New 5.1 mixes - looking for critique

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Thanks all. I appreciate your time and opinions. I worry about just about everything all the time so - thanks for a temporary respite!
I was mostly worried the LFE may be too much, or too much in the rears. I guarantee no one will have to turn up the rear channels on your receiver, haha. I see this whole thing as immersive, and try to put the listener inside the song.
Like a lot of us likely, I'm out of work for a while - so I've got some time to twiddle some knobs.
@privateuniverse haha, please send me his #! ;) I would love love love to mix stuff from other bands. That seems quite out of reach but I've been trying with more independent bands like Built to Spill, Chavez, Baroness, Fugazi. No luck on those so far.
@pti and @sjcorne excellent. I appreciate the detailed critique and I'll make some ch ch changes.
@JonUrban interesting about Antiquasauria. On that album I did a lot of structure/arrangement but none of the melodies, progressions, or recording. Of Cooke's stuff, I think the songs Beam of Light and Fortitude have a lot of my tricks on them - ebow layers, backwards stuff, found-sound percussion - like these. I think it's fair to say my melodies have been influenced by Cooke also. I sure can't sing like he can.

I must say it is quite an honor to get a positive review from the self-proclaimed Forum Curmudgeon. Jon, you have influenced us all so much with this forum. Thank you!

Grumpy old farts like me are hard to impress, but I must say I really liked these tracks. I have to admit my mental door has been fairly closed to new music these days, it really doesn't matter who the artist is, old or new, I just don't attach myself to new stuff anymore. I am not sure if other old dudes feel the same, but I can't help it.

However, while I am not comparing these 3 tracks to the classic stuff of my youth (oh so long ago) I have to say that the mix sells the songs (to me). The mix and the sound quality are so overwhelming that I just plain can't help but listen, mostly as an aural experience. It's all so perfectly balanced and that highlights the material and the message.

I've listened to these tracks a couple of times in the car these past few days and I have to say they still sound great. You did a mix that perfectly connects to what I deem as a proper mix. I wish other people doing this stuff had the talent that you are showing here because if every surround release sounded like these three tracks, no matter what the material, people would have not been able to ignore them. There is absolutely nothing that kills surround audio to a listener than a shitty 'preserve the stereo' mix that makes the listener go "WTF? Don't I have this thing set for surround?"

Again, great job Ian!
 
@JonUrban that's funny because most of the music I listen to is from your youth also :)
I was born in 1978 and was fortunate to be raised on Zappa, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Tull (named after Ian Anderson), Cat Stevens (my sister named after 'Sad Liza') etc. I love a lot of '90s rock music but similarly, rarely listen to new music.
I do think Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas are amazing. Also I would consider Propagandhi my favorite active band.

@GOS Baroness would be awesome, I think. Seems difficult for audio/mix reasons in addition to the normal reasons. Fridmann's gone a little too far, haha. I do think they that would bring some new people into surround. Same for Mastodon. Modest Mouse would be cool, agreed. Shins, Fleet Foxes, Mew, Jonsi, MGMT, Afghan Whigs, Queens of the Stone Age, Fiona Apple, so much good layered stuff that would be awesome in surround. Seems like some of these things would have been mixed for whatever atmos is planning. ?
 
Ian, are you a fan of Cheer Accident? I was musing out loud on another thread about whether they'd be open to having their latest album mixed for surround.

Thought of them as a potential candidate because Surroundmusic.one artist Brad Hebert names them as one of his favorite bands. Maybe they'd be open to a proposition?

But you should focus on your own music first!
 
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@JonUrban[/USER] that's funny because most of the music I listen to is from your youth also :)
I was born in 1978 and was fortunate to be raised on Zappa, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Tull (named after Ian Anderson), Cat Stevens (my sister named after 'Sad Liza') etc. I love a lot of '90s rock music but similarly, rarely listen to new music.
I do think Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas are amazing. Also I would consider Propagandhi my favorite active band......

I don't mean I don't like new artists. I think Billie Eilish and her brother are amazing. It's new songs. I just don't seem to give them the repeated listening that I did in the "old days", where we used to wear out albums, even the ones that were not that great, but we played them all the way through because we bought them and the end result was that we ended up knowing every song (at least on the "good side") and those albums became the foundation of what we listen to today.

These days even if I pick up a new release by someone I love, or someone that I heard and like, I play it once, maybe twice, skip the songs that don't grab me right out of the gate, then in a week or so I forget about it and go back to the stuff I know and have heard many times.Or maybe take "The good song" and put it in a folder with good tunes from other artists. The new music just does not get my attention like it did in the past. That's all. It really has nothing to do with the singer/songwriter, I just don't feel the need to absorb or learn anything new. It could be like that PM album title "Memory Almost Full".
 
Wow! I just listened to "Ghost" and love the tune and the mix... really bold, excellent, discrete mixing. Just for fun I tried switching the fronts with the rears and that sounded great too... the bass/drums in the center channel sound awesome in isolation. I look forward to sending some money your way in return for more cool mixes, ha ha! I hope you get to mix some Baroness some day... I've always thought "Yellow and Green" would be excellent in surround. Now to listen to the other tunes... :smokin
 
Only had a chance to listen once, but the mixes just work brilliantly, they really fit the music. Like everybody else I really like what you did with multi-tracked voices on "From The Light" had me smiling, the discreteness of the mixes is nice too. Finish all your songs off in 5.1 and I'll buy the downloads. (y):)
 
Wonderful work! You certainly took full advantage of the multichannel medium.

These compositions are smooth, and easy to absorb. Being mostly stuck in music from the past, I appreciate accessibility.

