Hat in the ring

  • Thread starter Thread starter BroKen_H
  • Start date Start date
The ending just kind of walks off into oblivion...not happy with that. The first chorus has decent harmony, not so much the other two (as well the bridge). Need to retrack some vocals when I get more voice.

Anyone like the revamped bass line or my new attempt at 18/2x10 biamp sound?

Needs something in the gap after the stop.
 
BroKen_H,
I think this is your strongest song yet. It has mix/part problems BUT it has more commitment and rock much more than usual. It seems to sit in your register better as well. Keep at it because the song is a good one. It could, very easily, be secularized.
 
Thank you Ray. Really appreciate your confidence in my song. :)
Now comes the hard part. Lot of my songs, I like, but I'm not real happy with. This one is fun and I'm not getting tired of playing or hearing it. Time to get serious and get the parts done right.
 
Agree, you really upped your game on this one and the difference between the first mix and this one is remarkable. The chorus has a nice hook to it with the harmonies. The blend between the guitars and keys is better, but may still need a little tweaking. The drums sound better but at times you can still hear some issues especially the crashes. They may sound better if you just bring them down in the mix.

Again, good job, its coming along. Keep working at it
 
I think I may blush. Thanks Bruthish. I want to have this Whitesnake kind of vibe to the guitar/string sound, and I just can't quite nail it. Maybe if I could get David to do the vocals...
 
I listened on headphones, mix sounded good.

For that stop, I would use some sort of drum count in to start it back up or just a measure of some drum/cymbal roll. One take much to fill it up, but it would need to be longer than what it is. Work the vocals a few more times and I think you have it pretty well nailed.
 
I listened on headphones, mix sounded good.

For that stop, I would use some sort of drum count in to start it back up or just a measure of some drum/cymbal roll. One take much to fill it up, but it would need to be longer than what it is. Work the vocals a few more times and I think you have it pretty well nailed.

:) Having lunch with the family (they've all got their noses in tablets at the moment), then have to work till 1 AM. Promised the wife I'd take her to Fayettenam tomorrow, so probably next wee before I see the thing again, but that gives my voice and ears a bit of rest. Just listening to Christmas rock today. (Kutless, Downhere, Fee, Elle Zamudio, etc.)
 
The vocals sound a bit compressed and boxed in. I have a slight problem with the drums being out of sync aswell. Overall I think the mix is good and that should keep rockin'!

With love
 
The vocals sound a bit compressed and boxed in. I have a slight problem with the drums being out of sync aswell. Overall I think the mix is good and that should keep rockin'!

With love

Thanks for the listen! Working on it. :) Funny about the vocals...the ONLY compression is 1.5:1 on the bus. Can't see how that could be over compressed. (I did do a lot of manual volume adjustment...maybe too much).
 
Ozzie-ish sound to the verse vocals, they sound a little too 'airy' - they don't sit in the mix as good as they could because of this. The hand-muted cymbal or half-open/closing hi-hat on the right side is annoying to me because it seems to be 100% panned, like it isn't being played by the drummer as the rest of the drums sound centered.
 
Yeah sounds like you have a lot going on there. At that point, I would build the best kit I could in the Alesis module, and record direct and leave out the midi altogether. Less options in the mixing stage without midi I know, but sounds like your having a heck of a time trying to play along and record with such a delay. I know I couldn't do it.

Can't you monitor the audio outputs of your electronic kit directly (using the mix control on your audio interface) while silently sending the MIDI data to a track to record? Then if you see a consistent lag, you can just slide the whole MIDI clip.
 
Sorry for losing track of this thread. I'm just hearing the developed song, and hope it's the most recent version. Quite an amazing progression from the early draft you posted originally. I like it. Timing seems tighter though it could be tighter still. You seem to lose your bearings coming off the fills. Perhaps focus on keeping the basic beat solid and cheat on the fills (overdub or edit them in by hand later?).

I would like to hear more bass. My biggest critique is still the guitars. It sounds like you're doing this steady power chording groove that doesn't vary much. The guitars are pretty much always on, not much change in tone or feel. It's gives the song a plodding feel that it needn't have. Maybe some variation in the groove, or a good riff, or go cleaner and leave some air in the mix?
 
Ozzie-ish sound to the verse vocals, they sound a little too 'airy' - they don't sit in the mix as good as they could because of this. The hand-muted cymbal or half-open/closing hi-hat on the right side is annoying to me because it seems to be 100% panned, like it isn't being played by the drummer as the rest of the drums sound centered.

