Bottoms Up - Cover

FoulPhil said:
I think the vocalist needs some gentle auto tune to start with. Not so much it sounds like a hip hop song lol, but enough to make it more consistent since you're not comping vocals and it's probably 1 take.

2nd the drums need a lot of work. They sound like they are way in the back and need some power. I barley hear the bass. Now and then the toms come powering in and it's much louder than the rest of the kit. You have this bright acoustic to the left and then an electric on the right that isn't as bright or loud. Think about trying to get everything at an equal sound level and then go from there. Maybe something needs some EQ cuts or boosts. I normally start by panning and then getting it all at the same level. Then EQ what needs EQ to make it fit better and so on.
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On the vocals, they stay as they are. I told the singer he needs to listen and get it right. Next session we will be doing several takes to be able to improve on the final mix.

Acoustic Guitar, most of the problem there is that the guitar really needs to be set up. I probably made it too bright to take out some of the trash from the DI. So the fix for that is, him to fix the guitar and next time we record, I will also mic the guitar so I can get a better blended sound. For the Electric, I thought it sounded pretty decent, but the player was depending on the acoustic guitar and there are some gaps, might have to blend them a little more to get a decent mix.

Bass - I think I have a good bass track to work with, so that one is on me. Will work with it.

Drums, now that was the area I was concerned about. I go back see if I can get them improved. I thought the levels were OK, but maybe the EQ wacked them out. Will revist all and give it another go.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
Yeah I normally get myself in the position where I end up having to work with the material I have even if it's not perfect. I think with what you have you could get a very balanced mix if you use some creative compression and EQ. Start with presets and go from there.
 
FoulPhil said:
Yeah I normally get myself in the position where I end up having to work with the material I have even if it's not perfect. I think with what you have you could get a very balanced mix if you use some creative compression and EQ. Start with presets and go from there.
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That's the objective. I want them to hear where they need to fix (source, this will help them improve their live sound), but I do want to do my best and learn how to improve and give the best mix I can. So it is a balancing act.
 
DM60 said:
View attachment 89658

OK, instead of making everyone go back to the first page, here is the updated version.

It was a good recommendation to go back and just get the levels set, then go from there.

Reworked this pretty much from all starting over.
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Vocals open very mush mouth then improve... watch that they don't become too much of an"affect" in the performance...
Singer and BG vocals really need to lock in on timing together -- missing opportunity there to really knit this song together. For a live take they should be looking at each other for cues and really lock in.
Lead guitar -- missing sustain -- missing depth on the tone -- is it a real amp?

I kinda liked the performance in general - issues sure - but not too shabby for a bunch of guys in a room. Keep going -- retrack everything -- really work on performance -- but also why not play to a click and lay down bed tracks? - concentrate on getting a really good drum take (with good sounds) and a solid bass track - everything else could be scratch tracks - then take your time and track the rest after the fact. Have you considered this?
 
DogsoverLava said:
Vocals open very mush mouth then improve... watch that they don't become too much of an"affect" in the performance...
Singer and BG vocals really need to lock in on timing together -- missing opportunity there to really knit this song together. For a live take they should be looking at each other for cues and really lock in.
Lead guitar -- missing sustain -- missing depth on the tone -- is it a real amp?

I kinda liked the performance in general - issues sure - but not too shabby for a bunch of guys in a room. Keep going -- retrack everything -- really work on performance -- but also why not play to a click and lay down bed tracks? - concentrate on getting a really good drum take (with good sounds) and a solid bass track - everything else could be scratch tracks - then take your time and track the rest after the fact. Have you considered this?
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Thanks for the feedback. The point to this was to do a run as if it were live. I feel live is the opposite of studio, one take, get it right. I was focusing just on the mixing, not so much performance.
 
The mix and performance have been pretty well critiqued so I won't beat a dead horse. I'll comment on the song. I think it's a great song. I like the lyric and the chord progression. I can picture Jason Aldean or any other modern country artist cutting this song because it's as good as anything I'm hearing on the radio and better than most. Good song man.
 
jimistone said:
The mix and performance have been pretty well critiqued so I won't beat a dead horse. I'll comment on the song. I think it's a great song. I like the lyric and the chord progression. I can picture Jason Aldean or any other modern country artist cutting this song because it's as good as anything I'm hearing on the radio and better than most. Good song man.
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Jimi, this is a cover song they did. I actually like this version better than the original as the guy did it in typical country pop fashion.

