Crisis Core - The Price of Freedom

  • Thread starter Thread starter JamEZmusic
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JamEZmusic

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Hi everyone,

I have worked really hard on trying to get this to sound right, I feel that it's "acceptable" but I'd like some critique on how I may be able to improve it further?

2 major flaws with it that I know of "apart from the playing" is that I can't hear the bass very well. and simply turning it up creates just bass mush, which makes it unplayable on anything other than my studio monitors, I have it just right on the mixer as to where it's as loud as I'd like to go, but it just gets hidden and masked by everything else, I am sure there is a lot more to it than just messing with the mixer knob, EQing?, it's already compressed.... and I have done some paralell distortion processing.

The Acoustic lead guitar, way too bright? is it just me or does it hurt your ears? I am not sure if I am judging it correctly. I struggle with acoustic leads more than anything, and it's always the part I dread doing the most....

It seems to sound like a thin/crap mix at lower volume as well. This mixing lark is one of the most challenging things I've ever attempted! Love it :)

I really want to get better at doing this stuff.

I recorded all the parts myself apart from the "violin/drums" so I'm open to critique on the guitar skills or lack of as well! I am aware of the slight timing issues with the lead acoustic though, I had to settle on that take because my house is very rarely quiet enough for me to record in, and I rarely get the opportunity to get really nice recordings. The DI stuff is never a problem though.

Thanks for giving this a listen! I really appreciate it!


Cheers,
James.

Link = https://soundcloud.com/jamezmusic-1/crisis-core-the-price-of-freedom-jamezmusic
 
Yeah, the acoustic is way too bright/tinny. The violin when it starts is harsh to the ears, I'd look at taming some frequencies on it around 3K maybe. Can't hear the bass at all, or the kick, cymbal crashes are hissy-splashy, but the drums are lost behind the guitars.
 
the acoustic is a bit too bright, and the lead acoustic out of tune. Can't hear the bass guitar at all, it's very quiet, also noticed the processing on them lead guitars, they sound a bit too distorted and thin, just a bit less gain help warm them up.
 
Awesome! thank you so much for your honest opinions!

I think I know how to get over most of what you guys suggested but I have no idea how to tame an overly bright acoustic guitar, I have "always" had this problem, I have tried everything that I know of to try and get that brightness out but nothing seems to ever work well for me :(

I'll be sure to check my tuning more often, I hate the fact that I get kinda stuck with microphone recordings due to the fact that I can never seem to get free quiet time to get a perfect take :(.

I will make sure to work on the drums more also, I never noticed the Cymbal crashes, I think you're right. Thanks for the heads up on that!

On the original the intro violin is actually a lot louder, but less harsh to the ears, I can't believe I opted for the option of turning it down instead of cutting out harsh frequencies from the EQ, (I was being an idiot)

I'm pretty chuffed that I got a response here with some great advice, cheers! It's really appreciated.
 
Just play with the EQ on the acoustic, should be easy to tame the overly bright sound. Mic recording is what you want for an acoustic - DI never sounds as good.
 
I recorded all acoustic with a mic, I will play around with EQ a lot more on my next attempt, I will record some test stuff in a minute, thanks mjbphotos, I believe that's the second time both you and Btyre have given me some solid advice, it's much appreciated.

It's weird, I was happy with the mix until you pointed out it's flaws, now I hate listening to it, lol.
 
I thought the distorted rhythm guitars sounded decent. sounded a bit like an amp sim. But still not bad. Electric lead is a little thin.

The acoustic rhythm guitar sounded boxy moreso than harsh. The acoustic lead/riff/melody guitar was a bit brittle/harsh.

Little pop at :28.

And watch timing. I know you mentioned the playing. But no mix/song is going to sound good when the timing is off. Practice more if that's what it takes.

I'm hearing the click track bleed through at the end of the song.
 
Oh my god you're right! I've never noticed that my click track was bleeding through at the end! Great spot! And again for the pop at 28, I have to use the laptop to record because of noise and it's just not meaty enough for the job so I get pops etc. The Tower unit for the DI'd stuff is more than capable though. Messing with the buffer times etc doesn't seem to help, I need a better laptop. Something I will address in the future. £££

I'll have a quick look online for some closed back headphones perhaps.

I really appreciate the advice on tones, and it was nice to hear a little compliment on the rhythm tone. I was beginning to thing the whole thing was just awful to everyone else's ears.

I know the timing lets the whole thing down, I just don't know when I'd get another chance to record the lead take again, I really wanted to finish it up while I still had the motivation in me. I am not great at any particular aspect of making a cover, so my standards are slightly lower than they should be for now until I get a grasp on mixing properly/recording etc.etc.etc, I have had to lower my standards a little as I have held them a lot higher in the past and I never finished anything that way.

I'm really happy that you spent some of your time helping me out. That's awesome, thank you so much.
 
Agree with all above...timing sounds off in parts and most of the guitars sound very tinny..over EQ'd.
 
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