Soulful rock ballad V.2

[RFR]

Remix Up. Version 2 went into the trash.

No keys as of yet, but hopefully better.

 

[Robus]

Need to take a look at the relative levels of the vocals and guitars especially. At times the vocal seems too loud, then it's the guitars that are too loud. The vocal isn't really sitting in the mix as well as it could, especially in the first verse. It's loud and dry. From that point on, it's the guitars that start to get too loud. During the buildup to the chorus, you've got a loud and boomy (in my listening environment) rhythm guitar on the right. During the chorus and outro, those guitars doing that riff are overpowering the vocal. The solo guitar is very loud for being panned out so far right. I'd lower the level, bring it in, or both. There's some odd panning going on with those guitars at a couple of points in the song. They seem to migrate around the stereo spectrum, or maybe that's one guitar dropping out and another one coming in panned differently. Anyway, I'm not crazy about the effect.

Good performances and tones. Are you the singer?

 

[RFR]

Haha! So you aren't fond of the mix. I cant tell anymore, been fucking around with it for so long. Panning is intentional. I want the motion in the stereo field. Different guitar parts and everything is mixed LRC. Are you talking about the outro solo? That's in the right channel.

Nah, not the singer. I just do the guitars and bass.

Thanks for the listen.

 

[miroslav]

I think it's pretty close, and a typical sounding mix for that type of song/genre...but yeah, add the organ, it will fill it out perfectly and I bet then you will not need to mess with the vocal level too much.

 

[RFR]

Yeah, well it's still a work in progress.
It always was the intent for a B3 in there. The original demo has an 'organ' in it.
I'm sure once a proper Hammond is in there, it will change the mix to some degree.

 

[Bubba po]

The performances in this song for the most part sound good. The right-hand guitar when it comes in is too loud. Likewise, when the left-hand guitar follows it up, that's too loud as well. You really need to sort out the low-end weight of the instruments relative to each other. The drum kit needs more weight, as does the bass.

As I'm typing this and listening to the track, my earlier misgivings are amplified by ten times as the guitars that were originally too loud ramp up to really outrageous levels. Just completely out there and wrong. Pull the guitars back, they're killing the whole thing.

 

[RFR]

Edit: that shit's gone. forget I even posted.

 

[miroslav]

Finish adding all the instruments/tracks you plan to...and then consider mix changes.
I've used Hammond organ (alas, I only have an L-series, no B3 ) on a bunch of songs, and if you let it fill out the image, it also has an effect on the perceived levels of other tracks because organ has that constant vibrato thing, and it can change your mix perception even when the organ isn't cranking.

Otherwise...levels and panning to me aren't that much of a big issue...I think that stuff is easy enough for you to sort out...but overall the tones were pretty good for that style of music.

 

[RFR]

Per suggestion , I pulled all the guitars down.

You know what that did? It took all the balls out of the song. Also, it left me with too loud of a bass and kick drum, not to mention overpowering vocals. Eeek!! Sounded like shit!

Then pulled those down a bit and ended up pretty much right back where I started only with a lower master level.

 

[Robus]

Put it on the Mix This! forum, I'll give it a go.

 

[RFR]

Thanks, but this is going on the shelf till the keys get done. I'm sick of hearing it.

 

[miroslav]

Thanks, but this is going on the shelf till the keys get done. I'm sick of hearing it.

That is the best thing you can do. Come back to it after awhile and it will be all new again to you.

 

[RFR]

Well I took a few days off and came back with fresh ears. Fresh ears and hopefully a fresh mix. I know there are a bunch of tunes up in the clinic, so if anyone has a listen or re-listen I appreciate it.



New mix is up in the first post as well.

thanks

 

[heatmiser]

Well, I think this sounds pretty good. I was reading some of the comments from the original mix while listening and I don't hear those issues here, so I'm thinking you made substantial adjustments to levels and such? Drums seem sufficiently strong, as does the bass. I like the guitar levels here. That opening bluesy little wing-ish riff that returns later is cool. I like the tone there.

