Completely-first mix

  • Thread starter Thread starter opensky
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That is an absolutely beautiful song. Your vocals are subtle emotion, built to a deeper expression! Great!!!

The recording sounds good too. Your timing is perfect!
 
true-eurt said:
That is an absolutely beautiful song. Your vocals are subtle emotion, built to a deeper expression! Great!!!

The recording sounds good too. Your timing is perfect!
Click to expand...

I like the sounds overall myself.

Drums could use a little work, sound too canned and methodical.

Male vocal is a bit pitchy at times.
 
Steve,
I listened with h'phone & the panning movement became an irritation.
This may not be an issue with speakers.
Vocally I think it needs a passge that is passionate. There's a uniformity to the vocal performance that could detract from the whole. Maybe even kick the harmonies up occassionally.
Very polished for result for someone with stale ears.
Cheers
rayC
 
First. I love the song. That's why I will now critique it to pieces... ;)

It sounds really strange to me that the guitar has sooooo much reverb but the drums are so dry. I don't think that the guitar needs quite so much reverb, and I think that the drums need at least a LITTLE. It would make that dry snare sound a lot more organic.

Some places could use a little more backup vocals, but that can be due to inconsistencies within the individual performance. I really love her voice and choice of harmonies.

The lead vocal is occasionally pitchy, but it's not bad. Tonally, I'm not sure if he's TRYING to sound like the cliche contemporary Christian artist, but it sounds just a little less than natural.

All in all, it reminds me of a lot of Christian rock from the late 80s... which was then revived in the mid 90s. But at the same time, it reminds me of the music I could hear on Christian radio today. Essentially, the song sounds conflicted to me. Does it want to be vintage or modern? I think pulling back on a lot of the reverb would help it to "pop" as a modern Christian praise tune.

Actually, strike that. I think the reverb on the vocals are fine. I would, however, run the vocals through a de-esser. The sibilance is made even more noticable with the monster reverb.

The reverb on the guitar, especially at the beginning and end, is a little much and overpowers the bass... it actually fills up all of the sonic space and there's nothing left for the ear to do but say, whew, that's a lot of sound...

Hopefully some of that will be helpful. Take my words on reverb with a grain of salt... I used to cover recording mistakes with tons of reverb, so now I'm over sensitive to it and use it as sparingly as possible (that's what people always say about my music, anyway).

Hey, check out my tracks at http://www.myspace.com/leavethursdaymusic. Hack em to pieces... lol... and then let's get together one of these days and play a show!
 
true-eurt said:
That is an absolutely beautiful song. Your vocals are subtle emotion, built to a deeper expression! Great!!!

The recording sounds good too. Your timing is perfect!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your encouragement! My ears were getting "real tired" to the point where i didn't know what sounded good anymore. Thanks again.

Steve

www.soundclick.com/opensky
 
Cool track. I am digging the "watery feel".

1. I would agree that the drums sound boxy and dry. They don't seem to fit with the big sound you have going. Probably bring them out with a large room reverb effect on a stereo mix of them.

2. More heavy pronounced drum hits would help your transitions I think.

3. Are those programmed drums ? Is that a keyboard bass ? Curious.

4. Not sure what your second vocalist is adding. Her track sounds thin and a little too "crispy". Might want to find where you both timbre together better. Maybe adding some meat to her vocal and also try a little more stereo separation of your tracks away from each other. Or you down the middle and her a little on the side.

5. I used AKG 240 Studio headphones, and I did not hear any annoying panning issues mentioned above. But I like panning movement, as long as it is not too extreme, and I was not bothered by anything, I liked how the guitar chords moved around subtly, like the watery feel you seem to have going on. Swirling water effect !

Sounding good, and thanks for posting it !

Sush
 
I listened again on headphones, and the only thing I did notice distracting to me, was the sibilance.

As for the dry drums, and the heavy reverb on guitar and vocals, I like it. It has a really cool eclectic feel to it. I think the harmonies on this song set well in the background. As a gentle distant echo feel.

NO, I am not an expert, just listening with my ear and what sounds good to me......carry on! :D
 
Nutdotnet said:
I like the sounds overall myself.

Drums could use a little work, sound too canned and methodical.

