2 Songs for review. I love you all.

[baker_]

Hey everyone.

I have two songs I recorded with a group and I'd love some feedback.

http://www.soundclick.com/thebakerystudios

The first is called "Darling"
It's been through a few mixes, but could use a lot of improvement. This was one of the first few times I tracked drums at my place. They turned out a half-step under decent. (I already am not a fan of the reverb on the vocals. I need to tone it down a ton.)

The second is "She Said"

I haven't spent too much time mixing it yet. I basically edited it and did a rough mix. We finished recording it a couple days ago. I am mainly looking for comments on this one.

I would love some guidance for these two tracks. Thanks in advance!


baker_

 

[DavidK]

Darling is pretty damn cool.

I would back off the autotune at times. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt.

The tempo changes are a bit unnatural. I don't know how to remedy it. The fast part seems too fast?

The song is very cool, it reminds me of the Buggles. Production is very good, synth-violin sounds pretty cool. Very nice, I give it an A.

 

[baker_]

Thanks very much!

The tempo changes were a beast to track the drums to, so I hear you there.

The violin was tracked using a combo of two mics, a pick-up, and my friend Meredith - extraordinary player. I used an MXL 990 about two feet behind her aimed at the back of her head, and an MXL 603s about 4 feet in front of her aimed at her left hand.

The auto-tune is annoying. I'm still working on trying to hide it all. I try to avoid it at all costs, but parts of this song were pretty difficult for the vocalists.
We're going to go back and do overdubs. In contrast, there are parts in the song "She Said" that the band requested the auto-tuned, anti-vibrato, cliche sound so it's been difficult for me to find a balance.

Thanks again! I appreciate it.

 

[baker_]

I also wanted to say, if you like the violins in "Darling" you can have them!
What I mean is, my friend Meredith may be willing to do some recordings if it fits her schedule. Let me know anytime and we'll work out the details

Thanks again

 

[DavidK]

I also wanted to say, if you like the violins in "Darling" you can have them!
What I mean is, my friend Meredith may be willing to do some recordings if it fits her schedule. Let me know anytime and we'll work out the details

Thanks for the offer. I'm a pro symphony violinist. I'm trying to get LESS violins in my music.

My myspace

 

[Nightfire]

The fist one was a way cool song, love the tempo change at the beginning and the whole song in general. Well performeda and tracked!

Thanks for the offer. I'm a pro symphony violinist. I'm trying to get LESS violins in my music.

My myspace

Dude you gotta let me know how it was working with Johnny Cash!!!!!! And REM, and ELO...and Ray Charles.


Mike

 

[Chili]

Thanks for the offer. I'm a pro symphony violinist. I'm trying to get LESS violins in my music.

My myspace

I don't know DavidK, maybe you ought to parse out some work.

I like the songs very much. The only thing I can suggest is the female vocal is just a little too middy. I think it might be 'notched' too tight. Maybe the male vocal also. Open them up a little and let the vocal tracks breathe.

Cheers,

 

[eyema_believer]

Very nice work, indeed.
If it were me, I'd make these changes:
More bottom end. We must have bass!!
The distorted guitar in the first song is so buried, I'm not even sure that's what it was. Bring it up a bit, and double track it, (or something) to make it stereo.... big I say!! We need BIG guitars!!
Same with the drums.... we need big drums. EQ and compression are your friends it you want big drums. And, who doesn't??
If you have any input on the arrangements, I would put some more musical interludes in the "Darling" song. That girl needs time to breathe, and so does my brain..... give her some breaks..... silence is a note!! Also, the vocal parts in "She Said" aren't "gluing" together very well. I think the notes may too far apart.... also, when she comes in at the beginning, and he goes from singing a lead part to a harmony part, it just pulls the rug out from under me, and hard... I would have him keep singing lead, and let her sing the next verse or something.... anything.....
Overall, it's a great effort. The recording is nice and clean, and yous guys obviously put a lot of work into it, and it shows!! Yay!!!

~Shawn