Here’s my third and final try at this song (under the 3 strikes you’re out principle from baseball). This song started as something I upped a few years ago under a French title (Coccinelles instead of Ladybugs-long story!). I re-did it in summer of 2020 and shared that here. I’d thought it was improved at that point from the longer ago original, but I was never totally happy with it, and those who listened then gave a few suggestions about mix and separation that I’ve employed here.
This was my first go at a song in a DADGAD tuning, and it’s definitely inspired by the likes of Fairport Convention and some of their more boisterous instrumental things. The things I did to “improve” it this time around included taking down the bass and boosting some choral voices and a “flute” here and there. Being a bit separated from originally recording it helped a lot, and I think I was generally less frustrated in the performance, and more able to just think of how it all sat together as a recording.
This was all recorded in Cubase Pro 10.5, but recent mix was done after upgrading to 11. The acoustic and electric guitars and bass went into Line 6 Helix Native plug ins. All of the percussion is via Groove Agent, and the synths are all Halion. Hoping this might be a bit of an improvement for those who’d given this a listen in the past, and that any new listeners might find something to enjoy.
I’m providing links to the tune in both bandcamp and soundcloud. I think bandcamp generally sounds a bit better, but some are scared off by seeing the “buy download” thing without realizing 2-3 free plays come first before any “buy this now” thing pops up.
Hi Schwetz, something doesn’t sound right about this track to me. I was trying to find the earlier version of the track, but I guess it isn’t there. It sounds like it’s been crushed and distorted. Maybe something happened on your upload. I was listening to the SoundCloud version.
I listened to the BandCamp version; it is not so squashed, but it still seems more squashed than earlier versions. If the difference is a new mastering plugin, or similar, I would back off on that. Still like the vibe of this piece.
Thanks for the new listen. I hadn’t checked back on this in a few days after putting it up, so I hadn’t responded to your feedback. Not sure if the crushed or distorted might relate to compression, or how things are separated in the mix. It is funny sometimes, how despite strengths or weaknesses, things do sound better in bandcamp than they do in soundcloud.
I may still try to tweak this, but once again it might be time to just throw my hands up with it and move on. Lots of time spent on it, and my ears don’t seem to be able to get much farther with it. Remembering how things sometimes sounded back in the (pre-romanticized) days of vinyl, this might’ve been okay then, but it’s surely not in the high sample rate era’s listening comfort zone.
As I’d described this track at an earlier date, it’s like your kid that you send out of the house realizing that there’s a stain on their shirt which goes along with an unrepaired rip in a seam, uncombed hair, and food stuck on their cheek. Hopefully, you’ll still love and be proud of that kid, but you know they’re not looking their best.