Double Score Stringband

The Bramble (M. Donoghue)

Movin' On (M. Donoghue)

guit L and banjo R  hard panned

SkippinIt version2(M. Donoghue)

guit L and banjo R  mid panned

banjoMultipressor

Gates O' Donegal

unmastered take 2-2

Hey, you gotta call it something, 'cause it is something.

New Finland

unmastered take 2-4

Hey, you gotta call it something, 'cause it is something.

Heading to Mexico

unmastered take 4-1

Meditation-Henry's Botanist

end of the night, second take. Guit panned hard L, banjo hard R - so they are separate voices. Bass and guitar trimmed at the very end leaving fid and banjo to fade out. Other than that pretty much as recorded bunch of tired puppies.

Blues sneak up on me

I panned fiddle L brought the Vol up during the breaks and down during the vocals. Guit and banjo panned R. Unmastered. This was the final take, 4-11.

Morocco Blues revised mix (R)

Morocco Blues

Fiddle entrance is thin... Partly my fault but maybe you can bring up the level just there? Also, maybe you could augment the low end of the fiddle overall so it sounds more cohesive?

MD:  Agree about bringing up the fiddle right at the beginning (around 0:27)  As I said earlier, I would fade this out slowly at the end starting at around 2:40ish, or a bit before?  Weird guitar note at 2:40.   My comments are on Morocco3. 

DH: GOOD MIX. I WOULD STILL LOVE TO HEAR THE BANJO COME IN A LITTLE HARDER IF POSSIBLE, AND THEN PERHAPS BACK OFF TO THE CURRENT LEVEL ONCE THE FIDDLE COMES IN, SO AS NOT TO CREATE TOO MUCH OF THE AMBIENT ECHO THAT HAVING THE BANJO AT SUCH A HIGH LEVEL IS CREATING AT TIMES. HAPPY FOR YOU TO TRY TO FIX THE GUITAR BLURP. I'M NOT BOTHERED ENOUGH BY THE ROUGH ENDING TO THINK A FADE OUT IS NECESSARY, BUT I DON'T FEEL STRONGLY EITHER WAY.

Brought up Fid at beginning, added EQ to make warmer, Massive fade begins 2:40ish. Removed weird guit note. Increased Banjo vol at entrance then gradually dropped to 0.0dB (normal volume) by the time Fid comes in

Tucson Gals revised mix (R)

This one is just fun! The last time through has some great guitar walking bass. There is a stray banjo note at the end of the first time through the A part on the last time through (not a big deal but I wonder if that could be cut out?)

MD: great overall, I think.  agree about the wonky banjo right around 0:18 — oops!  But, an even worse spot is at 1:49 — geez!  It was so hard to control the banjo in that humidity. 

DH: GOOD MIX, NO ADDITIONAL COMMENTS.

Removed weird banjo note, added fade out, tweaked bass eq. 

Skippin it revised mix (R)

This is another one with a great arrangement! Banjo could be brought up in the mix specifically from 2:12-2:30. Good feel overall.

MD: Yeah, this sounds pretty great!  I especially love some of your sections towards the end, Justine!   Agree about bring up the banjo a bit more — and good suggestion about 2:12-2:30.  BTW, I like the little banjo chord at the end in Skippin It (version 1) — could we maybe bring that back? 

DH: GOOD MIX, AND THE ONLY ADDITIONAL COMMENT IS WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BANJO TAG. LIKE MICHAEL ASKED, COULD WE BRING THAT BACK? OR WAS VERSION 2 ACTUALLY A DIFFERENT TAKE WHERE WE DIDN'T PUT THE BANJO TAG IN? IF YOU END UP TRYING TO PASTE IT IN FROM THE FIRST TAKE, MAYBE YOU COULD LEAVE JUST A WEE BIT MORE BREATHING ROOM BEFORE HE STRUMS THE CHORD.

raised banjo vol 2.3 to 2.5 dB from 2:12 to 2:30, put  the banjo tag back in, lowered bass level- 2 dB.

Movin' On

Great feel on this one too! There is interference between the timbre of the feet and the guitar chop (and sometimes they don't quite sync up--that's definitely the fault of my feet!). Maybe take the feet out or add more bass to that track so that the sound is differentiated.

MD: yeah, it all works great in some spots, but I would take the feet down a notch or two or three throughout (maybe louder when they first come in, and then down).  

DH: HONESTLY THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. I LOVE THE SOUND OF THE BANJO AND FEET TOGETHER AT THE BEGINNING. TRULY. I NOTICED THE GUITAR CHOP AND FEET ISSUE. PART OF THE PROBLEM IS THAT I WAS DRAGGING A BIT AT TIMES, SO MY CHOPS ARE VERY SLIGHTLY LATE IN PLACES. I ALSO THINK YOU STARTED OFF THE FEET EITHER STRAIGHT OR VERY SLIGHTLY SWUNG, BUT THERE ARE MOMENTS THROUGHOUT THE TUNE WHEN YOUR FEET HIT A MORE HEAVILY SWUNG RHYTHM. SO, YEAH, THOSE ISSUES PROVIDES SOME RHYTHMIC MUDDINESS AT TIMES. I WOULDN'T TAKE THE FEET OUT, BUT MICHAEL'S SUGGESTION MIGHT BE WORTH A TRY.

