First Mix after lots of reading

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groucho

groucho

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Well, I was feeling like my mixes were consistantly coming up short of what I was aiming for so I took a week and did some obsessive reading and experimenting with EQ and, especially, dithering, the specifics of which had always confused me, but - it turns out - makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the final product if applied correctly (duh).

So here's the latest, employing my newfound um, knowledge? (cough cough). Input much appreciated.

No Choice

For high-speed types:


a lo-fi version:
 
I reckon it's very clean and tidy...is this you singing, I like the voice very much
The mix is a bit too "monoish" for the majority of the tune....you've got a bit of stereo spread only in that part of the song with guitar and piano solo/improv. and with your shaker on the left :) ..put something else on the right with it...
the drums are all in one spot (as I said it sounds monoish), I would try to, at least, bring the hihats a bit out.(I allways put it to the right)...
This is just the way I heard it and don't listen to mee too much coz I ain't a pro, not even close :D
Overall, very clean to my ears.....you did a lot of good reading I reckon..
Good luck
cheers
 
sounds good.. I thought the vocals were a bit loud at times, but I always make my vox too low.. I didn't like the drums so much, but a nice job overall.. I don't have any suggestions, and I listened to the 13.9 meg mother.. cool tune..
 
My only comment concerns the dead space at the end of each line in the verse. The vocal line ends, the guitar chord and bass fade out, and all you hear is the drums for a measure or two until the next verse line begins.

If you could add some sort of musical fill in these spaces occasionally - not all the time - I think it would help hold the listener's attention. This is a very subjective comment, others may feel the song is fine as is.

I liked the song overall, especially the piano and vocals.
 
wow, it took me a while to get the tune, I`m on country cable here, 56k. No cable or DSL access.

That was a good idea on the tune. Instruments were good. Eq sounded a little squeezed up in the middle some how. Vocals were up front.
 
Pretty nice song. I like it. Nice gritty voice.

I might suggest using harmonies at other spots in the song. It might enhance things just a bit. Where you use them, they sound rather nice. Maybe double track the "main" rhythm guitar part? It might fill out the sound a bit. Another suggestion is a slight touch of reverb on the vox. I'm more throwing out ideas than anything else...

The lead guit that comes in at about 4:14 dominates things just a bit.

Nice song...
 
Comments appreciated folks. Roker: yeah, me on vox (& everything else).

Your comment about panning is something that occurred to me too. I'm not sure what to do in situations like this where there's only a few instruments. The bass & vox are pretty much always gonna be dead center. I panned the solo instruments a bit but most of the song is just bass, drums, vox & rhythm guitar, so my panning options seem somewhat limited (the drums are a combination of loops, so I can't pan individual parts of them).

I'd be interested to hear what others do pan-wise in a similarly sparce situation.

thanks again,
Chris
 
Man I thought I was listening to a new wallflowers tune when it started.

generally i think the mix sounds very good. i don't know if there's anything i would change about the mix. nice job, specially for your first round of this! I really like your voice. Robby Robertson/Jacob Dylan ish.

so i can't help commenting about the music itself. just ignore the next bit of drivel if you're satisfied with it musically, but keep in mind that i rarely go into this much detail. i really like what you've started:
1. the opening lead line isn't doing much for me. i think you could skip it and go right to singing.
2. i agree with phyl about the dead space, fill it or remove it.
3. around 1:20 i want a chorus to kick in or some sort of variety (harmony maybe?) The tune starts to get a little dry about that point and i want something else to kick in. i'm attention deficit with music mostly. need lot's of changes going on.
4. the more i listen the more i think you could definitely remove the dramatic pauses between verse and wind up with a shorter and more interesting ride for the listener.
5. was that the chorus at 1:20? all 5 seconds? hey i've written a lot of music without a chorus, just verses, so i got no problem with that but this thing is screaming for a chorus, something to dig the meat hooks into my meathead....
6. can you say hammond b-3, maybe that's an effect of the comparison with the wallflowers.

there you go, that's my first impression of your first post.

btw, i like the use of your drum loops, it definitely sounds better than sequencing a bunch of samples.
 
You are one hell of a song writer my friend with a unique voice. In all fairness, there's not a lot of panning you could have done. I always prefere real drums but if you don't have a drummer, well, you don't have a drummer so you gotta use a machine. The one thing that stood out fro me in a negative way was the tone of the lead guitar. I personally would have looked for something a little warmer and rounder sounding that meshed more with the rest of the tune. That's a small complaint though as this ain't bad at all.
 
Hey, the server seems to be moving again!

Thanks for the further input guys. It's definitely been instructive for me how many of the people (here & elsewhere) who've heard this one want the verses to zip along a bit more (ie: the pauses at the end of the lines) and also they fairly consistantly want more instruments in there.

I can only assume that the *original* version of this song which was just voice and bass (& much faster) would have *really* gone down poorly...:)

There also seems to be a consistant desire for more of a chorus, but, what can I say... I don't like choruses, hate em' in fact. Mostly cause I can't write them...:) No, seriously, it's good to hear this stuff. Reminds me to stay somewhat in touch with what people actually like to hear (something which should be considered I suppose when making music...)

thanks,
Chris
 
I liked the vocals, lyrics and phrazing alot!! Great writing. Writing songs is why I got into this mad game and I can appreciate a well crafted tune. Nice song dude.

I think I hear some vocal effect sybilance that bleeds the track of some clarity. Maybe dry it out a tad?

The bass is kinda boomy on the low end. Perhaps you could look into a low end eq roll off but, I think your skills surpass mine in this regard so throw some salt on my technical comments:) .


Basically, I just enjoyed listening to your tune. Thanks, that was nice.


Peace,

Theron.
 
Cool tune!
I dig the guitars,how did you record them?

Mix sounds great,did you play all the instruments?
Good solid performance.

The only thing I heard was the kick,sounded a little too loud and clicky in my headphones,and didn't fit right with the bass.IMHOP

Your voice is really good,I liked the little harmonies,nice touch.

Thanks for sharing,
Pete
 
Thanks theron & muzeman. Theron: you're right about the bass. I've been fiddling with that the last couple of days, but it's good to know someone else heard it.

muzeman said:
Cool tune!
I dig the guitars,how did you record them?

Mix sounds great,did you play all the instruments?
Pete
Click to expand...

Everything was tracked straight into a Boss BR-532, then edited in Cool Edit. The guitar sounds were pretty much created with the 532s onboard effects patches, with a little delay and eq added later. Vox just with a SM57 (only mic I've got). And yep, you can blame me for all the instrumental damage. Bass done with a bass. Piano done with a piano (digital piano, actually). Drums with a mess of loops Frankenstein'd into one.

Chris
 
Well Hell! It's not working for me.:mad: Damn!
I'll have to try againg tomorrow. All I get is a blank screen on either one.
 
hey Lt.

occasionally my server has a burp, but it rarely lasts for more than a few seconds (crossing fingers). it seems to be up now, so maybe you caught it on a "burp".

thanks for checking!
Chris
 
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