Vanishing (hard rock)

[crduval]

I made good use of the new VCA feature while mixing this track, although I don't know how efficient I was with it, - I am used to bussing signals into auxes to conserve processing resources, and in this case I then assigned a VCA to the aux - seemed a little redundant, but it was nice to have proportional control over both signal and send levels.

It also really hit home how the closer one gets to a final mix, the bigger effect that very small changes have on the overall mix. I'd tweak a low pass EQ on a reverb and suddenly find that all my carefully set levels were suddenly off, or something had become hidden. I'll start saving FX settings from now on when I get close so I can more easily backtrack. Good lesson learned..

A tune about the creeping marginalization that comes with getting older...

https://soundcloud.com/crduval/vanishing

[mikehalloran]

Very well done — but you already know that. I'll have to take your word for what VCA brought to the table but the mix is pretty much spot on to my ears.

The bass wasn't as present at low volume as I expect for this genre but was fine when cranked up.

I'm a big fan of intelligent, well written lyrics. Your opening line especially blew me away. I liked this whole track a lot and stuck around to listen to your other tracks. I enjoyed those as well.

[Rick Cornish]

Nicely recorded and mixed. There was a tightness to the band—especially on cutoffs—which I don't hear often enough.

I second Mike H's comment on the low end… though for me, it sounded good through my little BBSM-4s, but could have been stronger when I listened through my big Genelecs.

Thanks for posting.

[crduval]

Thanks Rick and Mike, glad you enjoyed the tune and I appreciate the feedback! I agree that the low end is not quite right; depending on where you listen, it varies a lot more than it should. I hear similar variation on the guitars. In my car, they sound like they have a wah pedal cocked a little in the low mids. I fought that for a while, but kept coming back to where I ended up, since in my studio they sounded good. I think I need to do more with studio treatment to get better predictability - time to make some bass traps!

[stubbsonic]

The subject matter is an important one in a couple senses. It's a topic that has been up front on my mind over the last few years. I can sense that as I wear the signs of my age more obviously, it is a bit more difficult to connect with others, especially 20 & 30 somethings. But it is much easier to connect with people my age or older.

I'm gigging more and more over the past few years, and this awkward "fading" feeling can be palpable.