I'M. BACK. \m/!<br /><br />Hey all, first off, my apologies for dropping off the face of the Earth for the past six-months! Just a combo of burnout, creative-block, and not being happy with my audio-production/sound taking its toll. So I stepped back for a while, built a new PC (finally!), and had some much needed proper RnR to recharge.<br /><br />At some point, I tinkered around and overhauled my signal-chains. After a decade of service, my old faithful guitar signal-chain has been officially retired! I made the switch over to using the Neural Amp Modeler (especially since the new PC can actually handle running it!), and I also switched out my old cab IR's too. So, big change to the tone from a mixing perspective. Leads and rhythms are so much nicer now to work with in the mix. For inquiring minds, I'm using a model of an ENGL Ironball amp fed into a couple of blended ENGL cab IR's.<br /><br />The bass signal-chain has ALWAYS been in flux, but now, I think this new setup will be the one that stays. For a while, my bass setup was this convoluted mess that was split across 4 mixer-tracks. Now, its been simplified to just one plugin ("The Growler" VST) and then sending that track out to the Bass Bus track.<br /><br />In addition to the bass guitar, I've got an old and simple synth bass patch that I made with SurgeXT. I blend that with the bass guitar and mainly use it to accent the individual notes, rather than for supplementing bass frequencies. Gives a little subtle sizzle to the attack of the notes!<br /><br />I also decided to say the hell with some of my usual way of doing things. I got adventurous and daring with my drum signal-chains, and just about every other mixer track too. I messed with levels, tweaked EQ's a lot more than I normally would've before. The drums, along with everything else are a lot more crisp compared to before, thanks to less frequency masking going on.<br /><br />For mastering, I went a bit nuts with that signal-chain too, I really cranked things up. Adjusted EQs, saturator, exciter, and the limiters! I think I've finally managed to achieve "commercial" loudness without absolutely butchering the pre-master/mix-down track!<br /><br />Technical babbling aside... time for the song! So, some of you over in the Den of DAR discord may remember this one. I shared the old render sometime last year over there before I shelved it.<br /><br />I re-amped my DI guitar & bass recordings through the new signal-chains. I used my new mixing/project template, and also ran the vocals through new vocal signal-chains too. For fun, I did record a few new vocal tracks to toss into the mix. Most notably during the bridge/breakdown. Rather than cookie-monster my way through that whole bit like before, I decided to make up a little melody to sing along with it. The harmonies during the chorus are much clearer now compared to the old render.<br /><br />Also, thanks to better mixing, the strings that I made are able to shine through now too! There's also a piano hanging out over on the left side during the choruses. Its mainly there for texture, rather than as a prominent element.<br /><br />Now, this isn't really a song I'd normally think of covering (at least vocal-wise)... But I thought it'd make for good practice, breaking out the cookie-monster voice, and for just trying something a little different. ALSO, this is the first part of a personal project that I want to do. I don't know if anyone else here is familiar with it, but back in the mid-to-late 2000's there was a great track called, "Lolita's Medicine", a mashup by The Legion of Doom. After all these years, I finally looked up the two original songs on their own. So, at some point I really want to also do "New Medicines", and then ultimately mashup both covers to create my own version of "Lolita's Medicine"! Really looking forward to that!<br /><br />Anyways, its damn good to be back, you guys! I hope you all enjoy the cover! ~DAR<br /><br />INSTR. VERSION: <a href="https://odysee.com/From-Autumn-To-Ashes---Lilacs-and-Lolita-%28INSTR%29--Cover-By-DAR" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://odysee.com/From-Autumn-To-Ashes---Lilacs-and-Lolita-%28INSTR%29--Cover-By-DAR</a>:58f5774317ad98485e4aad778c4c4b82dfd501b9<br /><br /><br />CREDITS:<br /><br />Originally Composed By Benjamin Perri, Brian Deneeve, Mike Pilato, Scott Gross, and Francis Robert Mark