Nothing Longer Than The Night

[ido1957]

So at the advice of Jan @ finemastering I scored a Sputnik microphone (eBay $300 ) this is the first song I've used it to record both lead and backup vocals. Prior to this I've used an NTK (with different preamps too which makes a bit of a difference.)
I've been working on this mix for a while - let me know if you think it's working out okay... any comments or suggestions are welcome!


Nothing Longer Than The Night

 

[rayc]

Gerry,
Pray tell what is a Sputnik mic? I suppose I'll do a net search...
An excellent song & I love the chords.
I think the solo suggests that the whole song could use an additional guitar - I really like the ones that are there now but have become accustomed to your really cool dirty rhythm sound used on the last few compositions. I'm not suggesting that you dump the existing guitars - far from it as they sound great - I just miss some of the grit.
The bass is cool though there are odd notes that get lost in runs.
The vocals soundgreat. I've really enjoyed this melody since the 1st time I hears it - that was a while back. the lyrics are cool too - though tey sound a little gritter than the guitar too.
Mate, I'd be more than happy to have written, recorded and mixed what you've presented with this one.

Gerry, I just did some surfing re the Sputnik. There's a good demo on Youtube. Then I thought it was pretty cool so had a squiz on ebay the current listings are AU$595 & $824 which is -$15 to tget approx US$ prices. You got a GOOD deal mate.

 

[ido1957]

Forgot to mention...this features Jason on drums (Poeticintensity) and Mike on bass (mjhamil)....

Thanks for the listen/comments Ray. The bass is always a problem for me as I have yet to find a plug to bring it out evenly....oh well I'll keep looking...
This is part of a set of not so gritty tunes although with a flip of a switch it could have been

 

[Greg_L]

The bass seems pretty rumbly in the low end. The kick is lost underneath it and I think the rhythms are too low though, so it's hard to tell if the bass itself is a problem, or if the mix overall just needs more tweaks elsewhere. I'm thinking it's probably both. Make the right cut in the bass and bring the kick, snare, and rhythms up and see how it goes. The overheads sound bad to me. I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's a phase thing, or some kind of reverb plug or something, but they sound really washy. The vocals sound smooth and even and really good.

 

[ido1957]

The bass seems pretty rumbly in the low end. The kick is lost underneath it and I think the rhythms are too low though, so it's hard to tell if the bass itself is a problem, or if the mix overall just needs more tweaks elsewhere. I'm thinking it's probably both. Make the right cut in the bass and bring the kick, snare, and rhythms up and see how it goes. The overheads sound bad to me. I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's a phase thing, or some kind of reverb plug or something, but they sound really washy. The vocals sound smooth and even and really good.

Thanks for the updates Greg - I struggle with bass consistently - still learning I guess... I have only a stereo mix of the drums so I'm limited in the things I can change there. I will play around a little more and see if I can pull up the drums and rhythms....

 

[Greg_L]

Thanks for the updates Greg - I struggle with bass consistently - still learning I guess... I have only a stereo mix of the drums so I'm limited in the things I can change there. I will play around a little more and see if I can pull up the drums and rhythms....

Ahhh dude, get the individual drum tracks. Makes life way easier.

 

[Track Rat]

First off, I really like the tune. As far as the bass goes, how are you tracking it? Direct? I know I've struggled with that myself. Sometimes I can reamp the bass track and get more wool on it without sacrificing clarity, and sometimes that trick doesn't work. The vocals sound good but I want to hear more effect (slap, verb??) on them. Just my VERY humble opinion.

 

[ido1957]

Yep - bass is direct off the back of a Fender 400 - with a mid scoop on the eq and a bit noisy. Mike has since bought an now uses an Ampeg. I have in one song copied the bass track, eq'd out the bass and pushed the highs to give it some definition - check out Make My Dreams Come True as an example on my Soundclick page. The Pantheon Concert Hall reverb has just a wee bit of slap back but I could use a second instance with a delay to improve that.

 

[Chili]

good song, i like it. Your vocal and playing performance are top notch as always. You're very consistent, in a Rami sort of way.

There has been a few comments on the bass and I'm sure you'll get it worked out.

I'd like to hear rhythm guitars doing more than strumming through chords. A little counter melody, small riffs, or whatever. Something to add variety and give the listener more musical delicacies to savor.

Cool man

 

[ido1957]

good song, i like it. Your vocal and playing performance are top notch as always. You're very consistent, in a Rami sort of way.

There has been a few comments on the bass and I'm sure you'll get it worked out.

I'd like to hear rhythm guitars doing more than strumming through chords. A little counter melody, small riffs, or whatever. Something to add variety and give the listener more musical delicacies to savor.

Cool man

Thanks Chili !

 

[guitar zero]

You've gotten some good feedback so far, so I'm going to focus on your vocals. Last song you posted, I thought the vocals sounded thin and timid (sorry). These sound way better. There's more low mid, and it really helps. It also sounds rounder and less edgy than before. Big improvement IMO. Must be the new vocal mic. And yes... sounds like you stole it from someone.