Project with a good set of pipes.

[rayc]

EMERALDBRIDGEJ&Bbc.mp3

This is a song I co-wrote ...I worked out most of the melody (based on the guitar lead parts) and the lyrics.
Scott plays the fluid guitar parts and Janice did the vocals along with some reworking/rewriting of the melody and arrangement.
It's the 1st real mix with vocals in place.
The drums, organ, strings and acoustic guitar are through BIAB...I didn't fancy my chances of getting a decent acoustic track with my interface problems.
I'd love to read what needs doing/fixing/changing.

I listened and tried to address all issues raised.
Double checked and reverb is only on the 12 string low part and the vocal as mentioned.
I removed the strings, cleared some mud, punched a hole or two in the arrangement to allow some air in and lowered the vocal a tiny bit.

I've stripped the arrangement down to bare bones in an effort to allow the vocals to sit better...


Here's my final mix mastered. It's not the one the collab went with...that's a version with a constant rhythm electric and organ.

MST Emerald.mp3

[JD01]

This sounds pretty tidy, Ray. You've got a good lead vocal there.
The band all sounds a bit indistinct, just blending into the background, but as a vehicle for the vocal it works fine.. it does sound a bit like someone singing along with a backing track. But that's to be expected I suppose.

Most importantly the lead vocal sounds good and it there's nothing obviously wrong with how you've processed it either.

[rayc]

This sounds pretty tidy, Ray. You've got a good lead vocal there.
The band all sounds a bit indistinct, just blending into the background, but as a vehicle for the vocal it works fine.. it does sound a bit like someone singing along with a backing track. But that's to be expected I suppose.

Most importantly the lead vocal sounds good and it there's nothing obviously wrong with how you've processed it either.

Thanks James,
I do want it to sound like "a band" so will work on bring the two together.
I've only had the vocals tracks since this morning and will spend some time listening and experimenting to bring them together.

[JD01]

This sounds pretty tidy, Ray. You've got a good lead vocal there.
The band all sounds a bit indistinct, just blending into the background, but as a vehicle for the vocal it works fine.. it does sound a bit like someone singing along with a backing track. But that's to be expected I suppose.

Most importantly the lead vocal sounds good and it there's nothing obviously wrong with how you've processed it either.

Thanks James,
I do want it to sound like "a band" so will work on bring the two together.
I've only had the vocals tracks since this morning and will spend some time listening and experimenting to bring them together.

Its alright, its just a bit lacking in energy, which I suppose is inevitable given the source for a lot of it.

[vomitHatSteve]

Thanks James,
I do want it to sound like "a band" so will work on bring the two together.
I've only had the vocals tracks since this morning and will spend some time listening and experimenting to bring them together.

Its alright, its just a bit lacking in energy, which I suppose is inevitable given the source for a lot of it.

Yeah. That's my general take on it.

[TripleM]

I hear the same thing as JD01 is hearing. The band is a bit indistinct and maybe lacking a little energy/emotion/whatever.

I think the guitars could use a little more upper midrange. That might be part of the reason they're indistinct.

There is a lot of reverb. It sounds nice on the vocal. But it's a little mushy on the instruments.

I thought the bass sounded nice. Drums sounded decent.

[rayc]

I hear the same thing as JD01 is hearing. The band is a bit indistinct and maybe lacking a little energy/emotion/whatever.

I think the guitars could use a little more upper midrange. That might be part of the reason they're indistinct.

There is a lot of reverb. It sounds nice on the vocal. But it's a little mushy on the instruments.

I thought the bass sounded nice. Drums sounded decent.

There's reverb & delay printed onto the leads...other than that I THINK it's only on the 12 string echoing the bass and, of course, the vocal.
If you hear it then it's either a mistake or something else is making it mushy.
I'll play with the midrange.
Emotion, yeah, the lead guitar sounds lovely but is languid...that's the fellow's style.
The lack or energy is probably down to it having been a bed waiting for a vocal. I'll see what can be done...ta.

[TripleM]

You might want to play around with a compressor on the guitar parts. Try using a very long attack - like 200 msec, and a short release - like 80 msec. And then clamp down hard on the parts you're compressing - like 5db of gain reduction. It *can* add dynamics to a part. It doesn't always work, but it might be worth a try. Maybe those guitars will create more of an energetic feel.

[WhiskeyJack]

Coming in on the second mix.

Sounding a bit more together and lively than the first mix. everything the vocals are sitting on sounds much better than the first mix. I didn't even know there was brushes on the drums in the first mix. At least it sounds like brushes now to my non-drummer ear.

Great voice! I'm still not 100% sure I love how that solo was captured, i know it's there but it seems pretty flat and lifeless still but i believe you mentioned upstream here that that is just buddies playing style. Other than that i don't have any nits worth talking about at this point.

[rayc]

You might want to play around with a compressor on the guitar parts. Try using a very long attack - like 200 msec, and a short release - like 80 msec. And then clamp down hard on the parts you're compressing - like 5db of gain reduction. It *can* add dynamics to a part. It doesn't always work, but it might be worth a try. Maybe those guitars will create more of an energetic feel.

Ta.
I can't do much about the lead guitar and noodle guitar stuff. The player/co-writer doesn't like any tweaking of his parts n sends then with FX printed BUT I'll give it a go.

[rayc]

Coming in on the second mix.
Sounding a bit more together and lively than the first mix. everything the vocals are sitting on sounds much better than the first mix. I didn't even know there was brushes on the drums in the first mix. At least it sounds like brushes now to my non-drummer ear.
Great voice! I'm still not 100% sure I love how that solo was captured, i know it's there but it seems pretty flat and lifeless still but i believe you mentioned upstream here that that is just buddies playing style. Other than that i don't have any nits worth talking about at this point.

I would go so far as to say there's no "solo" as I understand it. The guitarist doesn't "dig in", hyper ventilate or wail in my experience. His thing is to create lovely, fluid lines and he does that very well. A "let it rip" eight or 12 bars would be cool.

[CrowsofFritz]

Can’t say I can add anything that hasn’t already been said. The vocals are definitely nice.

[stratmonkee]

Listened to EMERALDBRIDGEJ&B Fgxstr.mp3....
Vocals are great! Cool lyrics, Kind of a country vibe? I could here some pedal steel in this. Ray are you playing bass guitar on this. I really like the solid pocket . Nice guitar thru out. Was there like a swell of reverb on vocals at end of song? Around 3:50? Cool effect . Very nice!

[rayc]

Thanks @stratmonkee ,
I've added the final version of my mix in the OP.
Not pedal steel in this one but some very PS like lead tones.
That swell on the vocals at the end is a Reaper pug - JS Floaty Delay.

[rayc]

Can’t say I can add anything that hasn’t already been said. The vocals are definitely nice.

Thnaks @CrowsofFritz .

[musicturtle]

Late here, nice work @rayc.

Vocalist is very good, and her voice is captured well.