An acoustic song. Whadda ya think?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris Shaeffer
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Chris Shaeffer

Chris Shaeffer

Peavey ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here's the newest song for me. I've had a heap of fun recording it so far. :D

I'd like comments on any aspect of the tune you'd like to comment on: 'tis all me, so in the immortal words of Robert Plant...

nobody's fault but mine...

http://chrisshaeffer.iuma.com

The song is called "Mute"

Thanks,
Chris
 
Hey Chris.
Man, three years old huh?

I like all the stuff on your site.
Especially, The Dawn.
On a couple of the songs the vocals seemed to get lost.
I don't feel I know enough about recording to offer my opinion other than I like them.
Keep up the good work, Chris.
 
Thanks for the listens and kudos, badgas!!

Yup, I'm learning that I sometimes have severe singer/songwriter/guitarist syndrome: I tend to mix the vocals low. Then, when the mix is all done I just have to grit my teeth and notch them up 1 or 2 dB. Or 4. Then I listen to stuff like Ed's mix or Macle's stuff and hear the huge sound with the vocals still cutting through and scratch my head. :confused:

"The Dawn" is definately one of my favorites! I actually worked on that tune for about 3 years before it finally finished itself a few months ago. I was so excited that I just threw up a couple mics and wailed it out. I was kinda surprised that it tuned out as well as it did. :) I think that is a slightly old mix, too. I've learned a bit about reverb and stereo imaging since then.

And, badgas, if you can hear you have the authority to comment on music- at least in my book.

Thanks, again. :)

I'd love some more comments, too, guys. :D I'm actually hard of hearing since birth and very curious how my mixs sound to those who hear normally.

Chris
 
Yo Chriso.....

I listened to your 6 song set. You have rad skillz on acoustic
and your style fits in most perfectly with your down-home/rock type vocs. "MUTE" showed your range while "Come Out and Play
showed your daring versatility(my fave)! Songs were recorded
sweetly with that rite kinda' ambience and flair! I enjoyed your set!
Good job!
 
Wow, Q! I hope you have a broaband connection! Thanks for taking the time to listen to all of the tunes. That'll teach me to keep my website clean: most of those mp3's are older mixes. i should reburn those mp3's with the latest mixs on my day off tomorrow.

Thanks for the great compliments! Makes me really happy to hear you like the acoustic guitar playing- I've been trying to reestablish a healthy relationship with my electric stuff but my heart still lies with the acoustic. Can you believe that I was a total metalhead when I started playing? :rolleyes:

I'm also stoked that you used the word "verstility." I've been thinking recently that I'm getting to be a one trick pony- all the songs seem like half-thoughtful acoustic rockers with a half catchy chorus. Maybe I've been working on them too long, eh? Time to try some new micing techniques! (tweak tweak tweak)

Hee hee hee! "Down home/ rock type vocs?" So you don't think I should drop the acoustic and go become a crooner? :p I love singing and playing. For me its all about energy and intensity- even the slow stuff can be thoughtfully intense.

Thanks for the listens and compliments, Q! I really appreciate it. Makes my day.

If anyone is still checking out "Mute" or any of the other songs, I'm particularly concerned with my balance of lows and highs. I'm worried that I'm not getting an articulated high end in the recordings because...well, I can't hear them. :) I'm wondering if I tend to mix things kinda bassy and midrangey.

Take care,
Chris
 
buy me a home./..

this music reminds me of playing guitar on the stoop of my old mans county home..smoking cigaretttes and tossing stones into a distant rusted out Maxwell coffee can..good work man..give it five years and this stuff will be ringing the ears of the world...
 
COOL SONG

THe genre is not my style,but I liked the song.

the first thing that struck me was that it was nice and clean.

I like the picture that the mic presented of the vocals. A very nice juxtaposition against the cleanliness of the instuments. Sounds vintage.
 
Samich: :) That's kinda the feel I was going for. Relaxed. Killin' time. Not going anywhere in a hurry. Thanks for the listen. Glad you liked it! I'm hoping those are good memories of your old man's porch...

