I Shivered In the Dark

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tjohnston

tjohnston

New member
Well here it is; my first post!
I’m pretty sure Ill be re-tracking this. So my question to you would be, “How could it be better?”

The gear:
Taylor
Sm-81
Rnp
Rnc
NTK
Adat
Mackie 1604

This was mixed down to a crap ass cd burner. Since my analog 2 track is in the shop. Criticism and comments are always welcome. Thank you
http://www.nowhereradio.com/timjohnston/singles
 
That first one's always the most nervewracking. :D

Cool tune and I like the minimilist approach. I find the recording to be a little 'dull'.....it needs some more sparkle to the guitar and the vox. First thing I would do though is try to lessen the amount of 'room sound' you're getting.....the vox and especially the harp are too distant sounding. Like maybe you're too far from the mic. Either you're using too much FX or you're too far from the mic so you hear the room echo far too much. Also, are you dbltracking the voice? If so, I'd turn one of them down just a little bit so it's not so apparent......just add enough to fill in the vox.
Lastly......I'd look at adding boosting the EQ just a little bit up around 5k or so......that would give you a bit more 'life' to the sound.

Nice first post man!
 
Thank a lot. Actually for the vocal Im right up on the mic. Its probably the reverb im using. (Vocal studio preset.) I guess I should shorten the decay.
 
You don't have to shorten it if you like the sound......just turn it down a bit.....a little more dry.
 
I liked your subtle guitar tone. The reverb on the vocals sounds good to me.
 
First of all, I love the song and the performance. Reminds me a lot of Greg Brown's stuff. Me like.

I'd agree that there's too much room on this one. I think this would really benefit from an intimate up-close sound and this kinda has that "I threw up one mic 5 feet away to catch everything" sound happening.

Damn, REALLY good song.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I'd ditch the verb preset (and all other presets) and work on getting a nice simple clear up front sound. I kinda like the "harp in a train station". Might keep that.

Awesome tune, man. Look forward to hearing more.

Chris
 
Music is such a special tonic for us all.
To be honest, after the first few arpeggiated chords you play, I was gonna turn it off. But I say to myself ... SUPPORT YOUR FELLOW board member ...

I want you to practice those first licks on the geetar padnuh. Develop some 'methods' to practice the movement of your hand to the next chord position. That's what needs practice, not the picking of the notes once you are IN position. Practice playing the chord, and then BEFORE you move your hand, move your hand in your mind and SING the notes you will pick BEFORE you move your hand, you will grow brain cells, you will get there quicker ? or ... you will simply get there. That's the key is getting there at the right time, not necessarily ... faster. The flow of your musical mind is much, much faster than your hand, and you have got to build up that speed first.

Many recordings I listen to on the board are a little unsure at first, but the performer gets in the groove, and starts doing better overall. And you do this. About 00:45, after you have sung the first half of the first verse things get better.

By the second chorus you are 'warmed up' and things are going very well.

And Groucho is right, this is a damn good 'song'. Good writing.

Hell, I like that harmonica playing in the distance ... like seeing Clint Eastwood come out of the mists ... BUT ... your vocal is very upfront, in the face, so there is a huge contrast here, probably to much, got to bring those things closer by taking some effect off the harmonica and EQ'ing the vocal in it's highs, less high.

Now at the end you do the same thing on those chords, and it's not your body that is slow here, it is your musical mind that needs speeding up. I find that I must sing the notes in my mind before I play them, even very, very fast runs on the fiddle, my brain plays them before my fingers do.

Cool effort dude, this song has a lot of promise, I look forward to hearing a re-tracking and re-mix ... or ... moving on to your next effort.

Oh yeah ... nice vox, you have a good voice, thanks for mixing it upfront where there is never any question what you are saying.

Please remember, listening to your fellow board members, and reviewing their work, and reading the reviews of others, to music you have listened to will help you in all things in your music.

WELCOME TO THE BOARD !
 
Damn! From one of the posts above, I was expecting to hear a harp! And it was just a harmonica, oh well. I agree with some of what Studioviols said. The finger noise at the beginning and the end is a little disconcerting. The solution is simple but a pain in the ass. Pick those fingers up, move your hand, and put them back down. Of course, everytime yo do that, you are given a new opportunity to screw up!
I agree with mixing up the harmonica just a little. You asked me in a PM about the guitar mic'ing. So how did you mic up the Taylor? I see you have an SM81, so I'm guessing that was involved.-Richie
 
The guitar was recorded with one mic at the 12 fret pointing a little in front of the sound hole and another the mic over the shoulder angled down at the bridge. Thanks to everyone who replied. Its very useful to know what how it sounds through someone else’s system and ears.


