[SOLVED] Only r&b genre lovers please respond

How good is the mix?

  • Excellent- No Changes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Very Poor - Quit Making Music

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    4
  • Poll closed .
I think there's too much reverb, for one. The vocal is much too up front and bordering on hard to listen to. I can also hear the room sound in the vocal. How are you recording them? The music is much better, as far as the mix goes. The vocal does not fit in the mix.

Also, how are you processing them? It almost sounds like you had drastic level variations in the vox but you didn't apply any manual volume editing and only relied on heavy compression.

Tell us more about how the vocals are recorded/processed. There's a good, catchy melody under there, just get it to work as a mix a little better.
 
also, no point in only wanting r&b listeners to respond. 1. there aren't many here. you'd minimize your responses in an already struggling forum. 2. it's good to get feedback across the spectrum, no matter the genre. You'd be wise to know what any music lover would think about the mix.
 
I think there's too much reverb, for one. The vocal is much too up front and bordering on hard to listen to. I can also hear the room sound in the vocal. How are you recording them? The music is much better, as far as the mix goes. The vocal does not fit in the mix.

Also, how are you processing them? It almost sounds like you had drastic level variations in the vox but you didn't apply any manual volume editing and only relied on heavy compression.

Tell us more about how the vocals are recorded/processed. There's a good, catchy melody under there, just get it to work as a mix a little better.

WOW ANDRUSHKIWT; It was like you were reading my entire mix and here in my studio next to me the whole time. Your reply was quite refreshing and the best reply I have ever received. Thank you!

It is a pre recorded mp3 beat plus added vocals, and I tried my best to push the vocals to match the beat, I do not record in a treated room it is simply my second room attached to my studio. How do I keep my room noise from affecting the mix? Also you say the vocal is much too upfront and I agree, the client wanted it that way however. When I first mixed the song it had more balance, but in an effort to please the client I pushed the vocals up. Any other insights you can provide? Any good aspects in the mix?

Also I have a new mix, is it any better, same process... So Hollow - DJ DAN - Clyp
 
I don't think I provided any kind of in depth analysis...I think most guys will tell you the same about the vocal.

I can't listen to the remix until later this week. Sorry. For the original mix you posted, I listened again in my car on the way to work and I can say the biggest issue seems to be the level inconsistency. Instead of pushing the vocal up and holding it with compression, get in there and manually edit the gain on the vocal. On the waveform itself. Its the only way to even out inconsistencies. You should also make sure you are splitting the vocals into separate channels. Verse on one channel, chorus on another, harmony on another etc...and then routing them all to a vocal bus. The bus will apply general compression and your reverb and delay. But getting each vocal onto its own track will make it easier for volume issues. But don't forget to manually edit each word if needed. If one word is too loud, don't nudge the whole track...just bring that words volume down. You could easily spend hours doing this...but that's the tradeoff. It'll be worth it in the end.

I'd also use a diff kick or remove some added top end to it...its kinda bounceyball sounding. Too much click.
 
I liked it. It also sounds like you maybe had a hard limiter on it. Maybe after following the advice given above, you may want to see about using a peak limiter with a soft knee approach. Just so ya know, I am a Pink Floyd kinda guy but I can get into some Marvin Gaye as well. You got a smooth set of pipes Brother. I could listen to you with the wife sitting next to me, chilling under some candle light!
 
I liked it. It also sounds like you maybe had a hard limiter on it. Maybe after following the advice given above, you may want to see about using a peak limiter with a soft knee approach. Just so ya know, I am a Pink Floyd kinda guy but I can get into some Marvin Gaye as well. You got a smooth set of pipes Brother. I could listen to you with the wife sitting next to me, chilling under some candle light!

HAHA, MACK you're a funny guy, Thanks so much for some positive comments. I love constructive criticism, but when people can find some goodness in the music even with a few technical issues, it means the world to hear it. Those sweet vocals do not belong to me, but I will let the artist know of your nice comments... Thank you Mack!
 
Well, you can have a great singer and a lousy mixer and sound like crap. You can have a so so singer with a great mixer and sound great. Keep up the Great Work!!
 
Andrush already covered the major things. It's pretty obvious that you were layering vocals on a pre-mixed track.
The lead vocal is too loud, and he's clearly in a different room than the rest of the band.
He's also pitchy in a few places.

