First two tracks, any input?

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A. Frost

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Hi,

these are the current fruits of my first 2 newbie efforts at recording some of my songs in a semi complete form. I'm pretty new and mostly learning and writing as I go, plus I don't trust my ears. Long story short I was hoping to get some input and/or advice from those with better ears and more knowledge (i.e: You) on how to improve things.

Any input on anything you hear that sticks out as holding these songs back would be much appreciated. Obviously there are some performance issues as well as mixing ones, which is fine and can be worked on relatively easily since it's just me. Realy any input at all would be very helpful. Thanks in advance for your time.

-Adam

Still Here by A. Frost on SoundCloud


Free by A. Frost on SoundCloud
 
Hey.
I listened to track one and I think you've done pretty well.

The vocals stand out as being very roomy to me. I don't know if that's you're tracking environment or a reverb you've added, but if possible I'd lose a lot of it.
That applies to everything, but it's most obvious to me on the vocal part.

They come and go too. In the quiet verse passages I'm turning everything up to hear what you're singing, then turning it way down when it kicks in again.
The lead guitar bends to the right sound a bit piercing to me. Maybe you could smooth them with eq?

Seriously though, far from terrible. :)



Edit. Listened to track two.
The intro guitars reminded me of old soundgarden. Jesus christ pose maybe?

Just my opinion, but again, way to much verb going on there.
Same as before with the vocals too. I think they're too roomy and buried in the mix.
It kinda sounds like you might have tracked live in a big hall???

Still not a bad overall effort. Stick at it.


You say you don't trust your ears?

Get up in the morning and listen to a commercial track that is close to your goal.
After that, put your mix on and write down notes of immediate things that stand out.
Don't spend any longer than 2 minutes doing this.
That's your bible for the day. :)

Take a break for half an hour after some mixing, then do the same thing again later.
Your ears are only good for a short while; They learn to compensate.
After that, anyone would be guessing.
 
Hey, thanks for the advice and input. :)

Yeah I suck at reverb. Can't quite get a handle on it. The recording environment is pretty bad (untreated finished basement, no real monitors, etc, etc) so the only thing that isn't DI or Midi is the vocals and I have alot of trouble getting them to sit well with everything else. Lots of checking the track in the car and various places. I'm hoping that some work on the room and in time a pair of actual monitors might improve things.

My wife said the same thing about the lead guitar in the first track. I kinda like piercing guitar sounds, but I'll play with it and see what happens.

Again, thanks for the tips.
 
I listened to Still Here.

I'd say to pull back the kick a good 4-5 dbs. Its really loud. that should balance it with the bass a little better. The bass has a boomy frequency or two. I'm guessing somewhere between 100-120hz.

I noticed some timing issues. Mostly in the first slow section. But other spots too.

The distorted guitars were a little (as Greg says) scratchy. they're missing a little "fullness" in their tone.

i agree on the reverb. Too much of it everywhere.
 
Thanks, I will work on the timing (on both songs - it's off in spots on the other as well)...not used to click tracks. Or trying to play along with other instruments even :laughings:

Guess I'll have to do something about guitar sound. I think maybe I'm not hearing what others are hearing due to my available speakers and listening environments.

I just listened to Still Here in the car and I think you are right about the kick though...it got kinda annoying. I'm thinking I may have to do some automation on the vocals too to keep the levels more consistent due to my lack of vocal skills. Want to retrack them anyway. The bass stinks at least partly because it isn't actually a bass, just the same DI guitar with some plugins and pot adjustments. Will try to get it a bit better with EQ maybe, but I may have to break down at some point and pencil in a cheap bass in the budget.

Again, many thanks. It helps to have "directions" on what to point my ears at.

-Adam
 
Tweaked Still Here a bit. Sound any better?

View attachment 72370


Took out verb, tried to EQ the guitars some and added volume automation on the vocals. Lowered the kick some but not sure if it was enough. I think maybe the clean guitar needs to come up a bit now during the verse too but unsure.

It sounds a better to me compared to the last one, but I still am not happy with how the vocal sits realy. Might just be because it isn't exactly a great vocal peformance or recording so maybe it would just be better to re-do 'em. Not sure if I found whatever it is that is bugging folks about the dirty guitars.
 
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