Fix My Mix :-P

F

firetech

New member
I'm a real newbie to recording songs, mixing them, making it sound cool (err... decent at least), etc, etc. My style is normally just a mic on my Takamine and one for my voice but I started this song thinking I might try a really FX-heavy, industrial mix for fun. I called it quits at about 1/4 of the way through recording the song for several reasons that I'll explain below. What I was hoping you all could do for me is help me make this a learning experience so I can get better at this stuff before I try to lay down any real, full songs that I write (I really don't want recordings of my songs that sound like crap :P)



Download: Link



Overall, I'm not happy with it one bit. Firstly, I didn't realize until I started recording the vocals (last part I did) that the tempo is a good 10 BMP slower than I intended it to be. Secondly, I couldn't ever get my guitars to sound the way I really wanted them to, and the bass line sounded too horrible to even consider keeping at the time of the most recent mixdown. I was feeling uninspired and very discouraged by the time I did the vocals, so the singing isn't my best effort... though I did try to get them to fit in the mix as best as I could.

The drums are synthetic, the rest is just my guitar and my voice. I'm using some cheap "Electret Condencer" mic I found at Good Will for 7 dollar, and Apple's GarageBand software for my multi-track needs. I have a decent interface (M-Audio Delta 44) though! So I think I've got the materials I need to make a decent sounding recording...

Thanks so much for all your help. I love this board. Its amazing!
 
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In case you wanted to see them written out, here are the lyrics to what's recorded:

You are
A Shining Star
You're the death of darkness
So beautifully dressed
Just to impress

Your Friends
They think I'm missing something of value
So perfectly true
What I don't give to you.

And Missing
Something I Call Greed. I might
Find you wouldn't see that
Everything is different
Here on my own.

I'd seek
A million stars
To find you
But will you follow?
I'll see.
I'll see.
 
erm... i like the song generally, i dont like the distorted guitar sound, its disturbing to be honest, i like the electric drums they add a certain distinction to them, if you can find even more electronic drum sounds it would be good. The vox is good, dont put yourself down but you seem to have put an effect on it or the whole mix, and its niether one nor the other.
BUT dont get disheartened i like it, try and write another bit to it.. it would help alot
 
Yeah. There's actually a LOT more to the song... I just hated the way this was going so I didn't bother to continue recording more. Maybe I'll do a simple miced recording of me playing and singing it w/ my acoustic so you can see what the song originally sounds like and what my new crazy-effects version did to mess it up ;-)

There's actually no effects on the vocals except reverb. There are 2 guitar tracks (one clean and one distorted). Both have light tremelo and phasers.
 
Not a bad start here. Decent lyrics and the vocal is good. That guitar tone has to go. Too direct sounding. Do you have an amp? If so, mic that instead of going direct into the card. If you're using a POD, or something, mess around with the presets, cuz this one is no good. Be sure to post the finished version when you get it done.
 
POD? I don't know that one, sorry.

Thanks for the amp-micing tip. That's definitely sounding a lot better. I'm having trouble getting the position of my mic correct to keep it from sounding muddy though :-\ (I'm using my 57. That other "condecer" makes it sound tinny)

Thanks again!
 
firetech said:
Thanks for the amp-micing tip. That's definitely sounding a lot better. I'm having trouble getting the position of my mic correct to keep it from sounding muddy though :-\ (I'm using my 57. That other "condecer" makes it sound tinny)
Click to expand...

Here are a couple of reads:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showpost.php?p=184395&postcount=187
http://www.badmuckingfastard.com/sound/slipperman.html (brew some coffee for this one)

Tips of gold:

1. Get the amp off the floor (and often away from walls). A chair or table will work.
2. Use less gain than you would when playing live.
3. More mids, less bass and treble.
4. Put the mic (57) very close (1-2" from speaker cone). Try different positions on the speaker and different angles (off axis).
5. Be listening to what the mic is hearing on headphones while placing the mic.
 
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