Fast, Poppy, Indie Rawk song for evaluation

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cominginsecond

cominginsecond

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It's called Fashionably Mean. It's about 3.5 megs.



I used Revalver for the distorted guitar parts, and the trumpet in the middle is real (I don't think a sample could sound like that.)

I'm not sure if the background vocals sound a little too pitch corrected. What do you guys think?

Anyway, thanks in advance for the feedback. Hope you enjoy.
 
Not a bad tune.....catchy.The vocals are not loud enough.That should be the first order of business for this mix.LOL....the background vox are way too low.The drums are kicking......cool trumpet......that guitar is a little grating on the ears...something almost sounds like it's clipping on the whole mix....it could be the drums.....cool tune,just bring up the lead and BGV's!
 
Kramer said:
something almost sounds like it's clipping on the whole mix....it could be the drums.....cool tune,just bring up the lead and BGV's!
Click to expand...
The drums are distorted on purpose. I ran it through the silverspike ruby tube. I guess you don't like?

I'll think about getting the vocals louder. Thanks for your suggestions.
 
I uploaded a new version of the MP3, at the same address, with the vocals a little louder. I think it's an improvement. Thanks, Kramer.
 
Hey man....Nice vocals...The whole thing has kind of a Morissey/Smiths vibe to it to me.

From a mix standpoint, the drums are distracting the hell out of me. They sound real, but they sound real roomy and live, but not in a good way to me...they're sticking out, and they shouldn't. I'm not sure what it is, really...I mean, I don't think they're too loud.

The horns sounded great.

I want the guitars to sound as warm as the horns...maybe that's what's hitting me about this mix; it's just got some harshness to it that makes it hard on the ears after repeated listens?

Wide mid cut?...lol.

Look, it's a cool song, and a great vocal to go with it... Just sounds a little TOO "live" for my tastes.
 
I really like what you're doing here from a songwriting and arranging perspective. But I'm hearing so much snare that it's hard to get a feel for the song. Probably all the drums are too loud, but it's the snare that's really getting in the way. It may be too thuddy sounding too.

I love the lead! Vocals sound really good too. I'd love to hear this again with less snare.
 
I like the song. It has a the Smiths vibe! Very nice.

Mix sounds fairly OK, but I can hardly hear it because of the drums. It's the midrange in the snare that's a bit overdone. And it's too loud.

Aw, just read what the others said: the exact same thing...well, I'm not going to delete what I just have typed! Next time I read the other responses first.... :D
 
Vocals are at a perfect level now!;) They were just a tad too low on the original mix.This has a heavy Matthew Sweet kind of sound.Are you a fan of his?

Good job on bringing the vox up!
 
Hey man,
....nice avatar...:) Nice tune man. Drums sound a little loud to me here. ....they seem to really overpower the vocs. and the rest of the rhythm section. Nice song though, reminds me a little of Costello. g
 
I like the song. I agree with the Mathew Sweet comparison or maybe later Ocean Blue.

Does the tempo keep coming down during the trumpet section?

I like the drum sounds, just bring them down like others said.

Good song!
 
I'll take a second look at the drums with your guys' comments in mind. It may be the compression and ruby tube I ran the drums through that's bugging you guys. I'll do a little work when I get home and post a revised Mp3 and see how you (and I) like it.

BTW, I was kind of going for a "live," raw sound on this song, but maybe I pushed it too far.

Thanks for all your comments. I'll post a revised mix tonight sometime.
 
It is the imaging on the drums that is bugging me the most, and is probably what is bringing on most of the "muddy" comments.

It sounds like you had stereo overheads mics, but had one place closer to the snare than the other. When the snare hits, I hear the attack predominately in the left, and the "room" or "boom" of the sound in the right. That is pure and simply a imaging problem that you had while tracking.

Since you are working in a DAW, look VERY closely at the overhead tracks, and align one of them so that when the snare hits, the transient is the same for both both. This will improve the overall tonality, create a more focused sound, and fix the imaging.

Dump about 4dB of 1KHz with a 2 octave bandwidth on those overhead mics too. The cymbals are eating up a bunch of frequency response that they don't need to.

The guitar is VERY grating on the ears. Sorry, I dont' dig emulators at all.

I like the song and arrangement.

Ed
 
I liked the song too. Very much a style that suits me. Real catchy. I liked the arrangement, and I liked the use of 7th chords, especially on the harmonies. Weird lyrics. Not sure if they made sense, but at least I was interested in them (something that doesn't happen often enough).

I'll go out on my own and say the vocals can be much better. There were a couple of spots where they were pitchy (the word "out" at :08). IMO, they're still not loud enough. The backing vox are still way too far back (I love the parts however). Some of the notes kind of land with a thud - just didn't sound quite right. It'd be a crime if the vox weren't double tracked. 3 layers for the lead 2 layers for the backing vox. I think that would improve the sound considerably.

I agree with chris that the drums sounded "squishy."

The tone on the main rhythm guit was not good IMO. The song needs a much less abrasive sound.

The song is still clipping frequently. At the very end of the song, you need to resolve the chord to the key of the song (don't end on that 7th) - my opinion of course.

I've been pretty hard on the song, but that's because I think it can be a terrific song. I really like it.
 
TripleM said:
I liked the song too. Very much a style that suits me. Real catchy. I liked the arrangement, and I liked the use of 7th chords, especially on the harmonies. Weird lyrics. Not sure if they made sense, but at least I was interested in them (something that doesn't happen often enough).

Thanks.

It'd be a crime if the vox weren't double tracked. 3 layers for the lead 2 layers for the backing vox. I think that would improve the sound considerably.

I tried that and didn't like it.

The tone on the main rhythm guit was not good IMO. The song needs a much less abrasive sound.

The more I listen to it, the more I am agreeing with you guys. In my latest iteration of the mix, they are a little less harsh. However, they could probably be even less harsh than I made them.
Click to expand...
 
Here's my latest version of the mix. It's not a lot different. I aligned and eq'd the overheads, per Sonusman's suggestion. Turned down the drums, and eq'd the guitars a little differently.



To me it sounds pretty similar, but a little better. If you're new to this thread, you might want to skip the top version and just listen to this one.
 
It's sounding a lot better.The guitar is not as grating on the ears as it was in the previous mix.Im singing along with it at this point.LOL.It's a catchy tune and I still swear it sounds like Matthew Sweet.Have you ever heard of him?Do you own all of his records?LOL
 
Kramer said:
It's sounding a lot better.The guitar is not as grating on the ears as it was in the previous mix.Im singing along with it at this point.LOL.It's a catchy tune and I still swear it sounds like Matthew Sweet.Have you ever heard of him?Do you own all of his records?LOL
Click to expand...
No, I don't have any of his records, though I have heard him before. I really like that song "Girlfriend."
 
OK, here's another iteration, (is this getting stupid or what?):rolleyes: :



Just EQ'd the guitars even more to de-harshify them. I compared my mix to a Wedding Present song (any Wedding Present fans out there?) and you guys were right, the guits were way too harsh. I think this latest version goes a long way in addressing this.
 
cominginsecond said:
OK, here's another iteration, (is this getting stupid or what?):rolleyes: :
Click to expand...

NO way!Thats what this forum is all about,getting feedback,re-mixing and posting the results.I get a little disapointed when people come here asking for ears and suggestions but they never apply the suggestions to a re-mix.

The electric guitar sounds a LOT better now.The guitar actually sounds good now.It's not a distraction now that the harshness has been removed.Good job on the re-mixes.
 
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