1st stab at the one man band thing....

  • Thread starter Thread starter guttapercha
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guttapercha

guttapercha

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Hey all, if you would please critique the mix of the song called "Downgraded", I'd really appreciate it. I've simply listened to it too many times and could use some fresh ears on this sucker. By the way, I'm playing/singing everything on here - did it with cubase SE, one SM57 and one At3035.

Muchas gracias,

JD

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=4459&alid=-1
 
I liked the guitar intro. Vox need help. Not crazy about the wide panned vox.
Drums sounded mono and distant. Solo guitar is pretty cool. Not a bad song.
Needs some work. The guitar and keys sound good together.
 
r4m said:
I liked the guitar intro. Vox need help. Not crazy about the wide panned vox.
Drums sounded mono and distant. Solo guitar is pretty cool. Not a bad song.
Needs some work. The guitar and keys sound good together.
Click to expand...


Thanks so much. Acutally, the drums were indeed mono - I'll bring those up in the mix for sure though. There were no keys, but there were 3 guitar parts. I was going for the Elliott Smith double tracked thing with the vox :).

I really appreciate the feedback.

:) JD
 
I liked the song. The vocals were a bit out front, but seem to fit. Maybe tone them down a bit? Just seem a bit loud for the rest of the mix. Other than that, sounds pretty good. What kind of preamp do you have? How close to the mic were you singing? These are for my own knowledge.

Anyway, good tune.
Ed
 
Thanks, Ed. I live in a really small town in Eastern WA - we're practically neighbors. Your input is appreciated. I used a Tascam US-122 with no external preamp, and sang into an SM57 at about 6 inches using a pop screen.

JD
 
Ok, the guitar is a bit small sounding, I would try to find a better spot for mic, new strings, a bit more volume in the mix, ect. When the organ and drums come in the vocal gets a bit lost, I would try a volume envelope to keep it above the mix.
The higher notes are not what they need to be to make this go well. The high harmony is not working well in this tune, tonewise and in regards to tune. It's very strange to hear two very different takes panned out like this. I would suggest doing two identical takes of the low vocal with feeling and panning those but then that's what I would do.

Some very sweet sounds and playing here. The drums are well...two mics...nice recording.
 
Wow- great feedback

Can you tell me what a volume envelope is? Also, with regard to the vocal, I did doubletrack the low part and pan wide, but then the high harmony was hard panned to one side. I think I'll rerecord the vocals to get the doubletracking to match better. I didn't realize how hard it was to sing with oneself exactly!

Also, very cool that you "thought" you were hearing organ. I use a guitar going through a real rotating speaker (motion sound AR112) combo amp. I'm a hammond freak, but don't have one, so I do what I can with the guitar.

Muchas gracias,

JD
 
Yeah, the trick to tight doubles is to sing it about a hundred times. Drink lots of water and save each take. By the end of your energy you will be singing very consistent. Usually about that time you should take a break and come back to it in a few. The first two takes you do after that will probably be the ones you keep.

At least that's how it works for me.

Are you using software or a standalone DAW? An envelope is a line drawn in the audio window that controls an aspect of the mix. You can use envelopes to automate or control aspects like pan or volume or even effect sends.

Here's a pic of some quick envelopes drawn for no good reason in Vegas.
 

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I'm using Cubase SE (the cheap one)

jake-owa said:
Yeah, the trick to tight doubles is to sing it about a hundred times. Drink lots of water and save each take. By the end of your energy you will be singing very consistent. Usually about that time you should take a break and come back to it in a few. The first two takes you do after that will probably be the ones you keep.

At least that's how it works for me.

Are you using software or a standalone DAW? An envelope is a line drawn in the audio window that controls an aspect of the mix. You can use envelopes to automate or control aspects like pan or volume or even effect sends.

Here's a pic of some quick envelopes drawn for no good reason in Vegas.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on doubletracking - I'm just so sick of this song that I might need to put it down for about a week before I incorporate any new ideas.

Envelopes...hmmm. I'm basically using Cubase as a fancy multitracker and not taking advantage of any of the wav editing, looping, etc. I'll have to look and see if I can do the enveloping; it sounds like a very useful thing to be able to do.

Also thanks for the compliment on the drums. I'm doing my best to not have to buy a mixer, so I'm using one input on the Tascam US-122 for a single overhead and the other input for the kick.

Many thanks,

Josh
 
Bummah

The version of Cubase (LE) that I have most definitely does not have volume enveloping. I'll just have to automate the faders in a big way :(

JD
 
guttapercha said:
The version of Cubase (LE) that I have most definitely does not have volume enveloping. I'll just have to automate the faders in a big way :(

JD
Click to expand...

Are you sure? LE is a slightly cut back version of SE, I find it hard to believe they haven't included it. Is there a little + sign in the bottom left hand corner of each track designator (whatever its called - the blocky thing on the left of each track). There should be. Click it and you'll get the volume envelope.
 
sounds really good, it sounds almost like its live...but still good!!
 
Yah, it's a bummer

Garry Sharp said:
Are you sure? LE is a slightly cut back version of SE, I find it hard to believe they haven't included it. Is there a little + sign in the bottom left hand corner of each track designator (whatever its called - the blocky thing on the left of each track). There should be. Click it and you'll get the volume envelope.
Click to expand...

I went to the steinberg site and checked the chart where they compare the different versions of cubase (http://www.steinberg.fr/products/comparatif_le_se_sl3_sx3.pdf)

and it was purposely omitted. I guess they have to leave some things off of the stripped down versions. Thanks for chiming in though.

JD
 
Aha!

jake-owa said:
Automation, same thing.
Click to expand...

Although there technically is no envelope feature, there is a way to control the automation by drawing lines and such. I don't really see a substantial difference, as you've pointed out here.

Thanks again for another episode of: get to know your software.
 
good song... pretty good recording as well....

drums need to be more up front...

vocals not so tight.... all of them same like the same volume... need to play around with the levels....

I like the bass tone you got.
 
Bass tone - here's the story

Leeking said:
good song... pretty good recording as well....

drums need to be more up front...

vocals not so tight.... all of them same like the same volume... need to play around with the levels....

I like the bass tone you got.
Click to expand...

I simply just replaced the strings on my ancient Yamaha BB400 (~1983), plugged directly into the Tascam US-122 and added the following: a titch of chorus, a bit o' compression, and some EQ, all from within Cubase's inserts and sends. I was debating getting a bass preamp, but I'm rather pleased with the bass sound as well, so maybe I'll save my cash so I can actually get a second drum overhead. :)

Thanks,

JD
 
sounded pretty good..but i have to agree about the vocals being too upfront....when they 1st kicked in...i felt like the maxell dude sitting in the chair!
 
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