Down and Dirty Dub - Poor Boy rough (check my mix)

[MakiSupaStar]

Yo folks. This is getting packaged and sent to our DJ for his magic. Built this in Garageband. Sampled a loop from an old Roots Radics 45 called "Poor Boy Dub". Matched the beats with the canned Garageband drums. Laid out the bass. Recorded my buddy on guitars, and another buddy on keys. Give me your feedback before I hand it over to our DJ.

Down and Dirty Dub - Poor Boy (w/o DJ)

[iamlowsound]

I never actually thought that you played bass before this. The playing is all good and whatnot. I didn't pay attention to the mix, but I noticed a lot of noise at points.

lowsound

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

I never actually thought that you played bass before this.

+1. I just thought you gave change

[fightthepower]

Is the crackly noise from the sample, or is it a lo-fi/old record type effect from Reason? I can't remember what to call it, but the effect that makes it sounds like you're playing off a record...

It's a bit noisy in that respect. If it's the sample then obviously it's in there for good, but if it's an effect, my suggestion would be to drop it and maybe slow it down a bit(if you really feel like re-recording everything lol).

Other than that, sounds good!

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by fightthepower

Is the crackly noise from the sample, or is it a lo-fi/old record type effect from Reason? I can't remember what to call it, but the effect that makes it sounds like you're playing off a record...

It's a bit noisy in that respect. If it's the sample then obviously it's in there for good, but if it's an effect, my suggestion would be to drop it and maybe slow it down a bit(if you really feel like re-recording everything lol).

Other than that, sounds good!

Those are actual vinyl pops and clicks from the sample. We wanted it like that.

[MakiSupaStar]

So other than the vinyl pops and clicks, anyone else got any feedback on the levels?

[Deluge Of Sound]

I'd tell you, but I just got this message:

Sorry, the free service is at full capacity.

[Drifta]

still listening, but so you know i'm a huge dub fan so i'll give you what i think:

maybe its me, but i think the skanking guitar needs to be turned up a tad.

Maybe I'm a sucker for classic Jamaican dub, but i think you should throw some heavy reverb on the snare here and there, and some thicker-sounding rimshots .

solo the bass and drums together and slowly bring the other instruments back in with some dub effects during the Drum and bass part would be pretty cool.

so i guess your dj is going to dub it out for ya'll? then i think you got a good track to dub out. but its almost a straight instrumental to me right now.


anyways, good vibes

-drifta

[Barkless Dog]

Is it supposed to be a backing track for melody or singer?

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

I'd tell you, but I just got this message:

Sorry, the free service is at full capacity.

Me, too.

Can you host it somewhere else, I'd love to hear it.

[Jared Lash]

I like the vibe with the vinyl scratches & pops, but you might want to tone them down a bit as it's almost to the point of being distracting.

The bass is just a tad too loud and the guitar could be a bit louder. Are you giving this to your DJ as separate tracks? Meaning that he could hit the delay or drop out tracks individually?

I ask because the guitar is a bit busy at times.

This is just nit-picking though to give some minor points that could be addressed. Overall it sounds really good. Love the effected dub bass tone. Is that primarily the Moog Low Pass?

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Drifta

still listening, but so you know i'm a huge dub fan so i'll give you what i think:

maybe its me, but i think the skanking guitar needs to be turned up a tad.

Maybe I'm a sucker for classic Jamaican dub, but i think you should throw some heavy reverb on the snare here and there, and some thicker-sounding rimshots .

solo the bass and drums together and slowly bring the other instruments back in with some dub effects during the Drum and bass part would be pretty cool.

so i guess your dj is going to dub it out for ya'll? then i think you got a good track to dub out. but its almost a straight instrumental to me right now.


anyways, good vibes

-drifta

Originally Posted by Barkless Dog

Is it supposed to be a backing track for melody or singer?

Yeah. We were thinking no vocals, straight instrumental. Our DJ is going to dub it out for us. That's the next step. Thanks for the mixing tips, Drifta. The snare during dubby sections, has a slight echo on the "4". No reverb. I'll tinker around with that. I'll also play with the rim clicks and and see if I can get something going on that too. I was pretty limited because they are cut and paste clicks from the garageband canned kits. I'll see what I can do to thicken them up.

When I built the song. My DJ and I started by recording a sample from an old scratched up vinyl 45 of a Roots Radics song called Poor Boy Dub. We then cut it down to a measure, and looped it. This is where the beat came from, as well as the root for my bassline (since there was a little bit of flabba's original bassline in the loop. I matched the beat with cut and pastes from the built in canned kits in garage band, and built my bassline around that Flabba bassline in the loop.

As far as breaking it down, I did a bass drop. The bassline (with the exception of the zapper - that's what it's called ) drops. so it's just the instruments. Kind of opposite of what you're talking about. The bass and drums kick in when the second dub section kicks in. I didn't just run the bass and drums, although the dub section is kind of bass and drums heavy. Are you talking about breaking it down even more during the dub section, or are you talking about breaking it down during the verse section and running just drums and bass there? Just curious.

