60's style song, Fun with Ric.

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moptop

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Here's my shot at a 60's style song featuring an electric 12 string. It's kinda rough, the vocals still need some work but I think you'll get the idea. I just hope Roger McGuinn or Wally Bryson aren't too pissed at me for this one.

Thanks for the listen.
 
The drums all sound low-passed, no body to the snare and can't hear any kick. This is interfering with the possible 12 string sound? Is there 12-string rhythm, or only the lead guitar and the arpeggiated chords after it? You captured the 60s pop sound , not so much the jangly Byrds-style guitar.
 
mjbphotos said:
The drums all sound low-passed, no body to the snare and can't hear any kick.
Click to expand...
Low passed? Or high passed?

The drums sound very canned. Did you put a humanizer on them to give the hits more variety?

The analog instruments have pretty good tone.

The solo on the 12-string sounds cool. However, there's something in the background of that section that isn't quite right. The "ah"s or something have that washy, bad mp3 distortion happening.
 
i thought the whole thing had a brittle-distorted sound across it. particularly the snare, but i think i'm hearing it everywhere. it came across as an old, old recording that wasn't captured very well, but authentic. if that makes sense. the drums need fixing, that snare dies out in like 3 ms after it's hit. gives it a robotic sound. vocals were good. it's mostly that hissy distortion across the mix that's holding it back - and the snare.
 
The drums in the 60's didnt sound hi-fi, but they sounded good. Your drums sounds weird. It lacks low end to me. I dont mind hearing the kick drum perfectly, but you should at least try to capture the low end of the drum kit, really.

The song is cool, though...keep trying, man.
 
Thanks to all who replied. Yes, mixing is not my forte. Thanks for pointing out the weak areas, some of which I already knew. I am not, NOT a drum by any means so I do program the drum track. I try, really I do!!:laughings: That is usually the worst part of anything I record. I'm going to get in there and start from scratch again and see what kind of sonic mush I can come up with this time.


Thanks again for the help
 
hey man, programming drums its not really a problem...and your mixes will definately get better if you keep practicing. If you really like this, there is nothing stopping you and you will do some good work anyway...

If you can get a chance of recording a drum kit...you really should. Its the most educational instrument to record, because its really hard to get a good drum sound. You'll learn a lot from it!
 
Good song and it sounds Mersey beat era rather than Byrd jangle - but that's cool anyway. The sustained 12 chords sound a tiny bit chorussy - I know that 12s do that but you may be able to push the jangle a little.
I found that a compressor & some top end EQ boost can achieve this (it's what the Janglebox does as well and MXR Dyna Comp Compressor as well).
Drums - enough has been said. If you can program them and export each drum/cymbal to a different track you'll probably get a better run at it.
 
total remix

Okay folks, here is a total re-mix of this thing from scratch up. I hope this sounds better. I addressed the grainy distortion in the harmonies, pulled the drums more forward in the mix and added some bottom end. I just hope not too much. Along with a few other tweeks I think this sounds better.

Please give me your thoughts, they are much apprecitated.
 
Fix Mix #2

I tweeked on it again. Let me know what you think!

Thanks
 
Latest mix sounds great moptop, catchy song too. Only thing that jumps out at me is the bass seems to be obscuring other tracks a bit. Wonder what a low-pass around 1k on bass might sound like. Background vox are real nice.
 
Pretty cool to hear this retro style.
The mix sounds decent. The cymbals in general and high hat specifically have too much air/highs. Tone them back and let them sit in the mix more instead of popping out so much. The guitar solo is a few db too loud. Tuck it in a bit more and it will sound better (it's a stiff feeling solo, so you want to bury that).
 
I listened to the first version before I realized there were later versions. In the first one all I could hear of the drums were cymbals. At least in the later versions I can actually hear the snare, so I guess that's progress. :)

Agree with the other commenter that this is more Mersey beat than Byrds. Gerry and the Pacemakers maybe.

First I think there is too much reverb on the mix. I'd back it off a little. The guitar solo at 2:13 is too prominent for my taste.

Are the vocals autotuned? They have an odd sound to me. Not bad, just too effected.
 
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