I Want My Life Back (Advice on getting this to sound better?)

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PizzImperfect

New member
Hey all,

Below is a track I started writing/recording a few days ago.
It just doesn't have that shine I feel it needs.
And i'm tinkering on the edge of the knowledge I have to polish it.
I just want it clearer.. better mixed.. but i'm unsure of what specifically to attack.

Any advice?

To record I used,

AKG D5 dynamic mic
Focusrite Sapphire 6
Cubase 5

Thanks everyone, and let me know if you like the song. It means a lot to me!

Pizz

NOTE: IF IT SAYS UNAVAILABLE BELOW, CLICK THE TITLE UNDERNEATH. Thanks :)

 
Nice job, I like the song and the mix. Great voice. The piano and guitar levels are good but a bass guitar would do a lot for the depth. Since the acoustic guitar is dominating the show, I would get two more tracks of it, one cutting everything above 800hz and push it fully left, another cutting everything below 1khz and push it fully right. That will increase the stereo width of the guitar. And bring the drums up maybe 3db. Sounds like the guitar is right in front of you and the drums are outside in the carpark. I would love to mix this one...
 
Thanks for the advice my friend.
Soon as I get home i'll give this a shot and post the result about the same time tomorrow.
And was that a hint? Haha :)

Pizz
 
Well since you asked... The first thing that I notice is that the acoustic sounds like it was recorded directly and not miked, which gives it a specific undesirable sound that isn't natural. The next thing would be that the guitar is not tuned optimally, so that can be distracting to the listener. Now moving on to the song itself. I think the song is in desperate need of a good beat behind it, with a better sounding kit than what you have mixed in. The drums need to be brought forward and made powerful for this song. Currently, it's a bit to disconnected, so adding the bigger drums AND a bass guitar will fill in the holes, which would definitely help glue it together better.

I think that something that is too often overlooked when learning to record self written songs is solid timing and accurately tuned instruments. Not everyone can afford "high end" instruments, which helps a great deal too, but the 2 things I mentioned, everyone can nail (although timing may take practice).
 
You're right, it was recorded directly.
Tonight i'll be following GuitarLegends advice on the guitar, and i'll be sure to mic up.. and tune up tightly.
Drums are a major weak point for me.. I'll beef up whats there and work on finding a better kit once i've got the guitar sorted.
Haven't written a bassline for it.. I had planned on doing one up until I wrote the piano part, then I thought it didn't need it...

I'll basically give it all a good going over tonight and post up the result.
Thanks a lot guys, love a bit of positive criticism.

Pizz
 
Make the drums stereo, having the hi-hat in the middle sounds odd, and they are too distant - bring them up in the mix a bit.

Possibly a bit less reverb on the piano - that sounds a bit distant too.

Vocals need to be more prominent compared to the backing wooooo-oooooaaahhs.

Some interesting ideas though, keep working at it!
 
Excellent all - thanks!
I'm working away here, i'll post the re-edit in the next hour with a list of things i've done to it.

Pizz
 
Ok, so this is version 2!

Changes:

Guitar
Completely re-recorded. dubbed with a centre, left and right (with the EQ recommended by GuitarLegend)
Used my mic this time, unfortunately dynamic as I don't own a condenser.
I've found that they seem to be resonating together.. not sure if this is a good or bad thing... Can't make up my mind.

Drums
Brought UP in the mix and compressed to add some more punch.
Re-done these as the timing was out last time in parts

Piano
Tried to make this fit in the mix better with the level, took some of the reverb off.

Vocal
Completely re-recorded, to address the timing issues caused from altering the guitar/drums.

And we have... (Any more input is well appreaciated, improvement?)

(I intend to add bass)

 
PizzImperfect said:
It just doesn't have that shine I feel it needs.
And i'm tinkering on the edge of the knowledge I have to polish it.
I just want it clearer.. better mixed.. but i'm unsure of what specifically to attack.
Click to expand...

It may just be that you prefer the sound of a good condensor mic, in general they sound bigger and clearer for recording. The second track sounds better so you've already learned some stuff.

The track needs a bass, shine and sheen often sounds pronounced in relation to a nice deep bass, with out it (a bass track) you just dont percieve the silk as much.

Overall it sounds good.
 
Its getting better all the time. I hear what you mean about the guitar tracks but I was wondering if you had effects like reverb on the recorded track that you mixed? Reverb before can play some strange games. This is a sample of the intro that I did using the same technique but the tracks were dry before mixing. A touch of reverb added to the end mix...
 

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  • guitar.mp3
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Hey GL,

There's no reverb at all on the guitars.. however my room probably provided its own.
Seems to me like because the guitar tracks are playing exactly the same thing, they're just harmonising?
Do you think it sounds, 'bad'?

Thanks!
 
I dont think it sounds "bad", it sound interesting and if it was the intended effect, I cant see anyone complaining about it. I remember you saying it was recorded direct, which might have something to do with the effect. I used a single dynamic mic (AKG D7) pointed at the 12th fret at about 4-5" distant. Miked guitars always sound better no matter what so there's no mystery there.

I have no criticism on the vocal, I wish I could sing like you :)
 
I used a mic to record the new version (stereo with dubs as your suggested)..
No doubt it has a much better tone..
It may be due to me using a pretty crappy little electro acoustic. It doesn't sound brilliant at source tbh, so I guess its that.

Thanks mate :)

I intend on writing either a third verse.. or some kind of big finish for it tonight.
I'll keep you posted.
 
I thought in the first version that you weren't quite hitting the timing - it's an interesting beat, but not the easiest to play against. But the later version this seems better...

The acoustic is still sounding "tinny" to me - and the tuning is not quite right. Whatever mic you're using on the acoustic isn't getting you a good enough sound for mine... how are you miking? Try a mic and pickup on separate tracks and blend a bit of pick up in... sometimes this can work, sometimes not, but worth a try. Take a bit of the top end off the acoustic too..

The vocal sounds a bit strained, except for the woohs, which have a different, and slightly better, tonal quality to my ears. Like it's been EQ'd too much

I don't think the keyboard pad sound is adding much... I'd replace it with something warmer..

Good potential here though, keep at it... sounds very mid-80s pop... and not in a bad way... :D
 
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