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Tadpui

Tadpui

Well-known member
I've been testing out the new studio space and the new amps. This is an old song that I've been wanting to finish for a long time, so I started from scratch a couple of nights ago. It's an over-stuffed vanity project, but I figured that I'd throw it up here to get some input before I get much further on it. I don't do 5+ minute songs very often, but this was from around 2005, when I was freshly in love with OK Computer, Lonesome Crowded West, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

The vocals and bass are still works in progress. But let me know if anything sticks out to you and I'll see if I can address it. Thanks!



Updated mix 1/10/2015:


And lyrics if you care:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/89xjs7nq164tcin/Lyrics.txt
 
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This reminds me a lot of Wolfmother. I really like it. I'm not listening on anything optimal to critique the mix. But the song is great!
 
1.37 bv's pitchy. There are others pitchy spots as well. Aside from that, I like it.
 
Wolfmother - now there was a short lived revival of 70s hard rock.
You've something def. worth building on. I personally feel that the vox are too loud - but that's just me.
 
I think the vocals are just a hair out as well. Very subtle, seems like they should sit just a bit more in the mix.

A little bump EQ between 5-12K (I can't say exactly, but somewhere around that range) to give it a little brightness. But that is more of a taste comment.

Pretty cool tones, and sounds going on there.
 
CrowsofFritz said:
This reminds me a lot of Wolfmother. I really like it. I'm not listening on anything optimal to critique the mix. But the song is great!
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Thanks man. I've heard Wolfmother a time or two, they were on the late night talk show circuit a few years ago. I remember liking their guitar tones, and they had loads of it!

dobro said:
1.37 bv's pitchy. There are others pitchy spots as well. Aside from that, I like it.
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Thanks dobro. I'll be retracking the vocals tonight, hopefully I can get them more presentable by the end of the weekend.

rayc said:
Wolfmother - now there was a short lived revival of 70s hard rock.
You've something def. worth building on. I personally feel that the vox are too loud - but that's just me.
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DM60 said:
I think the vocals are just a hair out as well. Very subtle, seems like they should sit just a bit more in the mix.

A little bump EQ between 5-12K (I can't say exactly, but somewhere around that range) to give it a little brightness. But that is more of a taste comment.
Pretty cool tones, and sounds going on there.
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Thanks Ray & DM. My wife always complains that she can't hear the vocals in everything we listen to (she likes the classics and showtunes, with big loud vocalists right out front). I keep telling her that's just the way a lot of music is nowadays...the voice is just another instrument in the mix. She scoffs. So I bumped up the vocals for her sake, and I agree that they're too loud. So I gave her a little "I told ya so" after reading these comments :)

Plus they're MY vocals, so they need to be set back more :D

I'll have another mix up in the next 24 hours. Thanks for the listens and suggestions everybody.
 
I thought the guitars and lead vocal sound terrific.

I'm also catching some pitchiness in the BGV's in several spots. Not sure about dobro's 1:37 time marker. Did you mean 2:37? There wasn't any vocal at 1:37.

The bass is kind of tubby/muddy/loud.

Those power guitars at 1:39 are killer. Really good.
 
TripleM said:
I thought the guitars and lead vocal sound terrific.

I'm also catching some pitchiness in the BGV's in several spots. Not sure about dobro's 1:37 time marker. Did you mean 2:37? There wasn't any vocal at 1:37.

The bass is kind of tubby/muddy/loud.

Those power guitars at 1:39 are killer. Really good.
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I STILL have yet to find a good bass tone. I've tried so many things. I've tried direct out of the bass amp, I mic'd my little bass amp, I split the signal and used an SM81 to capture the mids/highs and sent another signal direct. Couldn't get a good blend. Tried the Behringer bass DI, tried direct into my RNP. Finally I settled on passive mode (it's an active bass) and plugged direct into one of the preamps on my RME. It's the best that it's sounded so far, but still not stellar. I even put a low shelf EQ on this one, about -3 dB below 300Hz to try and bring the tubby low-mids and boomy lows in check. Any other suggestions? I think this bass just isn't for me...
 
Tadpui said:
I STILL have yet to find a good bass tone. I've tried so many things. I've tried direct out of the bass amp, I mic'd my little bass amp, I split the signal and used an SM81 to capture the mids/highs and sent another signal direct. Couldn't get a good blend. Tried the Behringer bass DI, tried direct into my RNP. Finally I settled on passive mode (it's an active bass) and plugged direct into one of the preamps on my RME. It's the best that it's sounded so far, but still not stellar. I even put a low shelf EQ on this one, about -3 dB below 300Hz to try and bring the tubby low-mids and boomy lows in check. Any other suggestions? I think this bass just isn't for me...
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I haven't been able to listen to the song yet (I will soon tonight), but in general, there is a huge difference between a "good bass tone" when you're playing the bass, and "good bass tone" in a mix. Typically when you solo the bass is a great mix, it sounds like crap. That's because that great bass tone you're trying to get from your amp, from DI, from pedals, is not going to 'sit' in a mix. Once you've recorded the bass tone that you think is right for the song you need to start carving out the frequencies with a good EQ. No cut is too drastic when it comes to EQing bass in a mix. There's no point listening to the bass in solo while mixing. Just some thoughts for you!
 
