can someone have a quick listen to this plz

witm8

witm8

Member
Hi all,

Can someone have a quick listen to this song that I've just recorded, and mixed, and mastered (well, attempted to anyway).

I'm not sure if I need to raise the vocal volume slightly - on three devices that I've listened to it ok it sounds ok, but on another, the guitar seems to dominate and slightly overpower the vocals.

Here We Go Again (..... and again) by Random-Tangent | Random Tangent | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Also any other critiques would be most welcome.

Very many thanks!
 
With just acoustic and vox the guitar needs to be loud, so technically the VOX sits perfect........However, I think the VOX would cut through a little better if there was more mid gain on the VOX, & a smidge high gain. It just needs to cut through better through EQ

I would throw a single string violin on this halfway through
 
I agree the vocal needs to cut through more in this type of mix. Find a nice higher frequency on it, boost it, then cut the guitar in the same area.
 
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Thanks for listening and taking the time to comment.

Unfortunately I have to now sit through a day at work before I can get back into my music room and put these suggestions into practice.

@ Steve – When you say about the violin, that’s a great idea I will give that a go – would your suggestion be to follow the guitar chord progression, or the vocal melody, or something slightly different ?

@ Nola – You mean _cut_ the guitar yeah? So I find a nice higher freq on the vox, and then cut the guitar at the same freq so they all sit together (give to one, and take from the other)?

Thanks again.
 
witm8 said:
@ Nola – You mean _cut_ the guitar yeah? So I find a nice higher freq on the vox, and then cut the guitar at the same freq so they all sit together (give to one, and take from the other)?

Thanks again.
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Yes, exactly. It's basic, but I think it would help this mix clean up nicely b/c you have some masking.
 
Nice voice...really nice song. Guitar sounds pretty good to me. I do hear the competing frequencies. Not sure if I am a fan of that much reverb, but its your taste. Maybe once you get the EQ dialed in a little more it may sound better to me. Speaking of that, have you messed with the reverb's EQ/Pass settings?
 
witm8 said:
@ Steve – When you say about the violin, that’s a great idea I will give that a go – would your suggestion be to follow the guitar chord progression, or the vocal melody, or something slightly different ?
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Mostly filling in for the Vox. And fade out notes or single notes while vox is going and guitar in sync. This will lend interest and fill gaps in the arrangement
 
Thanks for the comments, it’s great to get input from others.

So ………..

I’ve found a nice frequency on the vocals and given that a smidge of a boost (about 2db, I’m not sure if I need to increase it a tad more), and reduced the guitar the same at that frequency as well – when you switch between the two versions then there is a very subtle difference. I think that the vox sits slightly better in the mix, but I may have a play around tonight.

I’ve added a single string violin as Steve suggested – good shout. Started it at the start of the 2nd verse, and ran it through to the end. Even the Mrs thinks that this enhances the track. I need to tweak the levels on it though: monitors = loud; headphones = perfect; small speaker = quiet; large speaker = loud; phone = perfect. Do I just keep tweaking till I find the best of everything, even though it’s undoubtedly not going to be perfect on all devices ?

I’ve dropped the reverb on the vox as suggested – I’ve left it on the chorus a bit. Carrying on from that suggestion – I’ll admit that I have no idea if I have messed with the reverbs EQ/pass settings – I don’t think that sounds familiar, so probably not. I worked through a couple of tutorials from YouTube as it’s all very new to me. I need to come up with a workflow that I can follow so that I actually understand what I’m doing.

here we go again (and again) violins by Random-Tangent | Random Tangent | Free Listening on SoundCloud

I’ll try the fade out notes over the weekend – I’m not too sure exactly what you mean, but with a little thought and messing I’m sure that I’ll get somewhere.

Thanks again!
 
On the first mix, I thought the vocals were much too boxy, and the second mix doesn't change much in that regard. They need a good, wide cut in a couple spots around 200-300 and then another around 450-600. Just sweep those two areas and listen for what pops out. I betcha they'll cut through much better with a notch or two in those areas out. It's pretty dominant, that boxy quality.

