baltimore

B

bastupungen

New member
Hey here is a recent creation of mine and a couple of friend who play together from time to time. This was recorded at a school in Piteå, a small town in northern sweden. I would like to get some feedback on the sound of the mix. It's a really nice tune but i'm not to proud of my own work as the sound engineer and it sounds like something is wrong but I can't really find out what. So if anyone has any thoughts or ideas I am all ears.

ftp://ftp:1234@77.110.48.8/baltimore.wav
 
It seems to be lacking high frequencies. The girl's vocals sound as if a low-pass filter was applied at 2 kHz. The only thing having much in the HF range at all seems to be the drum overheads.

I love the bell hit at 1:56.

The reverb on her vox from 2:06-2:13 is rockin'.

The kick could use more attack. It sounds like a mere thud. I guess you may not have much control over this. Probably has most to do with the drum and mics used to record it.

I might bring up the toms a hair.

Cool panning on the cymbal at the end.
 
thanks for your comments.

Yes I have also heard the missing high frequencies and I thought I had compensated for it, but maybe I can do more. Is it more the freq from maybe 3-8khz that are missing or is it even the higher frequencies, say 9-16khz that are missing?

I did use a ribbon microphone (the royer 121 i think they are called) because she has a voice that did not work well on the standard large condensers that I start out with, neumann or some other tube variant. So that might explain some of the lacking transients and high frequencies. I could try to att some more in that range and maybe work on some of the compressors and let them let more of her voice through.

Except lacking high frequencies is there anything else on the overall sound that you think about?

I will reply later, today is my B-day so I'm a little busy. Thanks though!
 
Happy birthday [yesterday]! :P

Listening now, I don't notice the lack of high frequencies as much.. I don't know what it is with me. I had a long, long night of sleep.. maybe that affected how I am hearing this.. I don't know. heh. I'm more referring to the overall mix.

And since I typed that last paragraph, I think my ears are coming back, and I do indeed hear the lack of HF a bit more (this is the first thing I've listened to since I woke up).

Anyway... I would say 3-8kHz maybe could take a bump. Probably 8 and up, too though, but maybe not as much. It would be easier for me to answer if I could do it and hear the change, so you just have to trust your ears.

A good thing to do is find a song you love, and use it as a reference for EQ and such. That could be helpful. Listen to that song, then listen to yours and decide what yours is missing that the other song has.
 
Been working some more on this project and we added some more guitars for a tighter sound. And also some effects. Though I have to work more on some parts of it.

How is the specral balance now? And by the way the vocals should i give them a bump maybe +3 db, or are they fine as they are? I have some problems deciding since I only have headphones and dont trust them totally.

I very much appriciate your input!

ftp://ftp:1234@77.110.48.8/baltimoregits.wav
 
I like the added guitar at 3:47. I'm sure there are other parts, but I noticed that one just now..
also, I like that you raised the harmony level a bit at 2:54.. or it seems as if you did. Love that harmony :P

I'm only mixing on headphones, also.. all I have otherwise is a surround sound system and it's definitely not a flat response.
I think the vox could come up a tad, maybe not quite 3db, though. Try 1.5 and then decide from there, perhaps. A 3db gain is doubling the volume.

As far as spectral balance, it sounds quite similar to the first mix, but I think it sounds alright. Could still use high end overall, but it's not a deal-breaker.
 
I'll listen tomorrow. I'm amazingly tired now after a long Independence Day here in the states.
 
TX Austin

At 0:38...the vox melody sings the 2nd to root...while the chord switches to the major. I thought the vox melody should go 2nd to the maj3rd..to really bang the switch to major chord. Little thing, but one of those moments of unison [on the new maj3rd note] that pumps strength.

The piano is stepping on the vocal through most of the tune...especially the intro. And the comping is reall busy and in front. Dial back the busy...lower the level....let the bass/drums be carrying a righteous amount of water. Piano...just too damn epic.

