Old Song, New Drums, New Guitars - How's This Mix?

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dewhitt

dewhitt

Dave DeWhitt
Hi All,

I'm hoping you'll lend me your golden ears again and let me know if I'm on the right track with this mix. This is a song called "Don't Come Around". I wrote and recorded it about a year and a half ago, but the original mix is programmed drums and the whole thing sounds pretty bad. This new mix is updated with real drums, all retracked guitars, new bass, and some added textural parts for interest.

This thing has been kicking my ass, but I think I'm getting closer. Right now I'd say the score is MIX - 21, DAVE - 17 :D

The biggest thing that bothers me now is the lead vocal, which I did not retrack. It was recorded back in the day with a Rode NT1000, and an old Presonus BlueTube preamp into Garageband. I've since updated every single one of those pieces of my chain, and I like to think I'm getting better vocal recordings now, but I guess I'm just being lazy, cause I really don't feel like rerecording these. I will if it reeeeeaaaaaaally needs it :p

Let me know what you think....the old mix is still out there for comparison, and boy does it ever suck bad...what was I thinking??? Ha ha...

New Mix - SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads

Old Mix - SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads

Best Regards,

Dave DeWhitt
SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads
 
The new mix is better, but for some reason I like the gel of the Kick and bass on the old mix. Nice vocal track, I thought the old mix has too much 3-5k (on the vox) but the second mix lacks a little presence. Overall nice job, good song.
 
If you could have something between the two. I like the presence of the vocals in the original but there is some highs that are a bit fatiguing. The new mix is a bit darker and I think could actually use a bit of brightening. You have a great voice though.
 
Cool, thanks guys. I'll definitely keep working on it. I think I'm going to end up retracking those vocals anyway, I just can't seem to get them where I want them in this mix.

PDP, I agree about the kick and bass. I tracked the bass again after the new drum part was recorded, but listening back I'm thinking I didn't do that great of a job with locking the bass to the kick. I may have to record that again too. :mad:

Thanks for the feedback!

Best,

Dave
SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads
 
love the song man, when it's done, I would love to keep on hearing it in my ipod haha, would that be ok?

The big difference between the two is the brightness. Try brightening the whole thing a little bit.

Again, awesome.
 
By the way, what did you use for the vocals? A little bit interested :P
 
Hey...I always enjoy the A/B thing.

In a nutshell, I think the vocal performance itself is well done, but I actually prefer the vocal processing on the older version (brighter (maybe too bright?) - but the nuances are much clearer). I think I mainly prefer the warmer tones of the instruments on the newer version though. If you could brighten up the vocals on the new version to get them sounding more like before, in conjunction with the new backing tracks, that would be ideal. My guess though is that those sounds might not meld together too well, so you might have to compromise. Just my thoughts...well done either way.
 
Yeah. The new mix is moofy. Over-processed...too compressed?: the center guitars step on the vox. The notes of all the backing chordal instruments are stuck together with some kind of glue. Or something. I'm not listening on the best stuff...but I've been trolling new tunes here. This one is moofy by comparision. Toothless? Great tune and playing. Vox, as usual, great.
 
Hey Dave, great song, I heard it back when I first listened to Signs, so I'm familiar with song, but listened to it again for good measure. I think I'm gonna break from the heard on this! I like the balance on this new one and I think the brightness (or lack thereof) is just fine. The first one sounds harsh, abrasive, and the guitar tone is wonky and well, a little lame :o. The new one has guitar tones on it that may be just a little bit on the 'dull' side, but they sound much more professional and easier on the ear, while serving the song better. Based on what I heard when I heard the crashes, I thought if they get any brighter it may hurt, so they're fine to me. I think the vocals are not harsh and easy on the ears as well. So, my two cents are: Keep it like this. :D:):cool:
Brad
 
Great comments from everyone...thanks!

Boti89 said:
love the song man, when it's done, I would love to keep on hearing it in my ipod haha, would that be ok?
Click to expand...

Yes, indeed. I'm glad you like it...enjoy!