Thanks! I'll have a look at the panning on the hat. That would mean sitting down and re-doing the drums entirely (which might be a decent idea). It took a lot of work to figure out how to do this the way I did...reading down, I think Robus has the answer. AND, this is the last time I record directly into Reason from Reaper. What a pain. I'll just record it in Reaper while Reason plays, then import the tracks. Didn't try any choked cymbals, so it must all be the same.

So, if I read the first line correctly, I need to do an 8-10k shelf with some cut on the vocals? You're not the first person say I sound Ozzie-ish. Not sure it's a compliment, but he makes a lot more money singing than I do...:)
 
Sorry for losing track of this thread. I'm just hearing the developed song, and hope it's the most recent version. Quite an amazing progression from the early draft you posted originally. I like it. Timing seems tighter though it could be tighter still. You seem to lose your bearings coming off the fills. Perhaps focus on keeping the basic beat solid and cheat on the fills (overdub or edit them in by hand later?).

I would like to hear more bass. My biggest critique is still the guitars. It sounds like you're doing this steady power chording groove that doesn't vary much. The guitars are pretty much always on, not much change in tone or feel. It's gives the song a plodding feel that it needn't have. Maybe some variation in the groove, or a good riff, or go cleaner and leave some air in the mix?

Thanks man. I'm hearing what you're saying. I'm going to spend a lot of time retracking MOST of this. The drums (see below), the guitars (as you say...too much drive, not enough variance), already did the bass, and a lot of the vocals. Just got phase III done and now know how I want the song laid out. I'll post that up here in the next few days. After fixing the stop and setting the end to loop the bridge as a fade, I think I'm ready to actually track the song. :)

Can't you monitor the audio outputs of your electronic kit directly (using the mix control on your audio interface) while silently sending the MIDI data to a track to record? Then if you see a consistent lag, you can just slide the whole MIDI clip.

Yeah, I've decided not to do the in/out stuff anymore. It worked great for Amplitube, but a stereo track for drums left me with no room for correction as I wasn't recording in Reaper, just passing the information. Can't fix a lot of the timing problems, can't fix the panning if I got it wrong...just need to record the midi in SSD in Reaper while the song plays (possibly just export the audio as is now as a ref track).
 
Okay, new link at the top and here.
Looped a fade out.
Worked out the swirly in the vocals (phase inversion)
Retracked bass and some vocals
Feedback and drum roll added to stop

 
Ouch. I hear the changes, for example the drum roll at the stop. In terms of the overall sound, this is a big step backward. It sounds like you've boosted and compressed things excessively. The result is harsh and lacking in dynamics, problems I didn't hear in the previous version. Whatever you did had a particularly not-nice effect on your cymbals. Sounds like an example of death-by-mastering, a disease that is rampant here at the Clinic.
 
Ouch. I hear the changes, for example the drum roll at the stop. In terms of the overall sound, this is a big step backward. It sounds like you've boosted and compressed things excessively. The result is harsh and lacking in dynamics, problems I didn't hear in the previous version. Whatever you did had a particularly not-nice effect on your cymbals. Sounds like an example of death-by-mastering, a disease that is rampant here at the Clinic.

Interesting...didn't change a single setting on the compress/limit bit. Didn't add any compression on any channel. Thanks for the que, I'll look at it.
 
Okay, I had a look. This is the LEAST compression I have ever used on a song. So it def shouldn't be overcompressed...
Drums: I have a C1-L1 @ 4:1 on the snare. I have an Basic 8:1 on the kick. No other.
Bass: C1-L1 @ 7:1 with -40 threshold :eek: (OK, I'm fixing this. It was completely compressed :))
Guitars: 0, none nil. Just what the amps are providing.
Vocals: 3:1 C1-L1 with minimal threshold, just to level when harmonies hit.
Buss: Basic 1.4:1 to level out peaks (never hits 3dB on the meter) Pulled the 1176 on the master bus out, and it does sound better.

Thanks Robus. :)
 
I listened to "phase II".

Wow that thing is squashed. It's limited to the point of considerable distortion.

The bass is very loud.

The vocals sounded pretty good to me. Nice harmonies.

I didn't care much for the guitar tone. They get covered by just about everything else.
 
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