I need fresh ears......

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guernica
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Guernica

Guernica

Active member
Hi folks,
I know that no one likes to hear unfinished work, but i could use a fresh ear. Ive already put way too much time into this and i need some perspective. I use an 8 track recorder, so before i bounce this to make room for vocals and some more guits, I would appreciate any and all opinions on mix, drums, levels,etc.......Thanks very much in advance...... g



http://www.nowhereradio.com/guernica/singles

"unconditional" ruff basic
 
Just listened and I'll try and explain a couple things that stood out.

The (egg shaker?) and light cymbal in the center and on the left had alot of soft sizzle on them in the intro. Maybe less sizzle would be better. The pan sweep on the git picking in the intro was kinda cool but, I felt a degree of unbalanced stereo. The right side seemed to want a counterpart for the percusion and (gits?).

I'm trying not let my ears make an ass out of myself ( a huge anatomic undertaking!).

I listen again and try and expound.

Everything sounds like it was tracked very solidly!:) Is that a synth bed in there as well?

Theron.
 
Damn nice ruff mix! To my ears everything is sitting nicely, and will support vocals well. I listened closely to find anything out of place, and all I could come up with is that the crashes are a little uncrispy...what I mean is, they wash out a bit.
I love the sound of the acoustic, and the possibilities for vocal melody are many. Bass is laying in nicely, and the cello sounds are warm and melodic.
Wish I could give a more technical critique, but I always listen for the emotional integrity of a piece, and this one is definitely moving. Fine writing and playing. I really look forward to what you'll do with it as far as lyric and melody.
Strong piece, man.

Mark
 
Fine piece, my man! My hands were cramping just listening to those guitar chordings! :D Nice guitar work, bro... Bass guitar is well done (as usual!); you get a great tone with that preamp... The only thing that stood out to my ears was the cymbals. They sound like splashes, with their short decay (intentional?). But that's not a bad thing, just a preference issue. How do the medium crashes sound on the 770? Looking very forward to the final mix, because I know your vocal will tie everything together very nicely! Did you record that acoustic track with your 'new' mic? Great work to these ears!:D
 
Hey guys,
.......thanks for taking the time.....

theron- I agree with you regarding the excess sib. on the shaker at the beginning..... I'll get into the 770 and try to warm that up a bit. Im not sure what you meant about the acc. right side needing a counterpart.... are you refering to it being to thin or.......? thanks alot for the help bro:)

mkg -like i mentioned, Im using a 770 for drums/perc. and unfortunately the cymbals.......well......suck. I cut the crashes back a little because when they are too upfront they sound wayyyyy canned. I'll mess w/ the eq on em a little more and see what i can do. I appreciate your writing standpoint. I do that myself. By the way, there are no synth parts in this song.....its all guits. I used a gate and a chorus to get that cello like sound. thanks much for the listen.
 
hey caretaker.....
Im glad you tuned in.... you's got some powerful ears:) Like i mentioned to theron and mkg..... the cymbals on this thing suck. I never considered stringing out the decay though...good point, im gonna mess with that. ........yup, thats the nt1000 on one channel of acc., the other is direct (piezo). .....damn, working with that mic is alot different than the old shitty dynamic i have been using. When guys complain about being able to hear their harddrives......i thought that was a good thing....whew. thanks brother:D
 
Well I like the hell out of it. ;) Nice feel to this. The crash cymbals really do suck. The ride and sock sound passable but those crashes.............shudder. Hopefully they'll get covered some when you've added the other tracks to it. Or better yet............take em' out (if that's possible) and use something else. They might get covered though if you can;t replace them.

As for the tune.....I can't wait to hear what you do with it. The structure is very nice and I'm sure you've got some idea of where you're going with this.....I look forward to watching it grow. :)
 
off to a cool start.. Let me ask you something, do you use the virtual tracks on the 788? It shouldn't be a problem to remix as long as you use the v.t.'s..

nice feel.. I'm not crazy about the crash cymbals.... by that I mean I hate them. :D You should lower them..

Lots of room for stuff in this one.. it seems like an easy one to sing and solo over.

nice tune so far, keep us posted on its progress..


late
sam
 
Hey Guys,

Lt. Bob - Yea man, I know. Those damn crashes dooooo suck. Im thinking about borrowing my nephew's Zild. crash cymbal and throwing them in there live. I guess i kind of got used to them... Im glad you guys are bringing me back around to crash cymbal reality:D Ive got the lyrics done.... It's a schmaltzy love song that i wrote for my wife a few years back. Im sure im gonna get flamed for it..... but i deserve it:D thanks for listening, I always look forward to your point of view.

Sami- I do use the VT's, but i dont think ive used them in the way that I think you are implying. Are you suggesting bringing back the tracks after the bounce is made,and other tracks are put down? I'll have to think about that one. It seems like something would get lost in there somewhere....... (mmmmm). Im gonna have to do some experimenting.... Thanks a million for the listen bro.

Cyan Jag.- I dunno what might have happened... maybe a NWR blurb..... I hope you can get it though, I would love to hear your take on this. Thanks man.
(Im looking forward to mxmkr's suggestions..... dont worry bro, I can take it:D )
 
The recording is nice and clear. Very nice tune, begging for vocals. You already know the drum machine cymbals are less than cool. I frequently use drum machine drums and play in real cymbals. It makes a big difference. Very good start.
 
