Charlene (at request of Jimmy)

[RFR]

Here you go. I hope I got this uploading thing figured out.

Tune is called Charlene, written by a friend of mine. Billy Desmond. The band is called Skid City.

I don't play on this.

My role was; I produced, recorded and mixed. It was done on an M520 board with a Tascam MSR16 All SM58s were used. We wanted to capture the sound of the band as if on a gig.

So it's my recording work but not my music or performance.

 

[mjbphotos]

First thought if was supposed to be like a gig - guitar and bass are panned too far to each side (sometimes the cymbals, too), there would be much more bleeding over if it was recorded live. Bit too much reverb/room on the snare for my liking.

 

[DM60]

I think it is a great recording. I agree the guitar should come more center. I didn't hear a reverb problem. I like reverb when used well, and I think it was used well. It doesn't like like a gig, but it does give a feeling of a live recording session.

If tried doing something similar a couple of times and didn't come out nearly as good. I liked it very much and your hard work really shows here.

 

[RFR]

Thanks for listening and for the comments

My band has shared the stage with his many times, and so I have quite a bit of familiarity with the live mix setup. They are a three piece with the guitar player doing vocals. Panning was done as they were usually mixed on stage. Bass and guitar on either sides, Vocals and drums in the center.

This was actually a live recording, no punch ins, no overdubs, with only the vocals recorded after the band had laid down the tracks.
Lack of bleed is due to, what do you call them, Gobos? I used some office cubicle dividers to separate everything. Hey, they were free, on wheels, and worked. Using all dynamic mics helped as well. I forgot to mention in the OP that I had some old Teac pencil condenser mics for overheads.

As to the reverb, it surprised me, the mastering it brought the reverb way up with the stereo buss compression. The original mixes had much less verb. I didn't know that would happen, but I liked it.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Sounds great ..... I literally have no nits to pick whatsoever.

I do agree with mjb ..... it doesn't sound like a band on a gig at all ..... not even slightly.
So it doesn't accomplish that but the mix is excellent so I wouldn't care.

 

[RFR]

Hey, thanks Lt. Bob, thanks a lot.

I should clarify a bit on the recording goal. we weren't trying for a "simulated live show", but to capture how the band actually sounded rather than produce the crap out of them. Could have done overdubs, added more guitars, added background vocals etc, ect.
Instead the production decisions were to just do the raw in your face 3 piece rock and roll band. Nothing added, nothing taken away.

I set them up in the room, set up mics and rehearsed the shit out of them to get them comfortable, and when they were ready.....just hit record and captured the magic. Great bunch of players who performed flawlessly.

 

[Bruthish]

Sounds pretty damn good to me. A couple things though....vocals may be a little low. Guitar is over powering them. and on the guitar...great tone, but may want to consider panning a little closer to center...maybe 50%...or have a complimentary guitar or other instrument on the right. Sounds a little lopsided.

 

[TripleM]

I'd say pretty much the same as a lot of people. All in all, it's very good. Doesn't sound live. Too much 80's style reverb.

But take the reverb out - or maybe change to a smaller reverb and dry it up - and it's a real good mix.

 

[RFR]

Thanks. At some point in time I may remix this stuff, but I'm going to have to bake some tape, find a 16 in 16 out converter, transfer 16 tracks to a DAW, go through the learning curve, get a good computer with some processing power, and so on and so forth.

Then again, maybe just leave well enough alone, and move on to new material.

We shall see. Thanks for listening.

 

[Bubba po]

I thought on the whole this was fucking great. An excellent instrumental mix especially. What a great, full sound that electric guitar has. I have to echo (you see what I did there) a couple of earlier comments about the reverb. I'm no anti-reverb activist - I love it and use it liberally - but I think the reverb is a little too big and smooth on this. A bit shorter reverb/smaller room on this would tighten up the sound of the band and bring out the aggression/rockiness better. I might just bring the guitar and bass in slightly with the panning and ease the vocal up an absolute fraction.

The quality of the recording (especially the guitar sound) is stunning, to my ear.

 

[Bubba po]

Just read the earlier explanation RFR - what a gyp!! What's the point in putting the track up for mix advice if it can't be changed, you cheater!

 

[RFR]

Well Bubba, I guess you got me. I'm a cheater. Oh well.

It seems the overall consensus is too much reverb.

Thanks for playing.

 

[minerman]

Good song, & pretty decent mix dude, the reverb is a little much for me though....

I like the guitar tone a lot, it has that gritty, bluesy sound, good job on the tone for sure...

Here's my nits:

Less reverb on the whole mix...It's not terrible, & I like 'verb, but it's just a bit much, especially on the drums..

