stoopid

That's a bass effect/tone? I thought I had an inner ear infection.

Well, not me. I'm f***ing outta here.

Funny you say that about mixing guitar/vocal only music, as it's what I started recording 30+ years ago so it's easier for me actually than trying to fit the many layers typical in modern music. I guess the idea is to just give the guitar and vocal their own space in the sound field and it can be something as simple as a bit of panning. Most of the effort IMO is capturing the parts cleanly with a mic, and EQing unwanted stuff out and only adding a touch of reverb. That is of course one man's opinion, there's no wrong way to mix as long as it also sounds good to someone other than the mixer.

Since we're having this discussion of doom and gloom, I figure I'd throw some more prozac on the fire. I'm not impressionable, I'm stating this because the content of this video aligns with my beliefs on the topic and was watched during my recent decision making process. It did not have much (any?) bearing on that decision. Regardless, it's excellent insight into what we do, why we do it, and whether we even should. It doesn't draw the conclusion that maybe you suspect it would. 100% worthy of the 15 minutes.

Well, achieving an end goal and that goal being anywhere near worthy of being a goal in the first place are two different things. lol

No plans. I was semi-motivated back in August but finding (and sustaining) that motivation and coming up with anything meaningful to start working on since led me to a more introspective place, realizing I've accomplished most anything I felt the need to do musically. I may reinstall Cakewalk on the new computer and just have that kicking around to help people with mixes, little things here and there. As a player/songwriter, I'm formally retired. My electric guitar sold last week, sound card sold the week before, and still waiting on a buyer for the small electronic drum pad I had.

You should never feel bad about ... feeling and struggling with things. Especially when it comes to hobby stuff. Family should take priority. None of us are obligated to the other (unless we commit, then not following through is suboptimal). When and if you'll be ready there will be plenty of people there looking forward to your return and contributions.

Our intended audience was even smaller than that, really just focusing on the material between myself and Scott. Brian O'Connell (which some of you might know) was getting fed mixes of the songs as they neared completion, and a few times he was (very) valuable in hearing something we didn't or missed, but generally what ended up on the album was 95+% just mine and Scott's vision. Sometimes just knowing a song is working well for someone else is just as value, so Brian's input in that respect can't be overstated either. It's been fine releasing music over the years with only a nominal impact outside of friends and family. My main underlying issue has been with the time expense, and with Scott he's super busy at his job and finding the time for us to work on things becomes its own chore. At some point, and this started after Missing Pieces in 2017, the cost/benefit didn't make a lot of sense even when calculating it as "for me" or "for us". If not for the pandemic, this album may never have come into existence. I had largely retreated into helping you guys with your music and then eventually the new move to Vegas. Covid suddenly created a lot of time in my day and Scott ended up also feeling like he needed the escape music provided him, so we reconnected on new material. There's actually more music than what ended up on the album (as well as some extra stuff from the Missing Pieces sessions), so a "B Sides" EP is in the works someday. Ultimately I almost stepped away in 2017 and decided to give this one more go, mostly because I wanted to take a couple of lessons learned from making Missing Pieces and apply them, as well as getting Scott more involved in the songwriting. There's few people I would have rather worked with off and on for 30 something years. Sometimes a synergy is found with another artist, and I've worked with few people in my lifetime where that ease of ideas and lack of ego (always doing what was best for the song/concept) who were anywhere near as easy to work on ideas with as Scott.

Although I have a bunch of older songs I'm still proud of, the 'best' prior material was on Missing Pieces which was finished in 2017. Youtube might be the easiest way to check it out, but it's also on Bandcamp and all the other usual spots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCsgMT86qkQ&list=PLAFtv3h5xd8hhi2Yn14lFUFux87qjSsrI

There's definitely some nods to new wave in here (the first song, Endless Days, is a mashup of styles... The Cars meets Rush meets Springsteen). The recent surround releases and new album from Tears For Fears has rekindled my interest in them as well.

It's okay to go out on a high note.

Sibilance is the enemy, for sure. I didn't hear much of it on this recording so you've likely figured that part out. Most plugin brands have a de-esser in their lineup, I use the Waves plugins most for these quick fix things. Some vocal plugin packages will include one along with other quick tools like eq, reverb, compression, etc. It's usually just a matter of finding the right amount top remove without also lobbing off any details you want to still keep in the vocal track. You are always welcome to contact me, don't ever feel like it's a nag.

I nominate this for best thread title of 2023.

Oh, and very much worth noting -- Paul's guitar work on several of these songs is very interesting and accomplished. I kinda feel like this project has given him an opportunity to explore the instrument more than he seemed to on the earlier albums. His musical fingerprints are all over this album in a good way.

Finally managed a full listen through uninterrupted. Fishtail definitely jumps out. The obvious Primus nods in there duly noted. ;) I like the musical idea of the song that followed (Bite Marks), but Mike's vocals are just a bit too muddied so I'd need lyrics for that one. The opening track and the intentional dissonance I found somewhat off putting, but I wouldn't say it was failed execution maybe just a couple overdub choices that may have created a bit too much attitude/tension. Very ambitious mix of styles, sometimes within the same song. It feels like a natural progression from the past couple albums. I'd say an incremental bump in the mix quality, very little jumps out at me when listening critically. The drums are improved, though still sometimes a bit mechanical overall I thought they felt more 'live'/session player. Your vocals worked but I might have EQ'd and effected them to give them a bit more meat. We could do a mix session sometime if you'd like I could remote into your computer and we can tinker with The Wheel or one of the other tracks I thought needed a bit of adjustment/different strategy. On the other end of the spectrum, Mike's vocals seemed to always have a bit too much effect on them. Sometimes less is more, which allows the moments where effects are used to help elevate those moments with greater impact. Anyway, degraded into rambling about mix engineering.