A little Zevon anyone?

[paparoof]

Howdy. Long time listener, first time caller. Finally got up the nerve to show one here....

Drums are Steven Slate VST, everything else is me.

Here's the first crack. Please be gentle.

What would you do differently?

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Are you trying to get as close to the original recording as possible? (i.e. should we be critiquing for fidelity to the original or as a stand-alone thing)

The panning on the rhythm guitars is throwing me off a bit. They're really wide on the intro, but they narrow out in the verse.
Everything but the drums doesn't seem to have enough "air" (or "sparkle" or whatever you want to call it where the highs feel cut off and muddy) on them.
The claps don't sound great. (Claps are hard!)

Ok. That's a lot of critiques. Good things.
Vocal delivery is good. Similar style to Zevon's but a little cleaner.
Guitars have a pretty good jangly tone.
Everything is clear and audible.

 

[paparoof]

Thanks for the comments!

That's interesting an interesting comment about the guitar panning since I didn't change it at all during the song. They're both at about 75% out and they stayed there. I'll have to listen again specifically for that.

As far as top end - those are flats on the bass so that's as intended.

I used a 57 on the guitar amp - same amp, same positioning for all guitar tracks. Maybe I should try a better mic there, or get it closer to the center of the cone?

Do you think the vocal needs more top end as well?

Claps - there's seven tracks. Maybe that's too much? I also tried to separate them - get each one off the beat by just a teeny fraction so they didn't sound like one big clap. Are you suggesting they should be separated more or less?

 

[Chili]

Gonna bring that piano up a little more...

Good cover. You got Zevon's inflections (and infections) down pretty good. I would suggest bringing the vocals up a little more; sitting a little too far back in the mix. And also lower the kick a couple hairs... All else is pretty good.

I had the good fortune of seeing Zevon in a tiny little bar on the east side of Austin back in 1990. No drummer and by the 2nd song, you didn't notice one was missing.

 

[dobro]

Howdy. Long time listener, first time caller. Finally got up the nerve to show one here....

Drums are Steven Slate VST, everything else is me.

Here's the first crack. Please be gentle.

What would you do differently?

Not the bass - it's great.

I'd copy the guitar solo parts, lots less reverb on the copy, mix it in lower. Just to see.

Really well done.

 

[paparoof]

Gonna bring that piano up a little more...

Good cover. You got Zevon's inflections (and infections) down pretty good. I would suggest bringing the vocals up a little more; sitting a little too far back in the mix. And also lower the kick a couple hairs... All else is pretty good.

I had the good fortune of seeing Zevon in a tiny little bar on the east side of Austin back in 1990. No drummer and by the 2nd song, you didn't notice one was missing.

Thanks for the comments Chili!

I wish I could play piano - it'd be in there if I could!
And the drums were dumped to 2 tracks and then rendered to audio, so I can't turn down the kick without turning down the whole drum kit. I do have a little bass boost happening on the drums though, so I could pull that back a bit.

 

[paparoof]

Not the bass - it's great.

I'd copy the guitar solo parts, lots less reverb on the copy, mix it in lower. Just to see.

Really well done.

Hey thanks! Glad you like the bass track - that's the only instrument I play "for reals", so I'm happy that stood out to you.

I originally doubled that lead part on an LP (the one you hear now is a Tele) and ended up pulling it out cause it didn't really add anything and just made it sound cluttered.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Thanks for the comments!

That's interesting an interesting comment about the guitar panning since I didn't change it at all during the song. They're both at about 75% out and they stayed there. I'll have to listen again specifically for that.

Weird. Maybe they're more in sync in the verse so the separation is less obvious?

Do you think the vocal needs more top end as well?

Maybe a little

Claps - there's seven tracks. Maybe that's too much? I also tried to separate them - get each one off the beat by just a teeny fraction so they didn't sound like one big clap. Are you suggesting they should be separated more or less?

