New Original Tune - I’ll get my shoes (rock/alternative/shoegazey?)

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Flyguitarfish

Flyguitarfish

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I wrote and recorded this yesterday. I was messing around with EADABE tuning. I stumbled on it when I was messing around with some chords rooted on the A string. Turns out I didn’t invent it and out lots of people have used it (of course). Super fun, give it a try!

A little slower than most of my stuff, but the tuning kinda guided the song. Fun stuff!

I’d love some mixing advice! Vocals are definitely my weakness. I’ve learned to tolerate my voice as having “character”, lol, but I definitely struggle to mix it well, especially getting the right volume. It always seems like when I get a good mix on headphones (HD650 and AirPods) but parts of the vocals seem too loud in my truck and on my Bose Bluetooth speaker. Is it common for vocals to sound quieter on headphones?

I’d also love to know what makes a song Shoegaze! Thanks everyone!


I’LL GET MY SHOES

I just walked into a wall
head like a brick
and you can watch it
fall on me

And a hole was left
just like my silhouette
and we haven’t even started yet
I’ll get my shoes…

I hope somewhere I can find
where I left them last
And the fault is really mine

And a hole was left
just like my silhouette
and we haven’t even started yet
I’ll get my shoes…

Mix 1:



Mix 4:

 
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I tried to even out the vocal levels and take a little of the vocal’s harshness out. I also added some verb onto the tails of those held out vocal notes at the ends of several phrases. Also made it so you can hear the boom of the floor Tom a little better.

 
A little more tweaking, mostly trying to level out volumes between sections. The back half of the song is louder than the front half, mainly from all those heavy guitars…not sure if that’s something I should tame a bit as well?

Mix 3

 
VERY shoegazy. More American than the UK ones, I hear Pavement in there, but you're more tuneful!
 
I listened to mixes 1 and 3.

I really like the guitar sounds. I like the bass tone too. Low end is just at the right level to me.

Vocal sounds more pleasant in mix 3.

The only thing in the mix that I don't care for is the snare sound. I'd like a little more crack to it. And it's compressed pretty hard.

But overall I really liked the mix.
 
TripleM said:
I listened to mixes 1 and 3.

I really like the guitar sounds. I like the bass tone too. Low end is just at the right level to me.

Vocal sounds more pleasant in mix 3.

The only thing in the mix that I don't care for is the snare sound. I'd like a little more crack to it. And it's compressed pretty hard.

But overall I really liked the mix.
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Awesome, thanks for the feedback. Good call about the snare. I too would like a snappier snare! It’s always a battle between a snappy snare and ugly cymbal/hat bleed in the snare mic.

I need to stop being such a purist and blend in a replaced snare with the recorded snare. It really doesn’t take much. I should learn how to capture and save my own snare sample. Any Ableton pros out there?!
 
Noticeable difference between takes 1 and 3. There is a rawness that is appealing about he first take and smoothness of the third take that is more "professional sounding." I like the vocals in both for different reasons. Everyone is super aware and critical of their sound of their own voice, that's why it is good to get the opinions of others. Try listening at low volumes, you should be able to hear the vocals and words. Listen when you are doing something else, like washing the dishes. Any "real" problems will standout when you are distracted by something else. Great arrangement and recording. Unfortunately, Triple M has me focussing on the snare and this is now all I can hear. I am partial to piccolo snares with the snap they give. Any way to gate the snare?
 
BorderlineProductions said:
Noticeable difference between takes 1 and 3. There is a rawness that is appealing about he first take and smoothness of the third take that is more "professional sounding." I like the vocals in both for different reasons. Everyone is super aware and critical of their sound of their own voice, that's why it is good to get the opinions of others. Try listening at low volumes, you should be able to hear the vocals and words. Listen when you are doing something else, like washing the dishes. Any "real" problems will standout when you are distracted by something else. Great arrangement and recording. Unfortunately, Triple M has me focussing on the snare and this is now all I can hear. I am partial to piccolo snares with the snap they give. Any way to gate the snare?
Click to expand...
Great advice I always play my mix while in a different room doing something else and that’s when I hear any problems best.
 
BorderlineProductions said:
Noticeable difference between takes 1 and 3. There is a rawness that is appealing about he first take and smoothness of the third take that is more "professional sounding." I like the vocals in both for different reasons. Everyone is super aware and critical of their sound of their own voice, that's why it is good to get the opinions of others. Try listening at low volumes, you should be able to hear the vocals and words. Listen when you are doing something else, like washing the dishes. Any "real" problems will standout when you are distracted by something else. Great arrangement and recording. Unfortunately, Triple M has me focussing on the snare and this is now all I can hear. I am partial to piccolo snares with the snap they give. Any way to gate the snare?
Click to expand...
Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. Since I posted this original mix I’ve been reading a lot about vocal mixing and came across the idea of mixing at different volumes. I mixed quieter and that’s how I went got to mix 3. I grew with the “rawness” of mix 1, maybe I can keep the vocals quieter like in mix 3, but add back the slightest amount of upper mid EQ that probably contributed to the rawness.

Listen while washing dishes is great idea, never thought of that.

As far as the snare, I always gate my toms, but never had much success gating the snare. The harsh hi hat pops out with every snare hit. But you got me thinking… what if I duplicate my snare track, eq it so it cracks more, gate it, then kick it in during the chorus only. No hi hat in that section, just ride. Might work.
 
Flyguitarfish said:
Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. Since I posted this original mix I’ve been reading a lot about vocal mixing and came across the idea of mixing at different volumes. I mixed quieter and that’s how I went got to mix 3. I grew with the “rawness” of mix 1, maybe I can keep the vocals quieter like in mix 3, but add back the slightest amount of upper mid EQ that probably contributed to the rawness.

Listen while washing dishes is great idea, never thought of that.

As far as the snare, I always gate my toms, but never had much success gating the snare. The harsh hi hat pops out with every snare hit. But you got me thinking… what if I duplicate my snare track, eq it so it cracks more, gate it, then kick it in during the chorus only. No hi hat in that section, just ride. Might work.
Click to expand...
IMO the track already sounds like it has a ton of processing on it, so I wouldn't do that with the snare. The snare sounds fine the way it is. People can leave a comment based on their preference and that can get in your head. You clearly liked the snare because you used it. To me it sounds like any other snare and totally fine, objectively. Zoom out.
 
Nola said:
IMO the track already sounds like it has a ton of processing on it, so I wouldn't do that with the snare. The snare sounds fine the way it is. People can leave a comment based on their preference and that can get in your head. You clearly liked the snare because you used it. To me it sounds like any other snare and totally fine, objectively. Zoom out.
Click to expand...
Haha! I just went back to edit my comment to back off a bit. I was trying for a fat snare sound because it’s a slower song. I still want to play w it a little…likely just boost the volume on the snare when the heavy guitars come in…but I don’t want to go crazy. Thanks!
 
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