Any opinions on my solo acoustic songs?

hrwmusic

Your mo-o-ovin' so fast..
hey everyone, ive got some new things down and id love to hear what you think. I play my acoustic and sing, so recording is pretty simple. I record guitar with both my mxl v67g and direct line in (ovation) at the same time into "reaper." I record vocals through the 67g too, and i usually try to throw in other things to make my songs more intrusting.

I mainly would like comments on "Black and White" as it is most recent, but any comments on anything at all would be very much appreciated. :rolleyes:


thanks alot guys! Heres the link:
www.purevolume.com/harrisonweber
 
Sounds like you're a Bright Eyes fan, yes?

I listened to Black & White, so all of these comments are based on that.


You have some nice ideas in there, songwriting-wise. I like some of the lyrics.

You've got a very nice tone to your voice (reminds me of Conor Oberst a bit), but you need to be careful of your pitch, because you go out of tune here and there quite a bit. This will get better the more you practice. Try recording the melody on the guitar and then record yourself singing with it. Listen very closely to the result to hear where you're not quite on pitch.

The guitar sounds a little on the dull side. You might try changing the mic position to capture a little more of the highs.

Anyway, keep it up. I think you've got something going. It just needs to be polished up a bit more, and I think you need to gain a little more experience in your singing.

good luck!
 
famous beagle said:
Sounds like you're a Bright Eyes fan, yes?



You've got a very nice tone to your voice (reminds me of Conor Oberst a bit), but you need to be careful of your pitch, because you go out of tune here and there quite a bit. This will get better the more you practice. Try recording the melody on the guitar and then record yourself singing with it. Listen very closely to the result to hear where you're not quite on pitch.

The guitar sounds a little on the dull side. You might try changing the mic position to capture a little more of the highs.

good luck!
Thanks for the response man, i did listen to bright eyes alittle while back. My other songs aren't generally as "dark" as that one is, like "Blue Jeans and a Brown Collared Shirt". I know im still new to keeping in pitch, i think that part of the reason im out of it at times is because that is one song that requires alot of pushing. But good ear for catchin' that man, it may be obvious, but its atleast hard to catch for me.

Im alittle confused by this: Try recording the melody on the guitar and then record yourself singing with it. Listen very closely to the result to hear where you're not quite on pitch.

I record my guitar, and then record my vocals while listening to my guitar (melody) through my headphones.


"You might try changing the mic position to capture a little more of the highs."
any suggestions on how to do this. Im not sure if ive already said this, but i record with my v67g and with my guitar (ovation) pluged in directly at the same time. I try to mix the two and lessen the overly bright sound, but do you think i should embrace it more? i postion my mic around 4-6 inches away from my 12th fret. But thats really meant to capture the warmth of it.


-----sorry for asking so much, thanks for your help!


EDIT: Yeah! I just checked it out again and remembered the aweful, and i mean aweful pitch problem in the second line in the introduction. Yeah, ive been planning on just cutting that out and just re-recording that one line. Come to think of it, i really should. sorry about that man, i'm usually never that off.
 
hrwmusic said:
Thanks for the response man, i did listen to bright eyes alittle while back. My other songs aren't generally as "dark" as that one is, like "Blue Jeans and a Brown Collared Shirt". I know im still new to keeping in pitch, i think that part of the reason im out of it at times is because that is one song that requires alot of pushing. But good ear for catchin' that man, it may be obvious, but its atleast hard to catch for me.

Im alittle confused by this: Try recording the melody on the guitar and then record yourself singing with it. Listen very closely to the result to hear where you're not quite on pitch.

I record my guitar, and then record my vocals while listening to my guitar (melody) through my headphones.


"You might try changing the mic position to capture a little more of the highs."
any suggestions on how to do this. Im not sure if ive already said this, but i record with my v67g and with my guitar (ovation) pluged in directly at the same time. I try to mix the two and lessen the overly bright sound, but do you think i should embrace it more? i postion my mic around 4-6 inches away from my 12th fret. But thats really meant to capture the warmth of it.


-----sorry for asking so much, thanks for your help!


EDIT: Yeah! I just checked it out again and remembered the aweful, and i mean aweful pitch problem in the second line in the introduction. Yeah, ive been planning on just cutting that out and just re-recording that one line. Come to think of it, i really should. sorry about that man, i'm usually never that off.

What I meant with the singing along with the guitar line is this: Record your rhythm guitar part first (guitar 1). Then overdub the melody that you're going to be singing, except play it with a guitar (like an "instrumental" version of the song) (guitar 2). Then finally overdub your vocal so that you'll be singing along with guitar 2. As long as you're not bending any notes and as long as the guitar is tuned properly, that should be a good reference against which to reference your pitch.


Regarding the dark guitar sound, have you changed the strings on your guitar lately? That may have something to do with it. Generally, SDC mics (small diaphram condenser) work a little better on acoustic guitar. If you can afford one of those, it would be a good investment. Look into an Octava MC-012, or Studio Projects makes some good ones too. I got my Octava for about $80. You have to be careful with those though because there are some cheaper Chinese knock-off versions out there. There are some sites out there that tell you how to spot the difference.

Otherwise, if you're stuck with the LDC for the condenser, you could try blending more of the direct sound in (I couldn't even detect it) or maybe adding some EQ. If you've got the patience for it, it will be really beneficial to record many short takes of something with different mic positions each time to see what sounds best. Another popular mic position (besides the 12th fret one you used) is about 6 or 8 inches out from the bridge. But everyone's guitar is different, and when you combine that with the room, mic, preamp, etc., there's lot of room for variation. Many times experimentation will produce the best results.

good luck!
 
"What I meant with the singing along with the guitar line is this: Record your rhythm guitar part first (guitar 1). Then overdub the melody that you're going to be singing, except play it with a guitar (like an "instrumental" version of the song) (guitar 2). Then finally overdub your vocal so that you'll be singing along with guitar 2. As long as you're not bending any notes and as long as the guitar is tuned properly, that should be a good reference against which to reference your pitch."

wow, nice idea man.

And i've been trying to keep the direct in guitar sound much lower than my other one. I really have been doing that because theres so much string noise with my ovation. But i messed around and like it better brighter.
 
i like bright eyes:)
i like ur music too,
the thing in "black and white" with the in and out maybe reverse guitar thing, reminds me a LOT of john frusciantes solo work...

i like:D
 
Not bad man, I agree with the previous comments about pitch. Guitar work sounds good though. Sounds like you might need a string change...

Keep us posted on more songs!
 
Nice style

I like the songs , and you know about the pitch problems, but kudos to singing it in the first place! I'm afraid to sing anything at all! The recording is nice and clear, clean. The dynamics need to be leveled out a bit in my opinion. Sometimes your voice overpowers the song, and then at other points the guitar does the same. Listened to all the songs, and your style is very nice. Keep up the good work!
Jason
 
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