Mix Feedback

Hey!

Just heard the mix for Hotel California… some great stuff in here, just a few things I'd like to clean up before we finalize it.

  0:24     Weird wind noise, please remove

0:27     Guitar only in left ear, why?

1:00     What’s a colita, anyway? Don wrote this and thought it was good for some reason, but I don’t like it. Can we change it to “warm smell of tacos”?

1:39     He says “coddidor” instead of “corridor”. Fix please.

1:56     You have the toms going “lo lo hi hi”. It should be “hi hi mid lo”. Everyone knows tom fills always descend.

2:06     Weird scratchy sound in left ear when Don sings “find”. Please remove, it’s HIGHLY distracting.

2:09     Open hi hat is much too loud.

2:09     Normally I like the drums to be panned with the hi hat on the right and the toms low to hi going left to right, so the panning makes you feel like you’re watching a band from the audience’s perspective. But since Don is left handed, the panning should be backwards from this. Please make the hi hat in the left ear instead of the right. It’s very important and everyone listening will notice the difference.

2:21     He sings “frands”, which doesn’t rhyme with “Benz”, and it needs to. Can you make it more “friEHnds”?

2:35     You have a mid tom here. Should be low tom. Don’t forget the panning!

2:41     Toms again

2:49     You have two Dons singing together here. That can’t happen live, so get rid of the harmony Don.

3:12      “Such a lovely FACE” – face isn’t sung on a note, please tune it per the sheet music (we already sent it to you, it’s “Hotel Cali FINAL- no solo line v2 revised - use this one.pdf”… I think.

3:27     There’s some natural decay of instruments here that makes it sound weird. It should be COMPLETELY SILENT before Don comes back in on “mirrors”. Delete all the extra noise.

3:30     Open hat is too loud again. Make it sound more like the closed hat. And panning!

3:51     Tom panning backwards. Also, the toms should be tuned EXACTLY fourths apart. Please fix, our drummer doesn’t know how to tune drums.

4:19     Song should end here.

I’ll let you know when we get feedback from the other guys.

I know we didn’t quite see eye to eye during the recording of this song, but what you did to this mix isn’t at all what we were going for. Please see my notes below.

0:00 - Why does it sound like he’s in a bathroom?

0:06 - Remove the lip smack. We paid the additional editing fee, but some stuff clearly slipped through.

0:15 - Drums and guitar are way too loud on their entrance.

0:16 - Can we try some takes of the lead before he lost his voice? Recurring issue throughout the song.

0:16 - Sounds like he was walking away from the microphone with each phrase again. I told you to keep an eye on him while I went to grab food. Please fix it.

0:27 - Entrance on “Now” is really shaky. Do we have a better take?

0:30 - The first “Dance” is very pitchy.

0:32 - First note of “Dance” runs out of breath a bar too early. Can we stretch it?

0:34 - Did you remove the cutoffs? We spent a lot of time in rehearsal working on the cutoff in the building “Dance” section. Put these back in.

0:34 - Why is that guy singing the bass part? Remove.

0:38 - Voice crack on “Bab-*uh*”

0:46 - Is that guy singing “bum bum bum” again?

0:49 - You say potato, I say potahto. But he says “Potatuh” and the backgrounds say “potato.”

0:52 - “Do the twip(?)” suddenly is too loud.

0:55 - Voice crack on “Me.”

1:09 - Bad splice in the drums (snares).

1:12 - Snare on the “and” of 4 is rushed.

1:23 - First “dance” runs out of breath too soon.

1:24 - Last “dance” sforzando piano is WAY too much. Every time. I can’t get him to do it right. Fix it please.

1:26. What you added behind the “Watch me now!” isn’t funny or helpful. We’re not paying you to add jokes to this song. Please remove.

1:33 - Remove the glitchy thing in the background after beat 2.

1:37 - Remove "bum bum.” Just claps here and those hits.

1:42 - Can’t hear what he’s saying.

1:50 - Remove the quiet “bum bum."

1:52 - Do we have a different drum fill we can use? Bad choice on your part.

1:54 - Potatuh, potato.

2:02 - You can hear that he’s hip thrusting. Fix.

2:22 - Why? Why would you do a fake fade out? This is finally when I wanted the “bum bum’s” to be heard for the first time, going into that “HEY!" I told you this.

2:28 - Turn up my “bum bum’s.” They’re the best part of this last section!

