You Are Words

[Greg_L]

Ha another middle finger at the right. I love it.

Sounds pretty good. I like the darkish-ness of the mix. It has a loungey band-in-a-room kind of vibe. That's a nice feat to achieve when you're doing it all alone. I got no problem with the bass because like I just said to me it sounds like a band in a room. The bass is not going to jump out in that scenario. It's gonna sit back and blend in like it's supposed to.

The only thing I don't care for is the roomy callback voice popping out of the left channel. It's a little abrupt and doesn't fit the mix very well. I'd like it centered more, maybe retracked so it's not so distant. Do a retrack and add a little megaphone-ish distortion instead of the super roomy effect.

[Alison]

Thanks for all the comments!
@vomitHatSteve great advice on the Eq and HPF for the bass. When I used my cello for the bass line I mostly tried to get rid of the "rubber ball" sound. Now that I finally have a real bass, it'll be fun trying to get a real bass sound!

@rayc, using compression is a good suggestion, don't know why I didn't think of that!

@Greg_L distortion, of course, don't know why I didn't think of that either! I wanted those vocals to sound distant and on the "ugly" side because, you know, gun lovers are pretty ugly! I did add some delay but really didn't think of distortion!

Thanks for all the great input. My daughter is visiting so it may be a few days before I can check all these out but, I really appreciate all of it and I thank you very much for listening!

[vomitHatSteve]

Rock and/or roll!
Oh! I didn't mean to HPF the whole bass track. I was recommending it for the delay/reverb itself. (You still want a lot of low-end on the bass itself, obviously!)

[Alison]

So, @vomitHatSteve, I didn't realize you could or should use HPF on reverb or delay. . .

In any case, @JD01 has come to my rescue on this and has recorded the way he hears it and I think it's fantastic! I am loading it in the original post so when you have time, check it out. I love what he has done!! He really knocked it out of the park!

Still can't play yet so this really made my day. . .

[Armistice]

Suggest you sit down with your bass and Reaper, with record on, and just run up the scale from the E up the first 7 frets, then the A string, same thing etc. all the way up the bass, playing as best you can exactly the same way for each note WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE WAVE FORM.

Then look at the wave form, and listen, and notice how the different strings provide different volumes - that will tell you a lot about how your particular bass will respond when recording. You may notice "Oh, I have to pluck harder on the D string..." and stuff like that, for instance (I don't know if this is the case - it's just an example. This will become clearer once you're trying to mix bass into other music.

Two other things - (1) fretting and unfretting accurately and quickly - you get a lot of bass string/fret rattle if you don't put your finger down hard enough and if you lift it off too slowly. (2) resonating open strings - if you're playing on the A string, most likely that E string has started resonating, so that's something you need to be aware of and be muting with your palm etc. You can end up with a very muddy, unfixable bass track if your E string is kicking into action every time you're playing on any other string.

This is all just practice, but good idea to practice specifically with an eye to how bass records.

[rayc]

(2) resonating open strings - if you're playing on the A string, most likely that E string has started resonating, so that's something you need to be aware of and be muting with your palm etc. You can end up with a very muddy, unfixable bass track if your E string is kicking into action every time you're playing on any other string.

YES, this is a big bass problem AND compression will make it worse.
#1 task is the learn to mute with the side of your plectrum hand
#1 cheat is the old muting sponge/felt at the bridge thing though it'll require retuning and accepting that notes won't ring out as well.
Me? I'm still working on it - it's only been 50 years so I expect I'll get to grips with the issue soon enough.

[JD01]

In any case, @JD01 has come to my rescue on this and has recorded the way he hears it and I think it's fantastic! I am loading it in the original post so when you have time, check it out. I love what he has done!! He really knocked it out of the park!

Still can't play yet so this really made my day. . .

Listened to this again this morning, I still like it!

If you're still trying to play and write but can't nail a decent performance 'cos of your arm there's loads of people here who I'm sure would do it for you. I get that there's satisfaction in doing it yourself, but if your arm is going to be affecting your playing for a while you can still get the satisfaction from the song-writing process... which I think is the best bit anyway.

[Armistice]

In any case, @JD01 has come to my rescue on this and has recorded the way he hears it and I think it's fantastic! I am loading it in the original post so when you have time, check it out. I love what he has done!! He really knocked it out of the park!

Still can't play yet so this really made my day. . .

Listened to this again this morning, I still like it!

If you're still trying to play and write but can't nail a decent performance 'cos of your arm there's loads of people here who I'm sure would do it for you. I get that there's satisfaction in doing it yourself, but if your arm is going to be affecting your playing for a while you can still get the satisfaction from the song-writing process... which I think is the best bit anyway.

