Mary Jane's Last Dance - Tom Petty Cover

[ziplock43]

http://www.soundclick.com/util/getpl...d=5391817&q=hi

No Harmonica yet, I'm waiting for my dad to get back from his business trip, he's a pretty good player.

My brother singing this, my best friend on guitar, myself on drums and bass.

I don't know why the intro sounds so wierd. We kept getting a high-ringing noise out of the guitars no matter how low I turned the highs. I tried to EQ it out but iduno. The intro sounds like I Miced it terribly, maybe I didnt know where the speaker in his amp was, I thought I had it right though.

Anyways, for your listening pleasure. I don't think the mix is that great, but tell me what you think please?

[TelePaul]

Hey man!. It sounds like you've a ton of room ambience on the guitar, I'd move the mic closer. I wouldn't drive the amp as much either, especially when you've two electrics playing something similar.

I'd also have the singer work on his phrasing.

[Sirnothingness]

I actually liked the guitar tone (for this particular song). But the vocals on the verse's are too wet. Cut that reverb. But the chorus sounds ok. Nice job. Good song.

[Greg_L]

Hey zip. Sounds okay man. I think the guitars basic tone is pretty good, but man they seem bright to me. I had to turn my shit way down to save my ears. You still have a lot of room sound on your mixes but it seems to be getting better. The vocals are a little wet, but not too bad. All thats easily fixable. The performance is pretty good. I think the drums are still the weak spot. Get more mics bro.

Was this recorded in a live setting/all at once? If that's the case it's pretty good. Guitar playing sounds just about perfect to me. Tone is overly bright/harsh with too much distortion on the rhythm guitar. I heard a few timing mistakes. Vocals are good.

Overall I think it's good. Work more on mic placement and tweaking with the amp.

[ziplock43]

I know, it was so weird with the guitars. . .

I had the mic very close and pointed right at the speaker, I didnt have the high/med turned up at all. . . but I still got a far away, very high-pitched sound. It sounds like it's recorded w/ a webcam, I can't figure out why . It was a new amp, I'll try tweaking it. Maybe I wasn't pointed at a speaker that was on or something.

I'll go back in and take the reverb off the Vox if I can, but I don't know if I can undo it without re-recording.

What do you mean by "phrasing" of the singer?

Unfortunately, it was not all recorded at once. I think it sounds live for two reasons:
1) I only have 2 mics for the drums. It's gonna sound like a live set
2) The guitar player doesnt know much about recording. He tried to do too much, strummed alot, and was impatient. We did this in like 2 hours or so cuz he had to go.

I told the guitar player that the rhythm would sound better clean, so he laid a track down. I've got the cleaner, more punchy one panned to the right, and the one he wanted in the left, which is the intro. I think it was a mistake, but he liked it, so whatever.

[TelePaul]

Originally Posted by ziplock43

What do you mean by "phrasing" of the singer?

He kinda sounds like he's reading the lyrics off the page, he should relax a bit...the first line he stresses every syllable and kinda rushes the last few words IMO

[johnnymegabyte]

Originally Posted by TelePaul

He kinda sounds like he's reading the lyrics off the page, he should relax a bit...the first line he stresses every syllable and kinda rushes the last few words IMO

I got that impression too. Chorus sounds better / more relaxed.


As for the guitars, why is it MORE distortion to get great tone ?
You'd be surprised of your results when you "lower the gain".
Just a little gain to get that nice crunchy rhythm sound.
Most likely the original TP song used Rickenbacker guitars and Vox amps.

[ziplock43]

Haha, it's funny you should say that, Telepaul. He knows this song by heart, but he still brought his laptop in to read the lyrics. I'm like "dude, why?". I guess he was nervous. He needed cues when to come in too. This is his favorite song, Iduno.

[mathamagician]

I like your drum sounds alot! Very punchy, yet they sit well in their own space.

[TelePaul]

Originally Posted by ziplock43

Haha, it's funny you should say that, Telepaul. He knows this song by heart, but he still brought his laptop in to read the lyrics. I'm like "dude, why?". I guess he was nervous. He needed cues when to come in too. This is his favorite song, Iduno.

It's cool, some people are like that. It only takes a little practice.