2:43 - “Baby” is early.

Hey- Thanks for the mix.  We gave it a few listens, and I made sure to collect notes from the band.  I’ve listed them below, and carefully collated them so there's no contrary notes, after we discussed the points internally with the band.

Here we go!

0:01 - All I’m hearing is Freddie.  Where are the other voices?

0:04 - Please adjust baritone up 0.2 dB and the alto down 0.1 dB

0:01 - I love the vocals, they're perfect.

0:01-0:15 - The editing is a little sloppy on this.  The consonants should be *exactly* together.  Also this whole vocal block is over-tuned.  

0:25 - So much Freddie!  Where are the other voices?  I'm a little confused.

0:42 - What was that?  Some weird sweepy thing.  Please fix.

0:50 - The piano sounds like there’s something sitting on the strings on the third part of the arpeggio.  I know this can be corrected, please do so.

1:19 - The growl on the solo isn’t working for us.  Can we use another take?  This is supposed to be a more choral-feeling piece.

1:19 - Love what I'm... I mean, the lead is doing here.

1:19 - Drums?  I know we told you to really dig into this, but I don’t think that drums fit the vibe.  It’s a Rhapsody, which I studied in music history, and I don’t think it fits.

1:23 - Mama is flat.  Please fix.

1:27 - What’s with the waver?  I don’t remember him sounding like this when we recorded.  

1:44 - I’m not liking the use of the sustain pedal on the piano.  Please remove that effect.

1:50 - See note above about piano arpeggio.  Fix.

1:56 - Still not feeling the drums.

1:57 - Love the drums. 

2:03 - Remove chimes.  I can’t even.  

2:03 - This is genius text-painting on "shiver" with the chimes.  Loving this mix so far!

Section beginning at 1:56 - Freddie’s diction here really suffers.  Is there another take?  It’s way off target for the style of the piece.  We need to be more precise and on rhythm.  It's too loose.

1:58 - I love the style of the lead vocals here!  It's really tops.

2:18 - “Face”… substitute another take with no growl.  When did Freddie even record these takes?  Did you do another session with just him?

2:35 - If you’re going to have the guitar sound be that prominent in there, at least have it be somewhat reminiscent of what was played.  We liked it clean, it fits more with the austere and classy vibe we WERE aiming for on this song.  It would sound better than that weird distortion.  And it's way too loud.

2:55 - Why has the guitar section been extended?  This solo is too long now.  Fix, please.

3:02 - Freddie is singing silhouette-OH.  Please fix, or replace with another take.  Also, where did all the reverb go?  Again, this is a Rhapsody, things are supposed to be (by classical definition) pretty consistent throughout in terms of mood, tonality and style.

3:03 - The contrasting styles of this, section to section, are just splendid.  It really fits what a Rhapsody is supposed to be!

3:12 - Sunderbolts?  

3:15 - I’m really missing the baritone part in the balance.

3:15 - I’m also missing ALL THE VOICES WHO ARE NOT FREDDIE.  What.

3:17 - The soprano is really sticking out tonally.  Oh wait, that’s not the "soprano", it’s Freddie.

3:20 - Magnifico, the rhythm on the waterfall should be even.  It’s not.  We really need the vocals to be right on the grid.

3:20-4:05 - This whole section needs to be tightened up rhythmically on the vocals.  It’s got a lot of energy and feeling, I guess, sure, but that’s not as important as the vocals being correct.

3:32 - There’s that piano sustain again.  It’s tinny, please fix.

3:40 - The “soprano” is holding “her” note too long.  This is a super obvious mistake.  Fix, please.

3:50 - Waterfall rhythm.

4:04 - That "soprano" note isn’t in my score.  Please delete.  It doesn’t sound good at all.

4:04 - Love the high note, darling, brilliant addition.

4:07 - ????!!!

4:07 - Rad.

4:10 - Rhapsody/Classical/Choral 

4:16 - Freddie’s double is out of sync.

4:24 - See above. 4:28 - See above. 4:30 - See above. 4:36 - See above.

4:57 - Vocals overtuned; I can hear the Autotune.  Fix please.

5:00 - Same note above about guitar.  This was supposed have more of a flamenco feel on the guitar.

5:10 - Ok, if we axe the drums, we’re getting back on track here tonally.

5:27 - Freddie’s vibrato.  I know you can fix this, please?

5:43 - Why did the vocals get so soft here?  I can't hear them.

