Apparently I need to raise my rates. I'd like to do a mix of this demo but my next free day is Sept 4th and when it comes I won't be spending it at the studio unless there's a point of a gun involved.

Thanks Jeremy. A few notes about this song you might find interesting. I've been a songwriter since I learned to play the guitar and this song came to me shortly after I bought a Taylor 310 (for me, a very inspiring instrument!). The chords are similar to Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" but, of course, I put my own twist on it. A lyricist I've worked with in the past took a working lyric I had going and wrote the the first two verses and choruses, then I wrote the last verse I found a drum loop I liked from Drumcore and strung together a few variations and a couple of fills. As the song came together, I liked the groove set by the drum loop and tried to get a simple bass part going that complemented the groove. The acoustic guitar strum also helped the groove. When approaching the electric guitar sound, I wanted something really gentle sounding that didn't overwhelm and added a club-like, intimate, close, present feel. So I jammed on the track and cut out the parts I liked (rather hastily so check your fades ins/outs on the lead guitar parts for pops). The song is long because the outro is pretty much a jam. I left it this way for the competition so you'd have more to work with in your edits. Brent did a masterful job cutting it down by 1 minute. Mic on the vocal was a Rode K2 into my Panasonic WZ-AD96M preamp. Mics on acoustic guitar were MXL 603S small diaphram condensors set up as a coincident pair also using the WZ-AD96M mic preamp.

The question's been asked a few times is this a competition to mix or to edit or to retrack or what. I've placed no restrictions, bottom line, take the tracks and make the best sounding demo you can with them. I've heard, "levels are low" because the song hasn't been "mastered." How many clients do you have that don't end up paying for mastering and just ask you to do it? In some cases, this may be a mistake but the budget-minded client might be perfectly fine accepting the best "master" you can produce. For the purposes of this competition, consider this a demo for the budget minded client who simply wants you to produce your best possible mix of the song. For those who don't have the time, so be it, this is for fun and learning so, of course, you can do as much or as little as you want. Still, if you want to show your forum brethren just what you're capable of, then my friends, GAME ON!

What BPM did you track it at?

J

Logic said 125 bpm.

Sounds about right. I'll verify this later when I have the session in front of me. On the other hand, it should be easy for "any of you" to figure out

I guess my mix shows that I agree with Jeremy about the song being too long, however I do feel there are some other problems with it. The reason I like Brents mix so well is that he gave the song more structure. The verse is separated from the chorus sonicly by the addition of harmonies, the electric gtr and piano are slightly rearranged and the band-limited vocal all contribute to defining the sections. This makes for a more varied, livly and intresting listening experience IMHO.
Any one feeling slighted because they think their mix sounds better than someone elses should chill a bit. There are LOTS of ways to define a good mix (what do you call a poorly mixed hit?)and this is just for fun after all.

Cheers,
Peter

125 here guys...

Cool thanks.. yes I am lazy today.. plus I got some new plugins..

Jeff

That's cool listening to you add stuff and rearrange the song, but this was more about sonics originaly, how your gear and how it's interfaced can change the over all sound quality. Everything from W/C to mixer, to mixdown method, cables ect. Not so much as how much you dress up the song.

But it must be very interesting to Justin to hear his track taken on by others. That's cool. At Omega they use to say "There is only one rule, there are no rules".

Nick if your pissed off at me, for being a jackass, please just realize I was born this way,I can't help it . I try, and try, but every once and a while my "jackassness" kicks in without me even realizing it. Until later when it wears off, I'll read something I siad and think to myself " What a Jackass I was".

I beg your forgiveness, and well kindly pleasure you in any way.

Holy shit dude, 17 pages long? Is this a new record???