Lack of Light

Stratomaster

Stratomaster

Active member
I've been recording this song all week and just started making mixes today, already i'm starting to ^#$%^ up what was sounding good during recording. So maybe some outside ears would be helpful. I am reluctantly singing again which is one obvious problem but besides the pitchiness do the vocals sound too out front? They seemed to sit better pre-mp3. I recorded a bunch of backup vocals, recording with reverb recorded on separate tracks-this was a fun approach as being able to resonate the reverb helped in performing the parts i believe. Eventually i had a thick soup of low end which sounded great but didn't translate well. The present mix i rolled off starting around 60hz, there was alot of action there and i feel i may have gutted the mix a bit. Also structurally the bridge part seems iffy, i tried to play slide but couldn't play the parts clean enough so just did the little figure sans slide...Does that section work? Any ideas on how that bridge may be spiced up? Those are my main concerns, any other comments or criticisms would be welcome, i'll continue mixing this over the weekend and will take any comments into account. Thanks for your time!

Strat

lack of light by NovaBasa | Nova Basa | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
Overall I thought it sounded pretty nice.

The guitars are just slightly covering the vocal. I'd nudge them back just a bit. A doubled vocal would sound nice. Maybe compress the vocal just a bit harder and give it a slight boost in the 5K - 6K range.

I'd like to hear a little more snare. Just a 1-2 db boost. The cymbals are used a bit too sparingly IMO.
 
Love the backup vocal harmonies on this. They sit nice.

I think it could use a little more low end- you really took something away there. Why not try removing it from all your tracks except bass git and bass drum?
 
Thanks for listening and the suggestions. I did a remix and used your ideas...

-I was already adding a bump to the vocals at around 3k but tried 5k and liked it, also backed the vocals down and adjusted compression.
-Added a few more cymbal hits (to spice up the bridge part) and a tambourine on every 4th beat.
-Brought up the backing vocals in general but fixed a few spots where they stuck out too much.
-Did not roll as much bass off just a small filter starting around 30-40 hz

The bass may be too loud?-sounds good on my stereo but haven't tried the car. So here's mix 2

Thanks for the good suggestions!

Strat

lack of light2 by NovaBasa | Nova Basa | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
I think it sounds really good. I agree that the vocal is just,a tad buried in spots. The guitars sound fantastic IMO.
Great recording!
 
I don't really have any criticism of this mix (1st one). It's a good mix with everything sounding balanced.
The vibe is airy and good due to the vocal. I guess the only thing I'd say is I wish it built up a bit more with tension as it moved along, even if just subtle. But that gets more into composition and dynamics. I'm dying to throw in some chords from out of key to create a build up in it during the back half.
 
Last edited:
I like the clarity on the vocal on the 2nd mix better. But it's getting covered by the guitars in spots in this mix. Just here and there parts of lines get lost in the guitars. I didn't notice that in the 1st mix. Did you raise the level of the rhythm guitars?
 
It's promising. Vocal could come up. I agree Nola's comment above that it needs to build tension or go somewhere. It starts to sound plodding. The lead guitar could doing something more ambitious. For example the section that begins at 1:07. It's a nice guitar riff, but you just repeat it several times without development. It's a missed opportunity to put some excitement in an arrangement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top