New song after a while.

CMolena

CMolena

Active member
Hey everyone.

I've been gone for a while, but I decided to post a mix of a song I've finished today...just to see if I improved in any point.

The song is almost John Mayer-esque and although it wasnt intended to be, it actually turned out to be cool.

Its only a demo, but I'm treating all my demos like I would treat an actual final version mix...so I ask you guys to do the same when you listen to it.

I went for a more open sounding drum kit...roomy and live. I thought it worked with the song. The guitars and bass are fine for me and as for the vocals I only put a delay, just to not sound to dry.

I've used minimal amount of EQ and compression...and I barely boosted the EQ...so what you are hearing is the exact sound I've recorded.

As always, the one who mix cant hear what the one who listen can...so I want you guys to help me with any info.

Thanks a lot.

PS: (A friend of mine thought it lacks bass...but I thought it was bassy enough...so thats another point to focus on).

Here is the link: https://soundcloud.com/caio-molena/wrong-way
 
It's promising. I like the song. The vocals need to come up. I couldn't make out the lyrics too well. You're going to need to do some EQing on your guitars to clear space for your voice. We sing in about the same vocal range, so I recognize a problem I deal with in my own music. Guitars on the lower frets will tend to get in the way of the vocals. I've almost given up playing down there anymore for that reason. That's probably an overstatement, but do I tend to play higher up the neck to stay clear of the vox and give the bass some room.

On both of your guitar solos, a lot of the bends are flat. You can hear it especially on the first solo, where the flat bend clashes audibly with chords in the background.

I noticed a little timing bobble on the intro guitar, before the drums come in.

The mix sounded dark. There were some pitch issues on the vocals here and there.

Some harmony vocals would sound great on this tune. Good job. This will sound terrific when you get it polished up.
 
What Robus said And...

It sounds cool. Nice vibe going on. Good instrumentation, good playing. I wouldn't say it's perfect as is. There still some things lacking in the mix. It seems like it could all be brighter and/or more full sounding. It sounds like the low vocals were turned up and once they get higher and more emotional it's turned down. So you've got them sitting farther back which isn't a natural sounding transition.

It's kind of hard figuring out how to get your lows as powerful as your highs, but once you do you'll spend much less time screwing with the perceived volume of the vocals though out the track. And you'll probably like your voice more as well.
 
Sounds like you have a good song to develop. It's catchy. My main crits is that I think the drums sound TOO far back. If you were going for that live sound, then you got it. If not, I think they need to be brought forward a little more.
The main guitar has a good sounding tone, but you do need to EQ so your vocals shine a little more. They are getting covered in parts.
 
Hey guys, thanks a lot for the info.

I'm still not sure what to do with the lower vocals...I thought of singing higher, but then it would make the final verse kind of boring and repetitive, I guess. So any ideas regarding that I would try. Actually I just think that I cant sing that low, maybe I could use a capo and play it in another key.

About souding dark, do you guys think its too much boomy? I do tend to darken things up...but if its too dark, its really not a good thing.

Bruthish, I went for a more live drum sound and I tried raising the drums up a little bit but then it sounded too upfront. Do you think a compressor on the drums bus would be helpful in that?
 
CMolena said:
Hey guys, thanks a lot for the info.

I'm still not sure what to do with the lower vocals...I thought of singing higher, but then it would make the final verse kind of boring and repetitive, I guess. So any ideas regarding that I would try. Actually I just think that I cant sing that low, maybe I could use a capo and play it in another key.

About souding dark, do you guys think its too much boomy? I do tend to darken things up...but if its too dark, its really not a good thing.

Bruthish, I went for a more live drum sound and I tried raising the drums up a little bit but then it sounded too upfront. Do you think a compressor on the drums bus would be helpful in that?
Click to expand...

For the dark sound just cut the low frequencies that you can't hear. Use an EQ with a bass roll off and put it on every track. Then go to each track and slide the bass roll off back and forth until it only cuts off the low frequencies you can't hear. Basically you don't want it to change the sound of the track, just getting rid of the useless frequencies that are taking up space.

