Thoughts so far - A Lonely Mile

[jonny deep]

Hi All. This is my third song posting, but it's been a long time since my previous. A lot has happened in the meantime - I've moved house, switched from Cubase to Reaper, built acoustic treatment, bought a bargain bundle of decent microphones from eBay, bought a decent guitar and amp.

So, this started as an idea around January and, in between life and other bits I've tried recording, I've been re-recording bits of it again and again (changing key when I moved to Reaper), experimenting with new mics and positions, guitar tone, etc., trying to get something good down.

It's not finished - I need to re-record some of the lead guitar and go through putting more licks in; I want to add some floaty vocals to lead in to the last two choruses; and I need to vary the drums more. I'm not happy with my vocals - they're out of control and not always so in tune - but, I'm still working out my vocal style and learning to sing better and how use a mic.

So, I'm hoping to get some pointers on the mix so far. I've been listening on my monitors and headphones and exporting to my phone to listen from there, where it doesn't sound as good, but I'm at a loss as to what to do next mix-wise.

EDIT - new version uploaded and Soundcloud widget added: -

All comments much appreciated.

Cheers,

Matt.

 

[RAMI]

Cool tune.

Nice separation on everything. I hear everything perfectly and well-placed. I'd bring the drums up, or at least the snare, but I think they can all come up a bit.I'd also bring the guitar line that starts at about 1:45 closer to the middle and then back to the left again once the vocals come back in, but now I'm nit-picking.

I love this arrangement. The piano really gives it a great bouncy feel. Love the British accent in the last verse.

Good stuff JD.

 

[jonny deep]

Cool tune.

Nice separation on everything. I hear everything perfectly and well-placed. I'd bring the drums up, or at least the snare, but I think they can all come up a bit.I'd also bring the guitar line that starts at about 1:45 closer to the middle and then back to the left again once the vocals come back in, but now I'm nit-picking.

I love this arrangement. The piano really gives it a great bouncy feel. Love the British accent in the last verse.

Good stuff JD.

Rami, mate, you just made my day . I'd just been listening to your latest before I posted and the quality of yours is quite intimidating. But, we're here to learn, right.

Thanks for your comments, I'll give the guitar panning a tweak - it's where it is to balance the lead piano that comes in second, but I'll give your suggestion a whirl. Also with the drums.

Lol about the accent thing. That's my real accent, slightly emphasised - it just came out natural in that part so I dialled it up a bit for effect. I've no idea what accent in the rest of the song is all about - I don't seem to use my real one singing that way!

 

[RAMI]

Yes, I can see why you wanted to balance it with the piano. But since the guitar comes in first, for those few seconds I thought it should either be more centered and/o rlouder. When the piano comes in, it all makes sense. Maybe centre both of them a little more, then move them out again when the vocals come in. But again, it's just a nit-pick, nowhere near a deal breaker.

I figured you had an English accent anyway, but it really works the way you emphasized it in that verse.

Fun tune.

 

[Chili]

I think you are doing a great job. I understand it's not complete yet, but sounds good so far. I like the separation between all the instruments and the vox is clear and upfront. A lead solo and a few more riffs here and there will definitely help, but be sure not to add too much and affect the clean recording you've got going.

I didn't see any real problems with the vocal performance. I think it was fine. Everybody is more critical of their own voice than what others think of it.

cool man,

 

[jonny deep]

I think you are doing a great job. I understand it's not complete yet, but sounds good so far. I like the separation between all the instruments and the vox is clear and upfront. A lead solo and a few more riffs here and there will definitely help, but be sure not to add too much and affect the clean recording you've got going.

I didn't see any real problems with the vocal performance. I think it was fine. Everybody is more critical of their own voice than what others think of it.

cool man,

Hey Chili. Thanks man, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to listen and comment! I'm pretty pleased you were both able to hear separation of the instruments - I didn't have to eq much (high-passed most stuff and carved a few notches to allow the vocal through), I guess that's thanks to the time taken on the recordings themselves.

