The Beach Boys - SMiLE (Excitations Mix)

I've been endlessly fascinated by The Beach Boys' SMiLE album in all of its many official and unofficial forms. Having listened to hours of session material from the box set and various bootlegs, I decided to make my own fan mix based on how I think it should go together and what parts should be included. And yes, I even worked in Brian falling into a piano (because I’m not a coward).
I’m happy to share with you SMiLE: Excitations Mix. All tracks are presented in ~glorious stereo~ and the majority have been remade from the vocal and instrumental sessions with a number of extra overdubs thrown in for good measure. Nearly every track has a fresh edit, from different session takes to newly constructed sections. It roughly follows the established track order, but I tried to make it sound as cohesive as possible while maintaining as much as the “Brian Wilson in the studio with his stoner friends” vibe as I could. It wouldn’t really be SMiLE without it.
I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making it, and that it gives you excitations. And Good Vibrations (Good Vibrations, Good Vibrations).
(Yes, I pieced it together in a version of Audacity from 2015, no, I wouldn’t recommend doing that.)

[@MonotoneTim]

At some point I plan to write a little running commentary in the captions (this part is this take, these overdubs are from this, those vocals from that) but I’ve been listening to it nonstop for days on end and need a bit of a break. Keep an eye out for that though, I’ll probably edit the title to make a note of when it’s done. Thanks for listening!

[@lowenbad]

I’d love that. I’m a bit obsessed with this mix at the moment to be honest. It’s a top 3 for me. (Tragic life form and grouchy jelly are the other two) It feels like it goes a bit further into his head… I know we can’t know what he was thinking, but this mix seems like it tapped into something else. I’m rambling, but it really IS that good! It is kind of strange to think that no version of Smile, including Brian’s in 04’ and The Beach Boys in 11’ were possible without a DAW. He literally recorded an album before the technology was invented to complete it. If that’s not tapping into something bigger, I don’t know what is.

[@MonotoneTim]

@@lowenbad Thanks! I’ve made a slightly tightened up version that I’ll probably upload as well. Kinda stalled out on the commentary midway through Worms (oops). Will be done eventually, I swear. Thanks for listening!

[@lowenbad]

@@MonotoneTim looking forward to it!

[@christianl3314]

❤

[@michaelri6083]

@@lowenbad do you have a link for the grouchy jelly mix. I can't find it and I really want to listen to it

[@farrellmcnulty909]

10:41 - I love the French horn from "heroes" being dubbed onto "Barnyard" - it fits perfectly. As a whole, this album never made any damn sense, but all the songs are so great it doesn't matter.

[@PatrickGOffical988]

I love that after 15 years of finding out about this album...I'm still finding amazing mixes. Proves the longevity of this album and Brian Wilson. Thanks man.

[@jokkergar]

Its crazy and now with the al technology there's prob gonna be a lot of more.

[@pippywondergirl]

this version of roll plymouth rock is incredible

[@MonotoneTim]

@@pippywondergirl Thanks! I’m happy with how it came out.

[@moricwilson]

Really unique and tight mix, it gives a real 1968 Smile vibe to me: largely fun and joyous, but hints of creepiness and dissonance every now and then. The stuff from Smiley and 2020 was incorporated really well too. Loved it overall!

[@MonotoneTim]

Thanks- that’s roughly the vibe I was going for! Appreciate your work on fan mixes too, sorry for shilling it in the chat!

[@skitcentral.]

Woah, This totally feels like what SMiLE would have sounded like if they included all of their sections, and dialogue if they would have finished it in 1967. You did a good job, one of my favorites SMiLE Mixes.

[@linzers69]

Name a more iconic duo than Tim and the Beach Boys

[@CyberKaz3]

Tim and Stacker.

[@MonotoneTim]

Mike Love and Budweiser.

