Working Hard & Wanting some ideas!

guitarhunny

guitarhunny

New member
I have been working really hard to make my mixes better. Here are a couple of songs I have been working on. Any constructive critisism would be greatly appreciated! The two songs are Little Miss Nowhere & Seasons With You. I think I've posted these songs before but would like some comments on the mix.

Here's the link:

www.ruthsharpmusic.com/mp3.htm
 
On the first track, the doubled guitar track is not very accurately done, and this is distracting since they are nearly the same. I'd say either double it exactly the same, or just have one stereo guitar track. Also, the production is sort of in the akward intermediate space between "sparse" and "full." I'd suggest picking one- so either strip it down to one guitar and vocals, or add percussion and bass. The second track is better in this regard.

Recording wise, the guitars lack a little high end definition and are a little boomy. Maybe a mic placement issue? Is the mic at the sound hole?

Other than this, the songwriting and singindg is superb!
 
I'd like to add some bass and percussion but I don't have it available. I also don't want to have just one guitar track and a vocal. SOOOO, is there any way to come to a happy medium?

I don't have a subwoofer so I am finding my mixes come out a little boomy. I think my EQ abilities are to blame. I'll try to tone it down a bit and train my ears to compensate without the woofer.
 
I listened to the first cut - the mix is very thin and reedy sounding. And there's depth/air missing around the tracks to give them the context of playing in a natural space.

I can very easily see it being only a single guitar & vocal track - with the right mix and ambient texturing, it would sound quite good!
 
I'll give it a listen without the extras, work on the ambience and tone down my EQ. I'll post a new mix sometime tomorrow. I'd appreciate some follow up from anyone who cares to give it. Thanks.
 
guitarhunny said:
I'd like to add some bass and percussion but I don't have it available. I also don't want to have just one guitar track and a vocal. SOOOO, is there any way to come to a happy medium?
Click to expand...

Hi Ruth,

I enjoyed helping you out with drum tracks on one of your earlier test songs... Let me know if you'd like me to do more with some of these... ?

:)
 
BentRabbit--The next song that I will be recording will definetly need some percussion. I would love your help, if you don't mind. It may be a week or so.

I have posted a new version of Little Miss Nowhere. If you guys don't mind, I'd love to know if the direction I am heading is a little better. It still needs more work but hopefully I am getting slightly closer. I took out some of the corny extras and used some slight delay instead of heavier reverb. I also changed the EQ a bit with a cut at about 270 and another at about 70-80 ish so it is not so boomy. Maybe I just made it worse? The vocal seems a little buried maybe.

File Name: Little Miss4

www.ruthsharpmusic.com/mp3.htm
 
The first song -
The guitar is boomy during the chorus but it's not as bad during the verses - obviously has to do with the chords you're using at those points.

The solo guitar in the background can come up a bit. It sounds nice in some spots and I'd like to hear more.

The second song -
I like this one alot. Especially that haunting background vocal...I think this can come on the oohh and ahhh parts.. I think it's at a nice volume sits nice when you're just backing the verses. I like the reverb you're using.

I like the compostion and vocal performance alot.

good work.
 
Thank you ShookieJones! I always appreciate a compliment and thanks for noticing that little vocal spot. Right now I don't have any compression on the vocal but it might clean it up a bit if I added some.
 
guitarhunny said:
BentRabbit--The next song that I will be recording will definetly need some percussion. I would love your help, if you don't mind. It may be a week or so.
Click to expand...

Just shoot me a PM when you're ready... My schedule should hopefully be a bit calmer by then

:)
 
I agree with the rest of the comments for Little Miss Nowhere - the acoustic guitars sounded a bit distant and out of phase. A little compression will allow you to bring it up in the mix without it overpowering the vocals. I wasn't too crazy about the song as it tended to ramble on a bit. That's always the danger of having just guitar and voice. The song really has to sustain the listener on its own merits. Nice voice though......

Seasons With You I liked better. Interesting chords, nice melody and the background vocals add much needed depth and color. The recording is more effective too. The arpeggio guitars work nicely, but are a little boomy. The vocal track is very good. Your voice sounds present and wistful, full of energy and emotion. Nice job!
 
Little Miss Nowhere was my first attempt at writing so I agree that it tends to ramble on. I just want to get it on a CD & give it the respect it deserves as it was the start of my songwriting.

I like the recording of Seasons With You better too. The guitar on Little miss Nowhere seems a little distant because I was further from the microphone. It was the best I could get because I experienced a lot of clipping trying to record it and believe me, I tried recording it numerous times.

Thanks for the input!
 
guitarhunny said:
Here is the link to the newest mix version. I've added a little more compression to vocals and guitar and tried to warm up the vocals a touch. Let me know what you think?

Link is: little miss5
www.ruthsharpmusic.com/mp3.htm

Thank You!
Click to expand...
Oops, dead link...

Hey I will have some free time and I play bass.... ;)
 
Ok, Little Miss #5 wouldn't play for me, so I listened to #4. I can't comment on the mix, because I am listening on my pc at work... But I like the song! It's well sang and good lyrics.

Let me know if want some bass lines. If BentRabbit is doing drums for you, I'd like to help out too!
 
Actually, I downloaded "Again" and I am going to take a look at it... I like where it's going and I can see some possibilities there.
I'll check in here and see what she thinks..
 
guitarhunny,

I like your guitar playing and love your voice, not to mention you are etremely sexy ;) oops, hope I didn't upset the lineman husband! Anyhow, the latest mix is pretty good but I know what Bruce was saying about the ambiance. Maybe some stereo imaging would help. Did you by any chance record to a click track? I only ask because if so adding percussion would be much easier and I think would be to your benefit. Good luck with your venture and if you could, check out my first MP3 post, just put it up today!
 
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