More to come, thanks
 
Nice enough song. I liked the guitar part - except for the stutter-stops. Very distinctive vocal sound - good job.

Mixwise the first thing I noticed was that the overall level was pretty quiet (that is until the doubled vocals came in).

I might suggest that when you bring in that doubled vocal part, pull back the fader on the doubled track. As it is, it gets real obvious that you've doubled it. I'd try to make it more subtle.

Little vocal syncing issue at 3:58.

The harmonica is pretty far back in the mix.
 
tim "tiny" johnson :eek: -

Sorry, man.. ratzo's fault on the "tiny" nickname thing ;)

Can hear something like a metronome WAY in the background as it counts in... nice, simple production... a short delay on the vocs.

Your style is similar to clinic member groucho's style...

There are sonic issues in this... some crispies/fuzzies going on...
song is kind of like "Rawhide" ... nice harp...

Sonic issues? Suggest some cleaner tracking right up front... gotta get rid of the fuzzies first... an arrangement as simple as this really doesn't have many MIX issues, and couldn't really potentially at all... it just comes down to levels, once everything is tracked well.

Very subdued, nice vibe... cool cowboy & campfire sound...


Chad
 
Simple mix--nice song

The words and the music are top notch! The execution needs a little work.

The intro was rough, The rest of the playing is much better. There is way too much room in the mix, as others have pointed out. The harp is also too far out in the mix. The harmonies are nice. The outro needs work to-playing is a bit rough.

This song has great potential. For a first post, it is great. Welcome aboard.
 
participant said:

Your style is similar to clinic member groucho's style...
Click to expand...
I agree - and groucho has a very cool style! So do you on this.
Nice stuff here. I like the natural sound. The guitar sounds real rather than the almost electric sound I often hear with acoustic. Good vocals. I wouldn't have done as much doubling - that detracts from the natural feel. But take that as a preference thing rather than a criticism. The harp may have been a little distant - maybe a little less reverb.
Great tune. Nice recording.
 
I like this song. Its real good. Props.

I also like the heavy reverb on the harmonica. I think if the guitar was dropped out a little more that harmonica was brought up, it would take the guitars place and change up the song in a good way for a breif moment.

This song makes me wish I had kept my Taylor insead of selling it for my Martin. What kind of Talyor is that?
 
Taylor 414 Grand auditorium. I starved a long time to get this. All right, back to the the studio. Thanks for your replies
 

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tjohnston,

The song and sound quality sound very good!

The eq and dynamics sound just about right in every sense.

The only nit pick I could offer is to only double track the vocals in the chorus and leave the verses as a single vocal. This would make the chorus stand out better and create more of a contrast between them.

The harmonica with the heavy, distant verb at the end sounded great!

Very nice first posting!

Cheers! :)
 
This is a nice song man. The guitar sounds nice to me, although I agree it could use a little sparkle.

Please post a remix when you are done. This song needs to be in my keepers folder. I like it.

You're voice sounds very good. I would ditch the effects (or tweak & lessen them) and let your voice come through. It sounds good.

Nice work on this.
 
Great song, definitely worth re-recording once you work out the timing issues mentioned above. I thought the voice sounded a little harsh/brittle, the comments on reverb and eq will solve that.

Try using a metronome or click track to reduce the stutter start/stop problems, or consider punching in those portions that are just too hard to play all in one take. I do it all the time!

Are you singing and playing at the same time? If so, record the guiatr first then overdub the voice.
 
Nice tune TJ. Other than mabey turning up the whole mix a little I think it's a good song. Good voice.
 
Nice guitar sound. I too, have found good results with recording guitar using the exact method you posted.

Question: Are you using any compression on the acoustic, either while tracking, or post-tracking?

Please bring the guitar up in the mix and bring it into the song eariler. The effect sounded cool, but I think I'd like it clean as well.

As far as the guitar playing - you sound pretty solid. I assumed the "awkward" spaces between chords during the intro were intentional.

Last but not least, I'm having problems with a lot of "S" sibilance (sp?) when recording my vocals? Especially when I'm up against the mic - as you claimed in one of your posts. What's your technique for avoiding that? What mic did you use for your vocal?

Enjoyed the tune.

[edit] - PS - I'm hearing some noise in the left speaker - I noticed during the intro guitar part - the noise is noticable as the guitar starts and it slowly fades away at the intro break - about 0:15. Is that MP3 crip-crap?

BPOCO
 
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