Boti89 said:
By the way, what did you use for the vocals? A little bit interested :P
Click to expand...

I sang those vocals awhile ago, and I used a Rode NT1000 into a Presonus Blue Tube preamp, and from there into Garageband on a Mac Mini (for the life of me, I can't remember what the interface/AD converter was at the time...probably a cheap Line6 USB thing that was actually meant for guitars...but, whatever). Since then, I've updated to this vocal path: Mojave Audio MA-201fet into a Line6 Toneport UX8, which has clean, decent preamps, and supposedly has really good ADC - the same ones in fact that are in the Apogee Ensemble. From the Line6 UX8 it goes USB into a Mac Pro that's running Logic Express 9. My basic vocal tracks sound better these days I think :)

jeffmaher said:
Yeah. The new mix is moofy.
Click to expand...

Ha ha...yeah, I'm having a little trouble finding moofy in my dictionary, but I'm pretty sure I know what you mean by that. General consensus is that it's a little too dark, so I'm going to play with it some more. I'm probably going to end up retracking a lot of it again. There's no substitute for recording things that sound good in the first place, right? I may try a different guitar tone, and play with the arrangement some to bring some polish to it.

maximusbs said:
The first one sounds harsh, abrasive, and the guitar tone is wonky and well, a little lame
Click to expand...

Hey Brad, yeah man...our ears are in complete agreement on that. The old mix sounds pretty bad to me these days :eek: I think you are right with the guitar tones...that might be what it needs to bring a little more life to the track. For some reason, I've been having a heck of a time getting a tone I like for this tune. One thing that just struck me last night is that I haven't changed my strings on the Strat recently, so I might just slap some new strings on and retrack and see if that doesn't help get it where it needs to be.

And...I just got feedback from my friend who played the drums. He listened to the new mix for the first time today, and he hates his drum parts...lol. Great. In fairness to him, he literally walked into my studio last month, listened to the tune a couple of times, and then started tracking. It was a tough gig for sure. Now that he knows the song, he wants to come back in and rerecord his parts too. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!! It's the recording session that won't die.

Back to the drawing board...

Best,

Dave DeWhitt
SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads
 
I'm no expert, but I kinda like the old mix. The vocals sound better to me and more up front. Bass and kick are sitting well, guitars don't get in the way and are still chimey. Maybe they are kinda harsh, but I prefer the old to the darker new. But I'm just a guy with a computer and some microphones what do I know.
 
To be honest, I feel like I'm listening to a badly compressed mp3 on both recordings... Were those linked to the lo-fi versions of the songs, perhaps? In comparison to other recordings, these just sound really compressed.

Dunno... Maybe my ears are playin' tricks on me or something.
 
Yeah, I should have slept on that mix before I posted it. I spent hours working on it the other night, and I guess maybe I got fatigued or just ended up fooling myself. I listened to it again tonight for the first time since then and I'm really disappointed. Oh well, live and learn I guess. This is the first time I've tried to go back to previously recorded tracks and remix...I'm finding it a lot more difficult than I anticipated :(

Best Regards,

Dave
SoundClick artist: Dave DeWhitt - page with MP3 music downloads
 
The snare is a little too snappy for me - maybe a touch to loud. The song is great though and the vocals are very solid. The compression on the mix may be making the snare pop. Not sure - I'd play with that a bit. It pretty cool overall....
 
Love the mix, only pet peeve of mine is how the hi-hat sounds kinda boxy and phasey
 
Another great song, Dave!
I totally love your style and your voice. Sure the mix xcan be better, so I'm looking forward to hear it done.
So much talent deserves it!
 
OH YEAH, DAVE!

New mix sounds real good....chills when I heard the intro. Gritty guitar! No nits. It is as good as it can be...without Jeff Lang at the 3,000,000 studio controls.

Except... :^)

at 2:38 the bridge changes become indistinct...a semi modulation or something. My ear couldn't follow the tonality on the first listen. An easy fix: add one or two female voices doing harmonies to outline the chords better. As a bonus...the big build. That part could wail with the Def Leopard treatment.
 
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