Shit Sandwich

[JD01]

Oh no, another typical JD song that sounds the same as all of the others... tell me what you think of the mix anyway.

Shit Sandwich Mix 1.mp3

Shit Sandwich Mix 2.mp3

[Greg_L]

I think it's okay. I can tell you've been working on bass tone, but to me you might have gone too far. It's really "clacky". The attack of the bass seems to pretty closely match the click of the kick which is just too much clack all together. The vocals are once again way too roomy IMO. Snare is a little boxy. The good thing is the levels are all pretty balanced. The lead seems pretty good. It's not as stiff as some of your other leads. The vocal performance itself seems better than usual. All in all you're making progress.

[JD01]

I think it's okay. I can tell you've been working on bass tone, but to me you might have gone too far. It's really "clacky". The attack of the bass seems to pretty closely match the click of the kick which is just too much clack all together. The vocals are once again way too roomy IMO. Snare is a little boxy. The good thing is the levels are all pretty balanced. The lead seems pretty good. It's not as stiff as some of your other leads. The vocal performance itself seems better than usual. All in all you're making progress.

Cheers, yeah. Maybe I have gone to far with the bass tone - I've been trying to make it really pop out. Just listened to it through again now, it is a bit too clacky, particularly on the G - A progression on the bottom E string.

I think I have the "vocal thickener" delay on the lead vocal which may be making it sound too roomy - I'll get used to listening to this over the next day or two and they maybe dial it back. I tried deadening the vocal room (mrs office) in a slightly different way this time too so maybe that has something to do with it.
Weirdly I found the performance on the vocal pretty easy for this one, dunno if that's me getting better, or if its just an easy one. I did spend 20 minutes listening to the track and working out how I was going to sing it and practiced relatively quietly (and re-wrote some of the lyrics ) before going upstairs to track it. Instead of working it out as I'm tracking it, which is probably just a waste of voice 'cos they're never gonna be keepers.

[rayc]

"Instead of working it out as I'm tracking it,..." That's the key to it sounding better I'm sure. & your voice does sound better. Well done.
yeah Clack is right in the kick drum's range - dialing it back or sliding the frequency up or down might find a space.
Pop the lyrics up please - I like the general thrust, I think, of the narrative but can't be sure I'm not being had.
Good song!

[JD01]

Just had a thought actually, I have an EQ bump on the kick to give myself a bit of beater clack, might dial that back and see what happens.

Cheers ray, I'll pop them up later when I get a mo. Curious what do you think is the point of it though.

[JD01]

Pop the lyrics up please

Here you go, Ray - I needed to type them up anyway as I changed them while tracking.
I actually edited them a fair bit when I was quietly practicing/rehersing too as I wrote them when I got to my hotel after a 5 hour car journey last week at which point there wasn't any music written and they ended up far longer and more complex... there wasn't a chorus as such. Don't think I ever used the words "Shit Sandwich" but that's the first thing that came to mind when I read them back.

Shit Sandwich:

V1
It took you a long time to learn to be so astute.
But you perfectly timed your advances.
Played a long game, found a perfect route.
No need to take any chances.

Chorus

Silent majority
Living in apathy
Keep Superiority
Choking on your gluttony
We need no sympathy
Just lacking empathy
Pretending dignity
Choking on our gluttony

V2
What are you really trying to do?
There’s more to this game than first appears.
It's more than silencing a dissident crew.
And you’re not just trying to please your peers.


Chorus

V3
A shameless act of playing to the gallery.
Your position is strong but your hand is weak.
Won’t take too long, relax in mortality.
Don’t leave any space for intelligent critique.

Chorus

[JD01]

Snare is a little boxy.

A few people have mentioned this, you, Rami, I think Shan and VHS did too. You even mentioned that I did it to your snare sound when I tried mixing with it. What I'm after is a really dry crack, a bit like the sound of someone hiting a carboard box with a cricket bat if that makes any sense - I don't want it to "ring" out much like the St. Anger snare.

[vomitHatSteve]

Did I not comment on this yesterday? Weird.

Calling a snare boxy sounds like it's out of my pay grade.

I think this one sounds pretty good. Bass might be a little clicky for my taste. And some of the solo-vocals get buried. When the bgvox are going, it pops fine, but one or two words in the verses.

[JD01]

Did I not comment on this yesterday? Weird.

Calling a snare boxy sounds like it's out of my pay grade.

I think this one sounds pretty good. Bass might be a little clicky for my taste. And some of the solo-vocals get buried. When the bgvox are going, it pops fine, but one or two words in the verses.

Cheers Steve.

You didn't comment on it before - it's just all my songs sound rhe same.

[JD01]

OK, after working on the bass tone for Young Tories, I've redone the base for this to remove some of the clackiness. I've also removed all of the delay on the vocal, I actually don't mind it sitting further - I think I'm just getting more used to the sound of my singing.

Shit Sandwich Mix 2.mp3

[Bubba]

Oh my god. Is there another one to do? I'll give it the ears later.

[JD01]

Oh my god. Is there another one to do? I'll give it the ears later.

Haha. Don't worry about it. Greg just made some good comments on it the other day and I just got around to addressing them.

[vomitHatSteve]

Bass is definitely improved.

What's your compression like? Seems like it might be pumping a little bit.

As I re-listen, I'm kind of getting a KMFDM without synths vibe from the songwriting and vocal tone.

[JD01]

Bass is definitely improved.

What's your compression like? Seems like it might be pumping a little bit.

As I re-listen, I'm kind of getting a KMFDM without synths vibe from the songwriting and vocal tone.

What's KMFDM?

Compression on the vocal is just focusrite compressors, there's compression on the bass, nothing on the guitars, a bit on the drums and then Reapers JS: Event Horizon on the master bus.

[miroslav]

The revised mix above is definitely improved from the first.
The single note repeating riff that comes in around 2:38... I would not have it so hard-left, and also it's kinda "plinky". I would give it some bite to go with the rest of the song, and leads, which have good bite.

[JD01]

The revised mix above is definitely improved from the first.
The single note repeating riff that comes in around 2:38... I would not have it so hard-left, and also it's kinda "plinky". I would give it some bite to go with the rest of the song, and leads, which have good bite.

Cheers, Miro

[vomitHatSteve]

What's KMFDM?

LMGTFY



I might double-check the master bus compressor then. The pumping doesn't seem too pronounced, but I feel like there's a touch of it.

[JD01]

What's KMFDM?

LMGTFY



I might double-check the master bus compressor then. The pumping doesn't seem too pronounced, but I feel like there's a touch of it.

haha, never seen that before. I might have to check them out.

Cheers, though. I'll have a listen carefully probably on the weekend and I might back it off a bit.

[Bubba]

You know what I'm going to say, don't you?

Yes, the verse vocal is a bit quiet.

Everything else sounds good.

Oh, that ska rhythm guitar needs to bite more. That right-hand guitar basically sounds like a smear.

[JD01]

Ska rhythm? Don't remember that! I'll have a look for it and see what you mean. Of my "finished" songs this is the one I'm least familiar with!

Cheers, Bob

EDIT: I know what you mean now, yeah, it is dark isn't it. Might do that again on the bridge pickup with a little bit of gain.

Gonna have to leave the vocal pretty much where it is though - I don't think i could bare to have it louder!