[mickyplankton]

Edit 24.2.19

Following everyone’s feedback heres the latest mix.

https://soundcloud.com/mickyplankton/chimpanzee-no-65-24-4-19


Hi All,

Here is my latest song. This song has had quite a difficult development which I wont bore you with the details of, but in short its always been quite experimental with a lot of layers of sound. Theres 2 guitars, a synth, 2 piano tracks, 2 vocals and bass and 2 drum tracks. The mix has been a real problem and ive opted to focus on bringing out the bass line as the anchor for the whole song. Other elements remain as per the early demos and remain experimental.  the vocal delivery has also been tough as its right at the top of the range. Ive put a lot of reverb on the vocals as a result. Ultimately its a PUNK ROCK song so im happy that its a bit chaotic in places. Im keen for feedback in particular on the mix and if theres any rudimentary EQ work I can do. Advice please.

The song itself completes a trilogy of songs loosely connected to exploring the darker side of the Apollo Space program. The first 2 are Sea of tranquillity and Race for Space which I showcased on this forum some time ago . The song is on face value a tribute to Ham the Chimp - the first Simian in Space - He was the 65th Chimpanzee to be used in support of the Apollo Program. His backstory is interesting because he actually began life free from captivity and was captured in Africa before being indoctrinated into the Space program. The song is also intended to be a metaphor for a young man whos soul has been captured by capitalism - hence sung in the first person.

Here are the lyrics.
I swing through the trees , I eat wild fruit,
 I like to be groomed and  I go ant fishing.
Sometimes we hunt sometimes we mate ,
Oftentimes we sit and masturbate

That was then, and this is now,
I don’t really know they caught me somehow.
I ran away, as fast as I can
But everywhere I turned there was a man.

so young, I was taken from my mother.
so was my sister and so was my brother.

And now If a blue light flashes
 I get a little shock.
If I press a lever I can make it switch off.

4 hours every day they put me in a can.
I have to push levers, to spin myself around.

When are you gonna  free m?. I want to slow this down.
When will you release me? I want to come back down.
When wil you release me. My life is upside down?

Mother please hear me. I wanna come back down.

And here is the song

https://soundcloud.com/mickyplankton/chimpanzee-no-65-1-2


thanks in advance for listening and feeding back. Cheers, Micky

[rightly]

I read the words first. Stunnin'! 
Concise, playful and perceptive. 

I've been watching iggy pop interviews lately, trying to reconnect with punk. Zombie birdhouse was always one of my favourite albums.

This track has this innocence though, I was expecting something aggressive but was pleasantly surprised.
I know it can be hard to get distance when mixing.
I think this is as close to perfect as you're going to get it.

Excellent. 

[Martinswede]

Hi Micky!

I like the concept of the song, the story and the vocal delivery. Good that you mentioned working with the bass. Made me put go and find my good headphones.

But there are a few things I'd love if they were different. To begin with I find the mix quite panned to the right. Mostly bass in my left ear. Though it might just be a wax build up in my left ear.
I also thought the vocals had a bit too much reverb, I'd like them more up front, angry.
Lastly the synth/keyboard seemed a bit detached from the rest of the instruments. Maybe the sounds had combined better if those parts were played on an extremely fuzzy guitar. I love fuzz, and Fozzie.

I hear some Sonic Youth in the song and that's not just welcome. It gives you a gold star!

All the best,
Martin

[pompeyjazz]

Hi Micky. First chance I've had to listen to this at volume. It sounds great. I read the lyrics earlier and have been following your space based trilogy with much interest. I thought that this rocked and had a very live feel to it. I think you have achieved what you set out to do perfectly,  its chaotic but it needs to be. You're vocals are very Strummer like which is a huge bonus. After listening to lots of your stuff I think this is one is an absolute gem. What next ? Apollo 9  Love listening to your songs as always man 

[PaulyX]

Hey, that sounded much HAPPIER than I was expecting from the lyrics. A jolly romp. I loved the mad piano, and there’s some kind of guitar line sliding up and down an octave... that was cool. Great lyrics.

[mickyplankton]

Hi Micky!

I like the concept of the song, the story and the vocal delivery. Good that you mentioned working with the bass. Made me put go and find my good headphones.

