Till My Last Breath

[Alison]

Here is a little tune I wrote while screwing around with EZ Drummer. I am totally loving this program but really have a lot more to learn about it so, advice and comments on the drums, in particular, are most appreciated! The song itself is not my best, I had age on my mind and this last trip around the sun has felt more like about 10! It was a product of figuring out EZDrummer.

So. here ya go! Slice and dice away. . .

Till My Last Breath.mp3

[Lt. Bob]

I always like your stuff ...... even though you're learning about recording, all your stuff has the 'feel' of an experienced musician .... always musical.
The sounds on this are really good .... it shows the progress you've made.
the vocal sounds great and sits in the mix nicely and same with the violin.

I know nothing about EZ drummer so i can't help with that aspect. To me the drums sound a bit 'stiff' and I imagine there's some 'humanizing' setting you can use but, as I said, I don't know anything about it ...... but someone will.

Nice tunage!

[vomitHatSteve]

Yeah, EZD has a humanize button on it. Personally, I prefer to use Reaper's humanize midi plugin tho.

Song sounds pretty good. I like hearing you belting vocally like this.

So, I find the best way to get good results with EZD is to be as complex about it as possible. If you switch to the mixing panel, you can route each channel of the mixer to a different channel of your DAW. With that, you have total control of the mix.
I've also found myself lately completely discarding the room mics and instead sending the drum mix to my reverb bus so it matches everything else. (I believe @greg_l also prescribes throwing out the room mics.)

Huh... Is the violin slightly out of tune? What happened there.

[Alison]

I always like your stuff ...... even though you're learning about recording, all your stuff has the 'feel' of an experienced musician .... always musical.
The sounds on this are really good .... it shows the progress you've made.
the vocal sounds great and sits in the mix niceely and same with the violin.

I know nothing about EZ drummer so i can't help with that aspect. To me the drums sound a but 'stiff' and I imagine there's some 'humanizing' setting you can use but, as I said, I don't know anything about it ...... but someone will.

Nice tunage!

Thank you! Coming from YOU, that's an awesome compliment!

[Alison]

Yeah, EZD has a humanize button on it. Personally, I prefer to use Reaper's humanize midi plugin tho.

Song sounds pretty good. I like hearing you belting vocally like this.

So, I find the best way to get good results with EZD is to be as complex about it as possible. If you switch to the mixing panel, you can route each channel of the mixer to a different channel of your DAW. With that, you have total control of the mix.
I've also found myself lately completely discarding the room mics and instead sending the drum mix to my reverb bus so it matches everything else. (I believe @greg_l also prescribes throwing out the room mics.)

Huh... Is the violin slightly out of tune? What happened there.

Thanks for the tips! I need to figure out how to do that. . .figuring all this out keeps my mind young
And, yes, sadly, the solo is a tad out of tune. That's what I get for doing it in a hurry. I wanted a violin sound so I played the line in the nose bleed area of the fingerboard (WAY up there!) I'm not as practiced these days in that area. . .sigh, it's on the list for rerecording (with a lot of practicing first!)

[JD01]

Sorry Alison! I was meant to show you how to do all the stuff that VHS was saying was saying about on Wednesday. I got meetinged to death and completely forgot.

The drums need a bit of humanising and your choice of beats (particularly the open hats is a little odd). As you have it at the moment it sounds a bit like an easy drummer pre-set. There's plenty we can do about that though. As VHS says, turn off the "percussive amibience" (whatever the fuck that is) reverb, and compression. Rout all the mics, snare, kick, toms, overheads etc. to different tracks in your DAW and mix them there with the reverbs you're using for the rest of your instruments. You'll get better results. I can (and will - remind me) help you with this.

Aside from that, its a tidy mix and there's nothing wrong with your playing/mix really, drums are probably a bit loud and maybe busy in places... its hard to not go mad with a new toy though!

[CrowsofFritz]

I like robotic drums, but I agree that with your style they could use some humanizing. Sounds good! I’m only listening on my iPad so I have no nitpicks atm.

[Alison]

Sorry Alison! I was meant to show you how to do all the stuff that VHS was saying was saying about on Wednesday. I got meetinged to death and completely forgot.

The drums need a bit of humanising and your choice of beats (particularly the open hats is a little odd). As you have it at the moment it sounds a bit like an easy drummer pre-set. There's plenty we can do about that though. As VHS says, turn off the "percussive amibience" (whatever the fuck that is) reverb, and compression. Rout all the mics, snare, kick, toms, overheads etc. to different tracks in your DAW and mix them there with the reverbs you're using for the rest of your instruments. You'll get better results. I can (and will - remind me) help you with this.

Aside from that, its a tidy mix and there's nothing wrong with your playing/mix really, drums are probably a bit loud and maybe busy in places... its hard to not go mad with a new toy though!

