Eyes of Sheri

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bruthish
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Bruthish

Bruthish

Hair Metal Roxx!
Ok guys, so I am new here. So let me introduce myself. My name is Chris and started recorded over 20 years ago with Cakewalk and a "Layla" setup(anyone remember those?). This is the very first "recording" I did around 1994. I had no clue what I was doing. All the midi velocities were set to "100", with no variation at all. I had no idea about space and depth of the instruments. Everything was tracked individually but all was done in one take since I was just "playing around" and trying to learn.

Fast forward to now, I have recently gotten back into recording and I want to go back and re-mix some of my older songs like this one and try to do it more proper.

So please tear it apart! I know there is many many ways to improve on it, and I won't be offended by constructive criticism. I am re-learning the craft and now that I am working on a better setup with actual monitors, I am hoping I can re-invent my music and put down some new stuff.

Thanks in advance!

https://soundcloud.com/bruthish/eyes-of-sheri
 
Ah, I wondered when you were going to post your tune. :)

The sound's pretty good, although I find the electric guitar sound a bit harsh, and the synth string sound off to the right at the end as well.

The main issue I've got with it is an arrangement thing - when the electric solo starts to really take off at 1.30 for instance, the drum part starts attracting all sorts of attention to itself. They're competing. Not to mention that I think the drum track's too loud anyway, especially the kick. And finally, the kick... lol...you sure that sound you've got on the kick - that uberclear in your face every beater click detailed sound - fits into the rest of the mix? I find it's a relief when the part is muted at 3.20 for instance, and when it comes back in, it's too loud and then it ramps up into the manic 16ths. It's too much. My guess is that if you just turned the kick down a few dB (that's right - a few), you'd be ahead on this one.
 
Really good playing.

The acoustic guitar has a direct/sizzly sound. I'd personally prefer a more mic'd/natural sound.

Not sure how you're doing drums, but I wonder if you might want to look at options. I know there are a ton of ways to do fake drums and some of them are pretty good. These sound real midi.

Lead guitar has a digitial-ly sound. It's played very well.
 
Thanks! It's been so long ago that I recorded that song, I can't remember what I used on most of it. I do know that the drums were simply samples out of soundbank card I had at the time that I triggered with an electric kit. Then I went and pretty much topped all the drum velocities off at max. Not to mention that the only way I had to monitor the mix was through headphones and a hi-fi stereo setup. I am hoping I can clean it up a lot with some pointers from you all. I hear all the things you are saying Dobro, and they will absolutely get my attention when I start the re-mix. Hopefully this weekend.
 
TripleM said:
Really good playing.

The acoustic guitar has a direct/sizzly sound. I'd personally prefer a more mic'd/natural sound.

Not sure how you're doing drums, but I wonder if you might want to look at options. I know there are a ton of ways to do fake drums and some of them are pretty good. These sound real midi.

Lead guitar has a digitial-ly sound. It's played very well.
Click to expand...

Thanks! It was recorded 20 years ago on a shoestring budget so I didn't have a lot of equipment to utilize including mics. All the parts were DI and I know it shows. As far as the drums, yeah I agree totally.
 
Funny Story, I met her from a mutual friend way back then...talked to her on the phone but hadn't met her in person..hence waiting for the first time to look into the "eyes of Sheri". Finally, got to meet her(she lived 8 hours away)....didn't ever see or talk to her again. The spark just wasn't there lol
 
I would just agree with most of what was stated here. Liked it, with a little mixing and maybe retrack the acoustic and get it to sound, acoustic, make a nice little addition to your collection. I assume there will be more to come.
 
The second the first drums hit I had a bit of a giggle. They sound MIDI and fake (at 3:45 with the double pedal it gets really obvious)
The electric guitar tone was rather grating. I'm going to assume some sort of amp sim.
I liked the acoustic guitar part after the lead more than the electric part. It stood out a lot less and felt a lot more organic in total.

From a performance point I'd say that the parts were fine. You could practice your vibrato. Vibrato makes and breaks a slower track like this.
You definitely put a lot of thought into the whole arrangement and made a nice piece of music. :listeningmusic: Get a better drum software if a real drummer is out of the question! :p
 
Thanks Schwarz! Yeah I suck at drumming let alone programming it, but I am giving it another shot. Like I mentioned earlier, all the lead guitar parts were done one time from beginning to end without any re-takes. I was pretty much just jamming, but I do agree with you on the vibrato. Hopefully 20 years later I have improved some to be able to put more feel into it than just playing out right. Thanks for the comments!
 
The acoustic guitar should definitely be tracked again - was it a DIed Ovation? :rolleyes: At the start the piano and guitar are really competing for space. After the break the piano would really sound better with a decent grand sound (20 years ago fake piano sounds weren't what they are now), and yeah, those drums starting with the kick at 3:36 or so are ...
Considering when you did this, pretty amazing. I'd probably just start from scratch again on the tracking of this one. The ending could use something more dynamic, like a last chord fade out, rather than the repeating piano quick fade.
 
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