[@Bigolpete]

@@MonotoneTim Always true to it

[@smarkmalark]

@@MonotoneTimMike Love and Apple Juice

[@darthjesus420]

Tim and Eric

[@MrMauriceHaylett]

Thank you Tim for your wonderful mix! Who knows what was happening in the Brian's brain?

[@GarbaggioGoblino]

and when the world needed him most he returned

[@SillySphere]

Having a moment at last to sit down and give an entire listen to this mix. It's really, really good! To me it was like seeing an old friend that you haven't talked to (or in this case, listened) in a while, and being pleasantly surprised in discovering a new but familiar side to themselves. Thanks for taking the time to make this impressive project! I'll be coming back to it for sure.

[@tf2fanboy]

0:00 Our Prayer (or 0:06 if you want to skip the intro) 1:11 Gee (or 1:15 if you want to skip the count-in) 1:55 Heroes and Villains 6:13 Do You Like Worms? (Roll Plymouth Rock) 10:01 I'm in Great Shape 10:37 Barnyard 11:17 The Old Master Painter (My Only Sunshine) 13:16 He Gives Speeches 15:09 With Me Tonight (Friday Night) 16:01 I Wanna Be Around (Workshop) 17:03 Cabinessence 20:29 Child is the Father of the Man 22:59 Brian Falls into A piano 23:13 Surf's Up 26:51 Can't Wait Too Long 30:41 Wonderful 34:21 Vege-Tables 38:29 Holidays 40:07 Wind Chimes 44:10 Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow) 46:24 Love to Say Dada/Cool Cool Water 48:44 Good Vibrations 53:13 You're Welcome

[@BetweentheBeans]

I've heard my fair share of SMiLE mixes by this point, and I think this one is my favorite. Your concept of "Brian in the studio with his stoner friends" really shines through in this mix where others tend not to lean into it as hard. Great work, especially with the tooling :P

[@MonotoneTim]

@@BetweentheBeans Thanks, and thanks for listening!

[@weebqueen5498]

I've never really cared for the Beach Boy's but this makes me change my mind. AN ABSOLUTE BANGER

[@thedjdarkflow]

They’re really so mind blowing and amazing you must deep dive into their stuff everything from 65-77.

[@darjeelinngg]

Excited for the commentary! Your streams mixing this were super fun, thank you so much for letting us participate in your creative process

[@darjeelinngg]

won won wonderful and its reprise bit and the transition into vega-tables is absolutely perfect👌

[@RobertSmith-ix1cu]

My God!!! You've Givin this Masterpiece a whole New Flavor ⛅ You definitely put your Heart & Soul into this/Wonderfull Job 🍹

[@MonotoneTim]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@spoonfulboyfriend3122]

Your Cabin Essence and Good Vibrations are the best stereo mixes that I heard

[@MonotoneTim]

Thank you! I initially wanted to drop in the 20/20 and Smiley Smile versions, but god they just sound *so* muddy. Did my best to bring the truck drivin’ man bit up in the mix too in the second chorus, that’s always such a cool part you can hardly ever make out in the official versions.

[@Htheorphanarian]

What I love is from the original cuts, the remake from the 2000s, to fan made versions like this...we get an idea of how brilliant this could've got, it had so many ideas that Brian himself couldn't put it together, it would've taken a compus mentus BW probably another decade to get this perfect, and he was fighting his own inner demons to make this happen. So many gameful attempts but not the perfection yet we can all imagine, maybe aliens in the future might be able to do this right..

[@Yarumasi]

A tim upload.... what a time to be alive. Love you bud! Thanks for the video!

[@wilsonlove7647]

A LOT of work went into this. Great job. Fun listen.

[@adamburningham]

I love this! I love that you decided to do it, I loved watching (listening) to you put some of it together, and I love that it's done. It sounds fantastic!

