comments and thoughts please

  • Thread starter Thread starter neeeel
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neeeel

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This is the first full length song that I have recorded and mixed and (almost) finished.
There are loads of things about it that really annoy me, but Im not sure if they are actually annoying or just because I have listened to it a million times. And im not sure what it is about certain things that annoy me, or how to fix them.Its not been mastered in any way, just mixed.

So any comments about anything, how well its recorded, how well its mixed, how interesting or not the song is, what could be improved,what could be tweaked, what sounded good, what sounded crap, what annoyed you about the mix/song etc etc will be very welcome

View attachment ryans song.mp3


thanks for listening
 
That wasn't so bad, soundwise. Mixwise, the drums and bass up. Punch 'em......way in the background, now.

I listened for the first three or four minutes. That's the longest intro I ever heard. The only change I noticed was the drums in the groove after three minutes. And they weren't effective, cuz they was buried....along with the bass.

I think you need to learn to tell a story with music...arrangement...thematic development.

My best advice would be to listen to very early Pink Floyd [closest thing to your thing I can think of] and make written notes on all of the things they do in their songs to maintain interest, build and fold dynamics, use the ambiance, and other devices...like, uh, a third chord!! That'd be a good course of study.

Maybe loosen up. Don't fret over stuff. Just let the music take itself where it wants to go...which is ALWAYS somewhere.....and let go of the liesh.
 
thanks for comments.

Hmm thats wierd, bass is pretty far forward on my setup. The first drums that come in, they are a bit pushed back, that was intentional, maybe they need to come forward a bit. but the drums later on( if you got that far lol) are pretty far forward too.

With regard to the long intro, you may be right, although i feel there is enough of interest going on after about 30 seconds when the drums come in, and things change up not long after that.

Anyone else with any comments?
 
I have to say this is a strange recording in some ways, for instance the Kick has no attack and sounds pretty bad until 4:00 min, its like a completely different drummer after that. Are these live drums?

The level on the bass seems OK but the subs(100hz and under) are inconsistant in alot of places. Overall it sounds pretty good from 4min and out but is a little shaky prior to that.

How did you record this ? Share some details on your set-up/methods if you like.
 
The first lot of drums, in the quiet beginning section are meant to sound un drum like, more like machine drums, a la 65 days of static. They are sampled drums throughout the song, not a real drummer.
guitars recorded using an alesis multimix 4 and SM57, athough I upgraded to a grace M101 preamp and RME babyface near the end of recording, so there are a small number of sections that have been recorded with that. The bass is a horrible cheap encore bass, played through a Hartke Bass Attack and then into the Grace, and I think it sounds ok for such a crap guitar.

The first section that you say is shaky does annoy me sometimes, in that it could be a lot sweeter and flowing, maybe thats to do with the drums.
 
That says alot. I'm amazed at how much better my recordings have gotten over the last year, from getting new gear, learning how to use it and produce better music. What I hear is that your getting better pretty fast and thats a good thing. You can benefit tremendously from this forum too, when your open to learning. Welcome to HR!
 
Nice atmospheric tune. I enjoy how it builds. A few thoughts... Panning??? Sounds mono. You have got layers going on, but in mono some of the drama is lost. You have a whole canvas to paint, don't just paint a line down the middle. The drums would be perfect in a subdued / filtered context, but not the main groove. fade them in, bring them in / take them out, but then kick into the main groove, maybe at about 1:00. At 2:28, raise up the element(s) you want to feature, but don't keep all the guitars at the same volume. When the drums kick in later in the tune, the snare and cymbal are maybe a bit too loud.
 
thanks for the comments.
most guitar parts are multi tracked and then panned hard left and right. There are occasions where there are single guitars that are panned 30-40 degrees left or right. The drums and bass are all panned straight down the middle tho, do you think I should separate the drums out a bit?
I am not sure what you mean "The drums would be perfect in a subdued / filtered context, but not the main groove." Do you mean that there should be full drums, and drums that sound like proper drums, once the tune starts at about 1:00 or whatever?
The guitars do all stay pretty much the same volume for the first section, maybe I should pull them back a bit before the drums come in, to get a bit of a lift at that point
 
