Brazilian Portuguese Christian Pop

LooneyTunez

LooneyTunez

New member
Just did a mix (didn't track it) of a Brazilian Portuguese Christian Pop song. Even though I can't understand a word, I gotta say Portuguese sounds very cool. :cool:

Check it out, and let me know what you think. Thanks. :)



Leonara's Song
 
NOt a lot of clinic traffic this time of nite... on a week day... but I'll give ya a shot...

REALLY, REALLY clean... very, very nice... great talent on vocs, there... but don't know a word she's singing... she sounds gorgeous :) (but if she's Christian... she's not "party" :( ;))

Beautiful jazz-like arrangement...

Really, not much to nit here... would like better sound on the snare drum... not so much of the "milk carton" thing... maybe bump the bass up a hair...

The lead guitar that comes in during the break... it's a bit loud... but esp. in the low end of it... below 200Hz... could use a roll off...

Really smooth and worthy of CINCO (er... whatever the Portugeuse equiv. of cinco is :D)


Chad
 
Participant,

Thanks for the comments and kind words. :)

Really, not much to nit here... would like better sound on the snare drum... not so much of the "milk carton" thing... maybe bump the bass up a hair...
Click to expand...

I'll re-examine the snare sound...not quite sure what you mean by "Milk Carton" thing though. :confused:

The lead guitar that comes in during the break... it's a bit loud... but esp. in the low end of it... below 200Hz... could use a roll off...
Click to expand...

Um...there's no lead guitar, just acoustic rhythm...are you maybe referring to the bass solo that starts at 2:17? If so, I was thinking of rolling off some low end during the solo part, just to clear it up a little.

Again, thanks for checking it out, and I'll revisit the things you mentioned. :cool:
 
I like the singer. The whole mix sounds very good to me.

How'd you do the vocals? I really like the background vocals in the end.
 
erichenryus said:
I like the singer. The whole mix sounds very good to me.

How'd you do the vocals? I really like the background vocals in the end.
Click to expand...

Thanks erichenryus. :)

Again, I didn't track it, although I know the vocals were tracked with a SP C-1 through a Summit MPC 100A. In the mix, the lead vocal got some compression, minimal EQ, and some slight de-essing. For the backup vocals, I applied some " PSP PseudoStereo" processing, compressed, de-essing, and panned them a bit left and right.

Thanks again for your comments. :D
 
Well, I'm glad I didn't miss this lovely tune.

Let me start by saying the tune is sonically comforting, generally very well mixed.

The mix in the intro is perfect, a little too much of the stick on the woodblock.

At 00:11 the vocals enter clean and well mixed.

If I could understand this language, I would probably understand every word with out a problem.

If there is any element that is to loud, it is the drum-wood. This block sound will cut through anything, and can become annoying. The natural tendancy of the woodblock is simply ... to dominate. And it hurts the 'mood'. It is an effective rythmic element, but a tiny touch on the woodblock in a song like this goes a long, long way.

In heavy metal songs, we can hear the woodblock mixed at this level. Perhaps you can slather the block in reverb ... but it must be reduced significantly in volume. When it is teamed up with the snare, that is inappropriate for this genre. She is the star, don't dare step on her vocal for an instant.

I'm a dude, I turn on to sexy women, not a woodblock.

The woman's voice is lovely, beautiful, relaxing ... the block interferes with this feeling.

Some of the cymbal crashes are to loud.

At 1:31 the cymbal is simply to loud.

Any sharp noises or loud percussive noises in here are great for keeping the rythm, but they become inappropriate. During the bass solo, this should be a tasteful 'trap set' keeping time, but the drums come up as if they are sharing the solo. Consult your meters and you will see peaks on the drums, or maybe you won't because meters are not designed to see these things.

There is a latin feel to this, a swing, and the drums are mixed inappropriately, also, check the panning of the drums, sometimes very strong beats are directly center with the singer, that's distracting.

1:58, beautiful backup vocals, move them a hair closer to center, the petals of the flower need to be a little tighter here. Open them up later as the song goes out with her backup-harmony vocals.

The bass solo is lovely, I would move those piano fills back a bit, again, they are an extremely percussive element, and can 'stun' the listener.

Beautful song, one of the finest female vocals I have had the pleasure of hearing from this bbs.

Violas ... Cellos ... violins, but don't use samples, only use real ones ... if you can find them ;-)
 
Thanks for listening studioviols! :)

I've done a remix of this song, and addressed some of the issues you mentioned, plus others that I wasn't happy with. See what you think now.

