One Breath Away....

[rammer24]

Hey,

So this is a song I first recorded about 4 years ago, right after getting out of the hospital. I just re-tracked everything but kept the original vocal tracks.

How's it sound?

One Breath Away.mp3

[miroslav]

Sounds good all around...not hearing anything out of place...has a Lennon vibe to it.

[rammer24]

Sounds good all around...not hearing anything out of place...has a Lennon vibe to it.

Lennon, eh? I can live with that. Thanx.

[miroslav]

I didn't just say that 'cuz I know you're a Beatles fan....there's definitely something there Lennon-ish.

[rammer24]

No, I appreciate that. I like "Edgy Lennon", which is nothing like "Yoko Lennon".

For those that might care, I didn't do the typical double-rythm guitars with a third "lead" track for this one. It's just 2 guitar tracks, one on the left one on the right. But not LCR. They're panned about 50% each. I'm still scared to do an LCR mix. I almost tried with this tune but I just couldn't. I don't know why. I just can't get myself to believe a mix that has some things completely to one side can ever be better than a mix that has everything at least a little bit in each speaker. I'm not saying my logic is right. But I just can't myself to admit otherwise.

I'm scared. Hold me.

[rayc]

I'm slowly learning by listening to you Rami. You are the most unafraid of using space and holes in your constructions. Where I'd reinforce the roof you put in a skylight. Where I'd put an extra toilet you put an atrium. As a result your songs seem to breathe and have more drama/dynamics where mine just get more dense.
The song is cool, the rhythm side guitar does a good job of holding its own against the sparkle of the lead side.
The original vocals hold up well in their new bed.

[rammer24]

I'm slowly learning by listening to you Rami. You are the most unafraid of using space and holes in your constructions. Where I'd reinforce the roof you put in a skylight. Where I'd put an extra toilet you put an atrium. As a result your songs seem to breathe and have more drama/dynamics where mine just get more dense.
The song is cool, the rhythm side guitar does a good job of holding its own against the sparkle of the lead side.
The original vocals hold up well in their new bed.

Hey, thanx a lot Ray.


I wish I could some insight into how I create any of that, or anything. I just put what I think should go in, and take out what I think shouldn't. Actually, a good example of that was that something told me this song isn't a "Doubled rythm guitar" kind of song. It sounded "smaller" in my head, and I think I got what I want from it.

I love your analogies. It takes a great lyricist... or a cunning linguist.

[WhiskeyJack]

man i got nothing dude.

however i do have questions.

My ears are sort of picking up an image of the drums being wider than the guitars. is that intentional? you don't hard pan your guits do you?

2nd listen: @3:24 that kick sort of jumps out at me. At first i thought maybe there was a very slight out of sync ness with the bass guitar but i think maybe you just jammed on it a little harder than the other kick beats around it and it messed with my ears. Definitely not a big deal just a point of interest.

[rammer24]

My ears are sort of picking up an image of the drums being wider than the guitars. is that intentional? you don't hard pan your guits do you?

You have good ears. In 99.9% of my songs, I have wide panned rythm guitars. In this one, I just have one guitar on the right, and one on the left. If you scroll up, I explained what and why I did in more detail.

But you do raise a good point that I didn't consider. I wonder if I should narrow the drums if I'm doing this kind of mix. Something to think about for sure.

@3:24 that kick sort of jumps out at me.

I'll definitely go back and listen for that. This is one of those mixes where weird, unusual things popped out at me. So, I wouldn't be surprised if I just missed what you hear.

Thanx dude!

[WhiskeyJack]

My ears are sort of picking up an image of the drums being wider than the guitars. is that intentional? you don't hard pan your guits do you?

I wonder if I should narrow the drums if I'm doing this kind of mix.

No you shouldn't this is cool as is totally just leave it.


Sorry i missed the explanation. I sort of tackle mix critques by just listening to the song amd just fadt forwarding to my own post on the mix i dont really read everyone else until afterwards. If i read at all cause i am so void in this section that i try to cover as mich groud as i can.

Ill go back and read it... i guess. .... if i have to....

[WhiskeyJack]

Ok i wemt back and read. Fuck. I should have read.

