Critique with my bedroom mix

[Luckycharms_74]

Hi all

Glad to have joined these forums.
Here are some rough vocal demos I did.I think the mix is a bit off. Also on track "The A Team" the vocals came out in mono. I think I fcuked it up whilst adding the vocal track.
Any tips from what I have done already
I had a friend listen and he said this "sounds like you recorded the vocal in a reflective room , i dont like that aspect - sounds a bit amateur and cheap."
The room has curtains and carpet. I did read that reflection shields can help vocals. I also read about acoustic foam with the ridges on it is usefull when out in the walls ?

I can't post the link to sound cloud as I have less than 10 posts. I have uploaded the files instead.

Edit: Reached the 10 post count. Here is the link

http://soundcloud.com/luckycharms74/sets/demos-914

View attachment My Funny Valentine.mp3
View attachment The A Team.mp3
View attachment Wonderful World.mp3


P.S. Whats the deal regarding copyrights to covers. They are not for commercial release just for my own amusement ???

 

[Flubly]

I mean, it's a valid sound and it's not poorly recorded. But yeah, if that always what your tracks will sound like, that's a problem. You want to at least have the option to have a very dry track. In terms of taste, I don't think it suits the song because it's a pretty drastic difference from how everything else was tracked.

Foam and reflectors can definitely help, but I don't know what your budget would look like. I'd look into making a DIY vocal booth, as you have to treat less square footage. A bedroom is opening in our apartment in September and our rent isn't going to raise, so I'm treating the adjoining bathroom.

 

[chuckduffy]

hi lucky charms - don't know what you mean as vocals are typically mono. There is no copyright issue with covers in the context of this site.

Hi all

Glad to have joined these forums.
Here are some rough vocal demos I did.I think the mix is a bit off. Also on track "The A Team" the vocals came out in mono. I think I fcuked it up whilst adding the vocal track.
Any tips from what I have done already
I had a friend listen and he said this "sounds like you recorded the vocal in a reflective room , i dont like that aspect - sounds a bit amateur and cheap."
The room has curtains and carpet. I did read that reflection shields can help vocals. I also read about acoustic foam with the ridges on it is usefull when out in the walls ?

I can't post the link to sound cloud as I have less than 10 posts. I have uploaded the files instead.

View attachment 73314
View attachment 73315
View attachment 73316


P.S. Whats the deal regarding copyrights to covers. They are not for commercial release just for my own amusement ???

 

[BryanMoore]

I agree with Flubly. The first thing I would do is look at deadening the room a bit, or maybe even simply moving the mic around to a spot in the room with less reverb. Unless, of course this is the desired effect for a particular song in which case the natural reverb is great. As far as what materials to use for sound deadening there are many options out there from free to insanely expensive. You really have to just decide what is best for your situation. Some will say that you have to use this material or that, but it really depends on your situation. For instance, I grabbed a ton of free egg shell foam from various busineses just throwing it out in order to dampen the corner of my garage where my drums sit and that's all it took for me. However, this corner is cut off from the rest of the garage with a huge upright piano and it was fairly dead anyway. So, it didn't need much. Also, something like that in just the right places can make all the difference in the world. However, your situation might dictate the need for material designed for sound deadening and might cost you more. Good luck.

 

[TripleM]

On the A Team the reverberant vocal isn't as noticeable because the mix is more dense. On Valentine, it's very noticeable. To me, it's not a pleasant reverb. Not horrible, but not what I would want on a recording.

I don't know, but taming that room might be difficult. Is it possible to record the vocals in a different room? There also those weird box things that you can clip to your mic stand and envelope the mic and theoretically deaden the room sound. I don't have any idea how expensive they are or how well they work.

 

[Luckycharms_74]

hi lucky charms - don't know what you mean as vocals are typically mono. There is no copyright issue with covers in the context of this site.

Hi chuckduffy

I phrased it incorrect. I know the vocals always are recorded in mono. It seems for some reason when I put down the vocal track for "The a Team" it's only audible plays when panned to the left. On all the other tracks you can hear it panned left or right.

 

[Luckycharms_74]

On the A Team the reverberant vocal isn't as noticeable because the mix is more dense. On Valentine, it's very noticeable. To me, it's not a pleasant reverb. Not horrible, but not what I would want on a recording.

Hey TripleM

I think another problem could be the different reverb effect I used on the different vocals. I should have used the same reverb setting on all 3 so that they are comparable. I will check what reverbs I used on each track in pro tools and report back . They are lexicon reverb plugins btw.

I don't know, but taming that room might be difficult. Is it possible to record the vocals in a different room? There also those weird box things that you can clip to your mic stand and envelope the mic and theoretically deaden the room sound. I don't have any idea how expensive they are or how well they work.

I think you are talking about theses "Reflection Shields". You can get cheap one between €50-€100. I was thinking about those as well
The expensive ones are €300