As you (and I) say, more lead riffs and maybe a solo would be good - I'm finding inspiration on the guitar front a bit tough on this one, though. Many times I've sat down with the intention of filling that out, but not come up with anything that works (I'm a lousy guitarist, but I can usually imagine something, work it out, learn it and bash it out in a few takes). Oh well, something will come eventually, I guess.

Thanks again!

 

[Chili]

I'm finding inspiration on the guitar front a bit tough on this one, though. Many times I've sat down with the intention of filling that out, but not come up with anything that works

Yeah, I hate that part. I pretty much suck at guitar and struggle to do my own leads. I don't mind farming that work out to others who can do it right. White Strat gets a fair amount of requests from me.

Give the song a break for a while and come back to it in a week or so and maybe something will come up.

 

[jonny deep]

Yeah, I hate that part. I pretty much suck at guitar and struggle to do my own leads. I don't mind farming that work out to others who can do it right. White Strat gets a fair amount of requests from me.

Give the song a break for a while and come back to it in a week or so and maybe something will come up.

Lol, unfortunately for me, guitar is my strongest suit! I've played since I was young, just never given it the effort required to get good. I don't know any music theory and don't understand anything much about keys or scales or anything. I know the major and minor pentatonic scale shapes, but that's about it - so, I just work stuff out by ear. It can be quite laborious, especially on the piano/VSTi's.

Anyhoo, I've rendered a new version - I've brought the snare up a touch and centred the first lead guitar bit, a la Rami's comments above. Also, I've uploaded to Soundcloud for easier listening - I'll also update the link in the OP.

 

[TripleM]

I thought this was really good. Things sound really good to me.

The only thing I might say is the snare doesn't have a ton of power. Could use a little more low and low-mid energy. Sounds just a bit slappy. But not bad sounding by any means.

 

[jonny deep]

I thought this was really good. Things sound really good to me.

The only thing I might say is the snare doesn't have a ton of power. Could use a little more low and low-mid energy. Sounds just a bit slappy. But not bad sounding by any means.

Cheers mate, much appreciated. I'll have a look at some eq on the snare.

 

[heatmiser]

Hey, this sounds really good. I can tell you've put some work into this.

Vocals sound good. Guitars sound nice. Bass is pretty full and clear.

The only thing I'm not so wild about is the mechanization of the drums. I don't know anything about programming drums, but wondeed if you could maybe add some subtle variation to the snare throughout the piece? Maybe you've already done some of that, but to me, it just sounded kind of mechanical (not the tone which was largely good I think), but more the "performance".

Good job though, and again, it sounds like something that is being carefully crafted...which is nie.

 

[jonny deep]

Hey, this sounds really good. I can tell you've put some work into this.

Vocals sound good. Guitars sound nice. Bass is pretty full and clear.

The only thing I'm not so wild about is the mechanization of the drums. I don't know anything about programming drums, but wondeed if you could maybe add some subtle variation to the snare throughout the piece? Maybe you've already done some of that, but to me, it just sounded kind of mechanical (not the tone which was largely good I think), but more the "performance".

Good job though, and again, it sounds like something that is being carefully crafted...which is nie.

Hey Heat. Thanks so much for taking the time. I know what you mean about the drums - it's especially prominent now I brought the snare up a smidge. One of the actions on my list is to vary and humanise the drums more. I worked on the drums in the middle bit, but the verses and choruses (if you can call them that!) are just a basic bumm-cha-bumm-cha pattern that I cut and pasted.

Thanks again, mate - much appreciated!

 

[Audiowriter]

Sounds good and clean. Everything is well balanced except I agree about the snare needing a little more punch, and don't worry about the guitar - you sound fine, it fits the emotional feel of the song - its hard to find someone else to capture that original feeling that fits the flow like the writer can.
Good job.

 

[fat_fleet]

Could use a little more low and low-mid energy. Sounds just a bit slappy. But not bad sounding by any means.

