The Sun Lies - alternative pop, mix thoughts?

Yes thats right i joined in 2008 and then for the past 9 years i was so busy i could never get a chance to sit down and listen to anything and post a reply my inexperience shows as i posted twice by mistake ,i am just trying to figure out how you got your sound and what your set up consists of sorry if your offended by my compliment .:yawn::yawn: you see i am old school and have yet to delve into pro tools and that kind of stuff i thought that perhaps you played the drums as well who knows ! i am a newbie after all
i dont know .i would like to upload a tune or two for you to listen to but i dont even know how to do that so thats why i am here ....
to learn so if you can help i appreciate it very much if you have no time for me thats ok .
 
niallsimonkeogh said:
Yes thats right i joined in 2008 and then for the past 9 years i was so busy i could never get a chance to sit down and listen to anything and post a reply my inexperience shows as i posted twice by mistake ,i am just trying to figure out how you got your sound and what your set up consists of sorry if your offended by my compliment .:yawn::yawn: you see i am old school and have yet to delve into pro tools and that kind of stuff i thought that perhaps you played the drums as well who knows ! i am a newbie after all
i dont know .i would like to upload a tune or two for you to listen to but i dont even know how to do that so thats why i am here ....
to learn so if you can help i appreciate it very much if you have no time for me thats ok .
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alright, apologies. It seemed like a suspicious account.

Aside from electric guitar, electric bass, and a condenser mic, everything else is within the computer. I write MIDI drums with Superior Drummer 2 and record everything with a Scarlett Focusrite 2i2 into my DAW, Studio One 2 Pro. I use mostly stock plugins and some excellent freebies. If I do it all right, I don't ever have to leave my nice leather office chair :) well, beside vocals, which I do in the basement surrounded by thick blankets on all 4 sides, and behind a reflection screen and pop filter.

The guitar is a 2001 Gibson Studio Gothic, apparently rare. It's the most expensive piece of the puzzle, around $600 used. I have a $200 Stagg bass, and a $99 Sterling ST51 mic. I mix with headphones and frequently check the mix in multiple systems, as well as bug a handful of ppl here on mix critiques, in private and in this forum. Monitors are on the "to-buy" list. Yamaha HS8's, specifically. As well as room treatment once I move next month.

The guitars and bass are plugged directly into an interface and then processed through Amplitube. I double track any guitars that are heavy rhythms. I have the official Mesa Boogie package although I've only been using the Dual Rectifier amp heads, really. I prefer some of the other cabinets I purchased separately in Amplitube. I select two mics for the 4x12's, one being a dynamic and the other a condenser, then blend the sound. Same for bass. The bass amp is the official Ampeg SVT Pro with matching cab. Those mics are much further away from the speaker than the guitar mics.

All this is done on a $600 HP notebook laptop. I could use more processing power, as I frequently max out my DAW's processing abilities once I load up 5-6 amp sims, virtual drums, synths, and dozens of plugins.

Apologies again, and thanks for the listen and comment. Let me know if I can give you any more info. :thumbs up:
 
It sounds fantastic as usual with your recordings and mixes. Anything to improve it would be beyond my limited mixing skill, so any suggestions from me would be pointless.. Great song!
 
Wow....I need to get out more often...(and spend some time listening in the clinic)

Dude really well done song...very pro in all aspects....Obviously a perfectionist as you are still not happy with it but seriously it is radio ready as it is....you can always do remixes ...

Just a good tune with great musicianship and vocals....:guitar:.....:thumbs up:

I guess there may be a hint of Oasis in the vocals......that isn't a bad thing as they kind of were a big deal at some point in time
 
TAE said:
Wow....I need to get out more often...(and spend some time listening in the clinic)

Dude really well done song...very pro in all aspects....Obviously a perfectionist as you are still not happy with it but seriously it is radio ready as it is....you can always do remixes ...

Just a good tune with great musicianship and vocals....:guitar:.....:thumbs up:

I guess there may be a hint of Oasis in the vocals......that isn't a bad thing as they kind of were a big deal at some point in time
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thanks TAE. That means a lot, really. But yeah, still more work to do. Thanks man
 
Tars, you seem to really have found your groove in recording and mixing. The stuff you have been putting up lately has been radio worthy. This one is no different. Reminds me of Goo-Goo Dolls. Mainstream. I think you would do well on I-Tunes. and mixing is NEVER done....just do the best you can and submit. You will always think something can be done better here or there and you will never release. Just get it out there!
 
andrushkiwt said:
I was just talking about this with some other members. How would anyone ever know it's there or see it? I'm terrible at marketing myself.
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As you know its a hard hard business. Never expect to make a dime from it. Just be humble and spread the word. To truly market yourself would be a full time job. The advantage you have is that your music is mainstream friendly, however for every different band that is played on the radio, there are 1000 bands that are still trying. What I know of you, your an artist and not in it for fame or fortune. Let your music speak for itself and you will be successful. The disadvantage people like you and me that no longer play in bands and are a "one man music machine" is that we don't go out and play live in front of people. So it's harder to get people to listen. I am still in the stage that getting 1 or 2 people to like something I have done is, to me, successful lol
 
Get an album together and put it out. It's hard to build a following if you don't have a product to sell. It may or may not find an audience, and it may not happen right away. But having a finished record to show is the first step.
 
Robus said:
Get an album together and put it out. It's hard to build a following if you don't have a product to sell. It may or may not find an audience, and it may not happen right away. But having a finished record to show is the first step.
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Everyone downloads the tunes anyway... they'd be more likely to download a single onto their phone than buy a physical CD. And if that's true, then I could just enable downloads from Soundcloud and track them to see how many are being DL'd. I am going to remix all the songs (in progress now) and put together 8-10 finished tunes, but again, people are more inclined to just download the few they like.
 
Dude, my only negative is that there seems to be missing some lows in the 100-1K, little bright, but don't touch the upper end, get something on the lower end. That is just an opinion, I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

That said, you write some of the best pop rock stuff on this board. Maybe I am too much of a fan boy, but you hit all of the marks of a good pop song writer without being popish. Really good tune dude.
 
DM60 said:
...you hit all of the marks of a good pop song writer without being popish
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Hey thanks man. That's actually exactly what I am for. Pop fundamentals without overdoing it, and adding a touch of alternative/punk. Even if it's just in the vocal delivery.

Anyways, thanks for the listen and comment. I'll check out the low end and midrange.
 
That's quite a nice synth patch you have to bring in the tune. Likewise it's a very pleasant crunchy guitar sound you have, there. It all works pretty well for the genre you're working in.:) The kick drum and bass guitar tones aren't working well together for me - they're both a bit woolly and they're reinforcing each others' wooliness. I use a similar ampeg bass and cab sim and the tones from that are superb. I reckon you could find better for this application.

I have a good friend, a pro/semi pro mixer called Adam Fiasco (business name!) who produces stuff very like yours. I have to concede that he is bloody good at what he does and that this kind of production is very current and very marketable. In some ways it's become the industry standard type of mixing. Vocals tuned, EQd and polished to within an inch of their lives, a hundred identical rhythm guitar parts blended together into a sticky paste, big, punchy drum sounds, quiet ambient breakdowns followed by dramatic splurges of instruments. I tease him about it, but he makes real money doing this and I don't. :D
 
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