New Mix: Desolate Generation

34 views and not a single comment.... I guess there are several ways to interpret this.
 
Not really sure what to say, man. This recording falls short on so many levels. The overall EQ level on the mix seems to be completely lacking bottom-end (except for a light sub-freq tap on the kick). The guitars are so fizzy, they lack any body at all. The vocals are flat and have no definition or presence, yet they stomp over everything in the mix. Was there a bass playing? If so, it's completely lost in the lack of bottom-end. Guitar timing is bad against the perfectly robotic timing of the drums.

The song itself isn't too bad, though. I'd scratch everything and start recording the whole thing all over again. Sorry for the bad news, but we all gotta start somewhere!
 
The song itself is well written and catchy, but the delivery and mix needs some work as said by PI. He pretty well summed it up.
Don't fret, if you look hard enough you can find my first submission and it, well, sucked. But with trial and error, I fixed some of the issues and moved forward. I'm still working on mixes. I'd look forward to a remix and I encourage it....
 
I'm afraid I have to say I think everything PoeticIntensity said is pretty accurate and fair. Don't give up though!!
 
Remixed Re-recorded

I did most of that first mix on headphones which I know is a really dumb way to do it... Anyway - I re-tracked the whole thing - see what you think of the new version.

 
Wow!!!! Amazing difference - put the new link in the top post. Way punchier, rockier and more bottom end. Love the new mix!!!!
Okay - now you need to work on those vocals.... They are still almost always flat.
Questions to try and help ya:
1) What are you using to record vocals with for monitoring - headphones? What kind. What's the set up?
2) Can you hear the music clearly when you sing ?
3) Can you hear your voice in relation to the music when you sing?
4) Can you hear that the vocals are flat? (This is important).
5) Have you tried to sing in a higher key? What were the results?
I really like this "sound" and if you can get the vocals going it will be a smash....
 
ido1957 said:
Wow!!!! Amazing difference - put the new link in the top post. Way punchier, rockier and more bottom end. Love the new mix!!!!
Okay - now you need to work on those vocals.... They are still almost always flat.
Questions to try and help ya:
1) What are you using to record vocals with for monitoring - headphones? What kind. What's the set up?
- were recording live so the monitor is the PA (which are actually KRK 6's)
2) Can you hear the music clearly when you sing ?
3) Can you hear your voice in relation to the music when you sing?
- yes
4) Can you hear that the vocals are flat? (This is important).
- I can tell they aren't right :)
5) Have you tried to sing in a higher key? What were the results?
- tried a lower key, not higher yet

I really like this "sound" and if you can get the vocals going it will be a smash....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback - so the vocals being flat - thats like flat as in the opposite of sharp right? Like slightly off the note? Maybe I can just practice the vocals a little and over dub them. Maybe if I used headphones when we recorded it would help cause its pretty noisy with the drums...
 
Ahhhh...so this is without headphones? Were you using floor monitors? Being able to hear what you sing is SUPER important. You also need a vocal/music blend that allow the singer to hear the music and be able to compare the notes they sing to the pitch of the music.
 
Its pretty muddy...I think the kick is all thud and no click..vocals are too low..I can hear the guitar and bass but with the kick taking up so much energy out of the song its hard to critique their levels..


I like the tune though...raw, new wave...man Greg would be all over this and could really help clear up your sound..but hes banned lol


btw totally different from what Ive heard you post before isnt it? and dont worry about views/comments..10% is the average return and a couple of us are on "vacation" ;)
 
oh and I wouldnt change the vocal key imho, i think its spot on for this sound, just a bit low in volume
 
kcearl said:
Its pretty muddy...I think the kick is all thud and no click..vocals are too low..I can hear the guitar and bass but with the kick taking up so much energy out of the song its hard to critique their levels..
Click to expand...