I'm listening on my tracking phones (HD280's), and the singer's voice sounds almost like there's some slight phaser or flanger effect going on? It almost sounds like the vocal track is from a live bar room or something, but without tons of roominess if that makes any sense. I dunno, there was something about the vocal tone that threw me off a little.

Good performances, and the mix is pretty decent for this style I think. Again, I didn't hear your first mix, but am assuming this is quite different based on the comments. A classic, swirly rock organ would work well here I think to fill in some of the space.

 

[RFR]

Ahah! Some friendly comments.
Thanks.
This is remixed from the version that people commeted on but the levels are not hugely different.
For me, this song has been kicking my ass!!!

It has been up on my desk (daw) for over a month!!!. Why you may ask?
Well I'm using it to teach myself protools. I have an analog (tape to console with outboard) mix that I'm reall happy with. But without vocals. And on that initial mix the beefy loud chorus guitars just sound huge!
With the daw mix and vocals, im having to dial down the guitars, and to be honest i miss the beefiness.

Speaking of the vocal i ran that through a plug called 'Nectar Elements' it gave it a bit of delay/doubling. I dialed it way back, but it may still be a bit much.

The intro guitar (s) was just direct into the console to tape. Once in the daw, I then duplicated the track, did a slight flange on one side, ran the other track through sansamp a bit grittier with some delay.


We'll see what goes on once some keys get recorded. That might fuck me up even more! Lol

Anyway, this is what you get when climbing the hill of the learning curve of protools.

Thanks for listening!

 

[heatmiser]

You're welcome! I saw you sliding off the first page which is basically like a death sentence here. lol

Every remix deserves some input.

Interesting that you did all of that on that opening riff. It's cool that you duped it, added effects, panning, etc., because on phones, I would've believed that it was simply guitar>amp>mic. I like it when people do extra work behind the scenes that comes across as seamless. Well done.

Nectar Elements is a weird name for a plug. It suggests absolutely nothing musical...so vague lol. I didn't care for it, but that may just be me.

From what I know of it, protools is waaay beyond me. I'll stick with notools, thanks.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Listening on my cheapo office speakers I can hear everything clearly. The mix seems well balanced. My only impression is that the vocals, great job on those btw, are not sitting in the same space as the other instruments.

 

[RFR]

Listening on my cheapo office speakers I can hear everything clearly. The mix seems well balanced. My only impression is that the vocals, great job on those btw, are not sitting in the same space as the other instruments.

Hey, thanks for the ears. I know, there's something bugging me about the vocals too.

 

[RFR]

You're welcome! I saw you sliding off the first page which is basically like a death sentence here. lol

Every remix deserves some input.

Interesting that you did all of that on that opening riff. It's cool that you duped it, added effects, panning, etc., because on phones, I would've believed that it was simply guitar>amp>mic. I like it when people do extra work behind the scenes that comes across as seamless. Well done.

Nectar Elements is a weird name for a plug. It suggests absolutely nothing musical...so vague lol. I didn't care for it, but that may just be me.

From what I know of it, protools is waaay beyond me. I'll stick with notools, thanks.

Thanks!
The guitar that you liked was a case of less is more. Yeah, there was verb, delay, and flanging on the two duplicate tracks but it was so subtle that you couldnt really hear it, but it would sound way different if it wasn't there. Lesson learned
No i just gotta learn that on the vocal processing.
From what I've heard and read, the Nectar plugs are pretty good and very powerful.
I just gotta figure out how to best use it.

When you say 'notools' does that mean you are doing analog?
I love working on a console rather than a mouse and screen. But the capabilites are so much more than I could ever do with tape.
Even though Im just learning, some of the editing I did on this track would be damn near impossible for me to do on tape, or take forever. Plus you can't fuck up. It's all reversable. Not like having tape on the floor and you going whoops. Lol.

 

[andrushkiwt]

I know, there's something bugging me about the vocals too.

hmm, i thought they sounded great. i'm not hearing anything odd with them. they sound really good to me, actually.