Violin was a nice touch. Good idea on the first comment.
 
Awesome! Thanks. I've got this afternoon off work so now I know what I'll be doing (besides cutting the grass and tidying the garden as we have 'guests' this weekend. And you've even put the frequencies which is perfect. Many thanks!
 
andrushkiwt said:
On the first mix, I thought the vocals were much too boxy, and the second mix doesn't change much in that regard. They need a good, wide cut in a couple spots around 200-300 and then another around 450-600. Just sweep those two areas and listen for what pops out. I betcha they'll cut through much better with a notch or two in those areas out. It's pretty dominant, that boxy quality.

Violin was a nice touch. Good idea on the first comment.
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That's what I noticed first too.
Second mix is a touch better for it, but still very dark.

What violin patch are you using? It's very obviously synthesized. I like the idea but without sounding more like a sparse, single instrument like the rest of the song, it doesn't really fit.
 
Right, well thanks everyone, I think that I've done pretty much all I can with this now.

I've made all the suggestions that people have made, and personally I think that its 100% better than the original with all your inputs.

The most recent changes that I've made is with the violins - I completely agree that in hindsight they sounded so synthesised. They were just the standard stock from Logic Pro. I've eq'd them, added some space, and took ages adding some volume swells like they hopefully would sound if they were real.

I've tried to pull forward the vocals and added some additional edge so they 'ping' more and don't sound so muffled. I've also tried to loose some of the bass booms from the vocals as suggested on a previous soundcloud version. I think that it's worked.

With my very limited knowledge of mixing and mastering (this is only my third attempt) I can't take it any further. What this has shown me is the massive importance of mic placement and getting the original as good as possible before even attempting to mix or master. I believe that most of the changes that I've done could have been dismissed should I have spent more time right at the beginning.

Overall though, I'm really happy with the final outcome and have learned some valuable information to move forward.

Please fee free to critique or comment on my final mix, as I'm not adverse to making a few tweaks here and there.

I'm going to leave the original on my soundcloud for a while should anyone wish to reference the original track before all of your help

Original - Here We Go Again (..... and again) by Random-Tangent | Random Tangent | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Final version - Here We Go Again (... and again) by Random-Tangent | Random Tangent | Free Listening on SoundCloud

So, very many thanks for all those who took the time to help me with this one :thumbs up:
 
I listened to the mix in the top post.

Honestly, for the base tracks (the vocal and acoustic guitar)if you just used a much smaller reverb and use less of it I think it might sound very good. It's tough for me to tell with all the reverb. The vocal might need nudging up just a little bit. But it sounds to me like the base recorded tracks sounded pretty good.

I didn't think the electric guitar tone fit the mix. If there were a guitar solo, I think I'd do it on another acoustic.
 
Reverb, always subjective, I like it heavy here as you have it. Like the first mix. Nice song, nice performance. Second mix seems brighter and that is nice too, just don't care for the "violin(s) much myself. Sometimes I think stark is better. Good work!
 
If you're super worried about making sure the vocal stays on top you could sidechain a compressor so the guitar gets 3 to 6 dB quieter when the vocal comes through. The volume sounds fine to my ears though. I would, however, hi pass the vocal to get out some of the mud. Maybe even as far as 150 Hz. I might also take out some reverb - just on the acoustic guitar - to make it sound more intimate. This song is begging for vocal harmonies. It would be so powerful with bass and drums kicking in about half way through. Instead of ending with a solo I'd end with a chorus as far as structure goes. I really like the sound though. With a little polish I would imagine you could get some attention with this song.
 
I listened to the mix in the OP. The second link is dead. As it stands it is mixed like an acoustic guitar song with a vocal accompaniment. If you intended it the other way around, you need to raise the vocal and lower the guitar. Nice song.
 
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