i know my mixes are bad but...

  • Thread starter Thread starter kidkage
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kidkage

kidkage

Bored of Canada
that's why im posting this in here and not the mixing clinic ;) :o.

I was hoping to get some feedback on some of my songs.
monolith.
There's a music player on there to the right of the page in a big box.
I would love and appreciate feedback.
(They are rough demos, so i would like to ask you to consider song quality and not sound quality. If you want you can imagine that the quality is great :p)
Any questions like : What guitar did you use? Why do your drums sound like bitter ass? or Can I get some lyrics? are welcomed and invited

P.S.- If you dont want to deal with the website, in my signature there are links you can follow to listen on other sites, but I know how our community feels about YouTube :laughings:
 
You should really post it in the mixing clinic... I have heard much worse. you will get the exact feedback your asking for in the cinic
 
Sigh...

The songs are potentially quite good, and I guess that's why you're posting it here rather than the clinic.

Unfortunately the playing, sounds used, recording of sounds used, mixing and mastering all have major problems in various places. But that's OK... it's a demo, right?

But the singing.... man, hate to be the one to tell you, but it's bad. Sorry. I'm assuming you're the vocalist here.

Could I suggest you play the song on a single cleanish guitar, record it, then sing the song, record that, then listen and work on the vocals.
 
Armistice said:
Sigh...

The songs are potentially quite good, and I guess that's why you're posting it here rather than the clinic.

Unfortunately the playing, sounds used, recording of sounds used, mixing and mastering all have major problems in various places. But that's OK... it's a demo, right?

But the singing.... man, hate to be the one to tell you, but it's bad. Sorry. I'm assuming you're the vocalist here.

Could I suggest you play the song on a single cleanish guitar, record it, then sing the song, record that, then listen and work on the vocals.
Click to expand...

Thanks :D
there is no mastering.

Now the singing - I have been waiting for negative feedback to know where to improve-
what would you say is wrong with the singing? the voice, the mix, levels, technique, lyrics, melody, what?
and could you help me out by addressing the other major problems?
 
Pitch control is the first thing I'd tackle. You waver a bit, actually a lot, in various places. That's why I suggest listening to yourself against a simple recording. Easier to highlight where you're going off key.

Other things I'd suggest are that you're singing a lot of extended vowel sounds - it's on those extended sounds that your pitch control is most obviously going awry. People singing long notes often introduce a vibrato as it makes it sound better. Learn that skill.

Also, you sound like you're singing quite loud and your voice sounds strained. If you're really only 17 and haven't had any major singing training or experience, then your voice may not yet have developed enough to get away with this style of singing. This might sound strange, but try keeping your voice towards the back of your throat and singing with less volume... you might get closer to what you're after.

Got to do some work now so that's all I can write for now. Keep at it, and seek second opinions... I'm hardly a singing teacher! :D

And if you are 17 - life is long - you'll have so much time to sort this all out. I'm envious of the opportunity. Just stick with it. :drunk:
 
Armistice said:
Also, you sound like you're singing quite loud and your voice sounds strained. If you're really only 17 and haven't had any major singing training or experience, then your voice may not yet have developed enough to get away with this style of singing. This might sound strange, but try keeping your voice towards the back of your throat and singing with less volume... you might get closer to what you're after.
Just stick with it. :drunk:
Click to expand...

That singing with less volume does help :D
Someone told me the takes that I call my "lazy while i was eating takes" sound better than my real takes.
I now understand that that's because i wasnt yelling at the mic.
and i do strain a lot :( i wish i could find out how to not do that and be more free

thanks so much for your advice
 
since you can't close it I will bump it up to the top for no reason whatsoever.


I took some vocal lessons - there are several on the internet free - check youtube

I can't sing very well - but I can sing better than I could a year ago :)
 
Been out sitting on the fence at night with the rest of the tom cats? :D
 
I listened to the first half of the song. Overall I liked it and wish I sounded that good at 17!

The guitar was good and reminded me of Nirvana's first album. I think it was the best recorded of the instruments.

There were some places where the bass didn't seem to be in time.

Structurally, I think it takes too long to get to the lyrics (I clocked it at about 1 minute). You'll need to cut that by 3/4 to get on the radio. Also, the chorus is too repetitive. There needs to be some dynamic in either what you sing or the music in the background.

Definitely stick with it, and good luck!

