A Blanket For Brian

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Hi. this is my first post over here and I appreciate any feedback you could give me on this rough mix I did. I'm a musician based in NYC, getting ready to do the final mix. This is song I recorded that's shaping up to be the second song on my upcoming record and I've been having some issues getting it to sound like I want it to. I recorded this to cassette 4-track mainly (guitars and vox) and then dumped it to PT for bass, and some background stuff. I'm obviously not going for a super hifi vibe here, as my quieter stuff like this comes across better with less. I got the feel for the track with this rough mix, but I'm about to do the real one and I'd really love some notes. Is there anything here that stands out that I could improve upon?

https://soundcloud.com/defnder/a-blanket-for-brian-rough-mix


Thanks! It's good to find this place.
 
Morning mate,

The vocal is a bit too quiet, at least early in the song, appears to come up a little later on but that might just be me getting used to it.
Aside from that, I really like the position of everything else, even the weird noises.
 
I liked the rhythm guitars. I thought the singing was great.

The guitar licks seemed a little out of tune.

I'm not sure if I like the heavy effects on the vocal. It's kind of cool. But I think a dryer, more natural vocal would probably be better. You have a very nice voice, and I'd let it shine.

The bass is a little indistinct and undefined. A bit too much low end, and it wasn't played with enough articulation between notes. Anyway, that's the bass line I'd like to hear.

With just a few changes, I think this could be a really cool song.
 
Thanks guys. The guitar is a student size with 4 strings on it. I've been writing with it for a long time. I redid the vocals and agree that they should be up in the mix. There's no effects on 'em except for the verb that I used for the whole song. I doubled them obviously, but I too am hearing a drier and more centered lead vocal in the verse especially.

Great notes! I'm taking them to heart.

The electric guitar solo was played with a paperclip on the strings. I'll listen to it again and see if I hear the out of tune notes. I kind of like the bit of off-key stuff and do some of that consciously but I didn't really do that with the lead guitar line, but again, it's a 4-string guitar also and has a weird sound. The bass is almost beyond my help. It's always something I struggle with.
 
I like the weird out of tune sounding guitar - it doesn't sound like someone clueless who just hasn't bothered tuning - it sounds interesting and purposeful.
 
I agree on the vocals being too saturated. It may be the same 'verb you have on everything else, but it sounds much more prominent on the vox.

The mandolin (?or is that the student guitar?) could maybe actually use a little more 'verb. The two hard-panned instruments are very distinct from each other. Some more reverb might help glue them together to sound more like one instrument. (I may be completely off tho, it might also just muddy things up.)

The guitar tone is cool. It does sound lo-fi, but it's in a way that matches the tone of the song.

The bass is a little indistinct, but it also sounds like an upright? You're going to get that with upright's; it's fine.

overall, this sounds like a pretty good song tho. Nice work.
 
Hmmmm...........I like it and I did try to like the out of tune guitar........but just couldn't quite do it. It does sort of add to a tonal vibe going on.......but maybe it's overdone just a tad. That's just me though. The nylon string mando or uke does sound cool. Great sound. The vox is a bit too low and could use some added eq maybe around 8k or so. Just a small amount to pull it out of the rest of the mix. I also like the bass. Sort of loose and easy and very acoustic sounding. Just my two cents.
 
I'm in the process of mixing this song again. It's got 4 re-recorded vocal lines that are exactly the same performance wise, but not recorded in my bathroom like the one's on the mix you guys heard. Thanks for the recommendation for frequencies that might help bring it out more. The new vox are drier so I have more control over them.

Yeah, that's an old double bass that was laying around a friends record store. I figured it would easier for me to bring my Tascam 246 on the subway and record there, than to lug the bass all the way back to my apt. The bad side to that though, is that the room I recorded in was pretty noisy and I start to hear that if I bring the level up any more. Like I said, I am usually struggling to get the bass sounds to be what I hear in my head. I was listening to "Jumping Fences,"by Olivia Tremor Control and I know that they recorded that with a 4-track and I've never been able to get that definition out of any of my bass tracks. Live and learn though, right?

As for the guitar solo tuning, I'm going to see how it plays during this final mix. I have the feeling it's one of those things that some people will notice and find unappealing, while others like it. I personally like the off-key notes. I clipped a paper clip across all 4 strings down at the bridge, and it gave it a unique sound that almost feels like it's not going through an amp.

I really do thank everybody who's taken the time to listen to this and give some helpful feedback. I haven't put any of my stuff out there before and it's been a huge help.
 
The 4 string sounds very Uke.
I agree with TripleM mostly.
Saturation bathroom reverb is for the body - & you can use a towel to remove most later - not the same with tape printed vocals.
 
VHS,
there does seem to be a fingerprint on them doesn't there?
 
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