My comments probably won't make sense, because I'm not sure I understand how to articulate this.
It does make sense, knowing exactly what I did (now) to muck up the vocal tracks.
First - the music bed is really nice. From the sort of subdued drums to the ambient lead work, it all makes sense.
Wow, thanks! That means a lot to me coming from you.
I was going to assume the drums are fake, but I think I heard a drum clam? Not a big deal.
The drums are real, recorded with a 7 mic CAD set.
Something about the vocal processing is bugging me, but I can't really put my finger on it. The background vocals sound phased...like maybe a chorus or something is on them? I wouldn't do that for this song.
That's my ignorance you're hearing. I used an effect that comes with Reaper called an "Ozzifier" or something like that. It seems to simulate tracking multiple parts by doubling a track, panning each part left/right and slightly varying the pitch to make it seem like I tracked each harmony twice. I was going for a "big" sound, like a bunch of people singing at once. Obviously, I
actually need to track a bunch of people singing if that's what I'm going for and the "Ozzifier" is not the answer.
Things like this are oblivious to my ears until someone calls my attention to it. I should know better, the shortcuts just never cut it. I'll definitely be tracking more vocals tonight.
I'm smacking myself right now, but many thanks for pointing it out.
As for the lead vocal, the verb is actually bugging me, even though it's not real pronounced. I guess what I'm saying is that you've got these really sweet guitar tones happening, and then the vocals sound like they're just in a different space...
I'm not at home now to see for sure, but if I remember correctly the guitar part (recorded direct with Amplitube Hendrix) has it's own reverb so I did not route it to the reverb track. As a matter of fact, I think I may have a separate reverb track for the vocals and drums as well. Again, I was trying to make the vocals sound bigger by adding extra reverb but it was too much for the drums, so they got their own reverb. Smacking myself again, but hey, I'm learning.
I'm thinking now I should shut the reverb off on the guitar, and route all the tracks dry to the reverb track and mix in
just enough to sweeten things a bit. I'm sure just one reverb vst is better. Is that right?
Also, I never add reverb to bass tracks (which I always record direct), just a little compressor and that's it. I think I read that somewhere. I figure it could muddy things up, but I've never thought to just try it and see, it's become a habit.
and that space is possibly from a Kansas record from the 1970's.
It's not a performance issue. It's like Emerson Lake and Palmer singing on a John Mayer record??? lol...I suck at this.
Nice tune.
Thanks again! I've got a lot to think about and some work cut out for me over the next few days. I REALLY appreciate the advice.
