The Backstabber

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barnesyboy

barnesyboy

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Im a week into owning some home recording gear so to be honest Im like a novices appentice.

I recorded this track over the last few days. Now I know it's trash in terms of technique and musicianship in parts. I suppose that's why Im posting it. Every bit of help available will surely make me produce better songs.

Critique as harsh as you like. Being cruel is being kind in this sense! Many thanks
 

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First let me say that I like the song and your voice works great with this style of music. Now for what to me is not working. The lead guitar is walking all over you vocals much of the time. The rhythm guitar and bass seem to be battling with each other and the result is muddy and distorted. Still, great song you just need to work on your mixing technique.
 
Illsidgus said:
First let me say that I like the song and your voice works great with this style of music. Now for what to me is not working. The lead guitar is walking all over you vocals much of the time. The rhythm guitar and bass seem to be battling with each other and the result is muddy and distorted. Still, great song you just need to work on your mixing technique.
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Thank you for the comment on the song and vocals. I've been looking into alot of the mixing threads. I obviously need to rerecord afresh. Im going to play around with the box method and work on panning, EQ and reverb and create spaces and try to place it alot more less central.
 
The rhythm guitar and bass seem to be battling with each other and the result is muddy and distorted.
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Even listening on a laptop I heard this as well. The easiest way to fix this in mixing is to drop the lower frequencies on the rhythm guitar and possibly some of the higher ones on the bass. Mic placement can also fix the issue if you're willing to re-record.
You should also just turn the lead guitar down a bit. You'll be surprised how well you'll still be able to hear it if it is lower in the mix. What I usually do is turn something down until it feels like it is down too far and then give it a gradual bumps in volume until it sounds right.
The song sounds cool. Good luck :)
 
You are definitely thinking along the right lines about making space. The quickest thing you can do to make a difference is just use the pan knob to spread things out. Also, I wouldn't add any more reverb. I think it has the right level of ambience already. Great musicianship.
 
Warartistrecord:
Thanks for your comments. Im definitely going to record the lot again. It's worth the effort. I put this mix on as a canvas for advice on approachi it from afresh. I'll be posting on this thread in the near future. Hopefully it's a refined step up!

Live42:
Haha I don't know about great musicianship but I'll take the compliment. An your right. There's plenty if not too much reverb. Thanks mate!
 
Rerecorded the whole thing. Took on the advice and turned bits down. Bits up. Panned The lead guitar and backing vocals and tried to be a lot lighter with the reverb. Did the lot with a zoom r16, rode nt3 and Epiphone Casino. Mixed on the zoom too. Im quite happy considering Im a week into Home Recording. I know I need to slow down a lot. I only posted the last recording 3 hours ago. It just flowed with ease this time.

If you have a spare 3 minutes have a listen. Feedback and guidance are why Im here.

Thanks guys
 

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I'm listening to this song on headphones but... the rythm guitar on the right at the beginning seems to have the tremolo too fast, I usually enjoy slower tremolos. Also it seems a little loud
Have you thought about maybe including a soft background hammond or pad to provide a little something for the background?
 
It is very over powering. I've listened back several times and come back with the same conclusion
Really like your idea about the organ. Im quite stuck in that I don't know any hammond players and Im an amateur with midi instruments. This is definitely something Im going to play around with and seek out someone who knows their way around the midi setup because I hold my hands up, I am a 3 week old learner.
 
Most lead guitar is heavy on the treble side and is meant to naturally pop out of the mix. So the levels on it need to come down. After you bring that down, work on the rest. Things get really muddled at the climax of the song and the vocals are totally lost. That's my two cents.

Oh wait. listening to the rerecord right now. Much, better. You mixed that lead line just how I would have had it.
 
jguitar_tm said:
Most lead guitar is heavy on the treble side and is meant to naturally pop out of the mix. So the levels on it need to come down. After you bring that down, work on the rest. Things get really muddled at the climax of the song and the vocals are totally lost. That's my two cents.

Oh wait. listening to the rerecord right now. Much, better. You mixed that lead line just how I would have had it.
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Its a lot better than the first mix. Not the fully polished finish as yet. Really like the idea of a touch of organ. That could be the next step with it.
 
jguitar_tm said:
Most lead guitar is heavy on the treble side and is meant to naturally pop out of the mix. So the levels on it need to come down. After you bring that down, work on the rest. Things get really muddled at the climax of the song and the vocals are totally lost. That's my two cents.

Oh wait. listening to the rerecord right now. Much, better. You mixed that lead line just how I would have had it.
Click to expand...

Its a lot better than the first mix. Not the fully polished finish as yet. Really like the idea of a touch of organ. That could be the next step with it.
 
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