Overproduced Song...

Todzilla

Todzilla

New member


I've put tons of tracks down on this. Some will no doubt find it is too long, but I deliberately want the bombastic overkill.

It was a huge challenge to mix and it spanned several different upgrades of software and front-end equipment.

I still need to include some of the band's vocalists, as it's all me on all bazillion vocals.

So, fire away, s'il vous plait....
 
The vocal in the introduction is not gelling in the mix. First step I wold do is bring it down. It's way to hot, also out of tune several times in the intro. The drums seem to lack some umph that the track demands. If anything bring up the kick. Ha, kinda of reminds me of a bubble gum muse.
 
The main problem is that the mix seems really lop sided. Everything is pushed to the left. The other thing that I noticed is that your Weird Al Yankovic sounding lead vocal has some spikes and could maybe stand a little compression.
 
Try making your voice really small on the verse (treble, compression and maybe a bit of distortion and brought down in the mix). Then it will contrast with what you have on the chorus and I think this will really work. I like it. Ben Folds with arpeggiators, really good but let down by the vocals not sitting with the music on the verse.
 
Thanks for the feedback, guys.

I actually did have the vocals pulled back originally. They sat deeper in the mix, but I deliberately pulled them up front to give them more ooomph. I'll probably play around with them more.

As for the LR of the overall mix, I made that decision based on the metering, which is probably not a good idea. Yeah, kick is low, but it's difficult to get a level/EQ that is consistent from system to system.

There is already compression on the lead vox, so I may do more surgical level adjustments of the fader itself rather than squash the life out of it.

I may experiement with high pass filtering the verse vox, although I've done that on a song or two already and am wary of one-trick-ponyism.

"Bubble gum Muse" I like that description a lot! Weird Al reference is like a spike to my heart, though. As for Ben Folds, funny you mention that, as the drummer on this track used to play for him.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
Todzilla.. I must say I enjoyed your song very much! It was a joy listening to.. But as the other comments stated the drums tend to drown... I have a good tips for you man!

Google for sidechain comressor and use that on your kick. Make the compression with the lowest release and the fastest attack possible! Then make most of your instruments "ducking" for your kick..
In other words every time your kicks come in, the other instruments will lower down. But don't get me wrong! Noone will actually "hear" it! It's just that the kick gets a "room for itself".

Let me show you my first song with sidechain compression!!.. I've just learned this method myself.. You won't HEAR it, but you will feel that the mix is clean and stays clear of my kick.



EDIT: It's especially important for the bass to "duck" under the kick so they don't clash..

EDIT2: The Vocal should NOT be sidechain compressed..
 
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Needs more lasers! :D

Your mix is pretty solid. The only complaint that I really noticed myself is the vocals sometimes spiking and sometimes sounding distorted on the louder parts. This happened most often on the "yeah" of "Yeah, I'm looking for love."

I probably wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been pointed out before, but yes, the drums are too low.

Very cool though.
 
I liked all the vocal tracks. Very interesting. Synth sounds were pretty good.

Distorted guitar was a little on the splashy side, but still sounded pretty decent.

Drums aren't out front enough. Not enough presence and pop on the snare. I'm on small headphones, but I'm having real trouble hearing the kick.

At 3:45 there is what to me is a vocal clam on a high harmony part on the right side. Just a note that pops out kind of clumsily.
 
Very ambitious. You pulled it off man.

Really so much going on in this one. The vocals, melody and lyrics during the verses actually were reminiscent of Phish. It definitely goes in many different directions afterwards though.

Liked the piano and the drum performance in particular. Nice cymbal work. Background vocals were well done as well. I thought the drum sound overall was a bit smallish compared to the rest of the production though. When they first came in I was thrown by the fact that they didn't have a bigger sound to match what was going on.

Really well done though. Good sound on an obviously involved arrangement.
 
heatmiser said:
Very ambitious. You pulled it off man.

Really so much going on in this one. The vocals, melody and lyrics during the verses actually were reminiscent of Phish. It definitely goes in many different directions afterwards though.

Liked the piano and the drum performance in particular. Nice cymbal work. Background vocals were well done as well. I thought the drum sound overall was a bit smallish compared to the rest of the production though. When they first came in I was thrown by the fact that they didn't have a bigger sound to match what was going on.

Really well done though. Good sound on an obviously involved arrangement.
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Phish? Wow. Can't take much of that band (although props to Trey's guitar playing). But if they sound like me, maybe I shouldn't harsh on my daughter's interest in jam bands. 8^)

Appreciate your comments. That's me on piano, rhythm guitar and all vocals.

Yes, I'm working on the drums for the next mix. I made a critical error in tracking them - I recorded overheads as a coincident pair, but didn't realize the mics were omni-directional (Crown CM-700s), so the stereo separation is negligible. Mine is a one room studio, so sometimes the consequences of certain tracking techniques aren't evident until drummer has long returned to Nashville.
 
Hey, I've done a pretty radical remix, based on feedback from this, and other forums (forae?).

I may have gone overboard on drums, but I'm sure y'all will let me know if that's the case.



Thanks in Advance,

-Todzilla
 
Todzilla said:
Hey, I've done a pretty radical remix, based on feedback from this, and other forums (forae?).

I may have gone overboard on drums, but I'm sure y'all will let me know if that's the case.



Thanks in Advance,

-Todzilla
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You're still murdering the drums with all the other stuff. It's fine and dandy to have layers and stuff, but you gotta mix them in, not just pile them on.
 
Greg_L said:
You're still murdering the drums with all the other stuff. It's fine and dandy to have layers and stuff, but you gotta mix them in, not just pile them on.
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Thanks for the feedback.

You mean the very end, I assume? 'cause there's not that much until deep into the outro.

Not sure what you mean by murdering drums...
 
Todzilla said:
Thanks for the feedback.

You mean the very end, I assume? 'cause there's not that much until deep into the outro.

Not sure what you mean by murdering drums...
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They get buried. They have no presence or life in the mix. There's stuff crowding them out. They're almost inaudible sometimes. Listen around 2:07. You hear how the toms pop out and have life? That's how the kick and snare should be. Or at least close to it. When the song is rolling, the only percussion that's making it through is the tambourine and a tiny hint of snare.
 
wow theres a lot of elements to this and its pretty nicely done

i did notice that the drums fade later than the rest of it at the end of the song and it made them sound less realistic
 
I agree with the points above, but this is a really interesting track man. I esp. like all the vocals you got going on in such a busy mix- less is usually more, but you pulled it off quite nicely!
 
The song's really good, but the mix sounds mostly muddy. The drums lack ambience and presence. The vocal levels are inconsistent, sometimes way too loud. Try a less is more approach. I can imagine the song sounding very big and wide, but here it just sounds small and muddled up to my ears. I'm sure you could do a better job.
 
Cool song, I'd just automate the vocals here and there. I like vox that stand out, a buried vocal is always the sign of a home/demo to me. The suggestions about layering the mix are important. With this many tracks its that much harder to give everything its own spot. I thought the bass could use more sub/low. It would help the mix sound bigger and not so mid cluttered. Great job though, cool song!!!
 
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