Cyan: "nice and clean" is a compliment, indeed! Thanks! I hoped it would turn out that way despite having some lower end equiptment. My guitar isn't fantastic sounding so I usually use large diaphrams (Nady 900's :eek:) for it, but this time I bit the bullet to see how well I could do with a brace of AKG c1000s's. I figured they'd give me a more articulated sound.

Funny thing is that I used the Art Dual MP, which I didn't really expect to give me a clean sound. But...fiddle with it enough and eventually it gives in.

Glad you liked the vocal sound. I'm still trying to figure out how Ed and Macle get those huge mixs where it seems like you can hardly hear the vocals- yet you can still understand them perfectly. :confused:

Much appreciation, guys! Every now and then I sit back and ponder all the great stuff I've learned hanging out here. If only you could have heard the crud I thought sounded good a year ago...

:)
 
[Samich: That's kinda the feel I was going for. Relaxed. Killin' time. Not going anywhere in a hurry. Thanks for the listen. Glad you liked it! I'm hoping those are good memories of your old man's porch..]


it did bring back a lot of memories...one of the greatest things about music....i listened to a few times and enjoyed it again and again///really, keep it up... if you have time, check out some of my cuts @


http://www.nowhereradio.com


(artist name) middleman

1. birthday bash
2. rabbit renewed


would really appreciate it..let me know what you think..thanks a lot
 
Love the guitar and BGV's. The lead vocal (IMHO) needs a couple things:

1. Up the level just a bit.
2. Sounds like you have a reverse sibilance problem. I found it hard to understand some of the lyrics because most 'f 's' & 't's are not coming through. Examples: 'Place' = "play", "so" = "ohh", and "self" = "elf".

That's my 2c. Great tune!
 
Thanks for the listens Chrisjorge. I'm glad the guits sounded good to you because I am really happy with them. The backing vocals were a TON of fun, too. :) There are 9 vocal tracks to this tune- I just figured "Why don't I lay a bunch of these things down?" I'm glad I did.

Man, that anti-sibilance is gonna cook my goose and I can't play it off on shoddy micing techinique on this tune. I'm glad you pointed it out since I doubt anyone who knows me would. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do about it. :(

What you're hearing is the effect of having no high pitch hearing since birth- I never really learned to pronounce those sounds since I don't hear 'em the same way other folks do. Oh well. That's pretty much the only reason I went to college instead of a recording school- can't hear well enough to make it as a pro.

Now I know why the vocals sound fine to me at lower volumes and other people just can't make them out. They can't hear all the sounds!

"I'm going to a play where I can ee my elf?"

Right! I meant to say "I'm going to a place where I can see myself."

This is gonna be a fun one to figure out...

Thanks again, Chrisjorge.
 
Fallen Angel is beautiful. Having a friend who is hard of hearing as well, I recognized the lack of sibilance. Voice lessons from a good singing coach might help you with that. But I think that the feeling is there, and if you never nail those sounds, your music will still be great.
I love that "ohh-oh-oh-ooh" part. How huge is that? The vocals are mixed perfectly, that is quite a feat. Thanks for writing and recording such a nice song, made me reflect for 7-1/2 minutes.
 
Hey Chris, checked out Mute. Great tune with a cool organic feel. The background harmonies are great, and I liked the fact that there are no drums, but the song swings along, doesn't need em! And thanks a lot for including me along side Ed, especially since I don't really feel like I know what I'm doing engineering-wise..... The only thing I might say about the vocal thing is to turn down the acoustics a bit, or pan the one that's sort of centered I think, and turn the vocal up! I think finding that balance between the stuff is a lot of it. And cutting frequencies, too, the low end on acoustics, make room for the bass, all that, etc. Also, I've found that the mic and preamp play a big part, obviously. I had the Dual MP, and when I switched to a JoeMeek VC3, and that's not the biggest step up, it made a big difference. Ummm, wish I could be more help, I'm not very good at doling out advice!!

Anyway, great job!
Macle
 
Really enjoyed the song!
It's definantly got a down home feel about without straying to far into the country genre. Kinda hit a genre the grateful dead have in a lot of there up-beat tunes, without actually sounding like them....Not sure how you pulled that one off, but it is very catchy and fun to listen to! i can tell you have a problem with hearing the high pitches, but it really doesn't detract from your style what so ever, infact I think it actually supports that vintage sound someone else was talking about.