Did I just listen to the same mix? I'm hearing it to be a somewhat dull mix- lacking crispness- but as usual I'm on my laptop with earbuds.... not the best listening environment. I'd definitely at least bump the snare a little and maybe EQ it to get a little more crack. Also the piano patch is just not the most convincing. I really like when it harmonizes with the lead guitar around 1.53 though...that's cool.

I really like the arrangement a lot. Definitely has some decent potential.

 

[robgreen]

Mix sounds really crisp to me. I got nothing to add in terms of issues apart from what's already been said about drums. It's a cool, new wavey tune with a likeable quirkiness - really enjoyed it man.

I've had a hard time trying to place your accent on the emphasised verse though. I listened through a couple of times and I'm guessing Stoke - though I could be waaaaaay off

 

[heatmiser]

Hey Heat. Thanks so much for taking the time. I know what you mean about the drums - it's especially prominent now I brought the snare up a smidge. One of the actions on my list is to vary and humanise the drums more. I worked on the drums in the middle bit, but the verses and choruses (if you can call them that!) are just a basic bumm-cha-bumm-cha pattern that I cut and pasted.

Thanks again, mate - much appreciated!

I think maybe I wasn't really clear about the drums - sorry! I am totally cool with the bumm-cha bumm-cha pattern and I think simple drums make sense for this tune. I'm not suggesting you add more fills or complexity or anything. I also think the sounds themselves are pretty good, although like FF, I think there could be more crack to the snare.

I don't really know the terminology here, but I was just thinking if the existing snare hits could vary somewhat in velocity, decay, or whatever from one hit to the next, that might do it. Sorry I can't explain it better and it may not even be helpful, but it seemed like I was saying you should add additional fills or other content which wasn't what I meant.

 

[Manslick]

The recording sounds fine to me. The playing is tight, singing is on pitch.

Musically it gets a little dronish as it's all in the key of F. As I played along I threw a Gmin in at the turns like at 00:40 to 00:42. That doesn't change the key but does add a little surprise.

But you've done well with the changes and change ups to keep it interesting.

Good work on the vocal styling as well.

 

[jonny deep]

Sounds good and clean. Everything is well balanced except I agree about the snare needing a little more punch, and don't worry about the guitar - you sound fine, it fits the emotional feel of the song - its hard to find someone else to capture that original feeling that fits the flow like the writer can.
Good job.

Hey, thanks man. My point about the guitar really was that I hadn't been able to come up with more suitable fills or a solo etc., but thanks for you kind comment - much appreciated!

 

[jonny deep]

Did I just listen to the same mix? I'm hearing it to be a somewhat dull mix- lacking crispness- but as usual I'm on my laptop with earbuds.... not the best listening environment. I'd definitely at least bump the snare a little and maybe EQ it to get a little more crack. Also the piano patch is just not the most convincing. I really like when it harmonizes with the lead guitar around 1.53 though...that's cool.

I really like the arrangement a lot. Definitely has some decent potential.

Hey Fat_Fleet - thanks for listening. Now you're hitting on the same issue I was, in that it sounds great on my DAW through my interface and monitors and through that and my good headphones, but much less so on my phone with its lower quality DA converters and then even less so on my cheap in ear headphones.

I guess then we get to the issue of a mix translating to other systems well. General advice here is to listen on other systems, take notes and adjust the mix accordingly. This is where I'm at a loss. What notes should i have taken (beyond: it sounds dull and a bit rubbish) and what is it I need to do to fix it??? Of course, it isn't mastered, so it's hard to compare to commercial stuff and I have no idea how far one needs to go at the mix stage!

 

[jonny deep]

Mix sounds really crisp to me. I got nothing to add in terms of issues apart from what's already been said about drums. It's a cool, new wavey tune with a likeable quirkiness - really enjoyed it man.

I've had a hard time trying to place your accent on the emphasised verse though. I listened through a couple of times and I'm guessing Stoke - though I could be waaaaaay off

Thanks mate. I'm from Grimsby, but haven't lived there for 15 years, so I have sort of generic northern accent, but it was all skewed in this. Stoke's not a bad guess, actually, as my native accent is quite Manc sounding. Thanks again for your comments!