Check it out!! "Floating Away"

  • Thread starter Thread starter MessianicDreams
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MessianicDreams

MessianicDreams

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So here's my latest chef-d'oeuvre !! An original song by a band called Swerve. This is the second track that i've done of theirs, the other you can hear on their website (Swerve homepage) and there's a thread floating around this forum about it.. ("You Said I Said")


so here it is! Float Away initial mix.


I can't quite get it right...something feels unbalanced in my opinion. any suggestions? The vocals feel a bit "boxey", i've tried playing around with the reverb...not getting too far :(

Thanks for stopping bye!


MD
 
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MD,
It takes a while to buffer & run from the initial mix link.
The ostinato gets to be annoying quite quickly.
I'm at the 5th go of listening and it's only 1.30 my adsl/broadband isn't very broad.
Yeah, non generic guitar sounds....top of the class.
The guitar solo at 2.25 sounds external to the mix & the song.
Nice arty rock but they should come up with variations on the ost. so that it doesn't nag as much.
Oh, "float away - into the river" is a dud piece of lyric to my ears. She needs to re sing "decisions" as well.
Is the bassist happy with being that muddy? There's nothing much in the lower & mid freqs so you could give him some top definitions.
The panning of vox & gtr don't balance.
Drums are GOOD.
Cheers
rayC
 
Ray,

Right-click and download, it'll run much smoother! i'll try bringing the solo guitar's 'verb down a bit, hope fully that'll bring in "back in". glad you like the guitar tone! mixture of a Telecaster straight into an Orange amp, with an RE20 and a D6 on the amp.

Can't do much about your compositional suggestions - i'm only the engineer :)

thanks for listening!

MD
 
The drums are good - panned well, lots of width and depth and punch. Only nit I have is the guitar seems a bit too loud during the singing. I would like to hear more of that great voice... Tones are good on the guitar(s). Can you share any of the recording techniques you used on this - the sounds are great!
 
ido1957 said:
The drums are good - panned well, lots of width and depth and punch. Only nit I have is the guitar seems a bit too loud during the singing. I would like to hear more of that great voice... Tones are good on the guitar(s). Can you share any of the recording techniques you used on this - the sounds are great!
Click to expand...


thanks man! the guitars were put louder after one of my friends suggested it - they are too loud in my opinion, and i'm gonna do something about that.


recording techniques...i'll see what i can remember!


Kick - D112, about half-way in, pointing towards the corner of where the front head (the one that gets kicked) meets the rim, or there-abouts, to get a sufficient "oomph" to "click" ratio ;)
Snare bottom & top - SM57s?
Hats - beyerdynamic Opus 83, pointing towards the floor maybe 5cm off the edge of the hats - i get the wickedest hats sound with this mic!
racktom - MD441
Floortom - MD421
OHs - AT4050 or 4040..not sure!

Vocals - SE2200
Guitars - RE20 close on cab, D6 slightly further off (perhaps 20cm) and at a strong angle..

bass - Straight into a TL Audio valve pre-amp/comp unit.


(had a quick squint at some pics i had of the session - the above is all correct)

here's some pics to show you the amp and hats mic placement..the rest is fairly standard so i didn't bother..but i can post more of the kit if you so desire :)
 

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MD, I think you are doing quite well with the production considering what you have to work with. Personally, I found the composition and the performance to be underwhelming, and this can make life difficult for the engineer. I am not trying to be mean here at all. Only my humble opinion. ;)

A couple of suggestions, though:

1) I would like to hear a bit more bottom definition. I think this would play well against the singer's register.

2) Bring the drums up a bit.

3) Also bring the guitar down a bit during vocals (already suggested, I know).

All in all, I like where its heading from a production point of view. :D
 
bigmahon said:
MD, I think you are doing quite well with the production considering what you have to work with. Personally, I found the composition and the performance to be underwhelming, and this can make life difficult for the engineer. I am not trying to be mean here at all. Only my humble opinion. ;)

A couple of suggestions, though:

1) I would like to hear a bit more bottom definition. I think this would play well against the singer's register.

2) Bring the drums up a bit.

3) Also bring the guitar down a bit during vocals (already suggested, I know).

All in all, I like where its heading from a production point of view. :D
Click to expand...

hey man, your humble opinion is mine as well. it's not easy getting a good performance, and even harder to work with a sub-par performance. but i do my best :)

a new mix is on the way, which i'll post up tomorrow when i'm finished. how do you suggest i get more bottom end definition?

cheers!

MD
 
how do you suggest i get more bottom end definition?
Click to expand...
Good question! :confused:

Seriously though, I didn't really hear much bass at all in the track. I haven't had a chance to have a listen on my "good" stereo, as I am presently "working" ;), so maybe I'm off the mark here. But it seemed to me that at the very least the bass could be brought up in the mix to balance the guitars and the vocals. I guess that's all I meant to say.

Looking forward to another mix! :)
 
bigmahon said:
Good question! :confused:

Seriously though, I didn't really hear much bass at all in the track. I haven't had a chance to have a listen on my "good" stereo, as I am presently "working" ;), so maybe I'm off the mark here. But it seemed to me that at the very least the bass could be brought up in the mix to balance the guitars and the vocals. I guess that's all I meant to say.
Click to expand...


right. i guess the monitors i'm mixing through are perhaps a bit bass heavy..i still need to listen to this on some different systems to see how things sound..thanks for the input mate!

cheers,

MD
 
Hey man, just listened.
Pretty cool song ;) Like the singing, and song.
Mixwise, IMO the repeating rhythm guitar sounds too loud anytime it's played with the vocals.
The mix could use some more bass, maybe drop the midrange on the bass some and bring the levels up a bunch. Just an idea...
Cool solo and break later in the song :D
Overall it sounds like the mix could use a little more punch, maybe taking all the suggestions you've gotten from everyone above will do the trick.
Good stuff, enjoyed it ;)
 
NU MX GUD
Song Still OK - the ostinato isn't anywhere near as annoying submerged a bit.
The panning is nofty on the rhythm solo before the lead.
The lead sit much more happily.
Good work on your part. THe band should be happy with you - if they're not they have tin ears.
Cheers
rayC
 
The new mix is better, taking the guitar down helped bring out those great vocals. Now it's not as distracting. Nice reverb tails on the end of the vocals - good effect. Guitar playing now shines more as it sits better in the mix...Good One!
 
thanks for the listen again guys. glad to know i am on the right track!

cheers,

MD
 
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