You know I like Radiohead, don't you? Well here's another.

[Bubba po]

This is the first track I have mixed using my new studio monitors - Yamaha HS5s.

All the instruments are real and played, not programmed.

What do you think?

I think the vocals might be a bit quiet - AGAIN! I need somebody to mix my vocals, I always bury them a little.




REMIX.

 

[heatmiser]

I wish I could crank this through speakers right now, 'cause it sounds pretty awesome. I'm listening on Senn HD280 phones, and my only two thoughts are that the bass seems almost too fat at times, particularly in the quieter bits - not so much when there is more going on in the mix.

The vocals sound really good to me. I would suggest that you simply turn them up a bit. Not sure it needs more than that?

Tones are all there and the panning is well done. I don't know the original but am somewhat familiar with the band, and I think you've done a good job once again of capturing the essence of that they do.

 

[Bubba po]

I wish I could crank this through speakers right now, 'cause it sounds pretty awesome. I'm listening on Senn HD280 phones, and my only two thoughts are that the bass seems almost too fat at times, particularly in the quieter bits - not so much when there is more going on in the mix.

The vocals sound really good to me. I would suggest that you simply turn them up a bit. Not sure it needs more than that?

Tones are all there and the panning is well done. I don't know the original but am somewhat familiar with the band, and I think you've done a good job once again of capturing the essence of that they do.

Fantastic feedback there Heatmiser, I'm very flattered and happy with your comments. I'll pay some attention to the bass in those areas. Funnily enough, the bass was by far the most difficult part of this recording - it took me two evenings just to track it and the E.Q.ing has almost driven me mad. I'll pull down the little bits of the riff in the places where the track is quiet. I'm even starting to accept that my vox might actually be ok.

 

[kcearl]

i love this track, this period of radiohead makes them one of my favourite bands...seen them a few times.

I think your covers strong, good playing remaining as true to the original as I remember

your vox also pay homage but I think therin lies the problem...York is very intimate with the mic whereas you prolly sing like the rest of us, it makes your vocals sound distant in the mix even if you push them forward. Im no vocalist, but Id compress yours more, look at adding some saturation, and get creative automation delay and verb, opening the vox up at the end of certain parts to create more interest as they sound a little flat to me as is

good job though

 

[Bubba po]

Thanks, KC - that's exactly the kind of solid advice that I need. I ought to re-track the vocals and I'm happy to do so. I recorded them with a Rode NT-1A, but got up closer to it than I normally would to help with warming up the sound. Do you think I ought to try my SM58 or one of my hand-held vocal condenser mics, and sing really up close? Also can you recommend a saturation plugin that would do the job -there doesn't seem to be anything suitable in the Reaper suite of plugins.

Thanks again.

 

[kcearl]

for tape saturation nothing beats Nebula pro with CD soundmasters Tape and Tape booster, but its not cheap, and its subtle...I end up using Abletons native plug...not to sure otherwise


It made me listen to the original track again, and he isnt that close to the mic, he's just got better technique than us mere mortals lol


I think you could really own this cover by being creative with your vocals, retracking it closer to the mic will help their proximity I think...but Im far from an expert


EDIT: forgot fabfilters Saturn gets great reviews

 

[Mr Clean]

I'm not a fan of Radiohead by any stretch but I know their music pretty well. This is a cracking cover. I totally agree with heatmiser RE: the bass. You could just bring it down a few db and it may help to level it out.

I think the vocals sound great, they j just need a touch more volume on them.

Up the vocals, drop the bass in the quieter parts. All good

 

[Bubba po]

I'm not a fan of Radiohead by any stretch but I know their music pretty well. This is a cracking cover. I totally agree with heatmiser RE: the bass. You could just bring it down a few db and it may help to level it out.

I think the vocals sound great, they just need a touch more volume on them.

Up the vocals, drop the bass in the quieter parts. All good

Thanks, Mr. C. I did both tweaks last night and the result is good, although I haven't reposted a new mix. I also found a softube saturation plugin that has done a nice job with the vocal. I also used it on parts of the hi-hat track.

 

[Bubba po]

Any more for any more? Or do I just let the thread die?

 

[Schwarzenyaeger]

Greetings from Oxford, then.
A few friends of mine went to see Radiohead's guitarist play this experimental rock/orchestra live performance down in the Oxford city center a few weeks ago.
Legend has it that you can see Tom Yorke in the city on special days...