Yeah. Claps are hard. If you figure out the trick, let me know!
Really, it's probably the same issue with the chain for any other instrument Performance=>tone=>capture=>mix
So... get a large group to clap in sync (performance) in a good room (tone) with the right mic (capture)

 

[BroKen_H]

Just as an off-the-wall, I use SSD4 myself and I notice you did what I used to do. You limit your cymbals.
After you've got your drums put in like you want them, program your kit to have some extra cymbal crashes that sound close, but not identical.
Use the 1/4 1/2 and 3/4 bits on the hi-hats like you would live. Nobody rides a hi-hat exactly all the time.
Vary the hits on the snare a bit (velocity) so each hit is not identical.
All these bits will make your drums sound more "realistic".

Otherwise, the mix is very good. Love the bass tone, love the guitar playing and the fact that you pulled his guitar style and tone off well. Your voice actually sounds a bit like his. Are you a lawyer as well?

 

[paparoof]

Weird. Maybe they're more in sync in the verse so the separation is less obvious?

Well that and I only changed guitars for those tracks - tele on the left, LP on the right - but same pedals, same amp, same mic, in the same exact spot. Maybe next time I switch everything out - at the very least use a different amp (hell, I have like eight guitar amps - I should use 'em!) that should provide some better separation between tracks.

Maybe a little

I'll give that shot. Treble is a tough one for me after 30+ years of playing in bands and going to concerts, I *know* I have a some real hearing loss up there, so I guess I'm a little tentative about boosting in that range, I figure once it sounds right to me it'll probably be an ice-pick to someone with good ears. I guess that's the primary purpose of this forum right though eh? Get some other experienced feedback. Thanks!

Yeah. Claps are hard. If you figure out the trick, let me know!
Really, it's probably the same issue with the chain for any other instrument Performance=>tone=>capture=>mix
So... get a large group to clap in sync (performance) in a good room (tone) with the right mic (capture)

I think you hit it dead-on there - for the same reasons as the guitar track separation issue above. On this recording - that's my two hands on all seven tracks. If I had my kids and wife come in the room, each one would sound different and automagically be at least a little off the beat (especially my wife!) and bingo! Maybe stereo mics would be in order then? Or do a mid/side thing? My daughters bedroom is a lot more live sounding too - that might help.

Thanks again for the comments - everything you've said is helpful!

 

[paparoof]

Just as an off-the-wall, I use SSD4 myself and I notice you did what I used to do. You limit your cymbals.
After you've got your drums put in like you want them, program your kit to have some extra cymbal crashes that sound close, but not identical.
Use the 1/4 1/2 and 3/4 bits on the hi-hats like you would live. Nobody rides a hi-hat exactly all the time.
Vary the hits on the snare a bit (velocity) so each hit is not identical.
All these bits will make your drums sound more "realistic".

Totally get what you're saying and you're absolutely right. Honestly, I didn't put much thought into the drums at all. The only reason I bought SSD4 was because my real drums are stacked up in a corner waiting for me to quit goofing around and finally setup my basement family/jam room so others can come over and rock out with me. So in this case, I loaded SSD to a single stereo track and took the easy way out programming - they're pretty sterile and the duplicated drum fill at the end bugs me to no end. In fact, when I did this drum track it was only intended to be a guide for a drummer buddy of mine who's coming up next week and we were going to record this song with live drums. Of course now he doesn't want to do this song and they're talking about doing something entirely different, so there ya go. Musicans....

Otherwise, the mix is very good. Love the bass tone, love the guitar playing and the fact that you pulled his guitar style and tone off well. Your voice actually sounds a bit like his. Are you a lawyer as well?

Thank you! I'm not a lawyer, but I have laughed at many lawyer jokes so I'm sure that counts.

The bass is a parts p-bass I put together with a Bill Lawrence (Wilde) P-46 pickup, four-year-old TI Jazz Flats, into a REDDI and straight into the interface. The REDDI is as close to magic as I've ever heard in a piece of gear.

And I'll admit I was trying to sing "like" mr. Zevon. I tend to do that with covers. At least my comfortable range and his are similar. It's not very pretty when I try to do Rod Stewart.

 

[TheLurker]

Nothing jumped out of the mix that made me think "that needs some work". Nice work

 

[paparoof]

Thank you!