Use some automation on the guitar during the verse/lead break to keep the vocals the center point, until the lead break, then pan it center...

Pan the bass in the middle...

Bring the vocals up just a little, and bring the guitar down just a hair, the guitar is overpowering the vocals IMO...

Something that may help to keep the mix from sounding lop-sided is to pan the guitar's reverb to the opposite side (IE: guitar panned L, pan the guitar's 'verb to the R..)...just a suggestion...

Overall, I think this is really good man, & I really like the guitar tone/playing on this...

 

[NotThatBright]

I think these drums sound great. I'm not even going to comment on the rest of it. Hell of a job getting the drums to sound like this.

I'll update this so you don't get the impression I thought the rest of it sucked. I always focus on the drums first and then listen to the rest of the instruments when I listen to a song on here. The sound of these drums was so good that I found myself focused on them the whole time. The song as a whole sounded great to me.

Keep in mind I don't have the sharpest ears in the drawer, there are those who will likely be able to find legitimate flaws. But in my opinion, great job.

 

[miroslav]

I'm a bit biased, as I've heard some of Billy Desmond's and RFR's stuff before....but I just like the overall sound of the recorded audio, the songwriting, the performance and the vocals....I really like how Billy's voice just cuts through and rides the music without any effort.

Sure...there's all kinds of personal nit-picking that can be tossed out...most of which is subjective and varies with people's tastes...but overall, IMO this is radio-ready stuff, and can work as-is.

 

[dobro]

Really good song, really good performance, really good mix. Did you really mic the bass with a 58? No DI?

 

[RFR]

Use some automation on the guitar during the verse/lead break to keep the vocals the center point, until the lead break, then pan it center...

Automation???? You must be one of these modern DAW guys. I got no automation.

Thanks for the comments AND nits.

I think these drums sound great. I'm not even going to comment on the rest of it. Hell of a job getting the drums to sound like this.

I'll update this so you don't get the impression I thought the rest of it sucked. I always focus on the drums first and then listen to the rest of the instruments when I listen to a song on here. The sound of these drums was so good that I found myself focused on them the whole time. The song as a whole sounded great to me.

Keep in mind I don't have the sharpest ears in the drawer, there are those who will likely be able to find legitimate flaws. But in my opinion, great job.

Thank you so much.
I gotta say though, it's easy with good musicians who not only know how to play, but know their instruments inside and out and are not scared of the record light going on. I just documented what THEY did.

I'm a bit biased, as I've heard some of Billy Desmond's and RFR's stuff before....but I just like the overall sound of the recorded audio, the songwriting, the performance and the vocals....I really like how Billy's voice just cuts through and rides the music without any effort.

Sure...there's all kinds of personal nit-picking that can be tossed out...most of which is subjective and varies with people's tastes...but overall, IMO this is radio-ready stuff, and can work as-is.

Thanks so much Miro, you are too kind.
Miro has privately heard some of my music and recordings, he was one of the first I met on this site and was instrumental in getting me to post some stuff.
Being one of the new guys here I was sure I'd get my head torn off. But I got a better reception than anticipated.

Really good song, really good performance, really good mix. Did you really mic the bass with a 58? No DI?

Thanks for listening, and thanks for the comments. And yes, I used a 58 on a single 15" bass cabinet. Just unscrewed the ball windscreens on the mics and turned them into pseudo 57s .

To everyone that has commented, Thank you so much for listening and thanks for your input!
I will now return to lurking around in my little slice of this place, the analog forum, and quit hogging up the mp3 clinic.

Thanks all!

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Catchy tune, well performed and recorded. The reverb is a bit much on the singer's "Charlene!" shout outs but I'm not sure if I'm just reacting to that because of everyone else here mentioning it first.

In reality, a good song, played well can make any mix niggles seem unimportant so long as the listener is concentrating on the vibe of the music.

Thanks for sharing this, RFR!



Cheers!

 

[tim chipman]

I think you nailed exactly what you were going for..........plus the vocal is NOT buried which in live situations is often the case. Good job man.......especially using dynamics!

 

[tim chipman]

Catchy tune, well performed and recorded. The reverb is a bit much on the singer's "Charlene!" shout outs but I'm not sure if I'm just reacting to that because of everyone else here mentioning it first.

In reality, a good song, played well can make any mix niggles seem unimportant so long as the listener is concentrating on the vibe of the music.

Thanks for sharing this, RFR!



Cheers!

It's funny........nobody wants to hear reverb anymore.......I think someday that may change just like eveything else. I can't find a thing wrong with this recording. Good little band too.