Hey, no worries! I know who life goes sometimes !

I think I'm grasping this "mic" concept. I'm going to have to research how to do that. The thing that bothered me about working with EZD was that I couldn't see any of the tracks in my DAW. . .should have figured I'd have to do something to get them in there. I've got some googling to do I'm loving this new toy so far!

[Alison]

Thanks @CrowsofFritz I appreciate you taking the time to listen. I've got a lot to figure out with this new program but, I'm sure I'll get there eventually!

[rayc]

I can't manage midi drums - too many options and too little talent.
STRONG vocal...love the gang vocal.
That violin at 1.50+ sounds a little odd. What FX are on it?
Cool song, good performances and good mix.

[Alison]

I can't manage midi drums - too many options and too little talent.
STRONG vocal...love the gang vocal.
That violin at 1.50+ sounds a little odd. What FX are on it?
Cool song, good performances and good mix.

I am hoping to master these drums but, we shall see! (determination is a big part of this song!)

It's actually not violin. When I was working on the break, I was hearing a violin but I only have a cello so, I ventured WAY up the fingerboard for a violin sound (7th position? AKA the nose bleed section) alas, I am WAY under practice there so, in order to cover some out of tune notes, I added a chorus effect. . .kinda sorta helped but, the solo is on my redo list!
Thank you for listening and commenting, I appreciate it!

[rayc]

Alison,
I hope to get my cello out and start again when we've completed our house move - whenever that is given the pandemic, current floods etc etc - and getting a little help along the way I cheat already with dot markers for position but I'm tempted by these things - becasue anything that gets me playing the big box is a good thing...
CHEATS

[Alison]

Alison,
I hope to get my cello out and start again when we've completed our house move - whenever that is given the pandemic, current floods etc etc - and getting a little help along the way I cheat already with dot markers for position but I'm tempted by these things - becasue anything that gets me playing the big box is a good thing...
CHEATS

Wow! I didn't know this existed! When I used to teach cello, I used tape to mark finger positions (a pain to put on!) I think whatever helps you get back into action, you should definitely use it. Just remember to take it off after a while!

[TripleM]

I thought everything sounded good. The vocal sounded a bit wetter than the other tracks. I might even that out a bit.

And I agree on humanizing. At its root you do 3 things: make each hit not exactly on beat, make each hit a slightly different volume, and make hits happen on different parts of the drum (e.g., some hits at the center of the snare, and some hits a bit out toward the edge). I don't have EZ Drummer, but I'm pretty sure it has that stuff. There are other things involved, but those are the basics.

Overall real good tho.

[Tadpui]

I like this a lot, it's got a bit of that feel of the old "outlaw country" sound in the arrangement and the mix. Vocals sound great, including backing vocals. The violin solo starts off pitchy but it gets back into shape pretty quickly.

I agree with the others that the drums sound decidedly canned, but you'll get better at that with time and practice. My first experiments with canned drums were inarguably awful, and this sounds way better than where I started so you've got a leg up! I agree with the advice to ditch the room mics in EZ Drummer and come up with your own ambiance for the drums. I don't know what the deal is with EZD room mics, but I had bad luck with them, at least on the default kit. Maybe other EZX expansion packs improved the room sound.

Anyways, well done.

[itsnotkcearl]

Here is a little tune I wrote while screwing around with EZ Drummer. I am totally loving this program but really have a lot more to learn about it so, advice and comments on the drums, in particular, are most appreciated! The song itself is not my best, I had age on my mind and this last trip around the sun has felt more like about 10! It was a product of figuring out EZDrummer.

So. here ya go! Slice and dice away. . .

Till My Last Breath.mp3

That was excellent....not much to say on the mix that hasnt been said...but as a song I love it, straight from another time, well written, and delivered

[Alison]

Here is a little tune I wrote while screwing around with EZ Drummer. I am totally loving this program but really have a lot more to learn about it so, advice and comments on the drums, in particular, are most appreciated! The song itself is not my best, I had age on my mind and this last trip around the sun has felt more like about 10! It was a product of figuring out EZDrummer.

So. here ya go! Slice and dice away. . .

Till My Last Breath.mp3

That was excellent....not much to say on the mix that hasnt been said...but as a song I love it, straight from another time, well written, and delivered

Thank you. That's me. . ." straight from another time". . .and probably stuck there!

[itsnotkcearl]

That was excellent....not much to say on the mix that hasnt been said...but as a song I love it, straight from another time, well written, and delivered

Thank you. That's me. . ." straight from another time". . .and probably stuck there!

That's me too...no chance of an update, this is the last firmware!


PS I think I meant timeless, not "from another time"

[Alison]

@itsnotkcearl I love it, "no chance of an update" ha! Too true, at some point, we go beyond updates and just keep going. . .