I hope Yoko doesn't sue me...

  • Thread starter Thread starter ChuckU
  • Start date Start date
I won't tell Yoko, promise!

Sonically, the best thing going here is those drums. They sound so fat and in your face. Made me kind of wish the vocals had that same thing going--right up there--dry and in the center of everything. This is one of those tunes where you could go kinda extreme and limit the guitars and vocals to get them loud and fat. I've been listening to Tom Petty's Echo and the new Chili Peppers disc a bit and thats the kind of thing I want to hear with this song, if you know what I mean.

Some creative ripping of the fab four here! I liked that stuff. You could turn John up a little too!

God bless real instruments. At the risk of sounding stupid, make everything except the drums louder and more up front.

Look, man--I gotta go--Yoko's knocking on my door...I hope she didn't hear this. I was cranking it pretty loud!
 
hey cool I got it... there are lines from beatles tunes.. ha

there are some timing issues (what is it with me and timing lately, maybe it's my internal clock :) ), and I agree with crawdad on on levels and vocals
cheers
 
Chuck - first of all, I like the song. I also think the intertwined Beatles stuff was very creative.

I agree with crawdad and fed about the drums not matching the vocals, but I have a completely different take on it. I think the drums (and the bass to a somewhat lesser degree) are way too up front and in your face. This, to me, is an acoustic song, and I want to hear the guitars and the vocals. In fact, I would actually like to hear this song without any drums at all (I'm not completely sure I'd like it that way, but I would like to hear what it sounds like). I guess what I'm saying is that I don't feel the sound/style of the drum fit the song. And I would cut the bass back a bit as well.

I love the guitar at 2:45, and I wanted to hear more of that. And I like the harmony in the 3:30 - 3:40 range. All in all a very nice job, but, as stated already, I would have mixed this more in an acoustic style. I also think you could have brought the overall volume of the mix up a bit, but I suspect the drums might have been limiting this.

Singer has an interesting voice. Did you sing this?

Also, I agree with crawdad's comment about John - although I'm not sure it's a volume issue. It's just not very clear in the mix.
 
okay... here comes honesty (hope it's not too brutal :D)

---(thick skin, grain-of-salt stuff)---
Bass sounds loud in the mix, snare seems way loud -- even seems a touch tubby (around 300 Hz), and there seems to be nothing above 4k on it, kick is loud too. Timing in the bridge seemed to lilt a bit -- bass and drums get unlocked a bit. Vocals seem a bit low in the mix. The main rhythm guit has a funny tone to it -- like it's slightly boosted at both 2.5k and 500 Hz or something. If you like that, then thumbs up :)

---(pats on the back)---
Very nice emotional singing, great bassline, good groove, nice dynamic between the verse and bridge. Great creative lyrics. "Tried to talk to Jesus/They said please stand by". Nice sample!!


Looking forward to more! :)


Chad
 
I haven't read the other comments yet..


cool tune.. I liked when the singer pushed his voice in the chorus parts.. I think this whole mix has one main problem, and it's that the drums are too loud.. I think if you lower the drums, it would make everything else sound better imhop.. mostly it's the snare and the toms.. Those guitars have to be heard better, and that will make the vocals and drums sound better (and will cover the minor drum clams I heard).. When that part comes in around 1:20 ish, that electric simply has to come up.. the vocals come up but the guitar wasn't there to enforce them..

cool tune though.. like those choruses.. needs a remix.
 
Thanks everybody.
Going in, I knew I had time issues. I plan to retake the acoustic when my 603's come in. I will mix again when my monitors come in this week, too.
The drums. Yeah. My first attempt at live drums so I got carried away...
Dachay,
Nope. Not me singing.

Participant,
Every snare hit is a rim shot because we absolutely could not get a decent sound out of it. It's mic'ed w/ a 57. We thought maybe using my Sennheiser 421 would be better. It was not. I will look into your eq suggestions, but I did a bit already. We don't use that snare anymore.

Sam,
You're right about pushing the singer. I've played with this guy for years and this is the most aggressive I've heard him sing. I got a B out of him.

Remix is coming...
 