5:46 - Is that a gong? 

5:46 - Loving this.  It’s positively lavish.

great job. band is a little split, but great job. here’s everything i distilled down from everyone’s notes. each person as listening on some different devices like you said, laptop speakers, computer speakers, phone speakers, earbuds, yeah we got all of that. there were a lot of notes too, so i hope me paring them down from the 16 pages or so makes it easier for you.

— whole song - this is supposed to be in F major but pete insists you pitched the whole thing up to F#, but when i play an f# on a piano the song sounds flat. please fix.

— 0:00-0:32 - not sure what happened here, sounds like the synth part just glitches out and plays something irregular… i don’t know, that feels confusing, you know?

— 0:51 - extra note in the piano. i tell pete every day in rehearsal that he’s got to leave out the pickups but i swear he isn’t listening to me because he always does it

— 0:54 - drums slow down

— 0:55, 1:00, 1:07 - drums are kinda… i don’t know, it sounds like two drums at the same time? is that allowed?

— 1:32 - roger sings “foe-given.” can you add an “r” in there since “foe-given” isn’t a word?

— 1:34 - extra piano note again. dammit pete.

— why does the guitar only come in on the right? did we not double it? i thought you said we were supposed to double track everything. i mean, we thought it was silly but it was your idea, i don’t get why you just didn’t use it.

— 2:05 - roger spits in the mic or something, can you get rid of that?

— 2:20 - the drum fill is slow and then keith speeds up again at 2:30. his tempo is such crap. fix.

— 2:40 - super mario sound? what is that?

— 2:47 - it kinda sounds like you sampled in a kick drum here. are you doing it all over? i don’t know how i feel about that.

— 2:55 - godDAMMIT pete is playing every freaking thing with a pickup and then he does that stupid slide, can you just mute the piano here? no one will notice it.

— 3:28 - i think all the echo is really losing all the nuance of the performance here. we worked really hard in all of our rehearsals for pete to get that guitar part right and he had so much trouble, i just want him to hear all of his hard work pay off and not be drowned out.

— violin - pete totally put that in there for this mix didn’t he? his girlfriend is from eastern europe and really wanted to play on the record and i thought keith and john really weren’t into it, but we had a long discussion, and we said she could play tambourine. actually, wait, is the tambourine on there? i can’t hear it now. anyway, can you cut the violin or at least turn it down? this is a rock song not folk music.

— ending - feels kind of abrupt. can we make it feel a little more intentional?

0:08-0:14    The snare is ahead of the beat, please put it on the grid and make it more robotic and lifeless.

0:10    Big breath. Also between the each line of the lead vocal, John can also be heard chewing gum. Listen before the line "nothing you can make that can't be made" (0:44) for the most obvious one. Please delete these, they will be obvious to everyone and ruin the song.

0:23    Accidental guitar pluck (left channel).

0:25    Right channel, someone speaks. It sounds like "then check it", "Check it Steve" or "Deke will eat anything”.

1:19,1:23    Right channel edits stick out like a sore thumb, please fix this, I can't believe you left them in there.

1:27-1:33    Solo drifts off into random plunky sounds, please make it better.

2:06-2:10    Is that a banjo? That's not supposed to be there. Please remove.

"Beat It"

0:00 - bells sound fake

0:11 - All the stomps sound like the same sample.

0:12 - panning on siren sounds cheesy

0:10- 0:24 Maybe we just cut this whole section since nothing happens?  Or maybe make the kick pattern busier/more complicated to fill things out?

0:39 - Michael flat on "COME around here"

0:50 - someone makes a weird "brr" sound in right ear. Please delete

0:58 - Michael's "ooh" after "macho man" - is there a take that sounds more manly?

1:13 - Michael says "Pocky" SHould be "Funky"

1:27 - bad splice between Michael's "Better" and "leave"

1:37 - the "b"s on the "beat it" harmonies don't all exactly line up perfectly.  I think Michael #7 is early in my left ear.

same place - Michael say "beat ittttAH."  Sounds weird.  Can you replace it with a take with normal pronunciation?  

1:40 - another weird "brr."  Please delete

1:40 - this verse has a new guitar part in the left ear.  (the plucky one on Eb and Db).  It's buried right now but please make it a lot louder.  It's very important to the arrangement and helps hte song grow.  It should be almost as loud as Michael.  Maybe have it pan all over the place so it's reaaally noticeable.

