First track post - suggestions welcomed!

M

MBP2112

New member
Howyadoin,

Here's a track I recorded for a local folk trio's demo. Pretty basic gear; AT3035 for vocals, guitars (Taylor and Yamaha) straight in using on-board preamps, all going to the Alesis Studio 24, Delta 1010 downstream of that, running Cubase SX 1.02. Laid in some bass and Wurlitzer piano in the choruses, real subtle stuff. Backing vocals were dubbed in.

Anything glaringly bad? I had a hard time getting the vocal levels where I wanted them, and as it turned out the singer wanted me to push the harmonies back into the mix. This mix was from before I did that, cause I think the harmonies are necessary to help fill out the sound in this track...

I like the stark reverb on the vocal in the first verse, since the first line talks about an empty house, and you kinda get that reverb of walls that have been stripped bare. As the chorus starts, the backing vocals were sung so well it's a damn shame to hide them. The Wurli gives a soft pad, nothing fancy...

I'd really appreciate any input!

-Mark P.

Lemme know!
 
Hi Mark,

I like the song, very catchy melody, good lyrics, good engineering.

Vocals: the lead has a good voice and she is well recorded, but she sounds hesitant, never really seems to 'let go'; was she nervous about recording?


The backing vocals should be more differentiated and a bit back, as I hear them. Maybe playing a bit with reverb or delay and pushing them down a bit, they should give more of a background layer for the lead to sing over. Not talking a lot here, but just so you get the sense they are standing behind her, not next to her.

Did they not want any more instrumentation, or was that your choice?
A bass walking along to this starting at the second verse I think would sound great. You could also play with an organ in the back a bit later on, to take it all home.

These are just ideas as I write, but I think with some additonal instrument texture, the backing vocals wouldn't have to do all the 'filling in ' themselves, and it would ramp the song up until the end. But, as I said, I don't know what they wanted or didn't want.

This is one I would like to listen to from time to time. Are you planning any revisions, or is this as it stands?

Best,

CC
 
ya i think its a pretty good song as well. One thing that sticks out to me is the backup vocals. it sounds like they are on the lead vocal track but somebody is singing them in the back of a room or something. Maybe you could try a mix version that has them more up front but not overpowering volume wise? i don't know.

I think some furthur instrumentation or percussion after the first verse would help to devlop the song as well.
 
Howyadoin,

First off, thanks for listening!

Cosmic, this project was finished a while back, but I'm hopeful the band (Northern Edge) will come back soon for some more demo stuff. What a pleasure to work with, real pros, which made my job much easier. It was my first engineering/producing project to hit the streets as a demo CD. If you want to hear more, check out our sample track page.

The backing vocal balance issue was a dilemma for me. The song is unadorned, kinda plaintive and sad. That's the way I wanted it. The reverb on the first vocal line just chills me. But to counterpoint the sadness (and carry the chorus) the backing vocals have a hopeful rise to them that sorta plays off the sad lead vocal. To make that work, I might have pushed the backing harder than I should have. I did bring it down for the version that went on the CD, but I just listened to it and compared with what I posted the difference in levels is pretty minor, not enough to be worth posting that track for comparison.

My partner wanted to add a lot of production but I resisted the urge to lay synths and drums in. It's a song with a lot of potential for a kind of Nashwood tearjerking or over-the-top production, and I was afraid of that, especially for a first released project where I was under enough stress as it was :) . The bass and keys are real subtle, you almost can't tell they're there. Just pushes the bottom up a bit for a warmer tone.

Minofifa, as far as moving the backing vocals up in the mix w/o affecting the volume, are you saying there's too much reverb on the backing vocals? Just wanna know if I'm understanding you right...

Thanks again for the input!

-Mark
 
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