I'm not listening through high-quality speakers, so take mix comments for what they're worth:

Great voice in the lead vocal. I'm starting to come around to what seems to be a general feeling about here... that great voice or not, vocals can be too dry (if "dry" means natural-sounding). Maybe a little more reverb, delay, or something on the lead might be good. Or leave them alone... as I type this and hear more of the song, I'm starting to think they're fine.

Other than that, I'd say a slightly louder kick drum would be good, maybe a slightly louder bass. Sounds really good, though. This is a good song.
 
I'll leave the mixing and tone advice to the others as it's all been covered above. I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the track and thought it sounded pretty damn good as is.

A few tweaks here and there and you can stick a fork in it. :thumbs up:

Cracking tune!
 
I didn't think the vocals were too far out front. I thought they were right where they should be for a song like this. I thought the whole mix was pretty darn good. maybe some pitchiness in the vocals, but almost a requirement for throwback tune like this.

You can probably make minor tweaks for the next week and not improve, but rather just change the mix. You're like 99% there.
 
That guitar tone sounds real close to Collective Soul and its pretty killer. Nice a clean and not too much overdrive. Nice voice and I think it sits in pretty good. Great job
 
This sounds great Tadpui, though I was never going to feel anything else though with the reference points you mentioned. Sparklehorse were a band that came to mind listening too. Good tones, good performance, good writing - I really like it.

My setup isn't really enough cop currently to say much about whether levels work to any great extent.

Just a couple of loose vocals here and there as others said - like they fall out of sync at 4.35, but they certainly don't detract from the song or anything.

Enjoyed it very much man
 
Mr Clean said:
I'll leave the mixing and tone advice to the others as it's all been covered above. I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the track and thought it sounded pretty damn good as is.

A few tweaks here and there and you can stick a fork in it. :thumbs up:

Cracking tune!
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Thanks Meestar Clean, I appreciate the listen and kind words.

MusicalSound said:
it's enjoyable unpretentious music.
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Thanks for the listen man!

Chili said:
I didn't think the vocals were too far out front. I thought they were right where they should be for a song like this. I thought the whole mix was pretty darn good. maybe some pitchiness in the vocals, but almost a requirement for throwback tune like this.

You can probably make minor tweaks for the next week and not improve, but rather just change the mix. You're like 99% there.
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I hear ya, I'm trying to not obsess over it. I'll take your words to heart. I made some tweaks tonight, and I'll put this one down for a while and see what some time does to help it.

Bruthish said:
That guitar tone sounds real close to Collective Soul and its pretty killer. Nice a clean and not too much overdrive. Nice voice and I think it sits in pretty good. Great job
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Thanks! Now that I have my first Marshall, I'm realizing how familiar it sounds from so many bands. It really is the sound of rock n' roll!

robgreen said:
This sounds great Tadpui, though I was never going to feel anything else though with the reference points you mentioned. Sparklehorse were a band that came to mind listening too. Good tones, good performance, good writing - I really like it.

My setup isn't really enough cop currently to say much about whether levels work to any great extent.

Just a couple of loose vocals here and there as others said - like they fall out of sync at 4.35, but they certainly don't detract from the song or anything.

Enjoyed it very much man
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Thanks Rob, I really appreciate your comments. And thanks for the Sparklehorse reference, Mr. Linkous was one of my favorites. Good Morning Spider was my main inspiration to start recording songs, and was a direct inspiration for the group of songs that this came from.
 
OK folks, I made some tweaks and put up a new mix. I'm gonna have to put this one down for a while because I'm reaching the point of diminishing returns. Tweaks this time:

- redid the background vocals. Still not 100% but better
- retracked the bass. Same tone, but without the flubbed notes.
- added a bit of ambiance delay to the lead vocal, and turned it down a bit
- turned up the 3rd guitar part in the interlude, it was buried in the previous mix. Not sure it's an improvement...
- turned up the kick just a notch or two and added a 5KHz boost

Anyways, I'm open to any other suggestions. I'm mainly fretting about the bass tone and volume, or anything in the low frequency region for that matter. And the background vocals. Or anything else you may notice that out of whack. Thanks a ton for the listens and suggestions so far, you've all been a big help!

Mix #2 is also linked in the original post:
 
Listening to mix 2....

Shit, sounds fine to me. Nice guitar tones. Yes! Feedback. I'm not the only one anymore using beautiful amp feedback in my mixes. Well done. Actually, maybe a little more bass gtr would be good to me.
 
New mix. Sounds good good good. I like the feedback and the vocal level. I think the bass could do with a little more definition or level so that it's not being masked by the kick drum.
 
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