If I could, I'd outsource most of what I play to other people... it's now all about the end result - the song - and not the journey for me.

[Alison]

@JD01 you did an awesome job and I really can't thank you enough!

@Armistice I guess I do get some satisfaction doing everything myself but you are right. . . it's about the song! The other thing is, I really hate to bother people as I know how busy everyone is.

This makes me anxious to heal so I can practice! Making a little progress but I still have pain, especially in my thumb (go figure!). You all are so supportive. You don't know how much I appreciate all of you!!

[vomitHatSteve]

So, @vomitHatSteve, I didn't realize you could or should use HPF on reverb or delay. . .

In any case, @JD01 has come to my rescue on this and has recorded the way he hears it and I think it's fantastic! I am loading it in the original post so when you have time, check it out. I love what he has done!! He really knocked it out of the park!

Still can't play yet so this really made my day. . .

I don't know that anyone necessarily recommends it, but that would be what I'd have tried with your mix based on my ears. Did you actually have a reverb on the bass? That's a pretty uncommon choice itself.

Listening to JD's version now. I like this! It's very clearly a JD production, but it's cool to hear his take on your stuff!

[JD01]

It's very clearly a JD production

haha, I tried to use a few style choices in the guitar that I wouldn't normally go for so it wouldn't sound too much like me. Oh well.
My favourite bit is when the band drops out and then comes in on the up beat on the first line of the vocal.

[stratmonkee]

I really like both versions, the original has a intimacy that's really cool, great lyrics and vocal! JD version is rocking and to me, makes it a whole different song, not necessarily "better", just a different angle I guess. Always dig his guitar sound/tones and playing...well done ! Great job guys, cool song!

[Alison]

I really like both versions, the original has a intimacy that's really cool, great lyrics and vocal! JD version is rocking and to me, makes it a whole different song, not necessarily "better", just a different angle I guess. Always dig his guitar sound/tones and playing...well done ! Great job guys, cool song!

Hey, thank you! I love JD's playing and totally love what he did with this. Started recording this in February and had intentions to retrack the guitar when my new bass came in. The day the bass came, I fell and broke my left arm and wrist. The cast did not stop me from attempting a piano part and eek out an attempt at bass but neither was satisfactory, JD came to my rescue! I get by with a little help from my friends. . .

[WhiskeyJack]

A collab from two of my faves !!! Nice effort guys! I like the passive aggressive thumb biting! Very well done.

realistically both versions once tidied up could be released side by side as a small EP on band camp! Would be cool to have the A/B contrast.

[Armistice]

A collab from two of my faves !!! Nice effort guys! I like the passive aggressive thumb biting! Very well done.

realistically both versions once tidied up could be released side by side as a small EP on band camp! Would be cool to have the A/B contrast.

You're supposed to love all of your children equally...

[Alison]

A collab from two of my faves !!! Nice effort guys! I like the passive aggressive thumb biting! Very well done.

realistically both versions once tidied up could be released side by side as a small EP on band camp! Would be cool to have the A/B contrast.

Oh, now there's an idea! Thanks @WhiskeyJack

[WhiskeyJack]

A collab from two of my faves !!! Nice effort guys! I like the passive aggressive thumb biting! Very well done.

realistically both versions once tidied up could be released side by side as a small EP on band camp! Would be cool to have the A/B contrast.

You're supposed to love all of your children equally...

I do love you all!!!

► Show Spoiler

But @JD01 is special needs @Armistice you see, so we need to have him fluffed up a lil bit

[Armistice]

@JD01 you did an awesome job and I really can't thank you enough!

@Armistice I guess I do get some satisfaction doing everything myself but you are right. . . it's about the song! The other thing is, I really hate to bother people as I know how busy everyone is.

I get satisfaction too, but the actual recording of some stuff I find annoying - vocals in particular, sometimes guitar. And I've got 5 solo albums, where, with the exception of piano on one single track, every single thing was done by me - so I'm a bit more "over" it than I used to be...

And don't be shy about reaching out for help with things. I think people here look at the opportunity to play on other's stuff as an interesting challenge that takes them somewhere else than where they were going, and they learn something along the way.

Look forward to hearing you do Jaco Pastorius and Flea licks on your bass when you get the arm back under control.

[JD01]

@JD01 you did an awesome job and I really can't thank you enough!

@Armistice I guess I do get some satisfaction doing everything myself but you are right. . . it's about the song! The other thing is, I really hate to bother people as I know how busy everyone is.

And don't be shy about reaching out for help with things. I think people here look at the opportunity to play on other's stuff as an interesting challenge that takes them somewhere else than where they were going, and they learn something along the way..

Yeah, exactly.