How can I improve the sound quality of this song

L

Lankesh

New member
Thanks to the amazing people on this forum, I gained some knowledge about recording at home. I moved out of my walk-in closet and now record in a small bedroom, ensure that I don't clip the audio, and have been learning new things about mixing.

This is my latest song/remix. The beat was already made I just recorded vocals over it and mixed it.

I've attached the raw vocals, mixed vocals & mixed vocals w/ beat.

Microphone: Blue Yeti USB (not the greatest choice I know but it is all I have for now)
 

Attachments

  • AGE + FP (Raw).mp3
    3.2 MB · Views: 15
  • AGE + FP (Mixed).mp3
    3.2 MB · Views: 17
  • Spitfire - All Gold Everything + Fuckin' Problems.mp3
    3.2 MB · Views: 20
The vocals feel very dry. I see you have some reverb on the vocals already, but maybe play with turning up the reverb and making it sound a bit less like a chamber... do you have different types of reverb you can use? A subtle delay in the chain can be nice sometimes. It wouldn't hurt to bring the vocals up in the mix a bit too.


EDIT: Taking a second listen, I would compress the vocals some more (not sure if you already did) to get the quieter/quicker phrases as present as the louder parts.
 
I have different reverb plugins if that is what you mean? I did compress the vocals a bit.
I'm aiming to have the beat not overpower the vocals as much but usually when I try turning up the vocals, it becomes unbearable at high volumes (I don't mix it well I guess)

Thanks for your help so far though!
 
Yeah the reverb sounds kind of dark and rumbly. Maybe something a bit more lush sounding would work better.

There might be some frequencies you need to pull out to make it sound nice at high volumes. Give it a try turning up the vocals and we'll see how it sounds.
 
Okay raising the volume doesn't exactly fix the problem I wanted to fix.
After listening to more studio quality music, I realized my "songs" don't really sound like songs. The vocals sound too distant and don't have that fullness feeling. Any ideas? I attached the song again with the volume raised up and I tried changing up the reverb but I wasn't sure what you meant in the last post, sorry.
 

Attachments

  • AGE + FP (Mixed).mp3
    3.2 MB · Views: 6
  • AGE + FP (FULL).mp3
    3.2 MB · Views: 9
Okay cool, thanks. I did a quick rough mix of the track. I have to admit I'm not very familiar with mixing the rap/hip-hop genre, but let me know if my mix is sort of going in the direction you are intending it to. If so, I can help you get your mix in the same place.

[MP3]http://cl.ly/2k2t0i3O1f3c/download/Mix_1.mp3[/MP3]
 
Okay, so listening to the original I probably shouldn't have used delay (echo) if we're trying to match their sound.

I'm guessing the main areas your mixing could use some help are EQ and compression. Compare your mix to mine (ignore the delay I used) and see if you can hear the differences in EQ and comp. If you want I can post up the settings I used for my EQ and comp plugins so you can experiment with how they affect the sound and so you can see why I made the EQ cuts in the places I did.
 
The original recording is pretty good. It's a bit roomy, but certainly usable.

Here's the EQ and compressor settings I used. I used two EQ plugins because I kept trying to dial out some of the room sound, but I would probably condense the settings to one plugin later on down the road after I had figured out how the vocal worked with the mix more. I put the EQs before the compressor.

I know the sound you're going for is very dry, but sometimes a touch of reverb can be nice. There's a great free plugin called Ambience that you should download and give a try.

Screen shot 2013-03-08 at 9.57.02 AM.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top