Male vocal is a bit pitchy at times.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i'm getting ready to do another mix. I appreciate your listen.
 
rayc said:
Steve,
I listened with h'phone & the panning movement became an irritation.
This may not be an issue with speakers.
Vocally I think it needs a passge that is passionate. There's a uniformity to the vocal performance that could detract from the whole. Maybe even kick the harmonies up occassionally.
Very polished for result for someone with stale ears.
Cheers
rayC
Click to expand...
Thanks, i appreciate your fresh ears! I just put up a second mix. Sorry but the panning is still there. Just a preference i guess.

Steve
 
Sorry, i just put up the wrong version. The new one will have to wait a little while longer. Sorry for the confusion.
 
I am an analog, real instrument kind of die-hard(the irony being all of my drum tracks are from a DM Pro, but from a played-by-yours-truly kit). I love the song and the mix was way better than I or probably a lot of people on this forum could do, so I salute you and embrace your abilities. Downside is the parts sound very digital, and it is more than the MP3 rip. To my ears anyway, get the real things or if by chance they were the real thing, record them to sound more real, and you have the industry in you hand. Again, mix-wise, I thought I was hearing one of the major label studios doing this, honestly.
 
Seeker of Rock said:
I am an analog, real instrument kind of die-hard(the irony being all of my drum tracks are from a DM Pro, but from a played-by-yours-truly kit). I love the song and the mix was way better than I or probably a lot of people on this forum could do, so I salute you and embrace your abilities. Downside is the parts sound very digital, and it is more than the MP3 rip. To my ears anyway, get the real things or if by chance they were the real thing, record them to sound more real, and you have the industry in you hand. Again, mix-wise, I thought I was hearing one of the major label studios doing this, honestly.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I just put up the new remix. You might still think it sounds too digital though. But let me know as i tried to get more warmth in it.
 
dkerwood said:
First. I love the song. That's why I will now critique it to pieces... ;)

It sounds really strange to me that the guitar has sooooo much reverb but the drums are so dry. I don't think that the guitar needs quite so much reverb, and I think that the drums need at least a LITTLE. It would make that dry snare sound a lot more organic.

Some places could use a little more backup vocals, but that can be due to inconsistencies within the individual performance. I really love her voice and choice of harmonies.

The lead vocal is occasionally pitchy, but it's not bad. Tonally, I'm not sure if he's TRYING to sound like the cliche contemporary Christian artist, but it sounds just a little less than natural.

All in all, it reminds me of a lot of Christian rock from the late 80s... which was then revived in the mid 90s. But at the same time, it reminds me of the music I could hear on Christian radio today. Essentially, the song sounds conflicted to me. Does it want to be vintage or modern? I think pulling back on a lot of the reverb would help it to "pop" as a modern Christian praise tune.

Actually, strike that. I think the reverb on the vocals are fine. I would, however, run the vocals through a de-esser. The sibilance is made even more noticable with the monster reverb.

The reverb on the guitar, especially at the beginning and end, is a little much and overpowers the bass... it actually fills up all of the sonic space and there's nothing left for the ear to do but say, whew, that's a lot of sound...

Hopefully some of that will be helpful. Take my words on reverb with a grain of salt... I used to cover recording mistakes with tons of reverb, so now I'm over sensitive to it and use it as sparingly as possible (that's what people always say about my music, anyway).

Hey, check out my tracks at http://www.myspace.com/leavethursdaymusic. Hack em to pieces... lol... and then let's get together one of these days and play a show!
Click to expand...
Hey thanks for hacking it:), i need the work! I just put up a new remix that answers some of your critique. I've been working on the sibilance issue and i hope it's better. It seems very hard to lose it without sacrificing that presence with the reverb effect I'm trying to get. As far as vintage or modern, well it's probably both. I've followed rock for a long time and as we all know music is cyclic. As you can tell, I'm a big fan of the alternative 80's music and yet I'm a big fan of emo which is the current rage. Now my lead singer is only 19 and he's into emo and has an emo voice so i think there's something viable here. Remember, this new generation were only babes when the 80's music was out. I'm not going to tell you how old i am, but when i was a teen, we thought the coolest stuff was the old blues guitarists of the late 50's and 60's. But we re-dressed it and out came Zeppelin, etc. Do you see what i'm getting at? Another case in point. I'm a big fan of Coldplay who is currently HUGE. If you listen to their music, there is stuff taken straight out of Pink Floyd and Supertramp and other 70's bands but they did it in a new way and also the strength of their songs. Anyways, that where i'm coming from musically. Yeah, we need to get together and play a show! Thanks!:)
 
