First Clinic Post

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ChisCarlson

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Ok, This is my first time, so I'm a little nervous. Actually this is not the first time I've typed the message - but it is the first time I will actually press the submit button to post something for your reviews

This was of a live recording, taken out of the House mixing board straight into my Fostex vf-16. I have no outboard equipment.

I know that I won't be able to make a Silk Purse out of a Sow's Ear, but I would appreciate your input as to how to make it sound... well acceptable.

Music style is Praise & Worship (with energy) - so, if that will offend you, I truly am sorry, but if you can listen to it, I'd appreciate your input anyway.

the address is www.CarlsonWorld.net . There are three songs posted there in mp3

Oh, 1 more thing. I am aware of the terrible crackling sound on "Can You Hear The Mountains Tremble" that starts about 4 minutes into the song. I think it was caused during the transfer from the Fostex to the PC for encoding. If I get time I will redo it.

Even, 1 more thing. I KNOW the vocals BLOW. I would really like some input as to how I could fatten them up and make them sound acceptable.

Thanks for all your input.
Christopher Carlson
 
Don't be so scared. :D. We're pretty nice for the most part. At least to newbies. :D:D

I listened to Lit It Rip. I sort of liked the guitar/synth hook. Sounds like a live recording. Had a loose feel to it. However the bridge that kicks in at 1:40 had a polished sound.

Some weird percussion sounds... Not sure what the siren is for, it didn't seem to add to the song.

Vocally it sounds like mic positions were not selected very well. The singers seem quite distant from the mics. I would also record as many takes as necessary to get the vocal parts in sync with one another. It will get rid of some of that loose feel.

Keep recording and posting. Comment on others tunes too. Everyone has an opinion. You're welcome to share yours.

Trip...
 
Thanks for the comments Trip,

You are right it was a live recording. I had little control over the input levels etc. In fact on "Let It Rip" I had to throw away the Female vocals entirely becuase the level was just too hot (I had the trim all the way down)

I think the siren was there just to get the crowd riled up, it didn't really serve any musical purpose.

Again thanks for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to download and listen.

--Chris
 
I listened to let it rip. I'm really into contemporary christian... I'm a part time staff member (band coordinator) at a large church. We do praise and worship every week, along with a Klove type selection or two. That being said... you can take or leave my opinions. Every musician hears things differently.

This is on the edge for praise and worship I think. My church is on the edge... but we wouldn't do this on a Sunday morning. Youth group guys might in their service. But I personally like most of it....(could really do with out the loud thunk thunk thunk though)

You gotta carve a spot for those vocals. Or decide to do the standard church mix and just make them overpower everything else. Carving a spot to me is panning other things (which you've done some) and layering the sounds. My problem with mixing is I want every single note from every single thing to be heard like it was a solo. You gotta accept that some things will be in the forefront and some not in the forefront. But it doesn't have to be the same instrument for the whole song.

Initial vocals are to dry. Need verb or something to make them fit with the rest of the sound. Maybe a little pitch challenged too.

I like the part after the first siren... the transition part really well. Then when the vocals come back in... you gotta decide if you want the piano or the keyboard strings or the horns or the acoustic guitar or the bass or whatever to lead this part musically. Or maybe two of those....and move the others back just a little.

You have a lot of bass overtones in all of it. These guys eat up space big time. You gotta compress it or wipe out some of the mid lower end with EQ (like maybe in the 2 to 8 hundred range)

That's what I think. But I'm no pro. I'm just another musician.

Peace
 
Re: amendment to rant

chrisharris said:
That part where I said "it irks me," that wasn't directed at your apology or anything you said...it was directed at the NEED for an apology...that's what irks me.

hehehe

I promise, I'll shut up now.

ROCK!!!
Click to expand...

You are right. Most of the time the contemporary christian songs are posted with an apology. I don't aplogize for mine.... (I just don't generally post them) That's probably worse :)

But you're right. Music is music.. and mixing is mixing... etc etc.
 
RE: The Rant

I've posted in the Cave before and had to use the Fire Extingisher to put out the flames. It was pretty much a losing battle.

I've lurked a little in the mixing clinic and the few Religios tunes I've seen posted got reviews that almost always start with: I usually don't really go for that type of music but...."

So I was just trying to set up some expectations. I truly don't want to offend anybody - oh well not too much anyway. And I thought if I could set the expectations right up front, I thought that it would go better. In any case, with titles like "I Wanna see Jesus Lifted Higher" I guess the titlesmight clue people to what it was about anyway.

kjam22 - Tanks a lot for those pointers. I was trying hard to not do the standard church mix. I hate it when all you hear is the lead vocals - especially when he is "pitch challenged" The best part of the worship team is the band. I would have liked to eature it more.

I will try the low EQ issue and the compression as well. I have not done too much with compression as of yet (Still learning - so much to learn)

Thanks for your input.
Christopher Carlson
 
Strong material, especially "I Want to See Jesus Lifted High". "Let it Rip" gets pretty good around 2:00. "Can You Feel the Mountains Tremble" is nice too, but the distortion made the last half hard to listen to.

Sounds like you had the crowd going! My teen choir used to eat this kind of stuff up, I'm sure you'd have had them right in your hip pocket.

I'm on my lousy work speakers, so I won't say much about the recording. Arrangement-wise it was good. Might want to work with your soprano on pitch stuff - flat a lot. And at around 4:00 in "Mountain", the high piano part against the single note guitar line wasn't working for me - but I'm pretty linear. :D

Your piano, guitar and drums (and probably bass - these are some lousy speakers!) work well together - y'all got a good sense of where the pocket is, and how to stretch out without walking on each other.

BTW, just cos I come from the other end of the musical spectrum half the time, I was wondering at first if your "sorry if this offends you" was aimed at the flak P&W folk get from the traditionalists - "pipe organs and hymns by dead guys are the only music that's pleasing to God". I'm working on a church music degree now, my organ prof's one of THOSE. Cool guy, really, but really wears his personal tastes on his sleeve.

I think it's all good. Including your stuff. Especially your stuff! Do me a favor, give my tune a listen (if you haven't already), tell me what you think. Here's the thread:

Song Eighteen

I hope to rerecord it this weekend, but I'm not the master of my own time...
 
We Wanna' See Jesus Lifted High

I deleted the sermon, lol.

This is a good mix. The vocals jump out in places, so I'm thinking some compression on them (especially the background vocals that come in hot) would help you a ton.

The leads need to be boosted. If you're recording this live, you're gonna' have to ride the faders to get the lead UP in the mix. It's impossible to record and run sound with any degree of success, because the room will probably need totally different adjustments than the mix does. for example, I bet the drums were super loud in the room, but they're buried in this mix.

I thought it was an excellent performance, and I enjoyed this.

(Now post your picture in the Cave) LOL

Peace,
Chris
 
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