BTW, that "Woodblock" sound is actually the stick on the snare, and the level has been dropped somewhat now. ;)

Thanks again for listening. :cool:

Leonara's Song (Remix)
 
My, my, you are a hard worker !

Keys in the beginning are very nice, but when she starts to sing, they need to come down even further. If this song can begin by really stunning the listener with the beauty in her voice with no challenges from any other elements, we sit back, we relax, and we are then receptive to whatever you may choose to mix for us later.
As the keyboard is actually a percussive element, it will challenge other percussion and that can be frusterating for the listener, this should not be happening to any degree during her vocal, and especially on her vocal entry.
Bring the keyboard down to a murmer when she sings initially, let her have the stage almost completely in the beginning, later, the keys can be more active while she is singing.

I'd lower the stick even further in the intro, and take some of the verb off. The level is good later in the intro, it's just these first couple of hits ...
As you take reverb off the stick, it becomes 'more' prominent in the mix, (sharper), but then begins to define it's place in the rythmic structure more tightly, so you would need to lower the volume even more. Always remember what a powerful percussion element that stick is. Experiment with the 'predelay' of the reverb on the stick.
Don't present us so strongly with 'all the goodies' so early on. We are more than satisfied being introduced to her beauty at first ...
Right now the stick is actually 'ringing' a bit. So if you take verb off, it begins to be more dominant, so lower the volume also. A little ring is good, but too much is not as good.
Perhaps, take it to the extreme, lower it much more than you think it needs to go and set it aside, listen to it the next day with fresh ears, set it aside, come back to it and raise it up, I betch'a it will be lower than the day before.
At 0:50, the stick and the snare are blending very nicely, good job, it seems for a moment they become one instrument.
With a gentle soft voice like this woman has, a very 'intimate' voice, you can always lower the drums, they need to be there, but they are the least important part of this mix.
I feel her vocal is more prominent in the mix, more 'out front' and also more 'intimate'. I feel like she is closer to the audience, and that's very good.
Yes she is really 'soaring' 'flying' at 2:00 - 2:15 ... she is the star.
The backups at 2:00 are superb, and as you may have tightened the stereo field a bit, again, this becomes more 'intimate' and brings the singer closer to us.
I have another suggestion here, at 2:00 I would select one of the backups to be the clear 'lead' backup vocal, and mix this panned very close to her lead vocal and cleaner, drier. Do this with the left field perhaps. The backup in the right field, slather it with delay and reverb, make it seem distant, the 'backup singer to stage right' ... experiment. Mix the backVox at 10:15 on the clock so to speak.
The bass solo is really dynamite, yes and here the keys are used well here to take the bass solo out, I like that. The bass solo might benifit from a very, very short flange, but just a guess ...

I haven't noticed the cymbals at all, as I focus on them I realize they are simply mixed perfectly.
Man, this song is totally awesome, you are lucky to be working on it, treasure this one, I will.
 
studioviols,

Thanks again for all your input. :) I will take your comments into consideration if I decide to remix this again. For now, I'm going to put it aside, and come back when I can be more objective.

Thanks again.
 
So now I am doing some comparisons between LT-Leonara2.mp3 , and LT-LeonaraFinal.mp3 .

Everything is smooth and clean and well balanced now, it is sounding very, very professional and polished.

Anything I say now is very subjective as I have listened to the song many times now. I nitpick only here. Grains of salt.

Yes, the keys are nice and strong with their fill just before her vocal enters, and I think maybe you EQ the keys to make them softer as they fill on her initial vocal ... very nice, their percussive character is lessened.

I would reduce the keys volume even further :D , but just in this initial phrasing in the vocal.

The guitars are significantly more soft and lush, and the bass is less boomy, much, much better, this really lets her shine.

I think you EQ some upper mids out of her voice ? This is nice, but I like what you had going with her vocal before equally as well.

Her vocal certainly 'sits in the mix' much better now, and overall the song has more polish ...

At 1:57 ... I think I must go out and buy a ring for this lady ... whew ...

There is generally more definition in the bass solo, even a little more 'attack and snap'. When the bass solo descends into the lower register this is much more clear now, very well done. The bass player pay you extra now yes ?

The backup vocals are simply perfect now, just ... perfect. The extra reverb on the backups, the stereo placement of them, the selection of one as more dominant, and maybe even having that change from side to side ... whatever you do here ... fantastic.

Thank you for working so hard on this song and thank you for posting a history of mixes, I have learned a LOT from this.

Now, you introduce me to this ladies unmarried sister yes ? I have all these rings now, what do I do ! ?

peace ...
 
studioviols,

Thank you so much for your input on this! It was a great learning experience for me as well! I appreciate your kind words as well.

Cheers. :cool:
 
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