Mission Of One - Cordelia CHM debut!

Xid wrote:

Sometimes you have to take a step back for a day or 2 and come back to it with fresh ears.

I had actually had a couple of weeks since I had listened to everything. 


I don't have the time to work on this like I want as I am having to rip out and haul off stuff from a room at church that was water damaged from a leak back in January.  With the church being small, the people either can't or won't do anything for themselves.  Working full time, I don't have the time or energy during school.  So, here I am doing the work trying to save us some money until we get to a point where we need a professional to work on this.  I have a buddy helping with the plumbing and putting a ceiling back in the room soon, but we will need an electrician to look at the breaker box and replace anything that needs it as water did get into it unbeknownst to us. 

So, that leaves little time to work on music.

One thing that is a problem for me is getting the drums in the right place in the mix.  I can't seem to EQ this correctly to get the snare as prominent as I wanted.

So, I have fortunately saved the drum tracks from EZ Drummer 3 and have changed the snare sound and have upped the volume there.  I am trying that on one song.  If that works, then I will edit the other 9 tracks as well.

For now, while I am awaiting getting my leads done, I am going back in and editing my drums.  I don't like the snare that comes with the kit I am using in EZ Drummer 3.  So, I am replacing it and making it louder in the mix in EZD3 so it will cut through better.  For the songs I have done this to, they sound so much better to me!

I am also going through my vocals and listening for where I over pronounce a hard letter like a P or B.  I am making a cut in that file and then using a fade in to conquer that rather than recut the vocals.  It has taken away quite a bit of crackle that makes it seem like I am peaking in volume somewhere.  I don't know why I was so terrified of learning to record with a computer.  I fought it for years and have learned some nice tricks!

Sounds like you are making some good progress!  Great news!

Great news.

I am trying my hand at mixing a song that features our own John Evans on lead.  He did an incredible job!  The song will put you in mind of Twisted Sister or Judas Priest/Saint.

I have six songs almost completely mixed/mastered the way I want.  I have four others that are awaiting guitar solos and mixing.  I hope to get these done VERY soon.

Why is mixing my own music so difficult and overwhelming?  It probably wouldn't be as overwhelming but I am dealing with a lot at church, going to Virginia to see my cousing, and starting back to school soon.  I should be relaxing, but I am so stressed that I can't even enjoy mixing.

One mix won't be loud enough or the reverb on a vocal is too muddy.  I fix one problem and two more jump out.  One song I fixed the reverb and didn't do much else to tweak it, and when it was mixed down yesterday, it is all crackly.  I don't know if the whole track is too loud or just one instrument.

Man, I wish there were an affordable AI that I could just render the stems for my tracks, upload, and let it mix/master.  I would pay someone else, but I don't have that in the budget right now.  Whether the songs I have created are outstanding or not, I just want them to sound that way for once instead of sounding like I didn't know what I was doing.  Well, I really don't, but I still want to sound like a pro for once.

I've never mixed for anyone else before but I could take a crack at one of your songs to see how it turns out.

I am still awaiting two guitar solos before I can really start thinking about getting the project fully mixed.  When those come through, I will get them done ASAP but going back to school will definitely slow that down.

I am getting closer on the other songs.  I just had everything mixed way too loud and was causing a lot of clipping.  Now, I am turning everything down and really listening to what needs to cut through and what is too loud.

For me, it is easier to hear what is going on in other people's music than it is my own.  I will learn, but it is taking some time.

As of now, all guitar solos are done!  Now to try to get the mixing done.

Sounds good! I am looking forward to the rest

I am thinking seriously of paying someone to mix this album.  I am too close to it and don't seem to be getting what I want from it.  I found a guy on Fiver that I am going to take a chance on due to his fees.  I can definitely afford him.

Did you put out a call for help over in CMR? There used to be guys in there who did this for a living, right?

Or have they all left the forum?

AtomicFan wrote:

Did you put out a call for help over in CMR? There used to be guys in there who did this for a living, right?

Or have they all left the forum?

I did not, but if they do this for a living and are in the USA, then I probably can't afford their pricing.  I can definitely afford the guy I found through Fiverr.

Fiverr is great.  Maybe just try one song and see what it sounds like?

Fundy wrote:

Fiverr is great.  Maybe just try one song and see what it sounds like?

The guy I found had a really nice deal for three songs.  The first version he sent didn't have enough drums or vocals in the mix.  I asked him to either take everything down so that the vocals and drums had more space in the mix, or bring them up.  Truthfully, whichever will get us there is fine.  On the third song, the guitar solo was also not quite loud enough.  The rhythm guitars and bass sounded HUGE, though.

After the first revision, two of the three songs are sounding stellar!  I always wanted to sound this good on my previous releases!  The first two finished songs are "Cordelia" and "Murder Begins In The Heart".  "Cordelia" you have heard, but "Murder Begins In The Heart" will remind you of a Gene Simmons KISS song.  Both songs have the lead guitar done by Kevin Hasselquist of Sardis (Pethead at the CMR).

I should have the next 4 songs and the revised version of "I'm Such A Fool" any day.

"I'm Such A Fool" sounds like a bluesy mix of Rose, Black Label Society, and the Gaither Vocal Band.  The solo was done by Bo Fawbush who is an area pastor and plays in the band I am in.  Sadly, my band sounds nothing like these songs.  While we do this track, the other 9 are just too heavy for a bunch of old guys (except me).

Oh man, I'm getting super excited to hear this new album!

I now have the final mix/master for 6 out of 10 songs!

I have all 10 songs mixed and mastered.  When I have time, I will work on getting this released.  I have started a chaplaincy course on top of working, pastoring, and a band, too.

Cool!

I am thinking of calling the album "Kill The Cobra".  I have been playing with some AI art for the cover.  What do you think?

It's an interesting piece of art and would make a fine album cover.  Being a literalist, I don't see a cobra.

Love it.  I get it not being a cobra though, but I don't think that matters.  If there's not a song called Kill The Cobra, then you could just change it to Kill The Beast (or something similar)