The vocals are the hard part, but I'm familiar with the struggle. The game changer for me was learning to get my low vocals to be as powerful as my high vocals. I'm sure a lot of people struggle with it. I hear people who either sing their low voice soft and don't go high at all or sing high and don't go low at all, but I think it's better to work on expanding your range. Having control of the dynamics is crucial. I've even tried to extend my range to low E like on a guitar, but the lowest I can get to is G lol. I still try when I do vocal warm ups and things like that. Practicing everyday (without straining your voice) will dramatically improve your vocal. Try warming up with an instrument. I use my guitar to hear my voice matching the notes I'm playing. Helps to keep you in key. It's going to take some work, but that's part of the fun. Once you get, you GET it. :D
 
i agree that most of it seems pushed back. i would also recommend putting more emotion into the the vocals. it's something that takes awhile to learn, and I remember recording an album where I had to demonstrate to our singer how he was singing during recording as opposed to during live performances...for was nervous and lacked the emotion he normally delivered. however, when the song picks up toward the end, you really do pick it up nicely. I know it's a higher octave, but there's still a way to get the same level of emotion while singing lower. just my 2 cents.

i thought the solo was great, but the mix being so far back is the one thing holding it back for me. great song dude!

edit: i forgot you were the one who put the superchunk song up, lol. i loved it then and i'm loving it now as it kicked in after your first tune.
 
Love the tone of that guitar. Song is really good, dig the aesthetic although I get more sebadoh than john mayer (good thing imho). I'd like to hear the lead vox evened out a bit, either volume shaped or compressed. Maybe a little pitch correction if you're not opposed to that sort of thing. Really nice work.
 
Okay guys, here is what I did.

Today I wont have time to redo the vocals...so I tried to face the situation as: Lets say I have done this for a client and he doesnt think the problem is lying on his poor vocals (which is something I used to do in the past) and he dont want to record the vox again. What I did was "open" up the mix boosting a lil bit of 12k on the master bus and 5k on the vocals. I also compressed it a little more and raised the final aprto (as most of guys suggested).

I also lowered the bass volume.

Here is how it turned out: https://soundcloud.com/caio-molena/wrong-way-new-mix

(I will redo the vocals next week...I really considered all of guys opinions...I just tried to "fix" the mix as it was).

---------- Update ----------

andrushkiwt said:
i agree that most of it seems pushed back. i would also recommend putting more emotion into the the vocals. it's something that takes awhile to learn, and I remember recording an album where I had to demonstrate to our singer how he was singing during recording as opposed to during live performances...for was nervous and lacked the emotion he normally delivered. however, when the song picks up toward the end, you really do pick it up nicely. I know it's a higher octave, but there's still a way to get the same level of emotion while singing lower. just my 2 cents.

i thought the solo was great, but the mix being so far back is the one thing holding it back for me. great song dude!

edit: i forgot you were the one who put the superchunk song up, lol. i loved it then and i'm loving it now as it kicked in after your first tune.
Click to expand...

Actually the superchunk cover is from my dear friend 4tracker!!!
 
The low key of the vocals makes the melody seem monotonous and well just ok. The best part is when you add the harmonies. Have you thought of redoing it with higher vocals throughout?
Another option is doing what a lot of recent bands do.. Start with the low key for a verse, then punch it up to the higher key for the chorus. It would take away some of the droning.

The change to the mix for #2 is better, it does open up the vocals. The lower parts still seem very "close" and dry whereas everything else is sort of "roomier". I'm guessing it's because at the low volume, you have to get up on the mic to hear yourself. Try upping the headphones, step back a few inches and see how that sounds.

The rest of the instruments/drums etc are just great in my opinion, I'd just like to hear some changes to the vocals. It's a great song, just needs some tweaks for me....
 
Sounding better. This has lots of potential, still, needs more work. I am impressed when people use real drums! This sure sounds like real drums to me and I applaud your efforts!

Others who are much smarter than me can help you with the details of how to fix this mix, I just wanted to thank you for a really good try, especially the part about real drums. Nice!
 
I can hear the lyrics now. It's a step in the right direction. I'm liking the suggestion that others have made to shift the vocals up an octave earlier in the song. I still think you're running into the basic problem that the guitars and vocals are trying to occupy the same space in the mix. One of them has to give. If it were my song and I didn't want to retrack any guitars, I'd sacrifice the guitars by lowering the volume and doing some fairly radical EQ cuts, plus hard-panning them to the sides. If you want to retrack one of the guitars, I'd raise it by an octave.
 
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