But there are a few things I'd love if they were different. To begin with I find the mix quite panned to the right. Mostly bass in my left ear. Though it might just be a wax build up in my left ear.
I also thought the vocals had a bit too much reverb, I'd like them more up front, angry.
Lastly the synth/keyboard seemed a bit detached from the rest of the instruments. Maybe the sounds had combined better if those parts were played on an extremely fuzzy guitar. I love fuzz, and Fozzie.

I hear some Sonic Youth in the song and that's not just welcome. It gives you a gold star!

All the best,
Martin

Hi Martin. Ive remixed it based on your feedback. Less reverb on vocals, a guitar replacing synth and ive played around with panning. This better? https://soundcloud.com/mickyplankton/chimpanzee-no-65-16-2-19

Hey, that sounded much HAPPIER than I was expecting from the lyrics. A jolly romp. I loved the mad piano, and there’s some kind of guitar line sliding up and down an octave... that was cool. Great lyrics.

Thanks Paul Glad you liked it. Its intended to be bouncy - and mad as hell Live.

Hi Micky. First chance I've had to listen to this at volume. It sounds great. I read the lyrics earlier and have been following your space based trilogy with much interest. I thought that this rocked and had a very live feel to it. I think you have achieved what you set out to do perfectly,  its chaotic but it needs to be. You're vocals are very Strummer like which is a huge bonus. After listening to lots of your stuff I think this is one is an absolute gem. What next ? Apollo 9  Love listening to your songs as always man 

Yo thanks Pomps. Great compliments coming from a legend such as yourself. Any comparisons with the Clash fill me with happiness and pride.

I read the words first. Stunnin'! 
Concise, playful and perceptive. 

I've been watching iggy pop interviews lately, trying to reconnect with punk. Zombie birdhouse was always one of my favourite albums.

This track has this innocence though, I was expecting something aggressive but was pleasantly surprised.
I know it can be hard to get distance when mixing.
I think this is as close to perfect as you're going to get it.

Excellent. 

Thanks Rightly. Iggy will always be an inspiration for me, particularly the Funhouse Album.

[Skub]

Yo Micky.

A down and dirty punk song with very clever lyrics. I dig the parallels between the Apollo chimp and how rampant consumerism has made monkeys of us all. Very well done man.

I can well imagine mixing all those track was a nightmare,but you certainly achieved that great live feel.
You mentioned bringing the bass to the fore,but listening on headphones at times the bass was a little swamped. Probably just my taste,but I'd bring it up another couple of DBs.

Much enjoyed man. 

[cowparsleyman]

Whato @mickyplankton - What a great idea, I'm listening for the 1st time as I write this, (listening on bass heavy cans)

The song structure is fine, vocal and instrumental hooks are strong..

Vocal line is fine, probably leave out the 'lets sing a song' at the beginning, sounds a bit like a infants school teacher...

...hold on I'll swap the cans for a more flat pair....aaah that's much better.

Yip, to my ears the issue is too many concurrent instruments, @0:46 there's a twiddly piano, maybe leave that out for the moment, possibly bring it in again later, usually later is where everything can take a bow, like a good play... As a rule try and have only 4 or 5 concurrent instrument groups playing at once, this helps moving things about frequency wise and stereo image wise, it's soooo much more trciky when there more than 5, it's just a guideline, of course one can use more, but it's always in the back on my head, less is more.

You've nailed the hardest bit, the gtrs, so hard to get right on punk songs, I think I'd look at the spread of the drums.

You might consider moving some of the gtrs a bit wider, double the rhythm gtrs wider L and R and the centre bass frequency area is a tad crowded..

A very good song Micky, but as you say so hard to produce with so much going on.

I'll add more when I get some more time...

Hope this helps

Rich

[adamfarr]

Great song concept and lyrics. I think I would have liked a repeated section to hang on to but as you say, organized chaos may be the way it had to be - it's punkier that way.

The new mix is great, more musical and still punky.

[PaulAds]

As others have said, it's a brilliant concept and a fascinating listen.

Perhaps bizarrely, i think I'd have gone the other way with it, and given the melody more room to breathe. I know I often tend to have a kitchen sink approach to stuff...but less punky would perhaps work better here.