[Drifta]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

As far as breaking it down, I did a bass drop. The bassline (with the exception of the zapper - that's what it's called ) drops. so it's just the instruments. Kind of opposite of what you're talking about. The bass and drums kick in when the second dub section kicks in. I didn't just run the bass and drums, although the dub section is kind of bass and drums heavy. Are you talking about breaking it down even more during the dub section, or are you talking about breaking it down during the verse section and running just drums and bass there? Just curious.

yeah i guess, I dont know, i am not good with mixing and whatnot, but my roommate/best friend does all that stuff, basically what he does is set all his instrument tracks to a mixer, that allows him to drop and mute/solo which instruments, i was thinking kind of how you had that bass playing by itself at the end, do that somewhere in the song/ with the drums, IDK i love that stuff --- then have the guitar come in and bring the rest in. i have hard time explaining it...


i listen to alot of king tubby/scientist type dub stuff and i just love when he isolates the drum and bass and dubs out the drums
and then brings the skangy skangy skangy rhythm back in..

either way its pretty good man! post up the final mix when u finish

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

I'd tell you, but I just got this message:

Sorry, the free service is at full capacity.

Originally Posted by One Drop

Me, too.

Can you host it somewhere else, I'd love to hear it.

Hmm. Let me look into that. Anyone got any suggestions? I know I've clicked on a few sites in the past like this. I'll see if I can find one.

[tZer]

Cain't listen to it here at work - blocked site (damn it).

I need to remember to give it a listen when I get home. (Emailing a reminder to me right now).

Looking forward to it!

[Georynn]

I REALLY like the feel of this track... sounds great, each instrument has its own space, and breathes.

there are only a few critiques i have and they are all very minor..

First, the kick needs to be a little louder, its almost undetectable. even if its ducked still should be a little louder.

The organ could be just a tad more clear, louder but not stepping on the same frequencies as the other instruments in that range.

The tone of your bass sounds great for that style, maybe a little more boomin in the low end... As far as being to far out in front of the mix I strongly disagree, I think it sounds pretty good exactly where its sitting in the mix.

The artifact and record pops and such are a bit much (as in too frequent). I would reduce the volume of them, and reduce the frequency of them to a more organic rhythmic type of style, remember scratches on a record come around and around and are often rhythmic, just based on the circular format...

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by TheBigO

I like the vibe with the vinyl scratches & pops, but you might want to tone them down a bit as it's almost to the point of being distracting.

The bass is just a tad too loud and the guitar could be a bit louder. Are you giving this to your DJ as separate tracks? Meaning that he could hit the delay or drop out tracks individually?

I ask because the guitar is a bit busy at times.

This is just nit-picking though to give some minor points that could be addressed. Overall it sounds really good. Love the effected dub bass tone. Is that primarily the Moog Low Pass?

Hey thanks O. Yeah, the DJ will have the that power. First we're going to do a run, where we'll record him throwing some samples and and scratches and stuff in there. Then I'll turn the controls over to him so he can run a mix using ableton live.

Yeah, funny enough that is not what I did. We recorded all instruments straight, without any effects or amp (the guitarist used a dunlop crybaby wah though). The bass is the sound of my Warwick Corvette $$ running passive into my interface. I then took the raw sound and "modeled" it with the "deep reggae" bass amp blended with another track that had the model for a "warm DI" on it which just kind of kept my natural tone within a basic compressor. The effect is a track that I ran with the "filter" effect from garageband. I originally used it as a placeholder, but kind of liked it, so I kept it. I didn't even bust out my moogerfooger. I also kind of liked the idea of pushing the limits of what could be done with garageband. This whole thing was built strictly with garageband.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Georynn

I REALLY like the feel of this track... sounds great, each instrument has its own space, and breathes.

there are only a few critiques i have and they are all very minor..

First, the kick needs to be a little louder, its almost undetectable. even if its ducked still should be a little louder.

The organ could be just a tad more clear, louder but not stepping on the same frequencies as the other instruments in that range.

The tone of your bass sounds great for that style, maybe a little more boomin in the low end... As far as being to far out in front of the mix I strongly disagree, I think it sounds pretty good exactly where its sitting in the mix.

The artifact and record pops and such are a bit much (as in too frequent). I would reduce the volume of them, and reduce the frequency of them to a more organic rhythmic type of style, remember scratches on a record come around and around and are often rhythmic, just based on the circular format...

Thanks man. I'll play around with the organ. Are you specifically referring to the bubbly organ skank, or the synth, or both? The record scratches and pops are part of the original loop. They are legitimate vinyl scratches and pops, not some digital synthesized version. If you listen to it carefully, it adds another texture to the rhythm IMO. Unfortunately, I can't lower or raise them, since they are part of that original sample. I can only adjust the level of the original sample in the mix.

I'll mess around with the kick and see what I can do. Thanks for the tip. All these notes you guys have provide are great.

[lowendgenerator]

There's a plugin inside Adobe Audition that you can use to clean up your audio files, specifically to remove pop and crackle from old vinyl rips. If you want to drop that sample my way, I can clean it up just a little bit for you. I think a little HPF would also sound cool on the sample, give it some old dusty feel, instead of actual dust! lol.

The track is otherwise brilliant my friend, I'd like to dub it too! Do some early King Tubby moves on it, make it about 4 minutes longer, give a big spotlight to the drums and bass.

I love the dub, and it's all Stu's fault.

[Georynn]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Thanks man. I'll play around with the organ. Are you specifically referring to the bubbly organ skank, or the synth, or both? The record scratches and pops are part of the original loop. They are legitimate vinyl scratches and pops, not some digital synthesized version. If you listen to it carefully, it adds another texture to the rhythm IMO. Unfortunately, I can't lower or raise them, since they are part of that original sample. I can only adjust the level of the original sample in the mix.

I'll mess around with the kick and see what I can do. Thanks for the tip. All these notes you guys have provide are great.

Yeah I meant the organ "skank".
You might want to maybe pan it to a different position to contrast the guitar track, this way you can add "clarity" without cranking the volume and drowning out other instruments...
The synth sounds fine where and how loud it is.