Long time listener, first time poster

[mastahnke]

Ok, long time viewer, first time poster...in this forum anyway. Here are two songs I recorded a while ago for a band. I am looking for specific mixing pointers if anyone has any. The first song doesn't have words, the second does, I think. Either that or the other way around. Anyway, I would love feedback. The drums are a big convern, but they were just tracked as one stereo track. Outside of that, I am not sure what else to listen for. Just hoping for comments...

MIKE

Link is
http://www.cs.bsu.edu/~stahnke/homerec

[Eric J]

Track 1 - tasty keyboards. The hammond sounds direct in - miced or Native Instruments? Rhodes also tasty. The drums sound fine to me - I can hear everything, the hi-hats and cymbals are a little - constrained? wooshy? sampled?

Track 2 - Again, keyboards are great. The bass sounds a little distorted, but certainly fine playing. The double tracked vocals are nice, but the panning is a bit much for my taste - but that's a personal preference thing.

Overall - the rhodes gives it a bit of a Chick Corea feel, but with less twelve-tone noodling. I like the 70's-ish jazzy sound. You seem to have one fine band.

[mastahnke]

Thanks for the reply!!! I am glad you liked it. The muddy bass is a big problem. Was the bass to heavy in your system? I am worried about that, because I mix on Alesis Monitor Ones. THe hammond (roland vk-7) is direct. Is there something I could/should do to bring it back in the mix more? I am not too sure. The hi hat cymbals are miced, but the mic was RIGHT there, so I think there are a bit aggressive. I wish I could turn them down without messing the rest of the drums, I have tried but with little sucess.

MIKE

[CMiller]

Cool stuff! Great playing and very enjoyable. As was mentioned, everything lacks definition. Both tunes were weak in high end and therefore muddy. I'd like to hear a little more "sizzle" on everything to break apart the instruments more. In the second one, the vocals seemed awfully high in the mix and very dry. Both had really cool keyboard parts, but they dominated the mix too much for my taste.

All in all though, very well done.

[mastahnke]

Well my biggest concern is the mixing. I just don't seem to be getting what I want from it. I am not sure how to go about it. I agree about the vocals in the second track, and I have fixed that, just not uploaded it yet. The keys might be up a little high, I am not sure, because I really really like the key playing. What suggestions do you have on ways to actually clean up the mix? I can probaby boost the highs on some tracks or something, but I don't know how well that will work. A big problem is seperating the Rhodes from the Bass playing. The bass player plays with No Highs at all, so it is difficult to make it sound clean. Any help, I would love.

MIKE

[CyanJaguar]

disclaimer: I am listening on phones right now so I dont hear subtle details.

I listened to track2: It sounded quite nice. On the phones, it did not sound muddy to me. I really liked the kick. Quite punchy and warm. The vocals were too loud, but you mentioned that you have already fixed it. What mic were you using. It sounds quite clear.
I'll try to give a listen when I get back to my monitors.

[mastahnke]

Thanks man! Words of encouragment are always good. On my phones I think it sounds pretty good too. But on consumer CD players it sounds like junk. Anyway, the mic was an Audio Technica Midnight Blues Series small Condenser. The Background vocals and doubling parts (the ones from the other voice) were on an ADK large diaphragm A-51 that I got at NAMM. I love that mic, but the lead singer didn't sound to good through it.
Please let me know what you think when you do get back to your monitors.

MIKE