I like it rammer. A lot. I like that it isnt mulitple guitars. Thats awesome. I am really tryimg to get away with only one guit track on the left and right lately. Double tracking is a thing in my past i think. Unless its just a simple three chord punk tune.

You could probabaly spread your guits out to 60 or 65 percent each way and still have thay cool wide drum sound and it may make your guits sound a bit thicker? Maybe. Id do it just to see what it does for fun. As it is now its still a good end result and i like it.

How do you treat your guirar tracks? Do they get their own reverb and delay or are they just kind of in the mix as is. Im curious.

[rammer24]

How do you treat your guirar tracks? Do they get their own reverb and delay or are they just kind of in the mix as is. Im curious.

There's no answer to that. I treat them the way the song asks them to be treated. Sometimes, they get no reverb or delay. If they do get reverb, it's usually a small amount of the same reverb that I chose for the drums. If a guitar needs delay, I'll give it some, but there's no blue print for what I do. It's song by song. I might seem to be good at this, but I'm not. I have very little technical knowledge and fly by the seat of my pants most of the time. I just happen to know what works for me and my songs with my equipment.

[paulman]

Fuck, Rami. Are you ever going to post anything that I can pick out a flaw in? I fly by the seat of my pants as well, and sometimes I get lucky and get a mix that's on point, but you are consistently solid as fuck. Great song, great mix.

[rammer24]

Fuck, Rami. Are you ever going to post anything that I can pick out a flaw in? I fly by the seat of my pants as well, and sometimes I get lucky and get a mix that's on point, but you are consistently solid as fuck. Great song, great mix.

Thanx a lot Paulman. I really appreicate that.

[rammer24]

Listening this morning...Might be my morning ears, but do I hear some over-limiting affecting the snare? Does anyone else hear the typical "Snare getting killed by limiter" sound? Might just be my pre-coffee ears this morning because I didn't hear it before.

[JD01]

There's nothing wrong with this mix, Rami.

[rammer24]

Thanx cobber.

[einstein magoo]

Excellent! As per usual.
Your backing vocals are so excellent and pristine that personally, I would prefer something a little more ragged backing this lead vocal. BG vocals are so lush (and really beautiful) they give a polish that pulls this song to a more poppy sound. If that's what you're after you got it, and this is a really fine piece of music, great performance and mix. A personal preference would just be to strip those BGV's down and rough them up a little. (add venom?)
Don't listen to me, everybody knows I'm not that bright, just my personal taste leads to the somewhat rougher side of rock.
Would you consider this to be a "ballad"?

[rammer24]

Excellent! As per usual.
Your backing vocals are so excellent and pristine that personally, I would prefer something a little more ragged backing this lead vocal. BG vocals are so lush (and really beautiful) they give a polish that pulls this song to a more poppy sound. If that's what you're after you got it, and this is a really fine piece of music, great performance and mix. A personal preference would just be to strip those BGV's down and rough them up a little. (add venom?)
Don't listen to me, everybody knows I'm not that bright, just my personal taste leads to the somewhat rougher side of rock.
Would you consider this to be a "ballad"?

Thanx Einstein. I always love your comments. Not because you're complimentary, but because you have great insight and use words extremely well.

I see what you're saying about the back vocals. I might have been too concerned with making them gel too much. At the time, I was surprised I was even able to sing that many words at a time, because I really didn't have a lot of breath (One Breath Away), so I might not have paid much attention to the possible rigidity of it.

As far as wether I'd call this a ballad, I don't think so. It is a slow song, but I think it takes more than that to call a song a ballad, in my opinion. It's certainly not a love song. For me, the song is about 2 things/people at the same time. For others, it's whatever anyone wants it to be about. But I don't think it's a balld. It's ballad-y.

[Minerman]

Good song dude, a really good mix too, both, as usual...

No nits from me, but I'd put just a little sparkle/high end on the rhythm guitars, possibly even the lead part...

I agree this sounds very polished, & the vocals are very tight, pro-sounding dude...

Someone mentioned making this sound a little more raw, but I honestly don't think you're capable of that, & I mean that in a good way...You're just so good at this shit, that no matter what you do, it'll always sound polished...

Very impressive to say the least...