Guitar / Vocals - Supah-Doopah Quality!

  • Thread starter Thread starter PoeticIntensity
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PoeticIntensity

PoeticIntensity

MagicJones.com (is a website)
I recorded a friend last night, and I'm interested in any and all critiques. I used a mid-side technique for the guitar, and am curious what you guitar experts think.

Thanks!

Click for Song

UPDATED MIX AS PER COMMENTS - BASS BY ANTICHEF (nice job, BTW)

Click for Updated Song
 
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I'm no guitar expert by any means, but the gtr sounds nice and balanced to me.

It needs some kind of bass presence. The mix seems empty in between kick stomps. And the vocals are too dry, and out front. The chorus/backups are way too loud.

Good work though.
 
I hear two guitars, but it sounds like they are competing with each other. Try to pan the two parts away from each other. Song needs a bass part. Drums sound pretty good. Love the doubled vocal part. That sounds cool. I really like the guitar sound, nice reverb, just work on the space a bit. Good job man!
 
Very clean and clear recording, no problems there!

Guitar and drums sound great just where they are.

I'd say the vocal treatment is a preference - this one is fairly dry but that seems to be the norm in the 2000's (versus the 80's for instance).

I'd take them down just a smidge though to see if you can get it to sit a little more within the mix. (I shouldn't talk though .... lol)

The first chorus definitely jumps out at you volume wise, not so much the second time.

It's pretty close - just a tweak IMHO....

Damn good singer/song too! :cool:
 
Greg_L said:
I'm no guitar expert by any means, but the gtr sounds nice and balanced to me.

It needs some kind of bass presence. The mix seems empty in between kick stomps. And the vocals are too dry, and out front. The chorus/backups are way too loud.

Good work though.
Click to expand...

No doubt, this song needs bass. I don't play, and neither does he. Anyone wanna put a bass part to it? As far as the vocal dryness goes, I agree. My friend didn't like the verb, so I had to take it down. I'll create another mix the way I think it should sound and update the link tonight, and I didn't hear it before you mentioned it, Greg, but I think you're right as far as the chorus goes. Listening again, I think the vocals are in the exact same panning space as the guitars are during the chorus, as well as being too loud. I'll update that tonight, too.

Thanks for the insights.


onestu3 said:
I hear two guitars, but it sounds like they are competing with each other. Try to pan the two parts away from each other. Song needs a bass part. Drums sound pretty good. Love the doubled vocal part. That sounds cool. I really like the guitar sound, nice reverb, just work on the space a bit. Good job man!
Click to expand...

Competing with each other.... Hmm... I had him play the part twice, for beefiness. Should I get rid of one of the takes, and only have one guitar playing? I'll try that, see if it sounds any better.

Thanks for the critique, onestu3.

Anyone up for a bass part?
 
ido1957 said:
Very clean and clear recording, no problems there!

Guitar and drums sound great just where they are.

I'd say the vocal treatment is a preference - this one is fairly dry but that seems to be the norm in the 2000's (versus the 80's for instance).

I'd take them down just a smidge though to see if you can get it to sit a little more within the mix. (I shouldn't talk though .... lol)

The first chorus definitely jumps out at you volume wise, not so much the second time.

It's pretty close - just a tweak IMHO....

Damn good singer/song too! :cool:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kudos, ido! I hope I get to record more of his stuff... I really dig his style.

I'm definitely going to work with lowering the vocals in the chorus line here. Seems to be a consensus.
 
PoeticIntensity said:
Thanks for the kudos, ido! I hope I get to record more of his stuff... I really dig his style.

I'm definitely going to work with lowering the vocals in the chorus line here. Seems to be a consensus.
Click to expand...
I'll take a shot at the bass part, but it may be later in the weekend.
 
Definitely needs bass. I feel like if you rode the vocal fader a little bit or just brought them down a decibel or two they'd sit a little better.

I love the doubled vocals, it really separates that section from the rest of the song and gives it a nice "this is the chorus" feel without needing to suddenly blast upwards dynamically to make it's point.
 
Remix - with bass!

Okay... I posted another mix after about an hour of re-mixing (can be found in first post of this thread). Here's what I did:

  • Took out just a bit of EQ in the middle band of the master (from around 250HZ - 1600HZ).
  • Received awesome bass from Antichef. Added as was, and lowered about 2db.
  • Noticed my overheads for drums were crazy low, so upped em' (lots more cymbal action heard.)
  • Brought 2 of the 6 guitar tracks closer to middle to spread out more.
  • No idea why I didn't catch the vocals being so hot. Lowered all vocals, and automated chorus to lower even more.
  • Brought chorus vocal panning in a bit - was hard R/L, now is a bit closer to center.
  • Played a lot with nudging the drum-bus / bass to correct overall jumpiness of the song. Seemed to help a bit.
  • Upped the gain on the master quite a bit. Now it should be loud enough, possibly too loud... Not sure...

Personally, can't believe the difference it made. Sounds 100% better to me, but I'm way more interested in what you all think.

Anything else? Is the bass too hot? With my new monitors, I'm still adjusting, and bass is the hardest thing to judge.

Thanks for all your help. This forum really is quite an enigma in the knowledge and eagerness of its members to help others. I love it.
 
I like the updated mix! (song is very catchy, btw).

With my subwoofer off, the bass sounds about right to me (and I don't think I could improve the mix, either), but with the subwoofer on, I'm getting a free chair massage. I'd take off 6db from 80hz on down to 0hz on just the bass track. Sorry about that, I should have done that before I sent it.
 
I only listened to the version with the bass part, and I definitely liked the sound of it enough to know that the bass part is really bringing the song to the next level.

Very nice recording. I think the singer's voice and the way you produced it are great--fit the song like a glove.
 
This is very nice...great playing and singing...dont think I have anything to say about the mix, id prefer more bass and kick but thats just me, and a pretty crappy system..so unless anyone else says it, ignore it :)


didnt hear the first mix but this ticks all the boxes...great job :)
 
Nice song. I like everything, yeah, including the dry vocals. (they aren't that dry :p ) Singer has a good voice, guitars sound wonderful and sit nicely once the vocals come in. I think they can be bigger in the intro.

I think the bass is too much, pull it back a bit.

cheers,
 
Very good, Jason!
That you on the drums? Totally groovy...
Mix sounds fine to me. Nice song!

Joey :):):):)
 
antichef said:
I like the updated mix! (song is very catchy, btw).

With my subwoofer off, the bass sounds about right to me (and I don't think I could improve the mix, either), but with the subwoofer on, I'm getting a free chair massage. I'd take off 6db from 80hz on down to 0hz on just the bass track. Sorry about that, I should have done that before I sent it.
Click to expand...

Took a final listen, and took your advice, antichef. No sub-frequencies from the bass now, and tightened the guitar(s) a little.

Thanks for all your help, guys. I love the way this turned out.
 
It's great - good song, good arrangement, good playing.
The bass still sounds a little too much for me (& I'm a bassist). The bass lines a terrific & you've taken away some bottom end but it's still a little full - maybe scoop a little from the mids - it could be a war between the guitar mid & bass mids that's bothering me.
 
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