CountryContest_by Odla

[Odla]

This was my first time mixing country, and I never listen to country music personally, so I hope I am not too far off . At least I had a great time mixing this song! Had no problems with the vocals; great performances are much more important as a perfect recording. Love your voice, Daniel! Drums and bass were my biggest concerns, not the sounds (although I understand that a lot of people don't like the snare), but the timing problems (not throughout the entire song, but there are places where its rather evident). I edited the bass here and there but left the drums as they were.
I also tried to give the song a bit more interest by not using all instruments all the time, and I added some guitars . And cut up and transposed the vocals to get the backing vocals for the verses... Well, hope you like it!



Aldo

Seven Day Hunt
Seven Day Hunt - a continuation of EGDON HEATH. Sort of, but not really!

[fHumble fHingaz]

Overall, I really enjoyed this - your ideas for the arrangement are very similar to the ones I'm working on, only you got their first! (damn!) Well done!

[jay jay]

I think the guitars give a completely different feel to the song.
I like it.
I'm still undecided about the vocal harmonies. To me the songs needs them. But knowing they're pitch shifted, I know they're not real and they stand out to me. Although, if I never heard the song before, they would sound right.
I'm still struggling with them on my mix.

[pokepanda1]

Very creative! I dig it! The guitars definitely add a different feel which I think is very cool. Great job.

[Pyramid]

The snare stands out in front of the mix

[sundevil98]

Interesting...

I think the mix is really good, but the extra guitars seem a little busy at parts. I'm not sure how I feel about the harmonies. Maybe it's because I've listened to this song 500 times.

[Guitarhacker]

Quite a few country bands use organ..... but you have to be careful not to make it the main background instrument. The acoustic guitars are hard to hear in this. Your guitar parts are pretty cool.... nice solo...and editing on the end.

[Rockerdude]

This is a very creative and full sounding mix.It should make finals IMO.Nice ending.

[Odla]

Thanks guys for the nice comments so far; I really enjoyed working on this one!

Aldo

Seven Day Hunt
Seven Day Hunt - a continuation of EGDON HEATH. Sort of, but not really!

[blueprint]

Very original, good ideas, I like it.
Not sure your own guitar style fits this song, but after listening to this tune probably more than 100 times, I can be wrong...
This said, I see your work in top 10!

[TonyB]

Good job.

Like what you did with the drums overall; especially toms.

Bass sounds good.

The electric guitar solo is a surprise because it appears out of nowhere for the first time, but it seems to work because that's where modern country music is.

[pentoade]

This seems like a really tight studio style mix. It really hi lights the best parts about the raw tracks.

The bass is very well defined and centered strongly with only a few occasions where it flaps below 80hz. I think this lends to the polished sound of this mix.

More peaks at 0dBFS. What do you use to limit?

In general I do not enjoy the guitar overdub. I play guitar and wanted to rip a few licks to this tune myself so maybe I'm just envious. In any event the guitar parts could have responded to the vocals in the ol back and forth manner and not competed with them or the other instruments breaks. There are a few instances where the guitar parts seem to have been simply layered upon a already crowded mix.

The guitar solo at the end is a killer piece of work and the placement was very clever. It contradicts what I said above. Good job!

[bretb]

Nice work! Got to be one of my favorites. I don't know if its the mix and production or my appreciation for how much work it took to get to this point.

[TM10]

Man nice job! I love all the little extras in this one. And the mix is very dynamic and punchy. Im not very familiar with this genre but I think the way everything was layed out and mixed fits this song perfect. Very cool!

[jd99gt]

Nice clean mix...I wanted to add a solo electric guitar as well, but I wasnt sure if that was allowed. it sorta defeats the purpose of a mixing contest, and makes this a musician contest....Either way, I like the mix.

[paul999]

My favorite drums thus far. To picky the rimshot had too much delay in the intro. I like a lot of the guitar stuff you added. Some of it fought the feeling of the song. Without the extra guitar stuff this is the best mix yet. Some of the guitar stuff is a fatal flaw IMO for the genre. This is soooooo tough.

[MrFrenik]

Good stuff, man! I'm usually a "purist" when it comes to leaving the original material alone and just "doing your job as a mixer", if that's what you've been called to do. But when it comes to actually producing a track, this would definitely have been a more interesting song completely. Great guitar playing and good, full mix. Probably the most interesting/clean one I've heard so far.

[Hagiazo]

Very good. I've listened to 6 or 7 versions so far. Yours is right at the top!

[Odla]

Thanks again! I am still rather happy with this mix after a few days, usually that's not the case... What I probably like most about my arrangement is the intro; I accidently muted the guitars in the first part and liked it. It accentuates the moodshift (from melancholic to up-lifting -or whatever), and at the same time provides a sort of intro. And Paul999, you're right about the rimshot; the reverb is a tad too much.
About the extra guitars; I think this remains a case of personal preference. Some will like it, others not. I thought the song needed some extras to keep it interesting arrangement-wise. I personally don't like it when all instruments play from beginning to end. I tried to stay in "country-land", so I used a slide here and there and not too heavy-gain sounds, but I really don't know what modern country is all about so I could easily be way out of line!

All the best,

Aldo

Seven Day Hunt
Seven Day Hunt - a continuation of EGDON HEATH. Sort of, but not really!

[jpbluesjam]

About the extra guitars; I think this remains a case of personal preference. Some will like it, others not. I thought the song needed some extras to keep it interesting arrangement-wise. I personally don't like it when all instruments play from beginning to end. I tried to stay in "country-land", so I used a slide here and there and not too heavy-gain sounds, but I really don't know what modern country is all about so I could easily be way out of line!
[/url]

Hey Odla,

First off, your mix is definitely one of my favorites. When you said guitars in the description of your mix, I at first thought of a Brent Mason type of thing was gonna be here. Not what I expected, but after listening more than once, I think what you did fits in with this song, even though I don't call those licks "country". But for an added touch, they were pretty cool and out of the expected. Nice mix.
-Cheerio