Idiot Kings - Better Half

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter Lancaster
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Peter Lancaster

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This is a song I recorded and mixed for a local band (Worthing, UK) recently. Please let me know what you think.



Myself and the band would appreciate your feedback.

Thanks, Pete.
 
I really like this tune.Im diggin the funky rhythm guitar....the vocals are good.I like the doubled parts in the chorus...the delay on the vocals sounds good too.......nice flanged solo...I like the subtle synth stuff at 3:39....nice distorted guitar after that break....it definetly gives the song some much needed high energy....The song has a nice hook to it.

2 thumbs up.
 
i like the guitarist.

i like the snare drum, but the guy isn't real consistent hitting it. sometimes the hits are real soft and sound out of place.
 
Thanks for the comments. The mix took a long time to do and I started not being able to hear whether it was good or bad, so I really appreciate what you've said. The band will be pleased, it's their favourite song at the moment.

I know that some of the drumming is a bit inconsistent, but the drummer is actually a jazz pianist and the band's keyboard player, not a drummer. The drums and bass on the song were recorded on the first take. If the band had more time things could have been done better, but they were recording three songs in two days and putting that many guitar parts on a song takes a bit of time.

Thanks, Pete.
 
I'm at work on headphones, so ........

First, good tune. I'm instantly reminded of a Robert Cray song .... early on, anyway.

Mix wise - Everything sits well, but, I'd like more compression .... everywhere. I personally like the mix more "out front". Everything is sitting back in your mix. Your mix gives this a "live" feel - perhaps that's what you were going for. I feel plenty of compression gives a recording a more polished feel - some say "fake" feel. That's just MHO. I know many on this board frown on lot's of compression.

Detected some distortion around 4:26 on the lead vox.

Besides vocal overdubs, was this pretty much recorded live?

BPOCO
 
Bpoco,
The band gave me two CD's to listen to when recording and mixing as a guide for their "sound". They were Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers and Versus - Pearl Jam. Both have a fairly live sound, so that was what I tried to give their recordings.

The drums and bass were recorded in one take. Everything else was recorded separately afterwards. The vocals were comped together from numerous takes done during the same recording session and a week later. The electric guitars were all recorded using a Line6 POD and using the POD effects. I have added no compression or reverb to the electric guitars in the mix, although I have used a bit of very short stereo delay (1ms left 2ms right) on the main rhythm guitar to spread it out around the vocals. This is partly because I find that the POD sounds are fairly compressed anyway, but also it does give it a fairly "live" sound. I also used the same reverb on the drums and acoustic guitar to help that "all playing together in a room" sound.

I haven't mastered the track yet because I'm still working on the mix with the band. They've asked me to change a few minor things. When I master it I'll see how it sounds with some overall compression. It may, as you said bring everything out a bit more.

The vocal distortion is used in several places - at about 3:00 and then again from 4:00 onwards. It is one of the guitar effects patches on the Roland VS-2480 used as a loop effect so that I could gradually increase the distortion and also keep some of the character of the undistorted vocal. Previously I have used the Tube Preamp setting on a POD or a TL Audio Fat-1 for vocal distortion, but I wanted something a bit rougher sounding this time and I also had fun adding a delay to it with a rather obscene amount of feedback.

Thanks for your comments, Pete.
 
Good sound Peter, I agree with a lot of the aforementioned comments (especially the good ones but also the 'bad' ones, about lack of compression and distortion).

I don't like the b-string on the guitar though....hehehe just kiddin' :D

Well, there is something you can't do anything about: the singer's intonation...it's baaaaaaaad (if Anthony Kiedis is his hero, that would explain a lot). Makes it quite difficult to listen to for me...I would almost consider using an........autotuner (can't believe I just said that ;) )
 
Pedullist,
You're not the first person to notice John's intonation. He's not happy about the vocals either. He's currently re-recording them at his house, in his own time, on Cubase. When he's finished I'll import them into the VS-2480 and re-mix it.

Unfortunately I haven't got an autotuner, but there's been more than one occasion when it would have been useful. However I always find singing in tune in the first place to be preferable to trying to fix it afterwards. Sometimes you can spend more time trying to fix something than it would take to record it properly.

Thanks, Pete.
 
I kind of like the tune. Except for maybe the lyrics - kind of a "well used" lyrical basis. I liked all the guitars a bunch. Good tone to them all. Good parts too. The flanged solo worked well.

The vocals had a little pitchiness as has been mentioned. I thought they also lacked a little presence. Just a little bit, but they sounded just slightly muffled. Sounded as if they clipped when the singer drove hard in a couple of spots. The doubling was real good.

A few "stutter steps" on the drums. The snare sounded cool though.

Little pops at: :55, 4:45, 4:47, and 4:50

But again, real good music.
 
TripleM,
I agree about the vocals lacking some presence. I've found that the AKG C4000B combined with the VS-2480 mic pre amps is not particularly clear sounding. I've just started using an SPL Mike Man pre amp and an ART DI/O and it sounds like I've taken a sock off the microphone.

The snare was close miked with an AKG D409 which has quite a clear and detailed sound which works well to pick up the ring of a high tuned snare. The snare's also picked up a lot by the overheads - two AKG C3000.

The pops are due to the crappy way I transfered the track from the VS-2480 to my computer. They aren't on the original. Hopefully within a week or two I'll be a able to transfer songs without such problems courtesy of an M-Audio Audiophile USB.

Thank you very much for your comments they are hugely appreciated.

Pete.
 
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