Nice song. Nice chord progression. I like the tone on the acoustic. I also really liked the tone you got on the bass. I wish I could listen to it on a good pair of speakers.

The shaker was a little high in the mix. I guess the crashes bugged a bit, but probably not as much as it did to some others.
 
Guernica said:
I do use the VT's, but i dont think ive used them in the way that I think you are implying. Are you suggesting bringing back the tracks after the bounce is made,and other tracks are put down? I'll have to think about that one. It seems like something would get lost in there somewhere.......
Click to expand...


hey G, this is what I do..

say I have stereo keys on 1 and 2, stereo guitar on 3 and 4, and stereo drums on 5 and 6, I bounce them to 7 and 8.. Then I label the tracks.. I then put the 7 and 8 mix on tracks 5 and 6.. then put empty tracks on 1234 and 78.. I add stereo solos on 1 and 2, more guitar on 3 and 4, and bounce 1 thru 6 onto 7 and 8 again because what was bounced to 7 and 8 is now on 5 and 6.. So that's 10 tracks on 7 and 8 now.. I just keep repeating it and labeling the tracks.. This way if I have to remix, as long as it's labeled I might not have to start the remix from scratch if the first bounce was good.. I'm sure you probably knew all this already but that's how I do it and it makes remixing waaaay easier so I dont mind doing it.. The main thing is to label the virtual tracks.. If you enter the words into the 788 word library, you can just select them easily from the word choices.. I made my own.. Mix 1 left, Mix 1 right etc..

So nothing gets lost if you label things.. :cool:

BTW, could you stop calling me Sami, my name is Sam.. :D :D
 
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Hey guys,

Track Rat- thanks for the listen. I think youre right regarding the live cymbals. Now its just a matter of getting my tight-ass little nephew to let go of his crash for a day or so:D

Triple M-Thanks for the listen and the helpful ears.

SAM - .....sorry man, sami was supposed to be a cute abreviation for samicide.....not so cute eh:mad: ?:p ! :D Actually, Ive never used the VT's that way, and i can see why it would be VERY useful. .....Im off to label my tracks. Thanks for the tip man :D
g
 
Well, the cymbals issue has been well covered. Apart from that, this sounds very very nice. There's one moment where you might find the bass clashing with vocal, but it's hard to say right now. It just seems to rise above normalcy for a few notes...
listening again...yeah...1:00 through 1:05. Other than that I think this sounds fucking great! Great bass tone too. I really love the acoustic chords and tone. Nice color! Looking forward to the vocal track. Had a few melodies kicking around in my head as I was listening, so it will be cool to hear what you do. Good luck man!
 
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Nice song. Very relaxing pattern to it all.

Definetly use some more verb on that side-stick. Yes the cymbals do indeed suck. :) They are a bit loud as well, so that might make the crummy sample quality stick out that much more. Panned hard/left doensn't help them either, try bringing them in and dropping their volume.

The kick is really, hard to describe - too focused. Maybe try a different patch. It's close though.

The shaker thing is kind of odd. Jumps out a bit, but not terribly distractive, maybe a little lower in volume.

Love the guitar sounds. Vocals will make this tune.

Nice job.

oh yeah, I'd drop the hi-hat at 2:38 and bring it back at 2:54, add a bit 'o' tension.
 
Really nice tune!
Sweet chord progression.

I've been doing the same thing with my acoustic,2 tracks,one direct and the other with a condenser.
Sounds like mabey you could bring the mic track up or lower the pickup track,to warm up the acoustic a little.

Really good pickin!

Looking foward to hearing the vocals.

Best to you,
Pete
 
Hi Folks,



sLuiCe- Thanks for listening.......The point you made about the bass line at around 1:05 messing with the vocal part is a good one. Im going to bring that part down.

Emeric- Hey man, the verb on the side stick is all maxed out.... I agree with you, but this damn drum machine doesnt:mad: I could put the stick out of an individual output, but that may be getting into more hassle than its worth. Theron mentioned that overly bright shaker too..... im gonna try and warm that up with eq. .......and consider that hi-hat section dropped!!! Thanks a bunch for the ear bro.

muzeman- I think i know what you mean regarding the direct acoustic signal being too loud. Im not sure if its actually the level or maybe a little hot in the high mids? Sounds a little brassy to me at certain points. Im not sure exactly where......
thanks for the listen man...... (ps- Ive been meaning to ask you.....what is that avatar? ...I like what i see, im just not sure what im looking at:D )
 
fresh ears

maybe in the literal sense, i know im slowly becoming the" your stuff rocks"guy, but i feel im not capable enough yet.

sooooooo YOUR STUFF ROCKS!!!!!!!

and you call this rough,damn , it just sounds so clean to me.
the recording and the playing . this is the first time iv'e heard your stuff, and im looking forward to more.


peace

rick
 
oh yeah

i read about your dog down at the cave, man that's rough. im very close to my dog's, so i know it hurts.

i hope everything 's alright.

regards

rick
 
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