nature of my strangulated delivery to overcome. Have also unwound the limiter a bit and dipped some of the upper frequencies to deal with the biteyness.

Some adjustments to tom volumes and straightening out of bass notes via automation, as well.

[rayc]

The snare seems much drier and, as a result, out front than the original.
The most recent mix sounds like you've cleaned out the cupboards etc. and everything is very keen and a tiny bit less "whole".
Had I not heard the original I'd be more than happy with the most recent mix.

[TripleM]

It's really nice.

Tough to find anything to pick at. The lead vocal is dryer than the rest of the tracks. Maybe.

But like I say, it's really nice.

[Armistice]

Thanks [mention]TripleM[/mention] and [mention]rayc[/mention] . I think it's close to done.

I continue to tinker with the sound of the snare itself - I do get what you mean, ray, but I won't put any more mixes up. I can always tell when I get in my car and listen whether I have the snare right - and when I listened this morning I thought, no, it's a bit too "hard" - not so much the level but the sound itself. Bane of my life, faux snare drums.

Will get the next one up later. Thanks for the assistance, as always.

[JD01]

In the verse, the hi-hat doesn't sound like its grooving enough to me. Like there's not enough variation between the hit velocities on and off the main beats.
Another great tune though, Armi.
I think the electric guitar/solo bit isn't cutting through/is a bit quiet, sounds like its played pretty low down the neck. You could probably just add a bunch of verb/delay to this or something to make it jump out of the mix a bit.

[Armistice]

In the verse, the hi-hat doesn't sound like its grooving enough to me. Like there's not enough variation between the hit velocities on and off the main beats.
Another great tune though, Armi.
I think the electric guitar/solo bit isn't cutting through/is a bit quiet, sounds like its played pretty low down the neck. You could probably just add a bunch of verb/delay to this or something to make it jump out of the mix a bit.

Thanks JD.

Good pick up. I've gone and accented the 1 hits and the open hits a bit more to make it groove more. Also put some more verb on one of the "solo" tracks (it's doubled) and upped the delay on the second track... makes it jump out a little more.

It's funny, I've never thought of it as a solo as such as I'm used to playing it all solo on an acoustic guitar, but I guess it sort of is.

New track in the OP.

[JD01]

that's the ticket, mate. Are you re-releasing the album?
I didn't hear it first time around - but I've been quite enjoying these remixes.

[Armistice]

Are you re-releasing the album?

I don't think so - I just wanted to be able to listen to our music occasionally without cringing at the recording quality. Richard came over the other night and I gave him a CD to listen to, but there've been many changes since then. And we hardly even talked about music. Too much other stuff to catch up on.

Playing CDs with songs in correct order has revealed all sorts of final tweaks, as you flow from one track to the next - a lot of mastering type stuff but here and there I'm still tweaking drums and bass levels and in particular, bass notes that ring out too much or are too indistinct. It's the bass that's been killing me on these things. I may well have been better off re-recording all the bass tracks. May have been quicker.

I'll pull all the versions in these threads down eventually and stick the whole lot up on a dropbox link for anyone here who wants a copy, once I hit final final final stage, hopefully in a couple of days - then contact our "fans" via FB and offer the tracks to them as well. That'll probably be it. I don't have the interest in trying to re-engage with the world and scout for a new fanbase in an attempt to monetise it.