Hey, realize you're dealing with a crowd...

that would tell Hendrix to remix Electric Ladyland.

==========

As for me, I thought it was a good song, done with great feeling, and I especially like those little hooks into the Beatles legend. That's a really great and unique use of Lennon's quote, and I think he'd be proud.

After a couple listens, I'll go one further, in that I thought it was a great song, done with great feeling, and the subtext of the theme and the Lennon quote makes it all that much more profound.

Honestly, I think Yoko would approve.;)
 
Your first attempt at recording drums? You are gonna make me cry...unless you tell me how you got this drum sound...which I can't get to save my life. Did I ever mention that live drums are my downfall and a plague to my pride?

C'mon now and give it up!
 
Reel Person,
Thank you. It seems you got what I was trying to get across from a songwriting standpoint. I think the critiques about the mix are valid, and though only a poor craftsman blames his tools, I think I'm outgrowing my Bose $69 bookshelf speakers. I'm hoping that when my monitors come in this week, I'll be able to get a better balance in the mix.

Crawdaddy,
You flatter me. The drums. Well, I think my room is good. That helps. We put 1" weather stripping inside each drum head in an x-shape. Don't know if it helped, but it looks good. Deadens ring.
Mics:
Snare - SM-57
Kick - Beta-52 (putting a front head on the kick was a big help) I put a 5" dia hole in it for the mic and set the mic 3" from the beater head, off axis on the floor tom side.
Rack tom - Cheap Peavey dynamic right between the toms.
Floor tom - Sennheiser 421
Overheads - Behringer ecm-8000's. One 18" over the ride, the other 18" over the crash. They are placed 5-6 feet apart. I've never had a phase problem (3 to 1 rule).

All mics direct to the mic pres on 2 Mackie 1202's. Out the inserts into my hardware interface (Delta 1010), then into Sonar.

I didn't use any compression or eq on the signal going into the computer.
Once inside the computer, I added a bit of reverb and eq to some of the drums (nothing on the overheads). No reverb on the kick. No compression at all. I'm sure I could use some, but I don't have confidence in my ability to use it properly, so I did a lot of fader automation. The toms are not gated, but the faders are set way back until they're hit. This adds focus on the snare.

Sorry about the long post. I'm still new at the drum stuff, so any other suggestions are appreciated.
 
good stuff!!!!

i think you have been covered with the mixing aspect(like i could help anyway:p )

but those drum's are phat!!!!!!!!!! nice sound.

very cool tune man!!! dug it!

thank's man

peace

rick
 
What an entertaining song! Great lyrics and great mix. I LOVE that real drum sound. No critism here, think I'll just sit back and enjoy......
 
Great song Chuck,I guess I'll put myself in the drums are too up front crowd. But other than that very cool.
BTW who are these Beatle guys everyone keeps refering to?;)
 
Good song-I was really struggling to hear the lead vocals-and the acoustic guitars too. I dont know whether those need to come up or the drums need to come down. I like the singers voice-sounds like you doubled the chorus parts-sounded good-If Yoko was there she would have been reaching for the drum faders I gaurantee it!

Strat


p.s. Leave me your avatar in your will please
 
The esses in the vocals ("S") sound weird. I guess you were using some kind of de-esser. The drums sound just fine to me. The mix sounds pretty good in general. The acoustic guitar is a little far back when all the other stuff kicks in. The timing at 2:30 something sounded a bit weird on the "fill". The song sounds good. I guess I'm not in a bad mood. Somehow I get a crispy sound out of all this. A fresh and crispy.
 
Acidrock, always good to hear from you, my man.

Stratomaster, here's the avatar full size.....

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=51311&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

The tough lyric to hear on the chorus is "When the truth shines its light on you, don't turn it all aside..." and yeah, John Lennon needs to come up, too.

Cranky, no de-esser, no compressor, no EQ. But I am using a delay plug-in. No 'verb either.

The drums too loud/just right debate is pretty even here. I admit I think I fell in love with them because it's a new thing for me. But I agree that in order to get the vocals/acoustic more up front, the drums need to come back.

Got my new monitors after I put this tune up. Big difference. Hopefully they'll lead to a better remix. Coming soon.
 
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