Do you know what specific low end range I can adjust to brighten up the bass drum? Or maybe I need to run a high pass filter and drop out some of the under 60 band?

ps - i like your new avatar
 
Dude... *WORLDS* better. You know how to take advice, apply it, and grow from it. This seriously is 1000% better than your original post. It still has huge problems, but the fizziness of the guitars and the lack of low end seem to be taken care of. Good job.

Now... Your vocals are horrible. You're not only flat (as in pitch), but in a lot of places, you're singing in a whole different key than the music. I'd recommend learning scales and chords, and then practicing singing up and down the scale of the music you're writing, so you can hear yourself singing the right notes.

Kudos, man. I didn't think you'd come back after that thrashing I gave ya. Way to go on the improvements. Now keep it up!
 
Jason (poeticintensity) may have missed your question on eq'ing the kick. He should be able to help you.
I missed that you answered all my questions above. Using KRK's will work fine BUT, if you can redo the vocals with headphones you may get some better results (without the distraction of the music going on). Do a few takes and comp the best.
 
arcadeko said:
Do you know what specific low end range I can adjust to brighten up the bass drum? Or maybe I need to run a high pass filter and drop out some of the under 60 band?
Click to expand...

*NO* - to the high pass filter. Don't wanna cut any of the low freqs. They're tasty - and also - turning down the thump won't increase the click. EQ the kick with a large spike (low Q) around 4-5K (I've augmented the frequency as much as 20dbs before with good results), and that should help with the click.
 
i really like the vocals lol

maybe i hear out of pitch :D


i would still try to lower the LFs of the kick and giving it a boost as jason said


I dont think it needs a pass...but possibly if you give it a slight boost give the bass a cut in the same region..its close though


can i just say..imho...many here listen on their studio monitors and wouldnt be A/Bing it on another system...and I think thats why so much bass gets ignored in here sometimes..i didnt listen on monitors and like some/most of my early mixes the kicks taking all the energy up in the track

just my thrupennies worth ;)
 
Yeah, a huge difference between these two versions. I didn't finish the first version actually, but I got enough of it to form a baseline. The 2nd version is way better, but still some issues there.

I like the sound of your vocals much better the 2nd time around, but the pitch is still really kind of a problem for me. Especially on the whoa-oh-oh's. The sound of the voice and the way it was processed sounds great, just not hearing the right notes there.

I don't think the kick is too bad, but certainly not much click if you were going for that.

Again, a huge improvement, so props for moving in the right direction with this.
 
Get the flat out

Ok, so i tried to redo the vocal track with headphones - i think I am a little less flat now



see if the vocals sound better here - I tweaked the drums a little but I don't think it did much

I am working with a single drum track (Roland TD-4 electronic Kit) so its a bit difficult to isolate a single drum... I could dupe the track and filter it maybe - but I think the bass drum is pretty strong.

Hopefully I am not going backwards here...


I really can't thanks you guys enough - Your advice is priceless. If I could buy you all a beer I certainly would :drunk: I could't even begin to do this without this forum!

And believe me, I have thick skin and I take all of your suggestions seriously and try to implement them and hear them. So please don't skip saying something - I'm trying to make the best sounding songs I can and I am fine with brutal honesty.
 
Yeah, that is an improvement, but I'm still hearing off-ness throughout - it is more subtle now though.

I dunno man, for this style of music maybe ? Plus, I am not a vocal coach by any means (not even a vocalist really!), but at times it sounds like you are hitting the note, it just isn't the note I would want you to hit. Like the on the 2nd whoa-oh-oh...the middle "oh" sound - you go up unexpectedly to a note that doesn't seem to fit.

Don't want to lead you astray or anything. Just trying to help. You should see what others say. I do think you're continuing to improve this though.
 
I think I prefered the 2nd mix but the links down..I still think the kicks a little boomy and the vocals are off pitch...but I think thats what makes them, this isnt meant to be sung by Mariah Carrey...one of my favourite vocalists is Ian Curtis and hes as flat as a pancake, he's also excellent.....i think the mix is a little narrow but I like the overall lo-fi feel of it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top