Jay - Metronome and Color Blind

[skinneejoe]

Hey All, please critique these recordings. It's my music and I'm new(ish) to this so please keep that in mind. Any suggestions to improve overal sound are appreciated!

 

[skinneejoe]

Anyone? Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[aaronmcoleman]

metronome sounds cool. I'd bring the electric guitars down some, or the drums up a little during the verse part. good vocal performance. overall i think the recording was done well, it's just the mix that needs some tweaking.

color blind - was the acoustic DI? not a big deal because it's not a big part of the song. your mixes are pretty dense, with a lot of big sounds. i'd recommend either choosing which one you want to be prominent and EQing space for it, or EQing some space for all of them with the others.

 

[skinneejoe]

@aaronmcoleman
Cool thanks for the feedback! I do enjoy the really full sound in a song, but I'll look into what I can do to EQ things a little better. Any suggestions? Do I just basically make sure each sound is more prominent in a specific frequency? Also, not sure what DI means, but the acoustic was by design sort of paying homage to the fact that this was an acoustic song originally. But if it seems out of place it's obviously easy to remove.

 

[skinneejoe]

Actually I think I found a nice article that explains EQ'ing with some good illustrations. I haven't actually read it yet (I will tonight) but it looks promising so I thought I'd share for anybody else who comes across this:

Getting Your Mix to...mix, Part One, EQ as event security. - Mixing and Multitracking - Home Recording Studio Help

 

[TheChikenMaster]

in metronome. I feel like the drums can use more life, ambiance. The guitar in the center in the beginning is a bit too dry and etchy for me. And maybe smooth out the stereo guitars. Otherwise, I like the vox, Tight song.

 

[skinneejoe]

@TheChickenMaster

I feel like the drums can use more life, ambiance.

Do you think a little verb would help then?

The guitar in the center in the beginning is a bit too dry and etchy for me.

I'm new to this and not sure what options I would have to resolve this... any suggestions are appreciated.

And maybe smooth out the stereo guitars.

Not sure how to resolve this either.... thanks for your help!

Otherwise, I like the vox, Tight song.

Lastly, thanks I appreciate it!

 

[TheChikenMaster]

yeah verb the drums for sure. And Maybe for the guitars high pass, lightly compress and verb them.

 

[skinneejoe]

Thanks I'll give it a shot!

 

[aaronmcoleman]

@aaronmcoleman
Cool thanks for the feedback! I do enjoy the really full sound in a song, but I'll look into what I can do to EQ things a little better. Any suggestions? Do I just basically make sure each sound is more prominent in a specific frequency? Also, not sure what DI means, but the acoustic was by design sort of paying homage to the fact that this was an acoustic song originally. But if it seems out of place it's obviously easy to remove.

it's cool to keep everything in there and get a huge sound. i really like that stuff. but, each instrument needs to be a little more distinct. what I do is figure out which instruments I want to be most prominent then I find what frequencies sound the best on those instruments, then cut 3-5db of that frequency from the others that are stepping on it.

For example...the snyths and guitars are getting in the way sometimes, so cut the synths at the frequency you want the guitars to shine in, and maybe boost the synths a little in frequencies above the guitar...make sense? then they both have their own space and sound great and huge and distinct.

also, panning does a lot to help.

oh, and DI means direct input...i.e. did you just plug the acoustic into the preamp, or did you mic it? DI sounds kinda honky and less natural, micing is almost always the better option.

 

[skinneejoe]

@aaronmcoleman
Makes plenty of sense, thanks for your help!

oh, and DI means direct input...i.e. did you just plug the acoustic into the preamp, or did you mic it? DI sounds kinda honky and less natural, micing is almost always the better option.

Got it. No it was mic'd I believe, but I think I mic'd my amplifier instead of just mic'ing the guitar itself. I found out later it sounds better if I just mic the guitar. Of course my mic is pretty crappy (and will likely stay that way since I have no budget) but it seems to do well enough for my purposes.