Matt
 
Hmmph. I just noticed its my 250th post. Figures I would be talking about myself...:rolleyes:

Chrager: "The vocals are mixed perfectly (in Fallen Angel)" Now that's quite a compliment! Thanks! I'm discovering the joys of many-layered backing vocals panned all across the stage. This is how I meant for it to sound when I wrote it (12 years ago) but the ol' 4-track couldn't handle it. :) My idea was to go for an angelic chorus effect- not that my voice is angelic...

And thanks a whole bunch for the encouragement to not get bogged down with the hearing/pronounciation stuff. That's a good thing for me to hear.

macle: (Back to "Mute") Ah! The art of recording a tune that grooves without drums: play punchy, play tight, have the lightest of touches on the compressor, and play that bass for all you're worth. :D Thanks for checking it out and passing on the good word!

Panning the guitars out of the way of the vocals. That's the reason I was so excited about the M/S stuff I can (sort of) do now- for some reason I can't seem to get a wide enough stereo spread with X/Y micing. I can get it with t-racks on the final mix, but I'm not posting "mastered" stuff here, just the mixes.

Hmmm..."Mute" actually has two X/Y stereo guitar with only slight panning differences. Neither one leaves much room in the middle. I'll play with it and see what I can come up with. Maybe some EQ notching for both guitars on a strong vocal freq. would open the middle up, too.

As far as doling out advice, just tell us some stories about how you got your mixs sounding the way they do and I doubt anyone will complain. :D

mgiles7: Thanks for the listen, and the reassurance that it isn't too country. I was a little worried about that- not the genre I am going for. I was actually thinking some of the stuff Led Zep and the Eagles have done, but (of course) don't have the skills to pull that off. And the secret to treading Dead territory without sounding like them? I haven't listened to them. ;) I do listen to a bit of bluegrass, though, so we have similar inspirations.

And a question for you, if you don't mind: What, other than my pronounciation, is lacking high end? Maybe I should ask if the high end is just missing or if it sounds poorly done. Its hard for me to track and mix things I can't hear. I have friends help who can hear those freqs but they don't have the ears of a mixing engineer and are at a loss to explain what I should be fixing.

At any rate, I'm stoked that it sounds "Vintage!" instead of poorly recorded. I could settle for that and be quite happy indeed!

Thanks a lot, you guys.
Chris (a.k.a "He who types too fast and says too much." ;))
 
Ya know...after listening to the song again, I may have mis-spoken about being able to tell you can't hear the high end. I think what I thought was you not hearing high end, was actually just a distinct quality in your voice. I don't think you are flat - but your not on the top end of the pitch which gves your voice that unique sort of vintage feel. Hmmm...I don't have perfect pitch by any means, so that comment could be way off, maybe someone with perfect pitch could comment. Then again it could be my cheap cpu speakers that are taking some of the high's out of your voice, But I really think it is a natural thing in your voice, maybe your recreating the sound that you hear, which gives it that sound. Believe me when I say that it doesn't hurt anything in the song (as far as I am concerned) , I actually think it helps it. I could be totally wrong about this whole thing...It is just what I hear. :)

Matt
 
no disrespect, but how do i stop recieving updates to this post?
 
Chris...
I love your stuff... Who's the guy in the picture?.. Is that Kid Rock?? :D

Man your voice is great... The guitars are great.... Voice needs some highs... Sounds like all the treble is turned right off on the vocal track...

Other than that, don't touch a thing. It's great!

I listened to this late in the thread and am too lazy to read through all the long posts above, so someone might have already mentioned the vocal eq....

Don't touch the mids or lows on the vocal, only add highs.. the rest is good...

We have a guy similar up here named Doug Fever.... This music makes ya just wanna hop in a canoe or light a campfire...

Awesome Bro...
Joe
 
By the way, Im refering to "Mute"... thats the only one I had time to check out... Im gonna hear the rest later tonight...
 
Heh! That was cool! Vox didn't even read my reply and assured me that I wasn't crazy! I agree with what Vox said - Turn up High's on voice and that would make it sound even more kick-butt than it already is! I guess that is what I was trying to say all along....I was just beating around the bush a little. I'll trust my instincts next time. :cool:

Matt
 
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