1:42 - Please take this "ooh" and paste it over the one at 0:58.  I think this one is manlier

1:45 - there's an extra "d" on Michael's "dare"

1:51 - Michael does the "beat ittttAH" thing again.  Please delete.

1:53 - There's a weird growly demonic sound in the right ear.  Not sure if its a voice or a guitar but it's really distracting.  Especially on my Dre Beats.

1:54 - In this chorus, can we have the synth pad crescendo on measures 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, and 121 and decrescendo on measures 112, 114, 116, 118, and 120?

1:07 - On the repeat of the chorus it sounds like all of the harmony parts aren't all exactly as loud as each other.  Please raise Michaels #7 and 8 by 3% and bring Michaels # 5 and 6 up by 2%

2:02 - Michael says "Pocky" again

2:15 - "Pocky"

2:22 - Too much echo on Michael's "Beat It."

2:25 - Sounds like there's some weird breathing or something?  Please delete.

2:27 - Bells sound fake again.

2:28 - Can this shaker be more dramatic?  Maybe there's a special effect or something you can put on it?

2:34 - Michale's "Beat It" in the left ear gets cut off unnaturally

2:21 - 2:37 - Maybe we just delete this whole section since nothing happens.

2:49 - Eddie's guitar sounded so much more energetic in the room.  Are you sure this is the take where the speaker caught fire?  Also the panning isn't centered.  Please fix.

3:19 - Please delete Eddie's slide down.

3:24 - "Pocky"

3:39 - "Pocky"

3:52 - "Pocky"

4:06 - "Pocky"

3:29 - end - Please cut ad libs.  It's weird hearing two solos.  Plus, too much falsetto.

Overall, having a hard time hearing the inner notes on the synth pad.

Listened through a few times on my laptop. Everything sounds great from the last revision - just a few notes:

0:00 - Why is guitar only in left ear?

0:13 - high trumpet is too piercing

0:36 - Strings too quiet

1:03 - Delete grace note in trumpet. It’s just A - F# - A, A - F# - A, A - F# - A, A-A-A! See attached sheet music. Should grow in intensity each time.

1:06 - What’s the “Ahh?” not intentional

1:07 - lyrics are “Bah, doo, bah doo, bah doo dum bah doo [repeat]” - sounds a little all over the place

1:18 - Trumpet line is very sloppy - can you tighten this up? Maybe we were wrong hiring the junior high kids after all.

1:33 - same, see above.

1:41 - “Septemboh” here doesn’t rhyme with “Remembuh” at 1:45

1:49 - Trumpets.

1:52 - Turn up riffs

1:53 - Enough. Just take out the trumpet from here to the end.

2:23 - Vocals sound too much like they were recorded in a bathroom.

2:35 - Try some different “Yow’s” - should sound like he’s winking at the girl across the bar.

3:08 - ARE YOU KIDDING, TRUMPETS

3:23 - Trumpets. I'll be finding new instruments for the remaining tracks.

3:24 - Bass should be more staccato this repeat.

Hi, thanks for mixing our live version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Just a few mix notes:

Top of the song: we had just one guy sing the "wee" part, but we think it sounds thin. Can you make him sound like more people? But don't sing it yourself that would be cheating.

Also, the vowel is a bit whiny. Make it less whiny.

Chorus: We were hoping to mash another song on top of this, Adele's "Rolling In The Deep." I have another recording of it, can you just put it over top? We recorded it in a different room, and it's in a different key, but I know you're the best there is. Oh, and a different tempo.

Second verse: It's supposed to be "Near the village" but we sang "In the village" can you fix that? You have Melodyne, right?

Bridge: I can't hear the baritone line, and it's really really important because that's the part I'm singing and I'm really good there. Actually, turn the bari up overall, it's the best part of the song.

Last Chorus: I know it's a live recording and we sent you just a stereo mix but the basses are sharp and the tenors flat. Maybe just tune the whole thing up a half step and roll off the bottom end? I don't want to tell you how to do your job.

Other than that it's really great. But the tempo lurches, could you make it a steady rhythm? We just didn't have enough time to rehearse this.

Oh and we need this by tomorrow afternoon, really important, our Alumni office says they'll feature it on their web site if we can get it done in time.

How much do you charge per hour again? I'm thinking this is about one hour's worth of work. Let me know if you plan to go over, I'll have to talk to the officers to approve payment for a second hour. LOL