Can you guys tell me if this sounds okay?

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
https://soundcloud.com/nolanso1/soundtrack-song

i recorded it on bad equipment because i don't have much. do you think i need to buy equipment and make it "cleaner"? how is the mix?

the lyrics are on the soundcloud page if it's confusing what i'm saying i feel like it might be because my speech isn't clear even when i talk in day to day life it's not

thanks for listening and giving feedback nice people.

update: here is the retracked after getting feedback: https://soundcloud.com/nolanso1/soundtrack-take-2
 
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Well it needs some work. There are out of tune guitars and timing mistakes. There are vocal pitch problems.

Everything is getting slammed so hard by the limiting it's really distorting things in a non-ear-pleasing way.

Take the limiter(s) off. Retrack with guitars that are in tune. See what you have then.
 
I like it...I like the vibe a lot! But I'm a lo-fi fan, as you probably know by now.

The volume is really high...I dont like things that loud, but I did enjoyed the loud and piercing guitar.

For me the only real ISSUE was the loud volume overall. Mixing is really subjective and I think for what you've aimed...you did a good job.
 
That 3M said. Bass sounds okay. I couldn't tell if the guitar was out of tune or just playing something out of key, but in any case needs retracking. The vocal is a bit dirge-like and has pitch problems. Take care of the guitars. Retrack the vocals, focusing on enunciating the lyrics and getting closer to pitch. You can use Melodyne or something similar if needed. If possible, inject a bit of life into the vocals. You might also want to look at the song composition and try to vary it a bit. It seems to drag.
 
Not sure what you were after here. Very lo-fi sound. Hard to make sense of the lyric. I think everyone's pretty on mark with the first steps you'll need to follow.

I really liked Salubrity. I think if you are capable of that level, what we are hearing is semi-intentional. So, after retracking the vocals, you should probably give them a little more space and volume so they actually are understood. :)

It is a bit tedious.
 
hi guys. sorry i stunk up the joint. i redid it and took everyone into consideration. but my neighbor was home so i couldn't sing loud. Can you let me know how this one is compared to the other? I can't decide if i want the song to be mellow or raucous i guess that's more a production question than engineering but maybe you can give an opinion of the two styles.

https://soundcloud.com/nolanso1/soundtrack-take-2
 
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What happened to the sound in the original link? Is that how it actually sounded at first?

If so, then I am befuddled as to what I would have said about it and to what others already stated.

Either the link is toast or I have something crazy on my end... Or that is what you were going for?...:eek:

Either way, I find the latest version to be quite pleasing. I do personally find the vocal to be extremely out of pitch, but at the same time it kind of works in a 'style' way. The guitars are out of tune as well, so somehow it has some kind of intentional loose vibe to it. If that (vibe) is even a word...
 
jimmys69 said:
What happened to the sound in the original link? Is that how it actually sounded at first?

If so, then I am befuddled as to what I would have said about it and to what others already stated.

Either the link is toast or I have something crazy on my end... Or that is what you were going for?...:eek:

Either way, I find the latest version to be quite pleasing. I do personally find the vocal to be extremely out of pitch, but at the same time it kind of works in a 'style' way. The guitars are out of tune as well, so somehow it has some kind of intentional loose vibe to it. If that (vibe) is even a word...
Click to expand...

hi jimmy

the original was how i wanted it at the time kind of lo-fi and raucous. but then as i played the song more i thought it sounded pretty clean so i made a new version too. the first one was on an old 4 track with everything DI (even the distorted guitar is just the di input jacked all the way up) and the second one was on my friend's 8 track with real amps so that might explain some of it.

i don't know what i can do about the vocal because my friend took his 8 track machine back and said he was going to record over my reel because he has stuff to record so i'm stuck with it. a friend of mine is a good singer do you think if i have my friend do a background vocal in tune it would help cover up my pitchy vocal? i dunno my friend said to just leave it because he said the timbre is fine and it sounds like lou reed, but he is my friend so i'm not sure if i can trust him. if i redo the whole track it will have to be with amp sims because he took all the equipment so i don't know if i'm better with real instruments and pitchy vocal or amp sims and try to redo a better vocal.

thanks for listening to both tho that helps to have someone do that and then give me advice. so i guess you think the 2nd arrangement is better and i should do less raucous?
 
Cool. I like that second mix the best of anything I've heard from you. Is that the same song we heard before? This is promising. Things to improve:

-- That guitar chording toward the end is out of tune and too loud.
-- Composition needs a change up somewhere, or chorus or bridge.
-- The drums could be more lively and human.
 
