I promised you space pirates

  • Thread starter Thread starter VomitHatSteve
  • Start date Start date
Cool. Sounds great VHS. Still overall a little smallish and boxy sounding than I'd expect maybe, but the clarity is great as I can clearly make out all the parts throughout. That is a messed up rhythm, but you made it work well. It changes time signatures at one point there, doesn't it?

I like the reverse cymbal (?) sound, but found it, along with the cymbals throughout, to be maybe a tad loud.

The bass / kick interplay going on here is really cool.
 
reminds me of tom waits a bit. my brain cant quite figure it out atm, so i reserve the right to comment at a later time.
 
heatmiser said:
Cool. Sounds great VHS. Still overall a little smallish and boxy sounding than I'd expect maybe, but the clarity is great as I can clearly make out all the parts throughout. That is a messed up rhythm, but you made it work well. It changes time signatures at one point there, doesn't it?

I like the reverse cymbal (?) sound, but found it, along with the cymbals throughout, to be maybe a tad loud.

The bass / kick interplay going on here is really cool.
Click to expand...

Thanks! So how would you recommend addressing the boxyness?
I'll look in to turning the cymbals down. (That's rarely something I object to doing! :D ) Yes, that is a reversed crash. Good ear!
It stays 9/4 throughout, but it switches to triplets on the bridge, so it kind of feels like a 6/8. I wrote this operetta based starting from the riffs instead of starting from the melody like I normally do. It's been an interesting journey, but I think it's working out alright.

Tremaine said:
reminds me of tom waits a bit. my brain cant quite figure it out atm, so i reserve the right to comment at a later time.
Click to expand...

That's my first Tom Waits comparison, I think. Nice!
 
Yeah, I think the cymbals sound better now.

I guess what I mean by the boxiness is that it sounds like you tend to capture a lot of mid-rangey sounds from the drums to the bass, vocals and guitar. Sum them all up and you get a soundscape that is somewhat limited in its dynamic range. I dunno, I guess it just doesn't seem to contain any really low lows or higher highs. May just be me though. I've gotten used to it with your material and sort of adjust for that, and I also think there is a little less of that boxy quality with each recording you do.

My guess is that this comes more from the tracking stage as I somehow suspect that a dry mix of this stuff would still have that quality to it? I don't think it is so much of a mixing thing...anyway...

I don't mean to steer you off in the wrong direction or anything - that's just what I hear...I like the tune and the triplets still throw me off on that part :)
 
heatmiser said:
Yeah, I think the cymbals sound better now.

I guess what I mean by the boxiness is that it sounds like you tend to capture a lot of mid-rangey sounds from the drums to the bass, vocals and guitar. Sum them all up and you get a soundscape that is somewhat limited in its dynamic range. I dunno, I guess it just doesn't seem to contain any really low lows or higher highs. May just be me though. I've gotten used to it with your material and sort of adjust for that, and I also think there is a little less of that boxy quality with each recording you do.

My guess is that this comes more from the tracking stage as I somehow suspect that a dry mix of this stuff would still have that quality to it? I don't think it is so much of a mixing thing...anyway...

I don't mean to steer you off in the wrong direction or anything - that's just what I hear...I like the tune and the triplets still throw me off on that part :)
Click to expand...
Ok. I tend to mix for clarity as one of my primary goals. That may result in me EQing things a lot towards the middle.
Especially the bass. I find that boomy bass tends to get really loud in my mixes before I can discern what's going on. Especially in a song like this where the bass riff is played fast and requires that clarity.

PDP said:
Very creative, it really gets going towards the end, cool vocals. Really enjoyed it!
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
It sounds good for what it is. It's weird and quirky. It does sound small and thin though. I don't know what you actually want to sound like, so it's tough to give feedback.
 
Fuck this stuff is good Steve. I haven’t bothered to investigate your lyrics much, but what with the 9/4 (I will take your word on that) it has a beautifully subversive (and at the same time naive) sound. Very Very good.

I briefly read heatmiser's comments and I think he has a point. You do sound very tight and close/dry and boxy without much separation... perhaps that's your sound?

It is very good, but I think your vocal could really shine with a more spacious mix. The problem is that if I people like me say things like “get a rounder ringing sound on the bass, open up the drum sound, and look to higher octaves in some of the guitar parts” it might end up more destructive than constructive for the sound you are developing.

