Acousticy Thing

  • Thread starter Thread starter toad_uk
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Nice tune toad - there's an element of an acoustic Sweet Home Alabama in there. As you say there are a few timing issues (like my tune :p ), the other thing I think to look at is that the vocals are a little lost in the mix. They're a bit masked by some of the other instrumental frequencies, so could do with a little presence (maybe a boost around the upper mids) and a small volume boost. I reckon that would make a significant difference to yer mix.
 
Thanks for that Robgreen. I see what you mean about the Sweet Home Alabama thing. I always seem to bury the vocals. I'd added some EQ to the final mix and wondered if I'd added too much low end.
 
Hello there... i think you could change the snare, if you can't, try to bury it a little, is too present and is distracting.
I can barely listen the kick, is too buried, maybe a little boost around the 1 khz and a little more volume, just 1 or 2 db.
If you do that, please upload the song again for another listen.

Regards.
 
You know there are some timing issues, right? LOL! Just kidding, I think it sounds great. When the morning "comes" again the comes and "Keep" on keep right on, not quite making it up to those notes. But overall, a terrific vocal performance. Oh there's that timing thingie. So they're live drums? Pretty cool. You should go back and punch in and try to tweak this a bit, it's a great song.
 
I can't hear the kick either, but I like the snare sound, mellow and cracky enough for a song like this.

I don't hear much going on in the R speaker. The acoustic is on the L side and there's nothing to balance it on the R until the other guitar comes in. It makes the stereo image a little lopsided for half the song.

good song, everything sounds well recorded too.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. This was about the 2nd or 3rd song I'd played and recorded drums on. I just used two overheads, so I can't do much about the kick. I did this mix a while back. I've spent so long trying to make programmed drums sound real, that I quite like the timing errors now I'm using real drums, but even on my other stuff where I had the kick mic'ed, I still seem to be shy of bringing the kick up in the mix, and the vocals. I know what you mean about the 'comes' and 'keep', I think I was at the edge of my range there, without going into Bee Gees mode. I'm not sure that I'll remix it or anything anymore, as I feel I need to move on (no pun intended) to something new, but your feedback will be useful for future stuff. Thanks again.
 
Great song, enjoyed listening to it. Some great guitar in the second half. Aside from what's been said above, I found that the vocal was a bit overly expressive in the first line or two. I think it would have been better if it was sung a bit plainer to introduce your voice. Like when you first start hearing someone give a speech, it takes a few words for you to tune into their voice. I found the delivery and vibrato at the beginning made that a bit difficult. Maybe that's just me, though!

Anyway, still a great song!
 
Sounds like a big Bob Seger influence here. I think you could do some more work on the vocals. It just doesn't sond like you really nailed it though out the song, to be honest and not trying to be mean, but sometimes they sound pretty bad lol. The song over all really sounds nice, but like I said I think the vocal performance could be WAY better. A good trick that works for me is I warm up the vocals real good then I push my stomach out as much as I can while I'm singing. This helps me really utilize the full force of my voice. What I mean by push my stomach out is imagine you're about to let a big wet fart rip, but it just doesn't seem to come out. So, you give it a big PUSH and the magic happens. Plenty of warming up and tightening that abdominal wall will help you hit some of those highs that don't sound too good just yet. And practice practice practice :D
 
Thanks for listening and the advice guys. So what you're saying FoulPhil is that a forced wet fart would sound better than my singing? :( Naw only joking, I know what you mean, thanks for the tips :D. I think I also need to be in better shape and get the old stomach muscles toned (would look better too).
 
Not true bro. Just like that old saying "till the fat lady sings". Taken from the fat opera singers who sing loud and hit some incredible notes lol. I'm not an opera fan, but can respect the skill that goes into it hahahah. I use to struggle a lot with my voice until I started doing what I call "the ripper" because you push like you're going rip a nasty one hahahahahahahha. The warming up helps a lot. Practice practice practice the songs and record them when you're to the point of nailing it easily. I like acoustic guitars because you can strum and sing till you get it just right :D
 
Hi Guys - I've done a remix to try and bring the kick up and the vocals clearer. This is still the original vocal, I did have another shot at them and Foul Phil's advice for the high notes certainly helped, but I mucked up the other bits - I may have another shot later. Anyway please let me know what you think.

Many thanks.

New Version



Orignal Version

 
Guitars sound cool. Still a little roomy on it's own.

Kick is up front now...maybe too much :)

Vocals are a bit pitchy still.
 
Yeah, I listened to the new version. I like the natural drum sounds. Not a fan of the toms out wide tho. Just a preference. The low end seems boomy and a little un focused. Maybe do some work in that are to clean it up. I like the guitar work.
 
The vocals sound pretty good, although some parts have a little too much emotion which causes the pithiness. Try singing through the song 7 to 10 times in different tracks and then chop them all up. Maybe in one take it's pitchy so you listen to the other 7 to 10 tracks for one that's not pitchy and sounds just right. Then you cut out the pitchy take and replace it with the good one. Just keep going until you have a perfect track. The guitar solo could use a little tightening up and maybe a little reverb or delay.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. I've tried to remove some boominess, narrowed the drums a little and tried a new vocal take. Look forward to your comments.

 
I started with the first version and read some comments, I was thinking the melody wasn't very solid then listened to the 2nd version and you made a good improvement IMO. I think the vocals are a bit out front and in your face but the melody is carrying things better. I like that snare sound, very 70's sounding in a good way. The mix in general has a good feel to me, things are direct and simple. I think with a little mix polishing (balance-eq-ambience), maybe adding something to break up the verse from the chorus, this could sound excellent. And yeah be prepared to hear that Sweet Home Alabama thing about that guitar riff in the chorus, theres a zillion things you could play there...Enjoyed it-nice recording.


Strat
 
When I first started this I was so much trying to make it not sound like Your Time Is Gonna Come, by Led Zeppelin that I missed that it was turning into Sweet Home Alabama. The guitar in the break before the guitar solo was originally slapping the chords like on YTIGC as a nod to Zeppelin. I was going for a early seventies sound, so I'm glad you thought that about the drums Stratomaster.
 
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