I think that the vocal has a few harsh moments on longer held notes and could also come up by a decibel.
The snare is very low in volume and therefore not very punchy. It also sounds further away than the hi-hat. The kick could be a bit louder too.

The bass is proper loud and prominent but a bit undefined. I'd give upping the high end on the bass a try.

 

[Bubba po]

Greetings from Oxford, then.
A few friends of mine went to see Radiohead's guitarist play this experimental rock/orchestra live performance down in the Oxford city center a few weeks ago.
Legend has it that you can see Tom Yorke in the city on special days...

I think that the vocal has a few harsh moments on longer held notes and could also come up by a decibel.
The snare is very low in volume and therefore not very punchy. It also sounds further away than the hi-hat. The kick could be a bit louder too.

The bass is proper loud and prominent but a bit undefined. I'd give upping the high end on the bass a try.

Thanks, Dog-in-door. This is a new mix after a couple of days' cogitation and tweaking. I'd already done something about the snare and kick because I noticed the snare sounded a bit far-off on my computer speakers at work. That said, you couldn't hear the sleigh bells at all so it says a lot for the frequency response of those speakers!

I think I've addressed most nits mentioned, but in any case I'm rather happy with it now.

 

[calimoose]

Great job addressing the bass in the new mix.

You actually did a great job processing the vocals IMHO. I think the reason it doesn't sound 'right' is because Thom Yorke really eats his words when he sings. So here, the vocals hit the notes for the most part quite well, and are nicely processed, but I think the mere fact that we can quite easily understand the vocals makes it sound 'out of place' for a Radiohead cover. I mean, I LOVE this song and I love radiohead's music (before King of Limbs), yet I never knew that the lyrics started with "in the next world war" until I heard your mix lol. But that has nothing to do with your mix, and personally I think you did a great job with the vocals.

My one big problem that nags at me when I take a listen is the intro cello. I think it's such a key part to this song. I know you mentioned that all instruments were played live and not programmed, but for some reasons to my ears this cello doesn't sound like a real cello. It has a real organ-like quality and doesn't include the powerful vibratos of the original (at least, not to my ears), and seems to step directly from note instead of sliding and "flowing" from one note to the next. How did you process the cello? Perhaps it was a bit too processed?

Don't mean to sound harsh, because this is a FANTASTIC cover and mix, and it's impressive that you've done it all with real instruments. But if I had to pick one thing that nags at me, it's the intro cello

 

[Bubba po]

Great job addressing the bass in the new mix.

You actually did a great job processing the vocals IMHO. I think the reason it doesn't sound 'right' is because Thom Yorke really eats his words when he sings. So here, the vocals hit the notes for the most part quite well, and are nicely processed, but I think the mere fact that we can quite easily understand the vocals makes it sound 'out of place' for a Radiohead cover. I mean, I LOVE this song and I love radiohead's music (before King of Limbs), yet I never knew that the lyrics started with "in the next world war" until I heard your mix lol. But that has nothing to do with your mix, and personally I think you did a great job with the vocals.

My one big problem that nags at me when I take a listen is the intro cello. I think it's such a key part to this song. I know you mentioned that all instruments were played live and not programmed, but for some reasons to my ears this cello doesn't sound like a real cello. It has a real organ-like quality and doesn't include the powerful vibratos of the original (at least, not to my ears), and seems to step directly from note instead of sliding and "flowing" from one note to the next. How did you process the cello? Perhaps it was a bit too processed?

Don't mean to sound harsh, because this is a FANTASTIC cover and mix, and it's impressive that you've done it all with real instruments. But if I had to pick one thing that nags at me, it's the intro cello

Firstly, thanks for all your praise in this, it means a lot. Secondly, you've caught me in an unintentional lie here and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned before. As you say, the cello part is a synth and what I meant was everything was played with the fingers rather than programmed/sequenced in. I apologise for that and you're entirely correct in your criticisms, there. I'm considering editing that part to approximate the attack of a bowed cello, or enlisting the help of somebody with either a cello or a better sample.

Once again thanks, Calimoose.

 

[TripleM]

I thought this was pretty good. I'm unfamiliar with the original, so I can't comment about similarities/differences.

I think there's a low end problem. Both the kick and bass are really boomy. Especially the bass. It's all rumble. The kick has too much low end too. IMO of course.