opensky said:
Hey thanks for hacking it:), i need the work! I just put up a new remix that answers some of your critique. I've been working on the sibilance issue and i hope it's better. It seems very hard to lose it without sacrificing that presence with the reverb effect I'm trying to get. As far as vintage or modern, well it's probably both. I've followed rock for a long time and as we all know music is cyclic. As you can tell, I'm a big fan of the alternative 80's music and yet I'm a big fan of emo which is the current rage. Now my lead singer is only 19 and he's into emo and has an emo voice so i think there's something viable here. Remember, this new generation were only babes when the 80's music was out. I'm not going to tell you how old i am, but when i was a teen, we thought the coolest stuff was the old blues guitarists of the late 50's and 60's. But we re-dressed it and out came Zeppelin, etc. Do you see what i'm getting at? Another case in point. I'm a big fan of Coldplay who is currently HUGE. If you listen to their music, there is stuff taken straight out of Pink Floyd and Supertramp and other 70's bands but they did it in a new way and also the strength of their songs. Anyways, that where i'm coming from musically. Yeah, we need to get together and play a show! Thanks!:)
Click to expand...
Just an idea to beat the sibilance (I haven't listened to the new mix yet):

Get rid of the reverb off of the main track. Then duplicate the main track, de-ess the crap out of the second track, and then put the reverb on it, 100% wet and 0% dry. That should give you a de-essed reverb without killing the dry track.
 
sushi-mon said:
Cool track. I am digging the "watery feel".

1. I would agree that the drums sound boxy and dry. They don't seem to fit with the big sound you have going. Probably bring them out with a large room reverb effect on a stereo mix of them.

2. More heavy pronounced drum hits would help your transitions I think.

3. Are those programmed drums ? Is that a keyboard bass ? Curious.

4. Not sure what your second vocalist is adding. Her track sounds thin and a little too "crispy". Might want to find where you both timbre together better. Maybe adding some meat to her vocal and also try a little more stereo separation of your tracks away from each other. Or you down the middle and her a little on the side.

5. I used AKG 240 Studio headphones, and I did not hear any annoying panning issues mentioned above. But I like panning movement, as long as it is not too extreme, and I was not bothered by anything, I liked how the guitar chords moved around subtly, like the watery feel you seem to have going on. Swirling water effect !

Sounding good, and thanks for posting it !

Sush
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback. I just put up a new mix and worked on the drums and background vocals as you had mentioned. Let me know what you think. Btw, the drums were DrumCore which were taken from the Ben Smith collection (drummer for Heart). Thanks.
 
true-eurt said:
I listened again on headphones, and the only thing I did notice distracting to me, was the sibilance.

As for the dry drums, and the heavy reverb on guitar and vocals, I like it. It has a really cool eclectic feel to it. I think the harmonies on this song set well in the background. As a gentle distant echo feel.

NO, I am not an expert, just listening with my ear and what sounds good to me......carry on! :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. I just finished a new mix last night and did a revision on the chorus. Let me know what you think. I tried to get rid of some of the sibilance without sacrificing the tonal quality of the voice i was trying to get.
 
Seeker of Rock said:
I am an analog, real instrument kind of die-hard(the irony being all of my drum tracks are from a DM Pro, but from a played-by-yours-truly kit). I love the song and the mix was way better than I or probably a lot of people on this forum could do, so I salute you and embrace your abilities. Downside is the parts sound very digital, and it is more than the MP3 rip. To my ears anyway, get the real things or if by chance they were the real thing, record them to sound more real, and you have the industry in you hand. Again, mix-wise, I thought I was hearing one of the major label studios doing this, honestly.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your honest encouragement! You're right about the digital. Since I'm doing everything on my computer and I don't really have a studio per se, everything i have is digital. Until my budget permits, I can only use what i got.
 
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