the valley - by Joey

come on guys, tell me what to do better....

I think the heavy guitars and the bass are too loud, but I'd sure value your opinion...
 
Joey, you've got a good start here on a good rock ballad, but there are some problems with the sound as you know. The guitars are a bit thin at first, no bass at all, then the vox comes in and drowns them out, then the bass comes in and fights with the vox for space, then the electric git comes in with distortion and everybody's fighting for space.

Drop the bass volume, drop the vox volume and let everything sit with the acoustics or else just throw them out and change the genre.

Very interstiting chord changes and you're obviously a good vocalist. Maybe if you put some compression on the ditorted guitar and bass and dropped the vox 20% things might blend a little better. There you go, you asked for it.:)
 
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Listening the second time and I'm not sure the bass is playing the same notes as the guitars in the beginning. Then it smooths out. Drums have a nice live sound to them. The bass is too dominant at first and then it behaves later in the song and things are more balanced.

You could widen the stereo field a bit. Things sound on top of each other.
 
good advice Xeries!

I'll definitely have to work on it again. I'll post when it's done. Song is very important to me, it's about my father. He passed away last December.

Thanx again!
 
Yes, you certainly did, Joey. The guitars are much more balanced. This was a marked improvement over your original mix. I heard harmony with one of the acoustics that I thought was a vocal. That was cool. Then there was vocal harmony that I didn't hear the first time through. I also go the harmony with the electric that sort of fooled the ear into thinking it was a voice. You did that by letting it sit back further in the mix. The bass was right on. I think you've done a really good job putting this one together.:)
 
thanx a lot for pointing everything out to me Xeries! It's really hard to be objective when you're doing your own stuff, I find it easier when I'm recording someone else. Guess the harmonies came out better now, cos I managed to fix some frequencies. I'm quite happy too now with the result.

Thany again for all the help!

Cheers
Joey;)
 
2nd mix - some of the string squeaks could be edited out - there not OT but where you're sliding between chord they could be muted.
Yeah the 1st few bars of bass are perplexing.
I don't know if the loud snare works until the electric guitars come in.
The gentle lead work starts off with a couple of very percussive sounds that almost obscure the notes.
The tandem lead lines work a treat.
 
hi rayc,

yeah I thought I'd leave the squeaks to make the acoustic sound natural. You could be right about the snare though, although maybe 'cos it's a heavy ballad it could be alright. Guess it's just a matter of taste.

With the gentle lead work, do you mean the clean lead in the middle part? I know the notes have a certain clicking noise to them. I played that part with my ESP vintage Strat and chose a different PU setting, thought it sounded interesting.


Thanx a lot for your comments!

Cheers
Joey
 
I'm new here. I like the intro and acoustic sound. Great tune. I didn't like the drum reverb that much. I think it could be a bit drier and in front.
 
Automata said:
I'm new here. I like the intro and acoustic sound. Great tune. I didn't like the drum reverb that much. I think it could be a bit drier and in front.
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Hey Automata! Welcome to the planet's Nr 1 HR site.....

I actually tried a drier snare in the beginning but wasn't that convinced about it. I think since It's a ballad it can take a deeper reverb, but I guess it's a matter of opinion.

Thanx for the compliments!
 
Sounds okay for this 80's power-ballad style of music. The acoustics could use more body. They sound kinda weak and thin. The big drum reverb works perfectly here. I don't particularly like it, but it's definitely right for the song. I think the distorted guitars can come up some once the song gets rolling. Vocals sound good. They're a little on top of the mix, but I think bringing the guitars up some will help mesh it all together. Pretty good overall.
 
Greg_L said:
Sounds okay for this 80's power-ballad style of music. The acoustics could use more body. They sound kinda weak and thin. The big drum reverb works perfectly here. I don't particularly like it, but it's definitely right for the song. I think the distorted guitars can come up some once the song gets rolling. Vocals sound good. They're a little on top of the mix, but I think bringing the guitars up some will help mesh it all together. Pretty good overall.
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Hey Greg!

Thanx for the compliments! I might have to EQ those acoustics again, though.

Cheers
 
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