Not sure how RH's guitars sounded. But my preference would be to give them a little more high midrange. Just a gentle boost over the 3K-5K range.

I think doubled vocals would sound great on a tune like this. Also not sure this is the best vocal take. I thought I heard a bobbled note or two. I didn't think they were buried.

The other performances were excellent.

 

[TAE]

Yep second mix more better.... The bass is much improved however there are still a few spots where IMO it distorts ( but it could be the cans I'm listening through) Great job Bubba... overall sounds super pro!

 

[robgreen]

As usual, you've managed to nail the tones spot on Bubba. I think there's a bit more gain on that wiry lead line than Johnny plays and some more reverb on your vocals would set them into the soundscape better.

Some guitar delay tail at the 2.22 drop would carry over that sparse bass part if possible too I think.

Other than that, your arrangement and replication of these covers is always incredibly impressive. Good work

 

[jonny deep]

Hey Bubba - I don't know this one too well (I'm not such a fan of this song), but your cover sounds pretty authentic to me. I think I've heard a stronger vocal from you on a previous song, but you're a lot better than you've said you are in the past.

Excellent work overall - it really is great. Now do Lucky!

 

[Bubba po]

Yep second mix more better.... The bass is much improved however there are still a few spots where IMO it distorts ( but it could be the cans I'm listening through) Great job Bubba... overall sounds super pro!

Super pro? Gosh! I guess I still do need to settle down the bass a bit more. It's so difficult because it's very deep and lacking in definition on the original. Damn that Greenwood fellow! Thanks, Tae.

As usual, you've managed to nail the tones spot on Bubba. I think there's a bit more gain on that wiry lead line than Johnny plays and some more reverb on your vocals would set them into the soundscape better.

Some guitar delay tail at the 2.22 drop would carry over that sparse bass part if possible too I think.

Other than that, your arrangement and replication of these covers is always incredibly impressive. Good work

Hi, Rob - I always respect your points on the mixes I do and once again your suggestions seem to be spot on. A touch more reverb has indeed settled the vocal in better and I'm definitely going to experiment with that delay tail. Thanks so much for your listen and comments.

Hey Bubba - I don't know this one too well (I'm not such a fan of this song), but your cover sounds pretty authentic to me. I think I've heard a stronger vocal from you on a previous song, but you're a lot better than you've said you are in the past.

Excellent work overall - it really is great. Now do Lucky!

Wow, thanks, Jonny! The consensus appears to be that I can sing well enough, but I need to work as hard to get a good performance on those as I do with the rest of the instruments!

I thought this was pretty good. I'm unfamiliar with the original, so I can't comment about similarities/differences.

I think there's a low end problem. Both the kick and bass are really boomy. Especially the bass. It's all rumble. The kick has too much low end too. IMO of course.

Not sure how RH's guitars sounded. But my preference would be to give them a little more high midrange. Just a gentle boost over the 3K-5K range.

I think doubled vocals would sound great on a tune like this. Also not sure this is the best vocal take. I thought I heard a bobbled note or two. I didn't think they were buried.

The other performances were excellent.

Thanks, Triple M. I can't account for the boominess that you hear because it really isn't there on my HS5s or on my cans - having said that, they're not the bassiest of monitors so I'm not ruling it out. There might be a case for pulling a bit of LF out if I get more of the same comments. I agree that the vocals are a tiny bit shaky, especially in the first verse. I'm definitely considering a retrack on those. As for the comments about the other performances, I'll pass that on to my kid - he'll be thrilled.

 

[jonny deep]

Wow, thanks, Jonny! The consensus appears to be that I can sing well enough, but I need to work as hard to get a good performance on those as I do with the rest of the instruments!

I agree with that - the vocal is the weak point of this recording. But, there's nothing wrong with your singing voice - I think you could get into it a bit more and be as exacting as you are with the rest of the production.

 

[Armistice]

Bubba...

I'm not sure how many times you've sung this song, but I'd sing along to the album a few times more, then re-track the vocal, getting closer to the mic and singing more softly as the canny Scot kcearl suggested and then keep your digits away from the reverb knob.

The main guitar's a bit gruntier on the original, but otherwise it all sounds pretty good.

If one of Radiohead mysteriously dies in the near future, I'm sending the police your way. Clearly gunning to replace a few of them...


Oh, and when you've done the whole album.... "Po-K Computer"....





I kill me...