Turn around and face it

It's promising. Too much compression for me. Zero dynamics--you can see it in the wave form. Your vocals are buried under your guitars, first verse especially. The reverb on the vocal is adding to that. Sounds like the doubled guitars are going at a constant level throughout. They are not bad by themselves, but they are eating up so much sonic space that any time another element comes in (vocals, lead guitar) the compressor gives everything an extra squeeze. If you like that effect, fine. To me it sounds muddy and indistinct. Bass could come up, but you would need to create some space for it. As it stands currently, there's no room for more of anything.
 
Well how do I get the guitars to take up less space without pushing them down. If I lower them they become inaudable?
 
That's the challenge of mixing. More of one thing means less of something else. It's all about choices. I think those guitars are a long way from being inaudible though. Have you thought about lowering them during the vocal part, or notching out some frequency space for the vocal? A high pass or shelf might clear some room for the bass.
 
The guitars is compressed pretty hard - works for me - that's how guitars sound when you use a compressor. The vocals are good - the echo effect is well timed. Lead cuts through without being brittle or too loud. If you turn this up loud you get a better overall sonic image, this is meant to be played loud and compete with modern mastered songs of the genre.
Mix wise...
- bass is there, I can hear it but it has very little definition. Bass mids are MIA. It does fill in the bottom but you can do that and have definition. Bass players like that :)
- rhythm guitars are just too loud. Volume can be consistent but it needs to allow the other parts a little more space.
- snare disappears often. I try to keep the snare audible at all times even during the loudest parts.

I think you've got a good handle on loudness, tone, singing, etc, just balance it out a bit more so things all share the spectrum.
 
Much much much better - turn the lead vocals a hair so the snare can still come through when you sing, and lead solo down a db or two so its sits at the same level as the lead vocal.
 
Now the focus is on the vocals and the solo - it's easier to tell you have a good voice. Before we were just kinda guessing :D
 
Thanks, but its not my voice. I played guitar bass and have done all the mixing, my friend provides lyrics and vocals.
Anyways thanks for the feedback Just need to craft some good solos now.
 
ido1957 said:
How did you download this? I can't see a download option on the SC page.
Click to expand...

Didn't download it. You can see the waveform in the Soundcloud player.

Yeah, I'm hearing the vocals better now. Your singer's got an Iggy Pop vibe going on.
 
Yes I like the guitar vs lead vox volume later in the song so I guess it's a matter of automating to make them work together
 
I like it. Reminds me of something you would hear on older teen movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I listened to #2 and #3. #3 is a lot better. Bringing the guitars down helped a lot. The things that stand out..the bass sounds off time at the beginning..0:10- 0:13. It really stands out to me. Also, I don't care for the echo on the vocals, sounds too fast...but thats just my taste. I know you said solo was a placeholder but I would definitely go back and re-do it. They stutter a few times. Regardless good sounding tune.
 
Or the lead singer of Bauhaus - listen to "Bela Lagosi's Dead" But, seriously, the vocalist should adhere to better timing on the syllables of the lyrics. - It's good to be expressive and loose for rock's sake, but a little timing fix couldn't hurt. For reference - listen to Lou Reed.
 
Crazy Luke said:
Or the lead singer of Bauhaus - listen to "Bela Lagosi's Dead" But, seriously, the vocalist should adhere to better timing on the syllables of the lyrics. - It's good to be expressive and loose for rock's sake, but a little timing fix couldn't hurt. For reference - listen to Lou Reed.
Click to expand...

Or just have him rehearse the song a few more times until the timing comes naturally.
 
I like the second version better too. I like the sound of your voice...dark and creepy. (Hopefully that's what you're going for. Sorry if it's not.)
 
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