My advice is you should experiment with opening up your sound in the mix, but don’t let it fuck with your head.
 
Greg_L said:
It sounds good for what it is. It's weird and quirky. It does sound small and thin though. I don't know what you actually want to sound like, so it's tough to give feedback.
Click to expand...

In theory, I want it so sound very polished and professional, but I may be lying to myself about that. :D
Thanks!

Tobe said:
Fuck this stuff is good Steve. I haven’t bothered to investigate your lyrics much, but what with the 9/4 (I will take your word on that) it has a beautifully subversive (and at the same time naive) sound. Very Very good.

I briefly read heatmiser's comments and I think he has a point. You do sound very tight and close/dry and boxy without much separation... perhaps that's your sound?

It is very good, but I think your vocal could really shine with a more spacious mix. The problem is that if I people like me say things like “get a rounder ringing sound on the bass, open up the drum sound, and look to higher octaves in some of the guitar parts” it might end up more destructive than constructive for the sound you are developing.

My advice is you should experiment with opening up your sound in the mix, but don’t let it fuck with your head.
Click to expand...

So I should try to spread things out in the stereo channels a bit and move things away from the middle in the EQ then?

My voice is out, so I can't do the vox for the next couple songs. Might as well spend my free time trying new mixes of this! :D
I'll poke at it this evening and try to get something new up tonight.
 
Great performances. Loved the bass part and tone.

I would have gone for a different guitar sound - one with a little less upper-mid-ness to it. It would give the mix a little bigger sound.

I'm hearing distortion on something I wouldn't normally hear it. Is it on the drums? I'm hearing in the louder sections.

Great ending. Seriously.
 
TripleM - Thanks! Yeah, I've got some distortion on the drums. The main drums are pretty lo-fi, so there's some inherent distortion there. The randomized drum machine has intentional distortion added digitally.

OK. New version. I'll leave the old version up for a/b comparison.

Changes:
Bass moved farther left; lead guitar farther right.
Bass and Abomination have more low end.
Vocals have more high end.
 
Holy cow, this is one of the coolest things I've heard. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've ever heard anything in 9/4 time. I have no idea how you kept everything in tempo, but it seems like you managed very well. This truly does mess with your mind, in a good way.

Can you even get a click track to do 9/4 time?

The second mix sounds fuller and wider to my ears. I think the eq changes and panning adjustments were for the better.
 
Thanks, GZ!

Yeah, reaper lets you set your time signature to pretty much whatever you want. (when I do the drums, I set it to 12/4 at 12 times my normal tempo so the gridlines match up with anything up to 16th notes and triplets)

I kept in time with the click by practicing a lot! :D
 
Very cool, don't know if I've ever heard something in 9/4. The second mix definitely sounds bigger and better.
 
its a kinda mix between lo fi and normal fi ;)

the drums do sound boxy, but you know after a bit they become a bit of your signature sound...I dont know if Id pursue anything else with them...the vocals and guitar keep it floating above the total lofi mark just fine

all sounds suitably..odd..I think


good work Steve :)
 
VomitHatSteve said:
So I should try to spread things out in the stereo channels a bit and move things away from the middle in the EQ then?

My voice is out, so I can't do the vox for the next couple songs. Might as well spend my free time trying new mixes of this! :D
I'll poke at it this evening and try to get something new up tonight.
Click to expand...

If you plan to work on your mixes, get some benchmarks to use as references. Study some songs that you think have been mixed really well and suit your style. Use some frequency analysis tools to give you an objective view/comparison with your own mixes. This may provide some useful insight, but in the end go with what you subjectively enjoy.

You have an interesting sound. My opinion is your vocal is a bit too wide in this. I would prefer it to be more direct and own the centre on top of the bass and drums (the backup lines can be wide). Doing that might require some adjustment to the bass and drums... but it's just an opinion.
 
Totally cool Steve!
Yeah, the drums...but if that's what you're going for, then that's cool. They don't sound bad. Your recordings keep getting better.
 
Yeah I stopped trying to critique your stuff because I thought you wanted it to sound this way. I just listen cuz it's fun.

It's definitely not polished and professional. It's more garage punk lo-fi. If you want it better, you're gonna have to start with the drums. The drums completely make or break a home recording. Some people might disagree, but they're wrong. Do you hear any pro mixes with boxy, thin sounding drums? No. Get the drums sounding good first, and the rest is easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top