[@nonstopdemo]

was lurking often during the creation of this, really awe inspiring (both the Smile sessions and your edit), great work

[@smarkmalark]

I love how you incorporated a lot of the live 70s arrangement of Heroes and Villains! Especially the kick drum as a transition and the clusterfuck near the end compiling both parts of the demo. There are some interesting choices though but other than that at least it’s a lot smoother than most!

[@MonotoneTim]

Thanks! I definitely stole some parts from that version because it kept the energy up a little bit better than the usual version. Thanks for listening!!

[@doctorgothicc]

I've been watching streams where you created this. Didn't expect to be able to listen to the whole thing so soon. But I'm super glad I can hear it all the way through!

[@alancrack456]

El mejor mix qué he escuchado de los Beach Boys

[@deepbreather]

Reluctant to say "Wow, this is great man, you did it" though it's obvious immediately, no doubt. No chance to get deeper into this and give speeches why this is making me happy instantly since a new tragic, sonny, etc. mix is probably already on its way. The universe is expanding much faster than anyone of us could ever understand. Even that notion expands. And so Smile seems asymptotically touching the x axis, the line of truth. Very well done, MT. I just wanna stay wih you and your Excitations the rest of my life. No, no, sorry, Smile is about forever changing. Make a performing edition, bring it live on stages, all over the world. Can wait too long.

[@MonotoneTim]

Thank you, Van Dyke Parks. Unironically though, thank you for listening! Smile really is whatever you want it to be, whatever emotions and tone you aim for, and the version I made is how I always envisioned it. A melancholic work of progress never to be completed, but one always counterbalanced with the lighthearted joy among friends in the studio.

[@noahlangworthy1902]

This is a great mix it actually sounds like a accurate SMiLE album!!!

[@novembersuitealso1900]

havent listened to the full mix yet, but this extension of heroes and villains is among my favorites (the bwps version being my fav)

[@novembersuitealso1900]

ok that cough in do you like worms is perfection. bless you

[@milessch007]

I've heard a Lotta fu*kin smile remixes, it is one of my favorite albums ever. But this is amazing, the mix sound so so good and omg do you like worms is 😻😻😻😻😻

[@NicholasJones-j3w]

'Mind-blown'. This is like listening for the first time to a fully-realized album, not a piece-meal reworking. Did you build a time-machine too? I'm right there! Its 1966-67 again. A very great treat after these many many years! Such a creative, funny, unique, wonderful, intriguing, 'far-out' 'experience' and in full. Thank you so much.

[@MonotoneTim]

Thank you for listening- glad you enjoyed!

[@MonotoneTim]

Also, feel free to give the slightly touched up version a go! Compositionally it’s the mostly same, but I fixed some minor issues, got some better sources, fiddled with balance and eq… check it out if you’re curious! drive.google.com/file/d/177fiYZ7VdNVSbmdh1eodvenxhz5jJbWv/view

[@veloboy]

Only 6 minutes in, and there have been a lot of fun surprises so far. Thanks for the effort!

[@DrRobertBeatles]

it branches out compared to other mixes and contains a good feel, so risk = reward it also gets an A in effort but on the other hand THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT "smile fanmixes be like:" was mocking bruh

[@MonotoneTim]

@@DrRobertBeatles I resisted the temptation to put the federal warning siren in mine.

[@DrRobertBeatles]

@@MonotoneTim you're under arrest

[@villson3960]

Woah, he's back! Fantastic! :)

[@AnimeHairSyndrome]

This is super clean! good work, the vibrations weren't just good, they were S U P E R I O R ~

[@CyberKaz3]

Glad to see all the hard work pay off Tim!

[@twodollars4u]

The hammering leading into Cabinessence...

[@MonotoneTim]

The guy giving speeches and the girl going bald are building the cabin in the extended lore.

[@ptowngam3r]

Truely his best work yet. I want this on Vinyl.

[@MonotoneTim]

Me too, if you find someone willing to press 27 min/side records with someone else’s music. It also works as a 4 sided album with cuts after Master Painter and Holidays, but that seems kinda excessive.