Dave
 
Dave46239 said:
Structurally, I think it takes too long to get to the lyrics
Click to expand...

Thanks and welcome to the site Dave :drunk: (daves are pretty famous around here)

I've actually been trying to decide lately whether or not I should cut the acoustic intro out of the song and just come in at the over driven part.
Or maybe try to shorten it. :confused:
 
Ok . . . I'll jump in now, seeing as the thread is still open.

My first thoughts are that the basic ingredients for a good sound are there, but that there is still a fair way to go in getting those ingredients to work together nicely.

You asked for song quality, rather than sound quality, but in a way they are inseparable.

The four main ingredients for a good result are:

quality of writing
quality of performance
quality of recording
quality of mixing

Each of these is skill that is not mastered easily and requires considerable work, and to be able to nail all four so early in your career would be most remarkable.

Your playing is competent, your singing is a bit hazardous (but no worse than many others), and you've made a good start here.

If you are not so concerned (at this stage) about the quality of sound, then your next step should be to focus on the quality of your writing. Here you need to develop skills that result in songs that are engaging lyrically and musically: they need to grab the attention of a listener, and keep their attention. This is an artful mix of repetition and originality. Ask yourself this question: "why would someone choose to listen to this rather than something else?" The answer to that question will suggest directions you could pursue.
 
gecko zzed said:
Ok . . . I'll jump in now, seeing as the thread is still open.

My first thoughts are that the basic ingredients for a good sound are there, but that there is still a fair way to go in getting those ingredients to work together nicely.

You asked for song quality, rather than sound quality, but in a way they are inseparable.

The four main ingredients for a good result are:

quality of writing
quality of performance
quality of recording
quality of mixing

Each of these is skill that is not mastered easily and requires considerable work, and to be able to nail all four so early in your career would be most remarkable.

Your playing is competent, your singing is a bit hazardous (but no worse than many others), and you've made a good start here.

If you are not so concerned (at this stage) about the quality of sound, then your next step should be to focus on the quality of your writing. Here you need to develop skills that result in songs that are engaging lyrically and musically: they need to grab the attention of a listener, and keep their attention. This is an artful mix of repetition and originality. Ask yourself this question: "why would someone choose to listen to this rather than something else?" The answer to that question will suggest directions you could pursue.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback :)

I guess I'm just lost in general about things. The writing and other things I know can work on. But what I'm bothered most about is the singing. I don't even know where to start. At first I didnt want to sing at all. But I want to now. I developed the confidence to go for it, but am frustrated to not be able to do what I want to.
I want to fix it though to be able to sing how I want to. The biggest problem I encountered during recording was during the choruses. I wanted to make them louder, but couldn't and I dont know why :confused:, I guess probably because I was already loud on the verses. Mainly in The Cleansing.

I don't know.

Again, thanks for all the help people
 
kidkage said:
But what I'm bothered most about is the singing. I don't even know where to start. At first I didnt want to sing at all. But I want to now. I developed the confidence to go for it, but am frustrated to not be able to do what I want to.
I want to fix it though to be able to sing how I want to. The biggest problem I encountered during recording was during the choruses. I wanted to make them louder, but couldn't and I dont know why :confused:, I guess probably because I was already loud on the verses.
Click to expand...
P~P~P~Practice.
 
17, huh? Are you still in high school? If so, I'd highly recommend joining chorus (assuming that your school isn't so large that you have cutthroat tryouts). That's a good way to get some basic singing lessons with a real teacher. The pitchiness of the vocals, I'd say, is the biggest problem. Don't forget to sing from the diaphragm (stomach). That will go a long way to helping you not go flat.

Performance of the other instruments is a bit of an issue as well. Record to a click track, and keep doing new takes until it's perfect. (There may come a time in your career when you want raw, flawed, or lo-fi recordings, but you want to learn how to do it straight first.)

As to tone, move your mics around. Try different things. Try every combination of equipment you have to get the absolute best tone you can out of each instrument. (You can work on this at the same time as you're practicing for that perfect take above.) Then do a simple mix of those without too many fancy bells and whistles.

If you can pull that off, you should have a pretty solid demo.

Then, in two years, you'll listen to those recordings, absolutely hate them, and do new ones that are marginally better.

Repeat this process every two years or so until you die and/or give up.

Congratulations! You're a home recorder!
 
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