I guess the thing is that we have to be free to do stuff the way we want to, and I'm more than happy to take it and enjoy it the way it is.

Great story and lyrics too.

[MartynRich]

Hey there. Great punky song giving a happy vibe to a serious subject. The song is really good in itself and I haven't got anything much to add to what has been said above.

You mentioned you wanted some advice on the mix and I feel it could be a bit fuller. I'm not talking about the number of instruments but I feel you've been quite cautious in the mix and there is potential for a louder and stronger sound. I feel the bass could be centred and made louder, the guitars could definitely come up and you don't need so much reverb on the voice - just bring it down a touch. As for the other instruments, remember to pan them to slightly different places as this will help them stand out. So put the two pianos left and right and the other doubled instruments the same, just in slightly different places.

Good luck with it and thanks for posting a great song!

[pompeyjazz]

Hi Micky. I think the new mix is much better and this is a real belter of a song, an earworm in fact. I'm inclined to agree with Martyn regarding the mix suggestions though.  Loving it 

[mickyplankton]

Yo Micky.

A down and dirty punk song with very clever lyrics. I dig the parallels between the Apollo chimp and how rampant consumerism has made monkeys of us all. Very well done man.

I can well imagine mixing all those track was a nightmare,but you certainly achieved that great live feel.
You mentioned bringing the bass to the fore,but listening on headphones at times the bass was a little swamped. Probably just my taste,but I'd bring it up another couple of DBs.

Much enjoyed man. 

Thanks boss. Nudged up the bass on the latest mix

Hey there. Great punky song giving a happy vibe to a serious subject. The song is really good in itself and I haven't got anything much to add to what has been said above.

You mentioned you wanted some advice on the mix and I feel it could be a bit fuller. I'm not talking about the number of instruments but I feel you've been quite cautious in the mix and there is potential for a louder and stronger sound. I feel the bass could be centred and made louder, the guitars could definitely come up and you don't need so much reverb on the voice - just bring it down a touch. As for the other instruments, remember to pan them to slightly different places as this will help them stand out. So put the two pianos left and right and the other doubled instruments the same, just in slightly different places.

Good luck with it and thanks for posting a great song!

Thanks and noted re the mix.

Whato @mickyplankton - What a great idea, I'm listening for the 1st time as I write this, (listening on bass heavy cans)

The song structure is fine, vocal and instrumental hooks are strong..

Vocal line is fine, probably leave out the 'lets sing a song' at the beginning, sounds a bit like a infants school teacher...

...hold on I'll swap the cans for a more flat pair....aaah that's much better.

Yip, to my ears the issue is too many concurrent instruments, @0:46 there's a twiddly piano, maybe leave that out for the moment, possibly bring it in again later, usually later is where everything can take a bow, like a good play... As a rule try and have only 4 or 5 concurrent instrument groups playing at once, this helps moving things about frequency wise and stereo image wise, it's soooo much more trciky when there more than 5, it's just a guideline, of course one can use more, but it's always in the back on my head, less is more.

You've nailed the hardest bit, the gtrs, so hard to get right on punk songs, I think I'd look at the spread of the drums.

You might consider moving some of the gtrs a bit wider, double the rhythm gtrs wider L and R and the centre bass frequency area is a tad crowded..

A very good song Micky, but as you say so hard to produce with so much going on.

I'll add more when I get some more time...

Hope this helps

Rich

Ha thanks for the great feedback Cowparsley Man. Now you’ve mentioned it I can’t forget the infant school teacher description when I listen so I’ve removed it from the latest mix

Hi Micky. I think the new mix is much better and this is a real belter of a song, an earworm in fact. I'm inclined to agree with Martyn regarding the mix suggestions though.  Loving it 

Thanks Pompey for sticking with this.

All. I’ve taken on board all the feedback  and remixed the song again.

Here’s the latest

https://soundcloud.com/mickyplankton/chimpanzee-no-65-24-4-19

Thanks for all your help. What a great forum!

[cowparsleyman]

@mickyplankton - much better, just needs the bass centred, and maybe bring the pianos in half way.

Might need a bit of mastering EQ to brighten it up a tad...

Hope this helps

[Paulski]

Great party song Micky and the lyrics are a chuckle and a half 
Enjoyed this high energy grunge song - swinging!
Paul