Judas Priest "Breaking the Law" cover

Can't turn up at the moment as it's 6 AM here. So I won't comment heavily on the mix.
Good performances with the exception of the first part of the vocal. Sounds timid and not quite there. Comes alive about the first chorus.
May be just because I can't give this song the volume it deserves, but the voice really sounds "in the can". The performance (as I said) is good, but the eq/effects used are killing the sound.
Drums sound very forced/midi'd. First snare hit sounds washed and confused. Maybe just a simple snare flam without all the effects.
 
It sounds like it was recorded in the bathroom while you're taking a shower lol. Don't want to be too harsh, but the between the trash can snare and pitchy vocals it's one of those things that needs a lot of work :D
 
I should never read comments before listening, because I always expect the tune to sound way worse than it does when I do listen to it. After reading the 2 comments above I really expected this to sound like shit, and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not blaming Broken or Foul, it's my fault.

I don't think the drums are that bad. Do you guys not remember the 80's? All 80's snares sounded like that. Too big, too reverby. It sounds just about right to me.

I didn't think the vocals were that bad, either. No worse than Rob Halford, in my opinion. I think this isn't a bad 80's sounding mix and a decent cover.
 
On a second, more critical listen, I have to agree that the vocals are a little pitchy, no doubt about that, and they can use a little de-essing. The drums are obviously programmed, but it's the cymbals that give it away, it's always the cymbals with fake drums.
 
Every crash sounds EXACTLY the same :eek:

Seriously, I'll give a better listen later this afternoon if I get done recording my own pitchy vocals. :laughings:
 
Thanks guys! Indeed the drum kit is programmed. I should have mentioned also that all of the vocals, guitars, and bass were performed by me, and were all first takes, no warming up, no real plan.. I just wanted to get a whole song done quickly so that I can start learning how to mix. I use a pop filter and a condenser mic.. no room treatment to speak of.. any advice on how I can get my vocals produced better?
 
On my soundcloud, there are two vocals only songs I did.. in a friends studio, for some projects he needed done. "Panama" and "Everybody Talks". He knows his stuff. Not saying I am a great singer, but they show what I can do
 
Okay, I listened at volume. :) Sounds much better now. RAMI is 100% correct about the snare sounding awesomely 80-ish. Stand by what I said about the vocals though. At the beginning the eq/effects and performance are not where they need to be and the volume is down, but breaks out at the first chorus.
Really good performance (think I said that, too).
 
Yeah, the drums sound squashed. But like it's already been said that was the drum sound of the 80s. I liked the track. I've always thought it was a cool song
 
yostinator said:
On another subject, would a mic shield help get a more focused sound?
Click to expand...

If you mean a pop filter, yes for two reasons: 1) it helps with p's and b's etc. 2) it gives you something to touch with your nose/face and keep a set distance from the mike, capturing all the dynamics of your great sounding voice.
If you mean a shield on the mike, probably not. But I see you're already using a pop filter, so this is probably what you meant. No, a filter on the mike will not help, but actually muffle just a tweak. They're more for keeping wind gusts and such from sounding in the mike. They also deaden sibilance just a bit (which is the purpose of your pop filter).
Don't get too hung up on the cheapness of your pop filter. Many of us started with pantyhose strapped over a metal hanger. :D
 
The crash cymbals are freaking me out! Too loud, too far apart, too dry.

I think just a little more of the dry vocal mixed in over the top of the effecty thing would probably help. I think the effects are appropriate for the genre. The vocal itself is buried a bit even more my tastes. Not that I really want to hear that particular vocal any better, but if that's what you're going with, then it needs to be a touch louder. (Soundcloud immediately launched into some a capela "Panama" thing :/ )

Then there's this weird thing happening where the guitars are pulling the whole mix around with them. I'm pretty sure it's because you're slamming the whole mix into some heavy-handed, stereo-linked compressor. It's kind of unsettling. I think this might not be helping the crash cymbals either.

Edit - That all sounds like I hate it. Actually, I think most of the underlying sounds and performances are pretty good, and the overall mix is pretty close.
 
The drums are really squashed.

The guitars are going crazy on my headphones. Like the one on the right is much more prominent and it's completely overpowering the vocal (which is definitely panned to the left). It sounds like a flanger or a phaser is going over the whole track.

Good performances.
 
Thanks to all for much appreciated feedback! I have a compressor question. Basically how much is too much compression? For this recording I used a compressor on every track and for the master track compressor again as well as a master limiter and also some sort of tube eq something or other
 
My use of the compression and other plug ins listed was more because I could rather than knowledge of what and when to use them
 
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