[@rudimentaal]

Needless to say I don't need this on vinyl since it is imprinted in the hardware of my brain. 🤫

[@MonotoneTim]

@@rudimentaal That you Brian?

[@rudimentaal]

@@MonotoneTim Yes, Van. How do you know? Guess I'm dumb.

[@StefanWalczak]

Still probably my favorite SMiLE mix…

[@MonotoneTim]

Thanks!

[@michaelcartwright4012]

This is quite glorious. Thanks and well done.

[@MonotoneTim]

Thanks for listening!

[@michaelcartwright4012]

I can't stop listening from 4:56 to 5:04. It's almost punk rock.

[@expandedidea]

1000% the best mix I've ever heard, at least in terms of ones that try and stray from the historical mixes. Phenomenal job. Pretty sure it would have shocked people in 1966 into confusion, lol

[@expandedidea]

Also, please uploaded the slightly tightened version! I love this thing to death.

[@MonotoneTim]

@@expandedidea Thank you! I want to say the tinkering is done, but I’ve played it so many times and keep fiddling with tiny minor things… It’s definitely a little bit better now, but most of the changes are pretty subtle. I’ll have to export the latest version and upload it somewhere. Been too lazy to chop it into individual tracks, I’ve just been listening to the single 54 minute file on repeat, haha.

[@MonotoneTim]

Actually He Gives Speeches sounds considerably tighter now than in the original upload, so look forward to that if you’re a big Speeches-fan. Actually, maybe not, I can’t tell anymore.

[@expandedidea]

@@MonotoneTim The only thing I noticed in he gives speeches is that the vocal from the pre-smiley version is not pitch matched to the instrumental from the smiley version when the instrumental comes in. A little jarring, but maybe that was your intention

[@MonotoneTim]

@@expandedidea I think it’s the Speeches instrumental, a stereo mix of Goin’ Bald with right vocals center panned and the left vocals + bongos, plus some detuned piano from the session to try and fill out the low end. Oh and the backing vocals. Don’t really have a great ear for this sorta stuff so I’m sure at least one of those things aren’t in key. I adjusted the volumes and timings and tried to make the transition a little smoother, at least. Worst case you just go “oh no” for like a minute at this part, haha.

[@lowenbad]

I thought my favorite version of this album was the fantastic “tragic life form” mix. This mix challenges that.

[@sugarscissors]

Where can one find the "tragic life form" mix?

[@lowenbad]

@@sugarscissors kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYXXZ5mFZtucj5I

[@sugarscissors]

@@lowenbad It is I, who thanks you.

[@lowenbad]

@@sugarscissors no problem. Check out his extended version of Heroes & Villains as well. It’s pretty impressive.

[@zomoskeptical]

This was great! I haven't listened to any Smile mixes in years but at one point I had downloaded a bunch, and there were a lot of neat little touches in your version that I'd never heard before. Nice work.

[@ikagura]

You're there!

[@andrewdate4955]

This is fantastic

[@testingcivilian]

Sounds really good, and I like that it ends with You're Welcome. A lot of mixes don't do that, but I always thought it made a nice closer. I actually first got into SMiLE from one of your streams years ago, so it was pretty wild to see this today.

[@niveous5392]

I spent a lot of time watching your streams when I was younger and I wanted to check in. Hope you are well!

[@cryptochan2829]

TIM HAS RETURNED?!

[@RoastedToasted0]

Excellent mix, thanks for your hard work!

[@elmostachorizo9440]

Cool cool alternate edition❤

[@JaredLekites]

Fun mix. I would do this kind of stuff for HOURS in my teens. I would ditch the C# comment at the start since the "master" of Our Prayer you have following it is not in the key of C#.

[@gangoitijavier]

amazing work! ty so much! loved Cant wait too long. That track is amazing

[@MonotoneTim]

Thanks! Can’t Wait Too Long is _I guess technically not_ a traditional Smile track, but I’ve always loved it and there was enough material in the 8 minute one from the 20/20 sessions to cut into a more streamlined version using all the most interesting parts.

