Total noob first ever record & mix, gulp....

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LiveRockVideo

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Rode NT2A Mic & MAudio DMP3 Preamp
Yamaha AW1600 MTR.

Mixed and effects added in Cubase LE.

If anyone hears this and has any comments I would love to hear, good or bad!

Peter
 
Hi Peter,

I, too, am new to recording so take my opinion as a simple third-party opinion, rather than "expertise" :o

The guitar has a nice clear sound, not boomy or too bright. I do like the reverb/delay on the vocals, but I think it might be a bit too long, as it drags on particularly at the end of a word phrase. I, personally, find that a bit distracting. Otherwise, I like the spread of the mix. MAYBE, I think to nit-pick, maybe brighten just a bit on the second slide guitar(?) to make it a little more prominent, but just a bit.

I do like the sound of the song. To my ears, it sounds a bit like something that Oasis would play, a favourite of mine.

Well done!

Michael
 
Thanks Michael. I am taking the band into a recording studio in a few weeks so will hopefully pickup some technique there.

My problem is as a noob I am just familiarising with the hardware and trying to learn Cubase, ugghh. I agree with some of your suggestions, thanks again.

Peter
 
Very good-sounding mix, especially for a first go.

Acoustic guitar sounds really nice. I like the vocals too, but I agree with the other commenter, I'm not crazy about the delay effect. Sounds like you might have some combo of reverb and delay, personally I'd go with reverb alone, or at least dial back on the level of the delay. I'm pretty new to all of this as well and when I first got into using Cubase I was wringing my hands just hankering to find a use for all of the cool little effects plug-ins that weren't available to me in the 4-track days. As a result, I ended up doing things that didn't really help the song along much. Not saying that this is necessarily what is happening here, but that was my experience.

Good luck
Matt
 
Thanks for the opinion, the delay effect is actually the main vocal track copied down to its own track and manually selected vocals are played at the end of some of the words in the song. I was trying to get the delay sound right for each section manually, that is probs why it varies a little.

This one is my second attempt a week later, different song.

Recorded and mixed with the same equip & software. No delay on this one but it is a real Frankentstein, cut and paste!



Peter
 
edited ... sent in a pm.
 
Last edited:
LiveRockVideo said:


Rode NT2A Mic & MAudio DMP3 Preamp
Yamaha AW1600 MTR.

Mixed and effects added in Cubase LE.

If anyone hears this and has any comments I would love to hear, good or bad!

Peter
Click to expand...

Welcome Peter - first recording eh? It sounds quite good. IMO the reverb/echo on the vocals is excessive, I'd dial it back a notch or two. Again that just opinion so production wise it's your call. The rest of the mix, guitar/vocal/slide all sound nice and balance. It a nice song with a smooth feel...:D:):D:)
 
Ido,

Thankyou, people are in 2 minds on the echo/delay thing. I will remove it I think.

The band will be in a proper studio (not my garage!) on 27 Sep so we might put it down there with a proper producer and see what pops out, cheers.

Peter
 
LiveRockVideo said:
Ido,

Thankyou, people are in 2 minds on the echo/delay thing. I will remove it I think.

The band will be in a proper studio (not my garage!) on 27 Sep so we might put it down there with a proper producer and see what pops out, cheers.

Peter
Click to expand...

Very very well done for a first effort, you sound like you have some experience. The good news is that means you probably have the right kind of ear going.

Now, to the mix. The guitars are upfront, present, and fairly dry, which is a nice patina, and that is unfortunately juxtaposed against the distant, echoey vocal. In itself, the vocal effect is well done and effective, but you need to match it better to the instrumental sound you designed. That, or moisten up the and spread out the guitar to match the vox, one or the other.

You got a solid, clean acquisition on both, and that's most of the battle. The rest is just choices, and learning what and how to tweak. You're off to a fine start.
 
i love river man. amazing song. first time i can say i've become a fan of someone in this forum. powerful stuff. i have absolutely no complains about the mixing. it's a really well made mellow song.

i'm writing you a private message right now. it's kinda looooong. also please keep me updated on your band's whereabouts and doings - would definitely support your music.
 
Took everyones advice and removed the delay on vocals and dialled back reverb on vocals a little although I added more reverb to the slide guitar, opinions?



Cheers

Peter
 
LiveRockVideo said:
Took everyones advice and removed the delay on vocals and dialled back reverb on vocals a little although I added more reverb to the slide guitar, opinions?



Cheers

Peter
Click to expand...

Yes, meeting more in the middle is a good idea too. I think I might still go farther moistening (or spreading) the guitar; but this mix is definitely more cohesive than the first one I heard. :)
 
Cool, glad you can see an improvement.

What does moistening or spreading the guitar mean? I presume you mean the rhythm guitar, yes? Any idea how to do this in Cubase?

Peter
 
LiveRockVideo said:
Cool, glad you can see an improvement.

What does moistening or spreading the guitar mean? I presume you mean the rhythm guitar, yes? Any idea how to do this in Cubase?

Peter
Click to expand...
Moist vs dry is an expression of how much and what type of reverb... I think you need more of it on the guitar, to better match the vocal. a longer decay, but not a lot of pre-reflection...

I'm an Adobe Audition shop, I have no idea how to use Cubase... :(

Spreading is an expression of stereo separation, there are many different "expander" plug-ins to be had... Some decent freeware ones, I think. I use the ones built into Audition, and in Waves...
 
Ok, I get you now. The strumming of the Rhythm guitar in River is too dry then? I will start searching around Cubase and other forums to figure out how to do it, another sleepless nite....

Cheers

Peter

Incidentally to those that have PM'd me wow, thanks, I did not realise sooo many people would dig on this. Happy to collaborate and further the song, etc.

These songs were virtually made up on the spot by invididual band member, this is why they are so ballady. They were done for me to test my recording and mix skills, the band is usually more rock, example:



http://www.myspace.com/thecansband
 
Not sure how the PM work with this forum?

I have been replying to PM and nothing appears in my PM Sent folder, are they being sent?

Anyway, my email is manager@thecansband.com to anyone wanting to get a reply, cheers.

Peter
 
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