"Advance Machine" Rock/Pop

J

jjtcorsair

New member
Hey everyone, it's been awhile since I've posted. I would love any input on the mix of this new song of mine. It's not mastered, just a first mix. It's a guitar based rock song in case you are not into that style and don't want to waste your time.

http://www.esnips.com/web/jjtmusic/

Click on "Advance Machine" which should take you to a page that loads an mp3 player and begins playing back. Let me know if the link is wonky.

Thank you!
 
The beginning evoked a bit of the start of 'overture' on 2112. I liked the guitars and the bass - the way they aren't competing for space. The bass is definitely not boomy. Drums are just a little bit wimpy sounding. To motorcycle could be a little more dominant in both the intro and at the end.

I thought the vocals were a little dominant in my headphones.

Really good stuff. It'll be interesting to heare it mastered......
 
Kraley,

Thanks a lot for listening and the compliments. I was going for a Rush sound with the guitar and bass. I had a feeling about the vocals being too loud but I was fighting the instinct to turn them down. I have a hard time liking my voice so usually they are too low and everyone says "turn 'em up". Now I can "turn 'em down" Fantastic. I hadn't thought of the drums being wimpy but I think you're right. I pushed them. I also generally tweaked everything else since I can't leave well enough alone.

The new version is posted now.
 
I liked it - very 38 Special -ish (intro) ...or Boston (solo). Well written and played. Pro sounding mix. I really would like to know your vocal chain, it's pretty sweet. Considering this isn't mastered it's pretty hot, comparatively. Cool stuff.....!:cool::D:cool::D
 
Good job.

Yeah, the guitar and bass sound really good together. They really make the song.

It might help to boost the drums a little, but I'd say not too much.
 
To my ear everything sounds pretty good level wise. I'd say leave the drums the way they are. You don't want the drums to overwhelm the mix. Can't really hear anything that stands out as something I'd want to change. Love the guitar work.
 
Ido, Vomithat, Guitar zero...

Thank you so much for listening and commenting. I'm really glad you like it. You know how it is... you work on something for a long time and after awhile you have absolutely no idea what it is. It really helps to have fresh ears listening.

Vomithat, I boosted the drums and added a little more punch to the kick after Kraley's post. I might add a little more snap to the snare.

guitar zero, thanks for the compliments on the guitar work. That's kind of my thing, I write and record so I can play a solo!

Ido, I love that you think it sounds like those power pop bands. Classic rock is my wheel house. As for my vocal chain, it's nothing special. The lead vocals are doubled and have a bit of compression and a short delay. I add in some reverb and a longer delay at the end of some of the lines. The chorus vocals just have some compression, some eq to diminish the lower mids buildup and some verb.
 
I personally think the drums are plenty loud and well mixed, unless I'm hearing the remixed version. My thought is that I would have mixed the vocals a little bit louder, but I think the rest of it sounds exactly as you had intentioned.

I guess the vocal performance for me was the only thing keeping it from sounding flawless. Singer sounds fine, but I think most well produced songs go through a million takes to get the perfect vocal recording, and it sounds like you were not as picky. So yeah, I guess a few minor dynamics and timing issues on the vocals are the only thing holding it back.
 
Bozmillar, thanks for listening and commenting. You were listening to an updated mix with drums louder. As for the vocals, yep, it's my achilles heel. I tend to blow through them. I wasn't too sure about the melody I'd written so I did a perfunctory job. I might need to take some time and let the melody sink in and then do some more vocal passes.
 
Very Good.

Thanks for sharing.

I have no problems with this mix. Guitar sounds especially good, and the vocals sound better than most that I hear.
 
Incanus, thanks for the compliments, that does wonderous things for my ego. I'm very self conscious of my voice.

Vomithat, thanks for listening AGAIN. I'm busy narrowing down mics for my snare fart recording. I hope you like it.

I really appreciate everyones input. You guys are awesome. While tweaking the mix something kept bothering me. Lately, I've been double tracking my guitar parts and panning them hard left and hard right. For the most part I really like that sound, but... it's been starting to bug me. Andy Sommers of the Police said something about recording the exact same thing more than once is a waste. Now, I don't agree with that entirely but it has been eating at me. Long story short... I got rid of one of my main guitar parts, panned the remaining one mid left and panned the lead vocals mid right. I really like it. Most everything else is the same except now there's more air in the mix.

Thanks again for all your comments.
 
Awright....I can see how you made more space and I kindof like it too, but now that you have created that space I felt like the bass needed to be put a little more front and centre - what do you think?

You also might want to try putting at least SOMETHING over on the right (I think Ted Templeton used to use just the reverb send of the the guitar track over hard right when he recorded Van Halen this way).

It still rocks.....
 
I'm rocking out on the intro.

Great guitar playing. Vocals can come up a little bit, and some compression could give them a little more presence.
 
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