Acoustic/Indie Band Demo

S

stasz

New member
Hey guys, just recorded a demo of a new song by my band, would appreciate any feedback/criticism.



I'm having problems with the balance of the instruments- making sure it doesn't sound too busy. I'm also having trouble with getting the overall song loud enough. My final mix is around -3 db, but I haven't done any mastering of any kind, and not sure where to start. I'm working in Reaper.

Thanks for any feedback and criticism!
 
I don't think there's much wrong with the balance.
The drums are a little too distant for my liking though. A fat snare make anything sound better.
How are the drums recorded?

The vocals also seem to get lost in the mix.
 
kidkage said:
I don't think there's much wrong with the balance.
The drums are a little too distant for my liking though. A fat snare make anything sound better.
How are the drums recorded?

The vocals also seem to get lost in the mix.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. The drums were recorded with 4 mics: two LDCs as overheads, D112 on the kick, and an SM57 on the snare. I'll try experimenting with the level of the snare.

I can see what you mean about the vocals. I had them up louder originally but was afraid they jumped out a bit too much. I'll experiment with the level to try and find a happy medium.
 
The mix is pretty good! One thing I noticed is that the kick gets lost too easily and isn't very easy to pick out of the mix. An easy fix for this (that may or may not work with this song) is to do some mid scooping and boost around 4k to bring the click out. Play with that EQ and don't hesitate to try out some extreme mid scooping (super wide Q, -10 to -20 dB gain) just to see what it sounds like so you know what your kick recordings have the potential to be. Then again, this totally might not fit the song, but I think it's worth a shot.

Another quick thing: I prefer my snares a little snappier than this snare, but that's your decision to make. The snare works as it is, but you might find you like the sound of it when it has a bit more "crack".
 
guitarplayr82 said:
The mix is pretty good! One thing I noticed is that the kick gets lost too easily and isn't very easy to pick out of the mix. An easy fix for this (that may or may not work with this song) is to do some mid scooping and boost around 4k to bring the click out. Play with that EQ and don't hesitate to try out some extreme mid scooping (super wide Q, -10 to -20 dB gain) just to see what it sounds like so you know what your kick recordings have the potential to be. Then again, this totally might not fit the song, but I think it's worth a shot.

Another quick thing: I prefer my snares a little snappier than this snare, but that's your decision to make. The snare works as it is, but you might find you like the sound of it when it has a bit more "crack".
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. I did have the snare drum tuned a little bit low for a fatter sound. I see what you mean about the kick though, I might experiment with the EQ to make it a little more present in the mix.
 
Cool tune. I like the choice of instruments for this. I think they sound great together and don't find it to be too busy at all.

Not wild about the dark snare tone myself, but I see where you were going with that. I just wish it was a little brighter or snappier...

Vocals are cool, but I found them to be awfully dry and varying a little in level. Do you have anything on them? Some compression and/or reverb/delay? Personally, I might experiment with comp and verb to get them to sit a little better. That may just be me though.

Again, a fun and unique song. I anjoyed the listen - thanks.
 
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