The gal has some stuff; but she's kinda off-pitch sometimes....that falsetto groove. Needs a little help with the pitch rectifier thingy....or some more takes.

The melody for the voice is needin' work. Grace Slick treatment. Like at 3:15...singer needs to produce a big moment with a higher note, and some drama.....melodic contouring. Yeah...the vox lacks drama...in the melody....that can match the urgency of the song. And some of the phrasing is weak...unsupported by melody.

Cymbals are present and splashy. A cut down??

Lots of potential. Some TLC and thought injected could make this one wonderful.
 
jeffmaher said:
TX Austin

At 0:38...the vox melody sings the 2nd to root...while the chord switches to the major. I thought the vox melody should go 2nd to the maj3rd..to really bang the switch to major chord. Little thing, but one of those moments of unison [on the new maj3rd note] that pumps strength.
Click to expand...

No problem.

Are you speaking of when she sings "in" (solve the "in" between)? So the "in" should be maj3rd?
 
I love the bigness of the sound! The vocals are pretty shrill through my headphones... Makes me want to turn it down a bit, and that's a bad thing for this song, because it's a great song! Yeah... The vocals and cymbals have a 1.5-2.5KHZ shrillness that makes me want to turn it down... Hurts my ears.

Gotta get those frequencies under control, and this would rock!

I really like the texture of the vocals. Nicely sung.

Keep working on it!
 
Actually, the word 'between'...maj 3rd. Or maybe sus4 for the first syllable, then resolving to the maj3.

That's an example of an awkward phrasing: "b'tween"...I couldn't make out the lyric, until you gave it away. I was just thinking of the vox melody banging the maj 3rd with the piano to clarify the change....it hits the ear a little weakly with piano, only...takes the ear a moment to recognize the interpolation.

And also an example of an opportunity lost to really charge up the vocal...for example, if the 'beeeee-tweeeen' were sung in the quarter triplet drawn out for a long time on 'tween'......from sus to maj 3.........the word and the melody would have big impact. It sort of caps the section....and lets it down, where it could bang it up. Grace Slick. She was a master.

Just an opportunity for me, too, to clarify what I was trying to convey in my first response.
 
jeffmaher said:
Actually, the word 'between'...maj 3rd. Or maybe sus4 for the first syllable, then resolving to the maj3.

And also an example of an opportunity lost to really charge up the vocal...for example, if the 'beeeee-tweeeen' were sung in the quarter triplet drawn out for a long time on 'tween'......from sus to maj 3.........the word and the melody would have big impact.
Click to expand...
So if I'm understanding it right, you're suggesting that "in - be - tween" make up the quarter triplet, and the "tween" being held out for approx. twice as long.

"in" -- 2nd
"be" -- sus4
"tween" -- maj3rd

I like it a lot, actually.. I think it would sound great. Nice.
 
Xactly. Mebbe hold out 'tween' for a couple measures, even. BANG!

There's a lot of opportunity to be teased out of this tune....mostly in the vocal melody...note and phrasing choices....to put it over the top. That's just one spot. But the vocal's melodic let-downs are a persistent theme, throughout.

Again, sounds like a melody made to fit the poetry...instead of the other way around. Which is why I like to recommend word re-writes to a melody that rocks.
The only cat I can think of who could make it happen in the reverse....consistently.... was Elton John....maybe Lennon/McArtney??

The vocal should ...and could, be as strong as something by 'Evanescense'. A good study for the genre.
 
thank you austin but please try this version instead. I got some good advice and worked some more on the mix and would very much like your opinion on this work.

 
Comparing to commercial mixes, it may be a hair bass-heavy.. but only a sliver.. nothing major. Maybe it's just that the bass is tighter-sounding in the commercial stuff I'm comparing to.

Also didn't notice the guitar between 1:50 and 1:57 leading into that cymbal, but that sounds awesome! Nice work!

I'm digging it.


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The ftp address didn't stream for me, but downloaded the file instead. So for you guys who just want to stream it, here it is:

 
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