First real attempt at mixing

  • Thread starter Thread starter jeffchastain
  • Start date Start date
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jeffchastain

Holier than thou
I'm not completely excited about this mix.

I'm using a Boss-BR 600 recording unit
Audix f-50 for vocals
direct input for guitars

The first song on the page, Caroline Confessions is old and was done live with a smaller Boss unit.

Colorful is the one I've taken my shot at mixing.

Feedback, negative or positive, on the song performance or the mix is greatly appreciated!



http://www.soundclick.com/jeffchastain2
 
I like the performance - you have a great voice and playing style. The only thing I missed was a bit of bottom end in the mix. The direct record on the guitar isn't actually that bad, I've heard way worse. What kind of guitar and what kind of pickup does it have?
 
I agree... great voice. I think it clipped a couple times in there though. Definitely good.
 
I'm using an Alvarez RD20SC acoustic with the 200T system pre/eq.
It's not bad at all for a $350 price tag.

I've had a problem with too much/not enough bottom end ever since I started recording. It's probably due to my Behringer MS40 monitors.

Thanks alot for the comments and critiques ido and Erich, I'm hoping to get alot more.
 
The performance and songs are really good, but the guitar sounds very thin.

Cool stuff though.
 
mwthompson, the guitar sounds thin on both songs?

I tracked the guitar on colorful twice and panned them hard left and right to avoid the thin sound. Does it still sound thin?

On Caroline Confessions, it is just one guitar. I did it live, and you can tell it. hah!

Thanks for the comment!
 
Yeah guitar sounds a little thin. Do you have any effects on it? And like someone said above, there might be a little clipping here and there. Sounds pretty good though.
 
ryansanders said:
Yeah guitar sounds a little thin. Do you have any effects on it? And like someone said above, there might be a little clipping here and there. Sounds pretty good though.
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I used the Cosm guitar amp modeler on the BR-600 for Colorful.
 
jeffchastain said:
I'm using an Alvarez RD20SC acoustic with the 200T system pre/eq.
It's not bad at all for a $350 price tag.
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Very good price - I've heard good things about Alvarez. Good to hear a sample.
jeffchastain said:
I've had a problem with too much/not enough bottom end ever since I started recording. It's probably due to my Behringer MS40 monitors.
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Could be, but these apparently have some eq knobs on them. Maybe you can adjust to compensate to get some more bottom.
jeffchastain said:
I used the Cosm guitar amp modeler on the BR-600 for Colorful.
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Interesting - I wonder if the COSM is trimming some bass off. Are you using an acoustic guitar amp COSM? Roland has some great stuff...
 
ido1957 said:
Interesting - I wonder if the COSM is trimming some bass off. Are you using an acoustic guitar amp COSM? Roland has some great stuff...
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Yeah, I'm using the "Mic'd Acoustic" and the "Nice Acoustic" effect. For such a small unit, the BR-600 has some awesome effects.

I'm brand new at eq-ing and such. I'm not sure I really understand it. Should I cut/add some frequencies to get more bass? If so, what would you suggest?
 
Carolina Confessions...I only have a comment and it's on the voice...it's beautiful!! You have such expression and power...and power in the intimacy too...you are not afraid....good stuff. I'd like to hear you on some rock.
 
true-eurt said:
Carolina Confessions...I only have a comment and it's on the voice...it's beautiful!! You have such expression and power...and power in the intimacy too...you are not afraid....good stuff. I'd like to hear you on some rock.
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Thanks a bunch True! I appreciate you and all the rest of the guys taking the time to listen and give input. Caroline Confessions was recorded very very quickly. I'd like to re-record it sometime. My mother loves the song, and when I asked what she wanted for christmas, she said "Caroline Confessions". I shrugged it off, because it's a song from an old band that I didn't play guitar in, and I can't play the guitar part very well. So I had my old guitarist come over and play it for me. He showed up drunk, so I got one take from him, and had to double it and try to make it work. heh

Again, thanks a ton for the comments and critiques!
 
Good for first recordings. The microphone that you're recording vocals with could do much better on your acoustic guitar. Maybe the problem is that you're tracking both at the same time? I think it often sounds really good to record acoustic guitar and voice with one mic in the room. Just push it back a little bit and hit record. The guitar on this is what needs work. It is extremely brittle, very high end oriented. Maybe the effects that you do have on it are giving it that brittle sound. It may be trying to accentuate the sound of the pick hitting the strings. Try taking the effects off and eqing more bass. You could either try and cut some of the picking frequencies and raise the overall volume or boost the the mid and lower end for starters. I dont know exactly what your eq capabilities are on the hardware you're using.

Echoing what true said, beautiful voice. Really capable, good pitch, just good! Your guitar playing is good too but you could capture it much better.

As far as your mix goes, it seems balanced well. The levels are good to my ears. Work on that acoustic sound and you're well on your way to some good sounding recordings! Keep up the good work Jeff.:)
 
Hey Jeff, great job.

I'm listening on a pretty decent system and your guitar sounds just fine. There's plenty of bottom end and the tracking was fine. The volume came across good with plenty of high fidelity.

It's pretty wise of you to choose a one instrument song for your first mix, hah.

The performance was very good, the vocals lively. You took something real simple, gave it life and made it sweet. Thanks for the listen!
 
Erockrazor said:
Good for first recordings. The microphone that you're recording vocals with could do much better on your acoustic guitar. Maybe the problem is that you're tracking both at the same time? I think it often sounds really good to record acoustic guitar and voice with one mic in the room. Just push it back a little bit and hit record. The guitar on this is what needs work. It is extremely brittle, very high end oriented. Maybe the effects that you do have on it are giving it that brittle sound. It may be trying to accentuate the sound of the pick hitting the strings. Try taking the effects off and eqing more bass. You could either try and cut some of the picking frequencies and raise the overall volume or boost the the mid and lower end for starters. I dont know exactly what your eq capabilities are on the hardware you're using.

Echoing what true said, beautiful voice. Really capable, good pitch, just good! Your guitar playing is good too but you could capture it much better.

As far as your mix goes, it seems balanced well. The levels are good to my ears. Work on that acoustic sound and you're well on your way to some good sounding recordings! Keep up the good work Jeff.:)
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I'm recording the vocals with an Audix f-50. As soon as I read this post, I headed to the music room and did what you suggested. I'm using a Boss BR-600 recorder and I can't seem to get enough gain from this thing to record at any length away. It may be the mic though.

Thank you for listening and providing me with some helpful info. Once I get a serious microphone I'll try your advice again!
 
NYMorningstar said:
Hey Jeff, great job.

I'm listening on a pretty decent system and your guitar sounds just fine. There's plenty of bottom end and the tracking was fine. The volume came across good with plenty of high fidelity.

It's pretty wise of you to choose a one instrument song for your first mix, hah.

The performance was very good, the vocals lively. You took something real simple, gave it life and made it sweet. Thanks for the listen!
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Thank you for listening!

I definitely did not want to bother with bass or keys for my first shot at tracking and mixing. I'm sure that would've been a disaster. heh.

Thanks a bunch for taking the time to listen, and I'm severely glad that you enjoyed it.
 
Ahh boo. It's a dynamic mic I believe. Sometimes dynamic mic's can take a good amount of gain to be up to snuff. :( Turn the gain all the way up! I'm sorry. Good luck.
 
I have a Behringer B-5 pencil condenser that I basically get no use out of. My recorder doesn't have phantom power, but I have an alesis mixer that does. But, when try the Berhinger>alesismixer>Boss BR-600 I get a fowl noise. It makes it sound like recording onto a 4-track tape recorder or something.
 
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