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Reviews for "Old Magic"

Old Magic
by mullion
Recommends (15)
Sat, Jan 3, 2009 @ 1:13 AM

Uses samples from:

 
Scott Altham
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permalink   Sat, Jan 3, 2009 @ 5:34 AM
Great track mullion. Was browsing whilst listening and totally forgot this was a ccMixter mix, thought it was just one of my itunes tracks, sounds well produced.
 
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permalink   mullion Sun, Jan 4, 2009 @ 8:19 AM
Thanks Scott! I belive it’s a better chance that you’ll find me here at ccmix rather than on itunes also the coming year :-)
Loveshadow
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permalink   Sat, Jan 3, 2009 @ 5:54 AM
Did you get the Yellow Jackets for christmas then ?

The chorus flies its really fresh. The levels overall seem to go up and down throughout the song but the arrangement is really good.
 
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permalink   mullion Sun, Jan 4, 2009 @ 8:25 AM
Zero Yellow Jackets, but I did get a wine opener looking like a mass destruction weapon taken from Matrix. I guess that did the trick :-) Oh yeah - I would trade the wine opener for one or two hours with mr. Ferrante anytime.

Thanks for listening and giving your comments.
gurdonark
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permalink   Sat, Jan 3, 2009 @ 2:32 PM
It’s not about the tricks and geegaws. It’s about accompaniment. So many of the great soul songs work not because they’re backed with 128 tracks, but because the backing adds to the vocals and gives the vocals a setting.

Here you keep Frank’s vocal as the star of the show, and don’t try to show us how your mixing geegaws could cascade everywhere. You just show us a look into how wonderful a traditional melody can be when a capable mixter hears the soul deep in its body.

Songboy sees the “magic in your eyes”, but here the magic is the good folk-magic of a musician who hears the groove in a vocal and takes blood-oath to preserve it rather than overwhelm.

A solid, delightful mix.
 
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permalink   mullion Sun, Jan 4, 2009 @ 8:28 AM
Thanks! That’s really nice words and I do appreciate it very much. I guess I did this remix from a songwriters perspective and thus the cool mixing techniques was left out. Actually, I’m a fan of fancy produced material but I’m lacking skills in that area so it was also a matter of just sticking to what I do best - get the panning right :-)

Thanks a lot for taking the time to listen and for sharing your thoughts with me.
essesq
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permalink   Sat, Jan 3, 2009 @ 3:36 PM
Really nice. Supports and augments the emotion present in Frank’s voice beautifully.

It’s always impressive to me when mixters can leave a few elements out there on their own, or better still use a little silence now and again. You’ve worked all that really well here. Great job.
 
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permalink   mullion Sun, Jan 4, 2009 @ 8:35 AM
Thanks Essesq! I can’t say I always get this right in my mixes, but I agree with you, the righ proportion of dynamic variation and density can do magic to a song. I’m rally glad you like the way I solved it in this particular mix.

Thanks a lot for again taking the time to listen and commenting on my stuff.
panu
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permalink   Sat, Jan 3, 2009 @ 4:12 PM
great backing track for a superior vocal. plenty of room for each instrument in the mix. reminds me of cece & bebe’s productions. nice.
 
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permalink   mullion Sun, Jan 4, 2009 @ 8:38 AM
Yes - Songboy’s vocal is extremely good and really inspiring to work with. I can’t say I’m familiar with cece & bebe, but I take it as a compliment :-)

Thanks a lot!
colab
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permalink   Sat, Jan 3, 2009 @ 4:32 PM
Yes - this absolutely counts for something.

You’ve done something very special here. You have a very complex chord progression - but where it’s sometimes been distracting in the past it feels quite natural here and fits just right.

I agree the sound levels are sometimes a bit off, but I promise you that’s a very nice problem to have if that’s the only issue with a track!

Delightful remix. Thanks for sharing this one.
 
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permalink   mullion Sun, Jan 4, 2009 @ 8:46 AM
Quote: colabYes - this absolutely counts for something.
Good - then it’s a fact :-)


I started out with laying down the Rhodes, but unanalythical as I am I just played what sounded “right”, following the flow. As you point out I haven’t always done it this way as there seem to be a little devil in me telling me to introduce some new elements on every corner, admittedly not always benefittng the end result. This way of thinking is, I belive, also evident in this piece but this time I kept everything more within the same harmonical frame.

Thanks a lot for the nice words.

Cheers,
TheJoe
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permalink   Sun, Jan 4, 2009 @ 2:38 PM
You mentioned it already that this version is not perfectly worked out. Funny thing, but the sound is like some of very old tunes from our rehearsal room(lomg time ago!) where we recorded just with an old tape. That_s no critic, just a memory that came across.

Despite of this, this is a very nice and wonderful version with plenty good ideas and nice played instruments!!
 
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permalink   mullion Mon, Jan 5, 2009 @ 2:12 PM
So I got you thinking about the good old days when all the pretty girls liked hanging around with cool rock’n rollers like us? I guess we’ve lost some of the charm, here we’re sitting with our nose glued to the monitor. By the way, it’s strange that I can’t remember the names or the faces of any of these girls. It’s like they were never actually there……. :-)

Thanks a lot for again giving your nice comments.

Take care,
Carosone
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permalink   Tue, Jan 6, 2009 @ 9:00 AM
Many people here already spoke on the “unfinished” nature of this mix (after your own comment). In my opinion we should divide the beauty itself of a composition from the polishness and pro nature of the remix-mastering stage. This song is beautiful, very beatufiul, well played with rhodes guitar and drums doing it so nice and well, I downloaded it immediately and listening all the time. Still, I am with you, this is an unfinished mix, someone may like the not-polished sheen, but I frankly think that if you take the time to master it well it would easily get an editor pick. Do it please!!(if you have no time you might also upload the individual tracks so that some people in this forum like Loveshadow or Lasswell could bring this mix of yours to where it deserves).
Sincerely admired,
fc
 
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permalink   mullion Wed, Jan 7, 2009 @ 8:35 AM
Thanks a lot for the compliments, Francesco!

It would indeed be intresting to hear what other mixters could make out of it, but on the other hand I need to practice my own skills so I’m probably better off making a second, improved mix my self. As for now I got my mind set on new projects so I will have to let it rest for a while.

Thanks again for taking the time, it’s very much appreciated.

Vidar
wellman
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permalink   Tue, Jan 6, 2009 @ 10:40 AM
Excellent Rodes Mullion!!! The whole production is very very nice… congratulations
 
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permalink   mullion Wed, Jan 7, 2009 @ 8:36 AM
Thanks a lot!!
MC Jack in the Box
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permalink   Tue, Jan 6, 2009 @ 4:14 PM
love that rhodes. rich textures really fit frank’s vocals very nicely. my only small nit is i wish the drums were a bit louder in the mix, but that’s minor. really well executed.
 
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permalink   mullion Wed, Jan 7, 2009 @ 8:48 AM
Thank you so much for the compliments!

You’re right about the drums. During the mixing session I went back and fourth till I my ears were exausted. Then, just to get it ready, I probably picked the worst alternative :)

Cheers,