I did some work on the feet - EQ out some mid, changed compression and added a stereo spreader. Then lowered the level substantially. I rebuilt the soundstage by panning banjo far R, fiddle L and guitar center. NB this is a very different soundstage that the other mixes. 

Cajita version 1

More banjo on the intro! (LOVE the intro) My only thought on the arrangement is that the syncopation in the A part could happen only sometimes instead of everytime? It gets a little...annoying? haha

MD: the banjo comes across differently in the intro on every different device.  Couldn’t hear it at all on my car radio.  But, I agree that the banjo could come up a bit more.  Agree completely about the syncopation — live and learn!  ALSO: I think we did another version of this tune where Justine did some really wonderful fiddle bits — if I”m remembering this correctly, could we possibly hear what that version sounds like???  

DH: GOOD MIX! PAUL - DO I DETECT SOME STUDIO MAGIC THERE TO FIX A SERIOUS GUITAR ERROR? (no studio magic for David you sound good wit nothing added)

This is version 1 off the taped session the beginning may be harsh because MD was playing a lead in that I cut by starting when the band started I could smooth the beginning if you all prefer this version. I resent levels and panning do bring out banjo  a bit.

Cajita version 2

More banjo on the intro! (LOVE the intro) My only thought on the arrangement is that the syncopation in the A part could happen only sometimes instead of everytime? It gets a little...annoying? haha

MD: the banjo comes across differently in the intro on every different device.  Couldn’t hear it at all on my car radio.  But, I agree that the banjo could come up a bit more.  Agree completely about the syncopation — live and learn!  ALSO: I think we did another version of this tune where Justine did some really wonderful fiddle bits — if I”m remembering this correctly, could we possibly hear what that version sounds like???  

DH: GOOD MIX! PAUL - DO I DETECT SOME STUDIO MAGIC THERE TO FIX A SERIOUS GUITAR ERROR? (no studio magic for David you sound good wit nothing added)

This is version 2 off the taped session. I resent levels and panning do bring out banjo  a bit.

Henry's Botanist

I took the bass completely out of the meditation sections, but I couldn't get rid of it completely as it bleeds into every mic. I increased guit throughout, so hopefully this will reset the rhythm during meditation. I also considerably dropped the bass level during Henry's, but it remains substantially in the mix if you listen on a system with bass response (like headphones). I tried to get rid of the guit chord at the end of Henry's but the drop out on the left channel was REALLY noticable so I brought fid a bit into the L channel and reduced the separation between guit on L and banjo on R - then i faded the guit hit but brought up the banjo at the same time which now softens the guit as the the banjo "appears" to start the meditation earlier. Again, the bass still bleeds but hopefull

Sneaky Blues

Brought up the guit. Bass down just a smidgen. voc remains the same. Enjoy.

Cajita 

I replaced 2 notes in the guit at 1:30 and 2 more in the measure following. In between the guit kinda drops out naturally so I left the rest as is - it ain't perfect, but when listening ensemble sound it is fine. I put a pitch correction insert on the guit track - this should fix the last note.

Skippin it

I extended the tag, but you may not hear much as the musicians all faded themselves out naturally

Tucson Gals 

replaced wonky notes on the banjo at 1:49 with some better ones. added exciter to mastering. 

Morocco Blues

I replaced a previously muted guitar note, which sounded like a glitch, with another one from the following phrase. It's still a blues note, but, the name of the song is Morocco Blues. Duh.

Drop Thumb Blues  revised mix (R)

 I cannot find the Bad banjo note at 0:53. Youall are hallucinating.   

Movin' On

The revised mix was done before I figured out the compression for the banjo - that's why it sounded muddy. So I changed the compression to match the other tracks. I re-did the feet compression to make it less "present" and dropped the track volume. I re-built the soundstage to pan the banjo opposite the feet, among other things. This was all to try and keep the feet. I re-mastered the mix and increased the effect of the stereo spread. This mix will be different from the one youall reviewed.

Heading to Mexico

Soo. I re-did the banjo compression to match the other songs. I added some EQ/compression on guitar to make it more present.I added a mastering track but with minimal effect.

… about Double Score Stringband

   fiddle: Justine Cefalu on Soundcloud on Youtube on BandCamp

   guitar - David Heiser on BandCamp

   banjo - Michael Donoghue on BandCamp

   bass - Paul Strother on Spotify, with The Mass Avenaires