3 tracks - your feedback

[tigerflystudio]

Hi folks,
Ok... been busy trying to finish a few songs recently - all of them recorded at home on budget 'shoe-string' equipment (Tascam DP-02).

I've put 3 songs online and wondered if you more exerienced guys (than me) could take a listen and give some feedback on the mixing / recording please? Few areas for consideration are:
* nutrality of mxes (i.e. too much bass or trebble?)
* use of compression (too much / little?)
* how the layered instruments sit with one another (levels etc?)

Here's the link to my songs: www.myspace.com/lofihardwired

*** tech disclaimer (ha ha ha): I know MP3 is not great for quality, but it's all that Myspaz allows! Hope it's okay for you to listen & give feedback

Track 1 - "Don't Mind" - MP3 (192kbps)
Track 2 - "I Don't make Music (To Get Laid)" - MP3 (128kbps)
Track 3 - "Cutting Through Ice" - MP3 (128kbps)

 

[jeffmaher]

Cut 1:

The piano has really noticable compression effect...over the top.

The piano in the intro is busy, and stepping on everything. The low register is overwhelming the bass guitar...and playing deep non-root chord tones...which makes for a muddy mash in the bottom. The block chording as in verse 1 would work better....bring it down....lose much of the left-hand comping: let the bass guitar do its job.

Reminds me a lot of some old "The Band" records. Maybe check out a couple to listen for mix that works better.

But, pretty much, the piano is too busy, too up front.

Cut 2: ["Come Together"] The purcussion needs to be more....except for the bass drum. The two/four is punctuated with weak handclaps. Gotta have snap on the 2/4. It's blues.

Cut 3: You build all of the instrument's rythmic figures around that awkward drum figure. There's no groove. The simple solution is to do a straight drum track, let the other instruments play the figure. The beginning of groove, there. Otherwise, the work just plods along.

Cut your intros. Get to the meat quicker. Your songs are long, with not much reason to be.

Try to post here using download media other than Myspace. Soundclick is better. You'll get more listens.

 

[tigerflystudio]

Thanks for your feedback. I'm really happy with everything you've said there. I HAVE been pondering long and hard over the piano. Sitting it in the mix is a very delicate task - I'd like to thin it out a little by EQ'ing some of the bottom off, then perhaps it will clean up the overall sound at the lower end (?)

Any advice on specific frequency ranges to look at cutting on the piano track?

On Track 2 I'll look into boosting the 2 & 4. On the 2 it a tambourine. On the 4 it's handclaps. Any suggestions as to beefing them up? I seem to remember reading somehere a trick for 'faking' handclaps. It was something along the lines of slapping 2 pieces of leather together (or something like that. ha). Anyone know it or got any other suggestions?

On Track 3, it started out life without any drums at all - just a simple acoustic number - 1 guitar playing the chords, the other playing lead. The drums were added later. I kinda like the unusual beat. The shaker was added to make the intro / verses flow. Is it the drum pattern you don't like, or the recording of them?

 

[jeffmaher]

What frequency ranges I should start looking to cut on the piano track?

Bottom and top.....the sound you have is is intimate, and hard to tame. As you move away from a sound-source, the bass and trebles are lost. An upper-mid-rangie sound in the piano will distance it from the nose of the listener, and make it more mix-friendly. Listen to live music when you can. Note the natural EQ-ing that happens as a result of proximity, or distance. And the busy piano figures will have a quicker apparent decay....lessening the interference with clean space in the playout. Space is something you want some of.

On Track 2 I'll look to boost the hand claps. I seem to remember reading somehere a fool-proof method of 'faking' handclaps. It was something like slapping a piece of leather. or something like that. Anyone know it?

Why fake it?

On Track 3, it started out life without any drums at all. They were added later. Maybe they don't work, huh? The shaker is in there to mask the lack of hi-hat / cymbals in the intro / verses. Is it the drum pattern you don't like, or the recording of them?

The pattern. Played straight, it will jive and grind some with the other instruments' unison rythmic figure. Momentum, groove added. A right place to start, I think.