[@frankbama1873]

Great job, I LOVE THIS!! 😍

[@Paul-dw2cl]

this plays pretty good

[@DrachronianDefender]

Easily one of my favorite fan mixes. So much going on, and I just love all your own unique takes on the songs. As you said, the “Brian Wilson in the studio with his stoner friends” vibe, it wouldn’t really be SMiLE without it, I couldn't agree more! Such an inspiration!!! Btw, do you think you can tell me how made these parts... 2:51 - 3:28 (I just need the groans) 5:08 - 5:19 7:27 - 7:44 ...I really enjoy these so much and want to apply them to my own SMiLE mix, but I don't want to just cut it out of yours.

[@UnderTheCovers1]

This sounds wild!

[@christianlemelin]

You did a great job, i like it!😉

[@rangergrrrl]

Your Wonderful is particularly wonderful...

[@birdman9594]

Phenomenal!

[@hpatss4966]

I feel like look, child, wonderful, and surfs up are a suite and should go at the end of the album. Now again I heard tragiclifeform’s mix first, but it’s so cohesive and in my mind you can’t put the climax in the middle of the album. The biggest issue with BWPS and The Smile Sessions in my eyes.

[@Soviethulk]

amazing

[@notoriousblt1038]

Very well done

[@tatterdemalionUK]

I'm so pleased to see this finally finished!

[@joeypm1]

I really like what you did with do you like worms

[@lonewolf1843]

I uploaded mine but it got blocked. I'm probably doing something wrong. It's my first and only video upload to youtube. I never cared about uploading. This amazing album made me do it!

[@echaczyk]

You have to think of these snippets as overdubs not separate items. Layer them on more developed parts. I also think Brian Wilson was thinking in 3 or 4 parts of music with short 10 second pieces repeated for 30 to 40 seconds. I'm thinking of Can't Wait To Long and Old Master Painter.

[@UriBosco]

This was unexpected, but it was a treat nonetheless.

[@ThaRealWildcat]

good vibrations stereo vocals??? 😁😁😁😁😁😁 fr tho this is my favourite mix of smile

[@Aurelio660]

I love you

[@MonotoneTim]

@@Aurelio660 I love you too.

[@Aurelio660]

@@MonotoneTim If possible love, put this album somewhere so I can download it and listen offline

[@chrisfarb]

What a corner he got backed into.

[@iAmNovaFilms]

“Because I’m not a coward”

[@thequester7634]

This is wonderful! Is there any way to download this lossless?

[@Bigolpete]

If you close your eyes and listen its like youre watching a @MonotoneTim stream

[@IndexLProhibitorum]

This mix makes me want to try to get air clean again.

[@lowenbad]

@11:16 Where did the vocal for “old master painter” come from?

[@MonotoneTim]

Brian sings it during the vocal session for I Know There’s an Answer, parts of which still bled through during the extraction, so I tried to mask it by Beach Boys Party!-ing it with some extra chatter and background noise in this mix.

[@lowenbad]

@@MonotoneTim woah! That’s a very cool touch!

[@johnkilo3]

You did a great job, Tim!

[@harlem9617]

wonderful mix! if you still have the file around, could you maybe provide any downloads in higher quality? separate tracks or something would be great since i was looking to organize this on apple music if its not too much trouble, thanks :)

[@jackarthurtaylor]

i love this mix! where did you get the vocals for old master painter?

[@MonotoneTim]

From the Pet Sounds recording session of I Know There’s an Answer- Brian starts goofily singing it. Thanks for listening!

[@jackarthurtaylor]

@@MonotoneTim thank you man! your mix is my favourite smile mix by far

[@theperfectcast9038]

Hey dude, don’t know if you’ll reply, but could you tell me where you got the Plymouth Rock lyrics from? Specifically “The social islands” because im sure they aren’t in Sessions or other mainstream releases

[@MonotoneTim]

They’re just the BWPS 2004 versions, extracted and sorta pitch adjusted.