Robus said:
Cool. I like that second mix the best of anything I've heard from you. Is that the same song we heard before? This is promising. Things to improve:

-- That guitar chording toward the end is out of tune and too loud.
-- Composition needs a change up somewhere, or chorus or bridge.
-- The drums could be more lively and human.
Click to expand...

thanks for liking it best yet robus.yeah it's the same song just clean now with notes instead of chords. the out of tune guitar at the end - i know what you are talking about there- but that was kind of an homage to yo la tengo they are one of my favorite bands and always hit that out of tune chord and i like it and them so i just went with it. i wish i could make the drums more human but all i had was an alesis sr 16 so that's what i had to use. i barely know how to program it especially in 6/8 i kind of envisioned open sounding jazz drums when i was making the clean version.

thanks for listening to both and giving good input. maybe someone on the forum will want to drum on it to make it human if anyone wants to please write me thanks.

i'd also like to know if there are any tricks to make my voice less pitchy now that my master is ruined. i know my friend recorded tonight and probably taped over it. so would adding a 2nd vocal in key help or just sound weird? would it be better to use a different singer and put them in the background in key? any tips on how to help that vocal? i will have to try it out but i'd like to hear what real engineers would do if they couldn't redo it.

oh well i better sleep now thanks for helping. hopefully one day i'll know enough to return the help
 
I am going to be completely honest. I clicked your link yesterday before anyone else responded and had written out a response telling you to turn down and tune the guitars. But I knew I had heard other stuff from you and investigated a little before posting a reply. What you had put out before compared to what you posted yesterday I thought maybe you were joking around and deliberately posted something that was not so stellar. Not trying to offend you but it was pretty bad.

But your new version is what it needed...you made a 180 degree turn around on it and it sounds really good. Your vocals match it well. Singing at low volume actually helped you because I think it put more emotion into it. Getting rid of the fuzzy over-distorted guitar was a great move. Great sound engineers can make crappy equipment sound good. So don't worry about having great equipment. Worry more about writing, composition, and being in perfect tune all the time. You can slowly get better mics and I recommend getting a DAW and a drum sim like addictive drums. It will change your life I promise. Good job
 
Your voice seems a little like Bob Dylan - as in you couldn't decide if you should sing it or speak it. There don't seem to be many rules nowadays on what is acceptable, but if we look at pitch and rhythm, it's needs work - irrespective of genre of the day, out of tune instruments and vocals are not going to cut it. The first loud and distorted version I did think was a joke, then the repaired version just sounded wrong. The vocal in the mix was just a mumble. I really don't know how to assess it. On any criteria I dream up, it scores poorly. The song itself might be OK, but musically and technically, there are just too many things wrong with it. I tried to find some good areas to comment on, but to say it needs some work really doesn't indicate quality in any form I can think of. Sorry - but I smiled, for sadly the wrong reasons.

If you can hear these things and know how to fix them, there's hope, but if you think the tuning is OK, then that's more of a problem.
 
I listened to the second mix. It sounds good to me, I really like it. The sort of solo strums at the end, I think that guitar could be pushed down a bit, maybe a little compressed (maybe?) that's the only thing I noticed. The drum and bass sound really nice. The guitars have character, I think you have a great aesthetic going here.

Edit: Just read your post about having someone else sing, I hope you don't. I don't care about the pitch that much, I didn't even notice if it was off.

I think we're all talking material/arrangement now, no one seems to find any mud or fatiguing qualities, that sort of thing about the mix, I think that's a really good sign regarding the mix.
 
Yeah dude, this is great. too much focus on perfection by some maybe...but that just isn't what this type of music calls for. It's not supposed to be perfect everywhere throughout...that's intentional. I think "what the artist wants and intends" is frequently overlooked.

Only thing is that the drums might come up just a touch..i think they're good lower, but just a hair up might fill out the outro. I also was hoping for a better ending - maybe where everything falls on the root chord and a cymbal or two decays slowly. Very cool though.
 
I read a little of some of the other comments and I don't agree with most of them. This would be the kind of song I would throw away, but I write a ton of songs and out of that I'm lucky if I get a few good songs. It doesn't have to be perfect, but to me it sounds like it drones on and on and doesn't do much of anything else. There aren't any highlights and nothing to keep me interested. I listened to it twice and there isn't any energy or an outstanding performance anywhere to make it worth saving. It's just like 3 minutes of nothing much going on. Not trying to sound harsh. Just keep making music and you'll eventually get it :D
 
thanks andru and easlern and brutish. that's okay you don't like it phil and rob i kinda agree the vocals need more life and better tuning so i will probably redo it maybe i will up the tempo a little and experiment how that sounds and maybe even add a new part in the middle to spruce up the arrangement. i think those are all good suggestions.
 
Quick fixes:
Guitars are too loud, try lowering their overall volume;
Bass has a decent tone but doesn't have much of a thickness to it. It's almost like it is just another guitar only playing the low E string. Maybe try boosting the 160 hz area some.
There are some hisses in your vocal, for example around the 2:13 area there is a loud S hiss on "stay" - d'esser could fix that pretty easily.

Things that may take a little more time:
Percussion: Snare needs some more punch to it; Maybe try a little reverb on the hihat to not have it has attention grabbing; seems lifeless (no change ups, and just has that loop feel to it.

Nice playing and vocal track! Overall it's a great tune just needs some polishing.
 
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