Rated Blue - "Turnabout" (2020 REMIXES)

[GMaq]

Hi!

We did an album in 2016 called "Turnabout", the writing at the time was quite inspired and we tracked it very quickly and then (stupidly) released it the week of Christmas.. In hindsight despite the inspired songs the poor release time was only one of multiple issues, I still had much to learn about mixing, my studio monitors at the time were telling lies to me, the vocals needed improvement and the song arrangements were a bit bare for a "listening" album even though they were well received live... So what does one do in a situation like this? Since I'm the writer, producer, engineer and label I thought perhaps a way to redeem the situation (which I realize is only of any real importance at all to me) was to do some Redos and Remixes of the 'best' material and in time put out a "Best of" album with tunes from all 3 of our album releases. Our last project "JOY" taught me a lot, introduced me to a lot of new plugins and techniques and a new collaborator brought a whole new pallette of sounds through adding keyboards, in particular the Hammond organ. So here are some remixes for anyone who is interested in listening.. These will find their way on to a complete collection this fall but for now they are on my Soundcloud page here:

https://soundcloud.com/bandshedrecords/ ... 20-remixes

[milo]

(which I realize is only of any real importance at all to me)

You nailed it! That's the same motivation I have for making recordings, and revisiting them and grooming them. Nice that we can be honest with ourselves about it.

This is a solid collection of tracks. I wasn't familiar with the 2016 release, as that was before I started haunting this forum, but I think this re-release sounds good.

[GMaq]

Thanks milo!

I appreciate the time and listen! Yes it's a double-edged sword since Youtube/MySpace (and many more since) made it so everyone and anyone is a published content creator.. Often sobering and humbling when you get a worldwide audience and the sound of crickets at the same time..

[milo]

It's a strange paradox, isn't it? I remember when I was in high school we used to sell home-dubbed cassette tapes of our garage band, and we were so happy when we sold 100 of them. That was quite an accomplishment in such a small market. Now we can get our music anywhere in the world ... but I'm still lucky if I can get 100 listens! The limiting factor isn't market access anymore; it is attention.

I think music is the best hobby in the world, but possibly the worst career.

[GMaq]

Haha, very true!!

[Nachei]

A very consistent and compelling collection of songs. For some reason, in summer I tend to listen to this kind of blues rock? hard rock?, and have found myself coming back to this playlist several times...

I like a lot the riff of "You", and the chorus really touches me in a profound way: "you haven't been you for so long..." How often in my life I could identify with that; perhaps my whole 30s...

I like "The Second Sister" too, although not a big fan of the abrupt ending. Matter of taste of course.

I also like specially "When You Got A Name"; I love the initial guitar intro, and also the whole structure of the song, with the final crescendo with all the instruments... Great work.

Regarding the voice, I don't understand the choice of voice on one side, big reverb bouncing back on the other. To be honest I find it a bit distracting, and that works maybe against the intimate vibe of the songs (I imagine them played in a small venue, which wouldn't have that kind of echoes...) Maybe this comment kills you, after going through all the remix works, but I've listened to other songs besides the EP and I prefer the treatment of the voice in those...

Also, I have a hypothesis; I think the voice sings with a bit of too much contention, and that contention should be transferred to higher compressor values, to allow the singer to yell it out a bit more...

These are just my silly opinions, in an attempt to pay something back for the music. I'm going to follow you in Soundcloud, my project is called Maple Dye and you can check it out some day if you want to see the almighty sonic quality from which I bestow these judgements... Good job, thanks for sharing.

[Basslint]

It's a strange paradox, isn't it? I remember when I was in high school we used to sell home-dubbed cassette tapes of our garage band, and we were so happy when we sold 100 of them. That was quite an accomplishment in such a small market. Now we can get our music anywhere in the world ... but I'm still lucky if I can get 100 listens! The limiting factor isn't market access anymore; it is attention.

I think music is the best hobby in the world, but possibly the worst career.