I love the high-hat style sounds all around me! I think I've gotten so used to the classics in "stereo surround" (where it's still basically a two channel mix), your mixed almost sounds too discrete. You pulled my ears around the room!

Okay... So, I know this can be a touchy topic, but I'm still not a fan of putting any musical instrument in the LFE channel. I leave crossover decisions to my carefully tweaked receiver. I can see a case for putting kick drums in the LFE channel, because the kick is sort of an "effect". I might similarly include the cannons from "1812 Overture", but certainly not a bass guitar/synth.
 
New mixes: Eolian - From the Light - Multichannel FLAC - Google Drive
I appreciate all of the comments and critique. I've updated the three previous mixes and added two songs to the link above. Five total.
I'm not quite sure the best way to proceed with selling/hosting and I'm curious on the QQ thoughts...
Bandcamp is nice for sales because it's a nice site and you can get stereo versions as well. Obviously the downside is they don't host the 5.1 FLACs. I would use google drive, same as above, and just send emails post-purchase. Bandcamp is giving up their % again May 29 (and each final friday currently), so that seems like an advantageous date to release it. I could also eliminate all of that and just do paypal/google drive but that seems weird and unprofessional. :unsure:

Initially I was thinking blu-ray with all 52 songs at the end of the year, but that is expensive, difficult to author, and an overwhelming amount of music for any listener. It doesn't seem like DTS DVDs are desired. My current thought is to release this first album via FLAC and if it does ok then use the money for the next step.

The first and fifth albums are partners and are similar to what you've heard: electro-pop ish with synth and drum machines. The second, third, and fourth albums are more rock-based with less synth, more guitars, and either real or real-sounding drums.

I've thought about just making this first one pay-what-you-want. I think that, and sharing these songs early are both ways to make it all the more immersive - which to me is the whole point. The other option I suppose is $10 flat for 10 FLACs. Thoughts?

What we need is a QQ streaming/download site. Anyone interested in building it? ;)
:LB
 
New mixes: Eolian - From the Light - Multichannel FLAC - Google Drive
I appreciate all of the comments and critique. I've updated the three previous mixes and added two songs to the link above. Five total.
I'm not quite sure the best way to proceed with selling/hosting and I'm curious on the QQ thoughts...

What we need is a QQ streaming/download site. Anyone interested in building it? ;)
:LB
@OdysseyMusik built a site that hosts surround downloads and streaming. You two should work something out! There's already some great music up there. It's the closest thing to what you've just described.
https://surroundmusic.one
 
I've thought about just making this first one pay-what-you-want. I think that, and sharing these songs early are both ways to make it all the more immersive - which to me is the whole point.
Ian, I think this would be a good initial approach. Totally love what I've heard so far - music-wise, performance-wise, and mix-wise!
 
I don't mean I don't like new artists. I think Billie Eilish and her brother are amazing. It's new songs. I just don't seem to give them the repeated listening that I did in the "old days", where we used to wear out albums, even the ones that were not that great, but we played them all the way through because we bought them and the end result was that we ended up knowing every song (at least on the "good side") and those albums became the foundation of what we listen to today.

These days even if I pick up a new release by someone I love, or someone that I heard and like, I play it once, maybe twice, skip the songs that don't grab me right out of the gate, then in a week or so I forget about it and go back to the stuff I know and have heard many times.Or maybe take "The good song" and put it in a folder with good tunes from other artists. The new music just does not get my attention like it did in the past. That's all. It really has nothing to do with the singer/songwriter, I just don't feel the need to absorb or learn anything new. It could be like that PM album title "Memory Almost Full".
I am the exact same way, Jon. I prefer being enmeshed in my music full of memories and from a time when I played them over and over and over. I try to listen to current stuff and have bought some on vinyl, but even then, just keep reverting back to the 70s. I guess 60s to 90s are my decades, but the 70s win, overall. To me, that decade was diverse and interesting. I am now an old fart! Cannot believe it, but lots of new stuff all sounds the same to me and seems like they all try to imitate each other. Good thing I have bunches of title and formats I can enjoy as I become more and more a luddite.
 
I am the exact same way, Jon. I prefer being enmeshed in my music full of memories and from a time when I played them over and over and over. I try to listen to current stuff and have bought some on vinyl, but even then, just keep reverting back to the 70s. I guess 60s to 90s are my decades, but the 70s win, overall. To me, that decade was diverse and interesting. I am now an old fart! Cannot believe it, but lots of new stuff all sounds the same to me and seems like they all try to imitate each other. Good thing I have bunches of title and formats I can enjoy as I become more and more a luddite.
The 70s totally rule!
 
For no reason, my 10 favorite songs from the '70s!
American Tune - Paul Simon - 1975 - Should be the national anthem. Greatest song ever co-written over hundreds of years? ;)
Run of the Mill - George Harrison - 1970 - beauty of Beatles breakup
Try Some Buy Some - George Harrison - 1973 - addiction and faith. George deserves all 10 songs.
The Donor - Judee Sill - 1972 - the most progressive?
The Kiss - Judee Sill - 1972 - the most beautiful
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd - 1975 - could be so many...all of Animals instead?
In the Cage - Genesis - 1973 - could be so many - a nice synthesis of prog and pop. The change in the middle deserves extra points.
She's Always A Woman - Billy Joel - 1977 - not even a big Billy fan, I just think the song is beautiful.
Here Comes The Flood - Peter Gabriel - 1977 - or dolce? or mother of violence? or solsbury?
Mouse Police Never Sleeps - Jethro Tull - 1978 - my namesake, my birthyear. Barriemore Barlow is phenomenal always.
:LB
What am I missing?
Certainly some early Petty, Cat Stevens, Queen (Millionaire)....
 
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