[@theperfectcast9038]

@@MonotoneTim That makes sense, thanks!

[@Smileysmile67]

Damn this is good. Is it possible to have a download link?, would like to burn it on cd.

[@MonotoneTim]

Eventually, I made individual Audacity files per song but touched them up when I compiled it into the big file in the video, so I only really have a giant 54 minute file of the whole thing. Will probably touch up the individual tracks a tiny bit more and work on exporting them one by one at some point. Thanks for listening!

[@Smileysmile67]

@@MonotoneTim Thanks Mono Tim and how come Love To Say Dada doesn't include the water chant?

[@MonotoneTim]

@@Smileysmile67 Because whenever I’m listening to Smile I literally never want to play the water chant, haha.

[@Smileysmile67]

@@MonotoneTim ahh haha

[@ThatHomestar]

how did i miss this upload?

[@MonotoneTim]

A deep-seated personal hatred of me and all my creations, I assume.

[@deepbreather]

What is the meaning of missing four weeks in an episode of more than half a century? Better call it just in time instead of miss.

[@ThatHomestar]

@@MonotoneTim nonsense! i've always enjoyed seeing the ideas you put out into the world, and the amount of effort that goes into them. this seemed to just get lost in the proverbial youtube weeds, is all.

[@enesnok]

cool mix bro. But I think it is a little bit too "cluttered". I mean, it feels like you added every piece of sound into the mix whenever it's available. Still I liked how you mixed smiley smile records like "whistle in", "she's going bald"...

[@MonotoneTim]

Fair enough, it’s true! I definitely tried to use as much of the session material as I could to flesh things out, I can see how that could make it a bit busy.

[@4dultw1thj0b]

I'm sorry, it's really bothering me that you didn't get He Gives Speeches and She's Goin Bald in the same key. I like the concept of combining the songs though.

[@MonotoneTim]

@@4dultw1thj0b I can mess with it and see, I’ve definitely touched that song up a little bit from this uploaded version.

[@jonasskjtt5542]

Pretty fucking cool! Did you use any fake ai vocals?

[@MonotoneTim]

Nope, it’s all stuff from various sessions, or the 2004 version of Smile for the Do You Like Worms lead vocals, pitch-adjusted.

[@shawnfranklin9581]

Can I get a cd copy

[@thedjdarkflow]

What’s up it’s me from TBB subreddit. You think you might be able to G-Drive up this file for those of us who want to listen offline? Put your credits in the metadata of course. Subscribed.

[@MonotoneTim]

I have a tweaked version I gotta upload that I’ve been slacking on uploading (lazy to cut the tracks into individual files), but if you’re happy with a big ol 50-something minute file, I can do that p. easily. The changes aren’t massive and it’s composed about the same way as this one, but there are a couple extra little overdubs, volume adjustments, and better quality sources for different bits.

[@thedjdarkflow]

@@MonotoneTim would love that honestly. I don’t mind albums mixed as 1 track.

[@tf2fanboy]

Can someone put timestamps for all the songs please?

[@tf2fanboy]

Never mind, I did it instead.

[@aaronevans4660]

Is there a lossless version available?

[@deepbreather]

Is there a lossless comment available?

[@dougyuck]

Yo man you got a download for this?

[@Paul-dw2cl]

if someone knows of a version of Heroes & Villains that has both, “healthy, wealthy and often wise” and also “healthy, wealthy and wise.” I’d appreciate it

[@roberttrue7219]

Heroes and villains anonymuse mix

[@hangebicom]

Impressive work! Have you tried to use autotune to fit the vocals of "windchimes" part with the marimba melody?

[@MonotoneTim]

Thanks! Also, I have no idea how to use autotune, so probably not.