For this reason I think decentralized social networks are great. Think of a site like Soundcloud but decentralized and compatible with Mastodon and other Fediverse social networks. People on the same instance could easily find tracks made by their fellows and could as easily share them with the whole world, without filter bubbles.

As for @GMaq, I obviously am biased since the guy is a big inspiration to me in general but I really dig the sound. In particular Turnabout, with its pub-rock sound.

[turbidh20]

Good songs, my favourite is probably "When You Got A Name".

I agree with Nachel on the vocal (the first two tracks) where there's a big echo to the left. I found that distracting.

I thought the mix was too "muddy" in the part that started at 1:49 on "Man On A Wire".

Just personal preference, obviously, I hate to criticise! Good stuff, as always

[GMaq]

@Nachei

You listened to the lyrics!!?? Yay!! *air hugs

These remixes on Soundcloud I'm considering 90% there, but not written in stone, so the feedback is welcomed and may be used to improve the final product in the fall. For me the vocals are the worst part of any recording... (a) I don't particularly like my voice... (b) When I mix my frame of reference isn't any contemporary bands or styles of mixing (I'm a huge fan of many current artists but not current production values). I don't use a ton of effects or much in the way of Reverbs unless it's a specific sound I want so I like to play around with spacing the vocals with panning and delay, it may seem the vocal is on one side but there is actually usually the main vocal in the center and a slightly delayed and 'dirty' vocal panned left, however in listening again I think in a couple of cases the panned vocals are a bit loud and the delays need a bit of tweaking so I appreciate both the comments and the critique... I'll find you on Soundcloud!

@turbidh20

Thanks again for your kindness in listening and commenting, 'When You Got A Name" is a song that wrote itself in about 20 minutes and just fell in my lap and didn't sound anything like my usual stuff, I'll take your comment about the vocals and the reply is the same as above.. as far as the Bridge in "Man On A Wire" that is a stylistic choice to use Flanging there, it's a minor blues and you rarely hear a Bridge in a song like that and I wanted it to be a sonic new little window that opened in the song both lyrically and musically and be a little 'trippy'..

@Basslint

First thanks for the kind words.. As far as Distribution I always struggle with platforms... You and my Linux Musician friends will gladly go to Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and the others you mentioned... For my family and non-musician friends and the folks in the audience at our shows... (or uhm, errr shows we played before Covid-19) if it ain't on Spotify, Google or Apple there ain't a snowballs chance they will ever hear it...#lolnotlol That unfortunately is the paradox I see

[turbidh20]

...For me the vocals are the worst part of any recording... (a) I don't particularly like my voice...

For what it's worth I think you have a good voice, it works great with what I've heard so far.

Wait until you hear mine (eventually, I'm getting there slowly with my remixes) I wish it was as good as yours! I'm not a performer and nobody heard my stuff for a while because I thought my voice is weak. I'm in tune at least!

[GMaq]

Haha, thanks!

I'll look forward to hearing your stuff, singing in tune is number one, if you have that you're in good shape!

[Rainmak3r]

Whoops, I must have missed this thread... I only listened to "You", so far, and of course I love it: I'll listen to the others tomorrow!

I don't know why I keep on hearing Robby Steinhardt's voice when you sing: I mean, listen to this, I definitely hear the resemblance. Of course it's a huge thing in my book, I love your voice and how you use it!

[GMaq]

Whoops, I must have missed this thread... I only listened to "You", so far, and of course I love it: I'll listen to the others tomorrow!

I don't know why I keep on hearing Robby Steinhardt's voice when you sing: I mean, listen to this, I definitely hear the resemblance. Of course it's a huge thing in my book, I love your voice and how you use it!

Hi!

Hey, no worries!

We can't all be everywhere at once and it's hard to see everything posted when you're also creating great stuff to post...

I know Kansas of course but not to an encyclopedic level, I hadn't heard that tune you linked... it's a good one! Lol, but I wish I could sing even one nostril-width as good as Robby Steinhardt, what a powerful voice!