My Frist "Real" Recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheLurker
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TripleM said:
I liked the song. I won't say anything about the lack of kick. :)

I liked the guitar sound in the last mix.

The bass sound is a little indistinct - but otherwise not bad.

The guitar/vocal dominate the drums a bit.

The vocal was noticeably dryer than anything else.

Something weird at 1:52.

Well played, but there was a tempo mistake in the first few seconds of the song.
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I agree with all you said. I think I am most concerned about the two parts I bolded though. Any tips on what I could do to fix'em?
 
TheLurker said:
I agree with all you said. I think I am most concerned about the two parts I bolded though. Any tips on what I could do to fix'em?
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Okay, get rid of the 10% panned tracks. They're just adding volume and phasing issues, and potentially some digital distortion that I'm hearing. This whole track is clipping with some nasty digital distortion.

To fix the guitar/vocal dominating the drums, bring all the faders down closer to the drums so that the drums are louder relative to everything else.

To fix the vocal being noticeably drier than everything else, give it some more reverb send. But that depends on what kind of reverb you're using. You want a shorter reverb for the vocals in a song like this, and definitely low pass filter the reverb in the 6-10k range to avoid any high frequency ringing.

The bass is indistinct as noted above, and not in a good way. It needs more punch, and clarity for a song like this. Try some compression with an 8-15ms attack time, and 80ms release, maybe a 2-3:1 ratio for a start. It feels super boomy in the 80-120hz range too. Check the frequencies there for anything sticking out. Oh, and most definitely high pass filter the bass around 40hz. You don't need that rumble noise, and sometimes that alone will clean up a bass track giving it more definition.

Keep at it man!
 
Well. I virtually remixed and mastered the entire track... I have learned so much thus far and appreciate everyone's comments so much. Check this version out! I really notched things out and tried to make them fill their own space. The bass I really believe is the best it will get for how this was recorded...

BEHOLD KICK DRUM.

View attachment MenofFridayNight-finalMaster-WITHKick.mp3
 
I'm only listening through headphones, but even that reveals a vast improvement. The sound is a lot crisper and punchier.
 
Thanks! Any thoughts on things competing for attention or is it pretty well distributed now? Also, in terms of mastering, how do you think it is?

Thanks for any feedback, I appreciate your insight!

TheLurker
 
Okay okay okay... I'm gonna stop for a while. This is the final version of it for now. I'm still open to comments, but I'm very pleased with this version. Again, thanks for all of the comments and help fellas - without your help I wouldn't have learned so much as well as got the song to where it's at.

Final Version: View attachment menOfFridayNight-TheFINALMIX.mp3

TheLurker
 
That is far, far better. :D All you are lacking now is a bit of oomph in the bottom end, perhaps about the 80 Hz region. Nice one. I forgot to mention how ace your voice and guitar are, but I always do criticism before praise. :D

Actually, after a second listen, you seem to have plenty of bottom end on most instruments. Not sure what suggest at this point. Will wait until morning, when sober. :D
 
Bubba po said:
Actually, after a second listen, you seem to have plenty of bottom end on most instruments. Not sure what suggest at this point. Will wait until morning, when sober. :D
Click to expand...

Hahahaha - Look forward to it! :D
 
The kick drum is too strong now. It's gone beyond present to boomy and oppressive!
 
Schwarzenyaeger said:
The kick drum is too strong now. It's gone beyond present to boomy and oppressive!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is a bit much. Getting close tho. Now the vocals are hot and the guitars are buried IMO.

I haven't listened to the earlier versions but am about to.
 
This is a great first effort. Don’t forget that.

For a change I read through comments and I agree with all of it, and I also think you listened to the advice and applied it fully, but for some strange reason I prefer the 1st mix. I think perhaps you have been heavy handed in applying the advice.

It reminds me a lot of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and I think one of their songs would be a great benchmark for you to use for the mix.

What I like about the original mix is how direct it is. I do think you needed to add more stereo spread to the guitars and push them back, but perhaps not quite as much as you did. Spreading the guitars made the vocal sound more direct, so you have to then think about how you want them to sit as well. Even though I like it dry, perhaps a tad more ambient (early/short) reverb... just a tad (perhaps give the other instruments a bit of the same).

I also agree the Kick isn’t loud enough in the first version, but now you have a lot of boom. I think this style wants more of a “pitter patter” kick, which you might find in the higher frequencies (You might still want some boom, but not as much as you have now).

In the first mix, when the guitar is louder, there does seem to be a timing problem with it early on.
 
Alright. Well guys, thank you for all of the comments... They have helped me learn a lot and definitely improved the song overall immensly! This will be the last mix/master of the song I will be posting. I edited the mix some, added a hair of dither to the master, as well as limited the output of the master track to -5db output.

Final comments are definitely welcome on this last attempt. Thanks again everyone!

View attachment menOfFridayNight-TheMaster.mp3

TheLurker
 
A hair of dither? Dood, you gotta spend a bit more time here...
 
Refer to my signature lol. Sorry man, I'm just doin' my best here. I'm open to why that sounds stupid if you can explain to me why it does.
 
I can't really say anything that hasn't already been said. However, I will add my two cents.

The rhythm guitar is too loud in the mix. It sounds like it could use a better compressor to smooth it out some so it will play nice with the vocals.

Speaking of the vocals, they do sound good. They're pretty warm and fuzzy which suits the song well.

About the bass... One thing you can try is to use a brickwall highpass filter at 100 Hz on everything but the kick and the bass. That will open up some room for the low end where it actually makes sense for the song.

One other thing I would do is find the dominant frequencies in the vocals and cut those frequencies by -3 bd at 1Q on your guitar tracks.

The solo doesn't really add much to the song because it is competing with the rhythm guitars. there's too many notes being played by both guitars in the same range. If the solo was scaled up a bit higher, it would cut through better and be less redundant.

With all of that being said, I have to say that this is a good mix for what you had to work with. My first recordings on my first DAW were really bad. But, it's definitely worth working on. Once you play around enough with your tools and learn the quirks and best practices for you, you'll amaze yourself every time.
 
The kick sits a lot better now.
Bass is still swampy and undefined. I can't hear separate notes during the verses where it's playing 8ths.
 
The drums need to be more prominent and thump a little.
The cymbal panning feels a little wide.
The bass is OK but needs something if you're just going to chugg that way.
The guitars just sound fizzy to me in headphones.
The change to centre guitar doesn't work.
Good song - just needs some tweaking.
 
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