Thanks for listening. Trying my chops with live instruments. For the band, I thin it opened their eyes. I think a lot more rehearsals are planned. ;)
 
DogsoverLava said:
Keep going -- retrack everything -- really work on performance -- but also why not play to a click and lay down bed tracks? - concentrate on getting a really good drum take (with good sounds) and a solid bass track - everything else could be scratch tracks - then take your time and track the rest after the fact. Have you considered this?
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I didn't comment to this part, but that is the next move. We did seven songs in three hours. Next time, and to your point, they are going to get a click and we are going to focus on a few well rehearsed songs and do multi-takes. I think now I have an idea of how to mic the drums (plus I will get a sound check first) and do better at tracking. But I did learn and look forward to doing this more with other bands.

Thanks again for the feed back.
 
DM60 said:
For the band, I thin it opened their eyes. I think a lot more rehearsals are planned. ;)
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Yeah, that's good - if they're not used to hearing themselves back, then it should be a really valuable critique of where they're loose.

The third mix is definitely the best - the vocals have a bit more presence and paring back that rattly acoustic is definitely a change for the better. The toms leapt out of the mix on the earlier versions, but I think you've addressed that on v3 too.
 
robgreen said:
Yeah, that's good - if they're not used to hearing themselves back, then it should be a really valuable critique of where they're loose.

The third mix is definitely the best - the vocals have a bit more presence and paring back that rattly acoustic is definitely a change for the better. The toms leapt out of the mix on the earlier versions, but I think you've addressed that on v3 too.
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Thanks, that is the feedback I am looking for. That poor acoustic, not really much could be done for that and without it, the song is missing a lot of support.
 
Mix 3: the vocals are better, but still a bit too strident in the loud sections. The rhythm guitars have lost all their high end on this one (they sounded better on mix 2).
 
dobro said:
Mix 3: the vocals are better, but still a bit too strident in the loud sections. The rhythm guitars have lost all their high end on this one (they sounded better on mix 2).
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Probably the reason for loosing some of the highs is due to lowering the DI's acoustic and then trying to get the balance with the electric. Comes back to what everyone says here, get the source right, the mixing is a lot easier.


I will take a look at two and three to see if I can bring the guitars back a bit. I tried to get the vocals to a more even level, between compression, and fader riding. Will take a look to see if these can improve.

I probably need to spend more time on the fader riding to get those higher volumes to even out.

Thanks for your feedback.
 
one..I don't usually reply to these songs posted in fear of insulting some . this is very good for one take. bottom end needs to be tighter. keep the reverb/delay on vocs and make that drum kit sizzle. good job though. likedit very much
 
sparky123 said:
one..I don't usually reply to these songs posted in fear of insulting some . this is very good for one take. bottom end needs to be tighter. keep the reverb/delay on vocs and make that drum kit sizzle. good job though. likedit very much
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I understand. In this case, it is about me learning to record live and not my playing, since I didn't. Next round, my focus will be on getting a better drum and bass recording. I think also I need to make sure that the bass and drum is tight together. On the final version, I did give the vocals some verb just so the voice sounded a little better, I did remove the delay as it wasn't sitting right.

I really appreciate your comments.
 
DM60 said:
Next round, my focus will be on getting a better drum and bass recording. I think also I need to make sure that the bass and drum is tight together. On the final version, I did give the vocals some verb just so the voice sounded a little better, I did remove the delay as it wasn't sitting right.
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Points to improve on: Snare sounds a bit distant, cymbals flat, and bass mirky. The vocals don't have any bite.

None of this sounds bad though, and for a 'live' feel recording it's fine. Some EQ'ing at the mastering phase might even help this come to life.

Do you know the source of the hiss? I hear it at the beginning and end, sounds almost like this was done on tape.
 
Pinky said:
Points to improve on: Snare sounds a bit distant, cymbals flat, and bass mirky. The vocals don't have any bite.

None of this sounds bad though, and for a 'live' feel recording it's fine. Some EQ'ing at the mastering phase might even help this come to life.

Do you know the source of the hiss? I hear it at the beginning and end, sounds almost like this was done on tape.
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Might have been one of the amps or the PA. I will listen again, but pretty sure it was coming from the band equipment.
 
DM60 said:
Might have been one of the amps or the PA. I will listen again, but pretty sure it was coming from the band equipment.
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Yeah, probably an amp. I've been direct-in for so long I forgot what that low level noise sounded like. lol
 
Pinky said:
Yeah, probably an amp. I've been direct-in for so long I forgot what that low level noise sounded like. lol
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There was a bass amp and a guitar amp, then there was the PA that I was catching. I split the vocals before the PA, so I am not sure how much PA hiss I got from those mics. But for sure the guitar amp had some hiss.

Thanks for the listen.
 
I like what I think is that latest version (mix NV) mainly because the vocals are nice and clear. It sounds a bit mono to me. I'm not sure what control you have over the individual elements but I would like the guitars to go wider even if you fake it (which might help the drums come down the middle). The drums generally sound too far back but the hi hat sometimes sounds close.
 
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