New alternative rock song.......would love some feedback!!!!

[BrightestNight]

Hi everyone!
So my band, The Terminal Velocity, just finished recording our latest song, "Hanging On" and we would love some feedback on the arrangement/mix/lyrics/whatever strikes you!
Thanks in advance! we appreciate any help.
-BrightestNight

You can here the song at http://www.myspace.com/theterminalvelocity or http://theterminalvelocity.fuzz.com/ (better quality)

[bozmillar]

I'd say the drums sound a little bit too distant and dull, and the cymbals/hi hats a little droning.

the guitars sound really good.

I also think the vocals can come up a little more, and be slightly more full.

[Greg_L]

Yeah the drums are killing this thing. Guitars and bass sound big and present and then you have this donky sounding snare banging away buried under everything. No kick at all. I listened to yalls other songs, and they have weak drums too. Do yall hate the drummer or something?

If you're gonna rock, you need to have powerful drums. From what I can hear, the drummer sounds pretty good. Get him to tune his snare better and get better drum recordings. I personally wrote a little article that's stickied up in the drum section that may be able to help.

[SuaveRecords]

like they've said, deff needs more kick, less hats and crash.. very harsh sounding. and maybe bring up the vocals a bit. i have a feeling that if the vocals come up and reverb might be a bit to much. so you might want to back that off a tiny tiny bit. maybe not i donno.

[Supercreep]

I think that in Rock music, the snare is the single most important sound. Get it up there with the vocals.

Good stuff, otherwise. Just some tweaking to do....

[joeym]

Agree wíth the guys about the snare and the drums overall. Song's really good though. Nice arrangement . Voice sounds a bit buried, pity 'cos the melody's nice. Work on it a little bit 'cos it's got potential.

Joe

[rayc]

It all sounds a bit distant to me but the vox & drums do need an edge.
Good work so far. please post an update.

[tbone88]

After listening to all your songs, I'll say that my comments below about the drums and guitar apply both for "Hanging On" and "By Storm"

Yes, the drums need to be edgier.
-The snare drum is this dull, clanging-uh-banging drone. Listen to pro recordings of songs like this to get an idea of where the snare drum needs to be tuned. It will be much higher than I'm hearing on your song. The snare should pop and kick you in the rear end. "CRACK!!"
-The kick needs lots more attack. Use a very hard beater, one that is made from plastic or wood and has a flat surface to "slap" against the head. Mic it close with the front head taken off or cut a hole to stick the mic stand in.
-Get the drummer to play the cymbals quieter-part of what makes the drums sound weak is that the cymbals drown out the actual drums. More drums+less cymbals=bigger overall drum kit sound

The guitar tends to dominate the song and is always a bit too loud drowning out everything else-vocals included.
-It is extremely bright/shimmery and mixes with the cymbals to create this ugly high end wash that's hard on the ears. This is especially an issue with "By Storm".
-It is over distorted and has this harsh fizzing sound. Sounds like you are using an amp simulator...very fake/digital sounding. Doesn't really sound like a guitar. Just this buzzing/blasting/burning/fizzing/grinding sound. Use a real tube amp and mic it....get some smoother creamier tones please.

While these comments are on improving the mix, I'd like to say that you have excellent/original song writing. Very mature for your age. I can definitely see an upward progression in the quality of performance/tightness of group from Playing Games (pretty sloppy) to Hanging On (pretty tight). You've come a long way since Playing Games and you're young. Really, you guys have some brilliant stuff in the works. Keep it up, work hard, practicepracticepractice, listen and learn from the pros. You can go far.

God Bless

[JohnDude]

The drums make the difference, if the drum sounds weak the whole song sounds like something's missing. And indeed try to listen to your favourite band and hear how their snare and kickdrum presence is in relationship with the rest of the composition.

Most of the rock drums these days are heavily compressed, they first compress the snare and kickdrum ( usually), and then they double the whole drum sound and compress one of the 2 drums like a whole and wmix this signal to the original drumkit.
This is called paralell compression, and it gives a whole lot punch to the drumsound.

The vocals could use some reverb ( just a little plate-reverb) to let it sit well in the mix ( that is what I would do:P).
But you guys got some skills! I like your way of making music, awesome!

John

[bozmillar]

Originally Posted by JohnDude

Most of the rock drums these days are heavily compressed, they first compress the snare and kickdrum ( usually), and then they double the whole drum sound and compress one of the 2 drums like a whole and wmix this signal to the original drumkit.
This is called paralell compression, and it gives a whole lot punch to the drumsound.

Interesting. Can you explain a little deeper. I'm not quite sure that made perfect sense (although "parallel compression" is a pretty self explanatory name).