Assuming you don't have a really good condenser mic and a large hall to record in to get natural reverb that matches the track, your best bet is to probably put him in as dead of a room as you can find (pile up a bunch of quilts or rugs or whatever to absorb sound), close-mic him with a dynamic, make sure that you're not getting any room noise in the track, and then apply a really good reverb after.
 
Andrush already covered the major things. It's pretty obvious that you were layering vocals on a pre-mixed track.
The lead vocal is too loud, and he's clearly in a different room than the rest of the band.
He's also pitchy in a few places.

Assuming you don't have a really good condenser mic and a large hall to record in to get natural reverb that matches the track, your best bet is to probably put him in as dead of a room as you can find (pile up a bunch of quilts or rugs or whatever to absorb sound), close-mic him with a dynamic, make sure that you're not getting any room noise in the track, and then apply a really good reverb after.

ALSO GREAT POINTS STEVE THANK YOU... Dynamic mic was the best choice instead of recording him with a really good condensor mic (Lewitt LCT240) I will try that next time for sure.... Hey steve can you critique my latest mix please @ DJ DAN - So Hollow by GBJ ProductionZ | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Because I used the same process and mic on the mix, but with a different result, at least I hope....
 
I'm hearing the same thing the other guys are hearing. The vocal is much dryer and out front.

The singer has a nice sounding voice. But he's pitchy in quite a few spots. I also thought he over-did the vibrato. If it were me, I'd have him practice and try for a better performance (if possible of course). The backing vocals were over-performed in a few spots - again just my opinion.
 
Listening again, you just need to rerecord the vocal. I don't know if you can get the mix you want with the recording provided. Take your time in capturing a better sounding raw vocal. It'll make mixing it easier. Really good catchy song, do it justice and get another, cleaner, clearer vocal. Keep the singer a consistent distance from the mic. Use a good, padded/treated room. Pop filter. etc..
 
Thanks Again to everyone who responded,
I am learning so much from all of your input.
Yeah so valuable thank you
 
The other song has the same basic issues plus some sibilants on the vox. It's a little less pronounced.

Your biggest challenge (and where you'll see the most "bang for your buck" in terms of improvement) is going to be matching the tone of the vocal tracks to the pre-mixed backing tracks. That setup doesn't have a lot of wiggle room to fix things (say, if one of the instruments in the track steps on the vocal's frequencies). But if you can get the vocals and the track to sound like they actually came from the same studio, it will do a lot to improve the overall cohesiveness of your mixes.
 
Your biggest challenge (and where you'll see the most "bang for your buck" in terms of improvement) is going to be matching the tone of the vocal tracks to the pre-mixed backing tracks.

Grena1 - to solve the problem VHS mentions, I would read up on Impulse reverbs. Get an impulse reverb plugin (if you don't already have one), find impulse files (free ones are all over the web), and experiment with different sounds. IMO it would be your best bet (on a budget) to match your recorded vocals with pre-recorded backing tracks.

Anyway, that's how I would do it.
 
I didn't catch what parts of this you are able to control individually--just the vocals, or some of the instrumental tracks too? Regarding the vocals others have covered it already. Your vocals need to sit in the mix, not above it, and the vocalists need more support from the backing tracks to give their best performances.
 
I didn't catch what parts of this you are able to control individually--just the vocals, or some of the instrumental tracks too? Regarding the vocals others have covered it already. Your vocals need to sit in the mix, not above it, and the vocalists need more support from the backing tracks to give their best performances.

Bingo.
 
Andrushkiwt I am not sure if I can fix it... I have no control over the music, it is a wave single filed instrumental, So I don't know how to fix the vocal from being on top and not in the mix, or is it even worth going back in, IDK so lost right now, I have been making music for over 5 years and I am still not getting it right, very troubling.
 
Grena1 - to solve the problem VHS mentions, I would read up on Impulse reverbs. Get an impulse reverb plugin (if you don't already have one), find impulse files (free ones are all over the web), and experiment with different sounds. IMO it would be your best bet (on a budget) to match your recorded vocals with pre-recorded backing tracks.

Anyway, that's how I would do it.

Ok I am reading up on this impulse thing... it sounds interesting, but still How will this improve the vocals or the mix?
 
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