Here some jazz tunes....

[rockinrocker]

Greetings HR'er's,

i've put up some jazz tunes that me 'n some friends recorded over at the myspace. if anyone's got any comments i'd love to hear 'em.

http://www.myspace.com/dangleandthedickweeds

mainly looking for feedback on the mix and production in general, but any input is more than welcome.

Thanks.

[tmix]

In general the performances sound good.
I am not satisfied by the tonality of the instruments though, there is generally a veiled, muted quality to the the instruments. There is a bit of midrange pang on the ride that is a little overbearing.

It might sound wonderful on bigger speakers, but on the computer speakers it is a little funky.
The stand up bass could come up just a bit for small speakers, but it might make it too much for large speakers. Maybe there is a harmonic of some of the fundamental tones you can boost on the bass for it to translate better over small speakers.

Stand up is a hard instrument to record. It tends to have a gentle quality that is hard to push through a mix without sounding clacky.

Don't get me wrong it is a really decent recording, I am just nit picking.

[Lt. Bob]

I actually thought the bass came across fairly well so that shows how different the same recording can be thru different speakers. There is a slight veil over everything ..... I thought the 'groove' sounded a bit stiff but otherwise very nice.

[leddy]

Good tune choices. Lucky Southern is one of my favorites. All I do is play and record jazz - so it's great to see someone else here too. Thought it might be hard to find gigs with a name like Dangle and the Dickweeds though...

I think it's a pretty nice recording. The double bass is fine (that's what I play btw). The ride cymbal sounds good to me. Nice and dark like a jazz ride should be. The high end may be slightly muted, and I would like to hear just a little more drums. A lot of jazz recordings seem to put the drums in back so to speak, with a more in-your-face sound to the piano and bass. I like it to sound a little more live-in-the-room, but that's total personal preference. I've heard that that the ride and bass should be of about equal volume and I agree with that. Again, nice job.

Next time, you gotta find a room with a nice piano. Find a steady gig in a place with a piano and record there. That's what I do. Lots of fun.

BTW - Would you mind listing your recording chain?

[rockinrocker]

hi guys, thanks alot for the input, really appreciate it.

"The stand up bass could come up just a bit for small speakers, but it might make it too much for large speakers. Maybe there is a harmonic of some of the fundamental tones you can boost on the bass for it to translate better over small speakers."

more bass is always better, right? (i'm the bass player, btw)
i wonder if maybe some compression might help with this? i have like zero mixing/mastering skills so i didn't even attempt to compress anything 'cause i figured i was just as likely to make it worse as better. the thing that i've noticed on my upright is that if it's up as loud as i like it (in the mix) on my monitors (mackie hr824s) it tends to totally overdrive any other speakers that i play the mix on. so maybe some light compression either just on the bass or perhaps the whole mix? hmmm....

"Next time, you gotta find a room with a nice piano."

yeah, you got that right. i'd love to have a chance to record a "real" piano. though in general i'm pretty pleased with the akoustik, i'd love to have the chance to actually capture the sound in my own way. oh well, maybe someday.

"BTW - Would you mind listing your recording chain?"

not at all.
everythings going into cubase via an echo audiofire 12. most of the pre's are from seventh circle audio (which i friggen love), and break down thusly:

Bass: tlm 103 into SCA N72 (neve clone)
David Gage pickup, countryman, N72.

drums: OH's sm 81's, SCA C84's (millenia clones)
snare top; 57 into SCA A12 (API clone)
snare under; 57 into sytek w/ burr brown
kick; D112 into A12
tom; sen. 412 into sytek.

thanks again for the input.

[leddy]

Originally Posted by rockinrocker

the thing that i've noticed on my upright is that if it's up as loud as i like it (in the mix) on my monitors (mackie hr824s) it tends to totally overdrive any other speakers that i play the mix on. so maybe some light compression either just on the bass or perhaps the whole mix? hmmm....

What I am finding is that there are certain frequencies that jump out from my bass, regardless of the room I'm in or the mic I use. I guess a string instrument is going to have its resonant frequencies. I know it gets trashed a lot, but I purchased Har-Bal. Since I did, I've been able to see the spikey frequency anomolies that cause the bass to get too loud without having it be as present as I like. Now that I know where they are, I can do it by ear much better. I also use WAY less compression, if any as a result.