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dobro

dobro

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Sometimes the simplest things fox me the most. Although this is the first time I can remember an mp3 improving the sound of a mix, I think you can still spot what I couldn't fix. And no it's not the amp buzz - I like the buzz.



Yeah, I'm posting a lot. I'm stuck at home with a damaged arm. I get bored and mix things. I'll go back to work next week, I promise.
 

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dobro said:
Sometimes the simplest things fox me the most. Although this is the first time I can remember an mp3 improving the sound of a mix, I think you can still spot what I couldn't fix. And no it's not the amp buzz - I like the buzz.



Yeah, I'm posting a lot. I'm stuck at home with a damaged arm. I get bored and mix things. I'll go back to work next week, I promise.
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It's funny you say that about an MP3 improving the sound of a mix; I've experienced that multiple times; almost always on a mix that I couldn't figure out what was sticking out, then the MP3 compression made it not stick out.

I caught the tiniest evidence of clipping in the vocal track in 2 or three spots. There's not a lot I'd change about this, with the possible exception of a slight bias toward the vocal in the mix; I'd maybe drop it down a dB or two, the guitar sounds a smidge distant by comparison. No nits at all on the performance. Very cool tune.
 
Very nice dobro - the accompaniment feels very Leonard Cohenish, but there's no way that the vocals could be mistaken for anyone but you. I can't weigh up whether the vocals would sound better with less reverb or not - maybe, maybe not.

In terms of what you couldn't fix, I'm struggling if not the amp buzz. There's a few ambient lip smacks picked up on the mic here and there that you may be able to get rid of, but I don't know if it's that.

Well done on making such a simple arrangement work so well - restraint is tough for DAW-armed homerecorders...
 
Okay, the issue I was dealing with (and which got masked by the mp3) was these sort of metallic resonances on the guitar part. Really irritating. So take a step back...this mix is an exercise in reverb obviously. (With a guitar part and a vocal, EQ isn't much of a challenge, and dynamics are pretty straightforward.) I wanted space on this one, and that means coming to terms with reverb, and I have to learn that. So I put together a mix with the knowledge of reverb I already had (minimal) and this is what you heard. Then I started studying reverb and found that if you get those little metallic resonances, it probably means you've picked the wrong verb. So I'm going to tweak this one as I learn more - I figure I can get a clearer sound.
 
robgreen said:
...restraint is tough for DAW-armed homerecorders...
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To come back to your earlier indecision about whether the vocal should have had so much verb on it, maybe the amount of verb I had on it was a function of my DAW army. :-)
 
Llarion said:
I caught the tiniest evidence of clipping in the vocal track in 2 or three spots. There's not a lot I'd change about this, with the possible exception of a slight bias toward the vocal in the mix; I'd maybe drop it down a dB or two...
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One or the other. Or both. I'll try it out - thanks.
 
Okay, that works. Vocal level down. But then I had to increase the predelay on the vocal verb. And learned something. Thanks.
 
2.22 there's a tiny amount of clipping (unless it's my headphones. Only issue I could spot.
 
The last note of the song? I don't think so. There's a peak at 2.15 though. I've listened to it, but it doesn't sound like distortion to me, it just sounds louder than everything around it. Thanks for listening. Even if I don't hear the same things as you, it's interesting to me to hear what people hear. Ideas come out of it.
 
Amazing mix considering I only hear two things - vocals and guitar. Both of which are bold and thick. Great !!!
 
There're a few spots I'd personally throw a de esser over but it does sound like Tom Rapp singing as lenny plays along.
Lovely.
I can be honest & say I love Tom's stuff & I'll be seeing laughing lenny in about 6 weeks.
 
dobro said:
The last note of the song? I don't think so. There's a peak at 2.15 though. I've listened to it, but it doesn't sound like distortion to me, it just sounds louder than everything around it. Thanks for listening. Even if I don't hear the same things as you, it's interesting to me to hear what people hear. Ideas come out of it.
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Sorry it is 2.20 i meant. It's not clipping probably as that part doesn't sound like it is louder than the rest but I hear a tiny click. It's so small it's not worth worrying about but I'm starting to wonder if I'm mad now... Listened back to it a few times on the soundcloud version and there's definitely a tiny click. Hmm if you read tiny click from a distance is looks like something else!
 
:D CLINT heard a tiny click.

You heard it alright, but it's not a click, it's just me singing along making various little noises. I do that sometimes. If you listen closely, you can also hear body movement and clothing and all sorts of stuff. I try to remember to wear quiet clothes when I track, but sometimes I forget. I tell them to be quiet, but they seldom listen.

Ray, I'm going to try putting a de-esser both before AND after the verb on the effects track and see what happens. Thanks.
 
Okay, in the end the de-esser went on the dry vocal track. There's a compressor on the vocal now too. I swapped out the verb on the guitar track for another one, and comped the guitar tracks and tweaked the comps EQ-wise. But I mean, can you hear any difference at all? All comments kindly appreciated and considered.
 

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I'll be honest and say I can't hear a discernible difference. I'm trying to train my ears to pick out small differences but unless I could flip between them really quickly I don't think I could notice a difference between those two tracks.
 
Turkeyoverlord said:
I'll be honest and say I can't hear a discernible difference. I'm trying to train my ears to pick out small differences but unless I could flip between them really quickly I don't think I could notice a difference between those two tracks.
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In that case, the whole thing's probably drowning in reverb. If you compare the opening guitar part, I think you can notice that the second one's a big brighter. Or maybe the reason I can hear it is cuz I know what I did to try to make it that way. :) Thanks for the listen. Useful.
 
I thought everything was recorded very clearly. I'm noticing some vocal artifacts - mouth clicks and pops.

Am I noticing tape hiss?

You know me and reverb. What you have here was well done. I'd personally prefer a more "intimate" mix - one that sounds like the musician is sitting right next to me. This sounds like a musician alone in an auditorium.

But no big problems at all. It sounded good.
 
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