 

[skinneejoe]

@FoulPhil
Don't know you well enough to know how to take this comment... but it's certainly not helpful. Music is subjective, it's art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't like stuff then just leave it be, you won't find me ripping on any of your stuff.

 

[chuckduffy]

@FoulPhil
Don't know you well enough to know how to take this comment... but it's certainly not helpful. Music is subjective, it's art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't like stuff then just leave it be, you won't find me ripping on any of your stuff.

In general I would focus on the tips people laid out about - carving out eq space for each instrument and panning. Hi passes for instruments with low end content that's not really contributing. Some of the electronic elements seemed to be arpeggiated, but didn't quite sync with the tempo of the song.

This part is totally subjective and based on personal preference - I like lots of freaky spaceship sounds as much as the next guy, but some of them seem too 'blippy' - I'd love to hear something more organic, less attack, rounder.

 

[skinneejoe]

@chuckduffy
Working on EQ'ing right now, still learning so figuring out as I go but having fun. No arpeggiator on the electronic sounds - maybe will sound better when I get them EQ'd proper. I appreciate the feedback!

 

[skinneejoe]

One more question if you're available, do you typically try to EQ absolutely everything into it's own frequency? Or just when things "collide"? For instance do you often notch out frequencies for the snare? I'm assuming there are definitely songs that this would be good for - but maybe not all need it? Just trying to get an idea of how extensive to get.... thanks!

 

[chuckduffy]

One more question if you're available, do you typically try to EQ absolutely everything into it's own frequency? Or just when things "collide"? For instance do you often notch out frequencies for the snare? I'm assuming there are definitely songs that this would be good for - but maybe not all need it? Just trying to get an idea of how extensive to get.... thanks!

For me - personally - I do it when things collide. For ME It's a combination of strategic EQ cuts (mostly - I've got nothing against boosting though), panning and light compression to give everything it's own space to hang out in where no important element gets lost.

 

[skinneejoe]

@chuckduffy
Sounds great, I'll give it a shot and see how things turn out. Thanks!

 

[kcearl]

most of what I hear in metronome is inexperienced mixing...and is covered by others



I wasnt keen on the drums for some reason...couldnt really say exactly what but its maybe the snare I didnt like...just didnt sit in with everything else


other than that I thought it was nice performance...good voice and a catchy little tune


I liked the little FX...made a nice breakdown

 

[aaronmcoleman]

crappy mic can still get an ok guitar sound...try 8 inches away from the 12th fret angled slightly toward the sound hole. should come out pretty good. You got an SM57? If not save up $50-90 and get one...it sounds great on electrics, can do acoustics ok, and some vocals alright.

I don't EQ everything...I don't EQ most things. Just the stuff that collides or if I really want to bring something out for artistic reasons. You can do a lot with mic placement and thinking about the whole song when recording. Don't think about how the instrument will sound best soloed, you'll have to learn over time how it's gonna sound with everything else.

Don't worry about foulphil...we rip on him all the time...he's cool...I don't know what he said. don't worry about what anyone here says...use the tips to improve and if you like your songs and your sound that's all that matters.

 

[JimmyS1969]

crappy mic can still get an ok guitar sound...try 8 inches away from the 12th fret angled slightly toward the sound hole. should come out pretty good. You got an SM57? If not save up $50-90 and get one...it sounds great on electrics, can do acoustics ok, and some vocals alright.

I don't EQ everything...I don't EQ most things. Just the stuff that collides or if I really want to bring something out for artistic reasons. You can do a lot with mic placement and thinking about the whole song when recording. Don't think about how the instrument will sound best soloed, you'll have to learn over time how it's gonna sound with everything else.

Don't worry about foulphil...we rip on him all the time...he's cool...I don't know what he said. don't worry about what anyone here says...use the tips to improve and if you like your songs and your sound that's all that matters.

Good advice comes from AC here.