They seem to be great at just the volume they are from beginning to 1:00, but then I am hearing the full volume groove at that point, yes. And by subdues / filtered I mean eq'd or compression squashed to differentiate those drums from the main groove drums. Just an idea. As for the hard panned guitars, if you have two tracks (l+r) for the same part, maybe pan one 100% left and the other center or 25% left to create a package that seems a bit left for that part? Make any sense? Maybe not.
 
Was there some weird compression thing going on when the kick hit? It almost sounds like the music was ducking the kick in the beginning. The song has a good vibe to it. Kinda dark melody like a perfect circle or a tool intro. The drums sound like they were recorded differently from the middle on.
 
the drums are all sampled drums. The initial drum sounds were meant to be more drum machine like. You think the bass drum should have more thump to it in the initial drum section?
 
jeffmaher said:
That wasn't so bad, soundwise. Mixwise, the drums and bass up. Punch 'em......way in the background, now.

I listened for the first three or four minutes. That's the longest intro I ever heard. The only change I noticed was the drums in the groove after three minutes. And they weren't effective, cuz they was buried....along with the bass.

I think you need to learn to tell a story with music...arrangement...thematic development.

My best advice would be to listen to very early Pink Floyd [closest thing to your thing I can think of] and make written notes on all of the things they do in their songs to maintain interest, build and fold dynamics, use the ambiance, and other devices...like, uh, a third chord!! That'd be a good course of study.

Maybe loosen up. Don't fret over stuff. Just let the music take itself where it wants to go...which is ALWAYS somewhere.....and let go of the liesh.
Click to expand...

This actually sounds like Radiohead to me w/ the drums phasing in and out and the overall dark character of the song. All it needs is lead VOX. ;)

I think this sounds phenominal to be honest with you. I think the balance between the kit and the electric ins. is perfect but I do think it could use some lead vocals. It feels empty without any. Are there lyrics to this song?
 
Thanks for the comments
No there are no lyrics, we are an instrumental band, although that wont necessarily stop us from having vocals if we want them, I guess it just never occured to us. Whereabouts do you think it seems empty without vocals, or is it just in general?
 
neeeel said:
Thanks for the comments
No there are no lyrics, we are an instrumental band, although that wont necessarily stop us from having vocals if we want them, I guess it just never occured to us. Whereabouts do you think it seems empty without vocals, or is it just in general?
Click to expand...

You just need to experiment with what works for this song. Bring all instruments up in the mix to where they can all clearly be heard individually then do the fine tuning on volume. The drums are just too buried in the mix. The song is cool sounding, i write very dark sometimes and love to listen to dark music. What drums are you using? If its ezdrummer I would just program the beat and leave it alone other than the overall volume. If you are trying for a specific effect on the drums in the beginning the maybe someone here can hep steer you in the right direction if you have a reference from another band.
 
The drums are XLN Addictive Drums. The drums in the beginning are meant to be similar to stuff like 65 days of static, where the drums are very machine like, and dont sound much like real drums. Its hard to get something that sounds really good though.
 
neeeel said:
The drums are XLN Addictive Drums. The drums in the beginning are meant to be similar to stuff like 65 days of static, where the drums are very machine like, and dont sound much like real drums. Its hard to get something that sounds really good though.
Click to expand...

I just checked out that band and i think that is something im going to have to start listening to. The mechanical drums you will need to use something other than Addictive Drums. I would use Battery or even fl studio. The songs i listened to had some electronic drum loops that you could easily do in either. I like fl studio for that kind of programing. The piano roll is a lot easier to use than other daws that i am using. I think that sound could be achieved with more electronic sounding drum samples. Battery has a ton and so does fl studio. Give those a look. If that band has a song with a more specific idea you are trying for id like to hear it.
 
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