Recorded 31 May 2014, mixed & mastered June 02 2022 by Jim Lemanowicz at Blissville Electro-Magnetic Laboratories of Massapequa.

This is a cover version of a song by Van Morrison.  ©1968 Van Morrison.  

I am looking for input on my mixing and mastering here.  Is the master too hot?  Is there enough clarity between the parts?  Do the vocals and lead guitar shine through in the mix? Is the cymbal too loud (I quite like it during the guitar solo and during the mellotron/loud parts)? Honestly, details other than "good" or "bad" for the mix or master will always be welcome.  However, I am not soliciting any comments on my performances here instrumentally or vocally.  I have enough critics of that kind living in my head, thank you.  I also have no intention of adding or removing or re-recording any of the parts here.  

What I am currently working on is a remix project whilst simultaneously learning some iZotope plugins.  The material is a covers EP I completed/released first in 2014.  This followed a serious hospital stay and in my mind represented a "stripped-down" approach similar to my cassette 4-track work in the 90s - guitar, bass, drum sounds, vocals, basic keys - and as opposed to my "kitchen sink" approach in the 00s with songs that had 50-100 tracks each at times.   This particular cover is Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" and is dedicated to Lester Bangs and his horrific experience related to this song and album by Van, as understood by my reading of the book "Let It Blurt" by Jim Derogatis.  Lester had a sort of subconscious reach into my life as in high school I was an avid Creem reader of the period slightly before and after his death.  His shadow was all over that magazine at that time.  

Process notes - 
On this track I played a Jay Turser Mustang-inspired guitar, an Epi EB-0 bass, an M-Audio Trigger Finger (triggering some jazz-type Ableton Live drum rack), a cheap cymbal (same one from the 90s) and two tracks of GForce M-Tron string and flute sounds.  My arrangement in this 31 May 2014 version subs in a plunky angular lead guitar for the vocal ad-libs that Van originally gave us and what I tried to do with no success when I almost gave up on the project in Jan 2014. I also opted for a shorter track length than either Van's version or much of the "kitchen sink" work I was doing in the 00s.  

The plugins used were Nectar 3 Plus, Neutron 3 Advanced/Visual Mixer (and now 4), and Ozone 9 Advanced.  In a limited way, these plugins AI "assisted" me in my mix levels, my mastering treatments and my instrument and vocal effects.  I used a hybrid approach where I did not give the iZotope plugins my naked tracks but rather used most of the channel "racks" (strips) set up in 2014, originally in Ableton Live 9 32-bit and remixed here in Live 11 64-bit.  Nor did I use the Visual Mixer for panning.  Subjectively speaking, for the past year or so, my mastering has improved with the help of iZotope's Elements plugins, so I recently went and upgraded.  I then committed to learning some new tricks for these old ears.  I also tweaked some things that I felt the AI missed, but did not dwell on almost anything here for more than a minute or two.     

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This remixed and remastered version of "Astral Weeks" was submitted as part of ​Disquiet Junto Project 0544: Feedback Loop.  The Assignment: Share music-in-progress for input from others.

More on the Disquiet Junto at: disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here: tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Ongoing conversation is here - https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0544-feedback-loop/55883

This track was originally released under the artist name "Vowel Samples."

Cold Cover Calibration (2022 remix/remaster)

Astral Weeks (02 June 2022 remix/remaster - disquiet0544)

My music asks listeners to be like dreamers uncovering hidden patterns in passing clouds. Support me @ patreon.com/blisterpop

multi-instrumentalist & composer.
Genre fluid music for images / instrumental / contemporary post-fusion / experimental jazz / electro acoustic ambient / melodic noise / neoclassical / naive hard core / cosmopolitan world music.

bio here:
http://dedeland.com/daniel-diaz-bio/


In some words:
Composer, arranger, producer, multi-instrumentalist. Born in Argentina,
I studied music in Buenos Aires, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Paris.

For 20 years, I developed an important career as a session and backing musician in Argentina and Europe, playing, among other instruments, the bass, touring and recording with many jazz, rock, fusion, world, Latin and tango bands.

At the same time, I worked as an arranger, producer and musical director with many projects and artists in the USA, Argentina and Europe.

From 1992 to 1997, I performed my compositions live with my own band in Buenos Aires and began a solo recording career with the worldwide release of my first album "The Years Alone" on the North American label Green Linnet/Xenophile. On this album I arranged and performed 11 of my songs written between 1986 and 1993. I played most of the instruments, but included guest appearances by some great South American players.

My recording career continued with "Segundo Ciclo" (1997), released worldwide by Timeless Records, and 12 more albums released between 2000 and 2016.

Currently, I work as an on-demand film/TV composer while continuing to play live and produce.

Songs from the edge of somewhere. Bluesy, soulful rock with roots in folk and blues, shaped by years of traveling and chasing sound.

My debut album Strange Part of the Country earned ★★★★ from Q Magazine, a Blues Matters cover feature, and reached #3 on the U.S. Alternative Radio Chart, with airplay on BBC Radio 2, WWOZ New Orleans, and KROQ Los Angeles. Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac), Marc Ribot, and Danny Thompson have all been part of the journey.

I’m now finishing a new album with Marc Ribot, Tchad Blake, and Danny Thompson — music that digs deep, raw and real.

My 33 1/3 series book about the Aphex Twin album <i>Selected Ambient Works Volume II</i> was published in 2014. The book was one of the top 5 bestselling titles for the calendar year, and in 2015 was ranked by Pitchfork as one of the "33 best" of the 100-plus books in the 33 1/3 series. It has subsequently been translated into Japanese (2019) and Spanish (2018)

Since 2012 I have moderated the Disquiet Junto group, which began on SoundCloud. More at disquiet.com/junto. 

I've written for Nature, Pitchfork, The Wire, Down Beat, Boing Boing, NewMusicBox, Red Bull Music Academy, Art Practical, the website of The Atlantic, and many other publications. 

I've exhibited sound art at galleries in Los Angeles (Crewest), Manhattan (apex art), and Dubai (DUTAC), and I had a audio-visual installation at the San Jose Museum of Art as part of its 45th anniversary.

And since 1996 I've run the website Disquiet.com about the intersection of sound, art, and technology.

During the early 1990s I studied Mathematics and Computer Science. The world wide web was still largely text-based and mostly empty. Today things are obviously different, though I still thoroughly enjoy art, design, cinema and music in all its forms. I have traveled all over the world for nearly two decades, visiting just over 140 countries. Japan is my favorite. All of this I attempt to incorporate into my music and art.

Musical experimenter using all sorts of techniques, ideas, and devices.  Open to exchange of ideas and materials and collaboration on tracks.

Astral Weeks (02 June 2022 remix/remaster - disquiet0544)

Jimmy Lem