just need some quick feedback on this song, please

  • Thread starter Thread starter grn
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grn

grn

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it's called "don't push me away"

was wondering if the "forever" sounds off (the first time you hear the word in the song)... also any other critiques... thanks for the speedy response!



thanks!
 
Sound good. I think you need a differant mic or something on the cymbals and Hi-Hat. Could be something else they just sound .... cheap. Not tring to sound like a snob just don't know how else to put it.

How did you mics the cymbals?
 
The greatest problem I heard was the vocalist who was behind the backing track many times throughout the song. It sounds like the the backing track was mixdown then the vocal was thrown over top of it. Not that thats necessarily a bad thing. It can sometimes work...the latest Jet CD comes to mind.
The vox would benefit from some delay to sit better in the mix. Some compression wouldn't hurt either, the levels are all over the place.
Back off on the distortion on the rhythm guitar, less is more...in this case, it sounds like the mids were sucked out of the guitar tone when it compressed naturally in the amp. If you back of the distortion you'll get more mids coming through.
And lastly use more radical panning, it sounds mono.

Good luck
 
thanks I wasn't quite sure how to make the vocal sit better. personally I like the guitar tone, but it may be too loud for the mix itself... I can make that sit better probably. the distortion was very low, I just double tracked it, and the mids were very high while the bottom end was low and the high was about half way (on the amp that is).
 
also, on of the cymbals was cracked, thus... cheap. can't really do much about it, EQ'd it best I could. used the recorderman technique for overhead micing. then a mic on snare and kick.
 
Snare sounds pitty-pat. That splash cymbal is way too loud... reminds me of early Cure albums (not in a good way). Guitar is washed out and too distorted sounding.

Guitar lead jumps out way too much. BAD TONE too. Playing needs some help too... like vibrato.

Vocals sound dead. No amount of eq or compression is going to help this... I'd have them retracked to have some energy in them.
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
Snare sounds pitty-pat. That splash cymbal is way too loud... reminds me of early Cure albums (not in a good way). Guitar is washed out and too distorted sounding.

Guitar lead jumps out way too much. BAD TONE too. Playing needs some help too... like vibrato.

Vocals sound dead. No amount of eq or compression is going to help this... I'd have them retracked to have some energy in them.
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guitar is supposed to sound that washed out and distorted sounding, though very little distortion was actually used. the guitar lead does jump out, I will fix that, thank you. although what can I do if it's not loud enough in headphones, but louder on speakers? like if it's panned center, it's fine on the monitors but in headphones I can barely hear it. vocals sound dead in the recording or the performance? the performance is supposed to sound sort of dead or more ... despondent.

I updated the mix, so if you redownload it, you'll hear some subtle changes (some vocal changes, lead guitar levels, and such). again the guitar tone is exactly what I'm going for, I'm not exactly going for what other people sound like, but not trying to be too original here. there's also a synth, don't know if you noticed, I'm sure that contributes to what you're hearing.
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
Vocals sound dead. No amount of eq or compression is going to help this... I'd have them retracked to have some energy in them.
Click to expand...

Your comments are directed toward the performance. Mine are directed toward s the engineering side. Unfortunately, there are times when one is stuck with the recording and must attempt to polish the turd.
 
I appreciate the feedback. Please tell me if this vocal performance is better. Hopefully my voice no longer sounds like a turd. =\ I thought I sang it well, but I agree it lacked energy... any more thoughts on the mix, Cloneboy? or anyone else for that matter.

http://www.michaelchagnon.com/dpma(remix).mp3
 
Yes! Those vocals are definitely much better that the first take! The producer in me would still like to see more impact on the vocals though... Do you have another track open? I'd like to hear you double the strong parts of the lyric (sing the exact same notes with the same nuance and mix both vocals into the track- an old trick that really works!) and then have you sing harmonies to yourself on the quieter lyric parts (just like the girl did on the end with the third note up, but you singing it along with yourself on all the mellower parts all through the song). You ought to experiment with it, you might be surprised! But even if not it IS way better than it was! Keep up the good work.
 
Hey GRN-

Good style. Nice change at the end to end.

My comments mirror others. Rhythm guitar tones aren't full enough...thin toned. Lead guitar tone is fuzzy and fine. Drums need to be redone.

I like the vocal personally...dry and stylized...kind of retro.

The mix does need a lot of work...a good portion of the recording needs retracking.

Remember when tracking...

It's like adding the ingredients to a stew. Put in the wrong spice, and it's all your going to taste. So be careful with how and what you're getting to tape...make sure it sounds good going into the mix...so that mixing becomes that much easier. "Fixing it in the mix" can be done, but sometimes you have to add enough salt to drown out the taste of the foul addition. That's something you want to avoid having to do.

:-)

K
 
it's weird, I posted the drums by themselves earlier and everyone thought it was spot on. I think it's just how I might've EQ'd the guitars. can't really retrack the instrumentation (especially the drums), but the vocals I can do. I'll try double tracking some things and as far as harmonies, I'm not sure where they might fit. but I'll look. thanks again! I really appreciate this.
 
gosh, I didn't think all this needed to be fixed. this is what happens I guess when you are sort of close to the thing, you can't step back and see what's what. this will help me immensely on the rest of the songs.

k, I added some mids to the guitars, and used proper compression on them (I think I had the wrong one on them before). I also reset the levels for the drums, EQ'd them slightly and added a hint of reverb. is the lead guitar still too loud? what parts do you think could be doubled/harmonized?

 
Yeah, it can't hurt just to try some double tracking as an experiment. I think it would help kick punch into the whole mix. Just try singing the exact same part on the chorus "don't push me away" parts and play it back with the 2 vocals panned a little away from the center/each other. You may not care for it, and after all, your new clean vocal take is pretty slick. ;)
 
I like doubling, but I didn't know if this song really called for it.
 
thanks for all the help everyone, though I probably can't get it as high quality as some of you all, I really did notice an overall improvement. just don't have the resources to do it yet... but this is what I ended up with. if there's anything I can do with it currently aside from retracking, please do criticize it.

http://www.michaelchagnon.com/dpma(remix)2.mp3
 
Yeah, I like this mix better! The EQ on the guitars sound a bit better and the whole thing has more energy. K-dub and Cloneboy always give honest opinions here in pursuit of making the best home recordings possible. And think about it, if your going to print up some CD's for sale like you are planning, you want to keep your fans happy by giving them a great product. The quality of your CD might be relative to how your band sounds live, and since I haven't heard you live, this recording may be exactly what you want to project to your fans.

One thing is for sure. With the features and quality of current home recording gear the sky is the limit as far as how polished and perfect you can get. It's good to decide ahead of time how far you will go. The next time you record, you might want to try working with someone who has some production experience so that you can all set a plan and a goal for how you want your finished recorded product to sound. Even when people by a CD from a bar-band they expect pretty high quality. You could get better at it yourselves by learning and copying the production techniques from your favorite CD's.

So anyway, this mix is a lot better! It has a nicer stereo field and overall balance. Keep up the good work!
 
grn said:
I thought I sang it well, but I agree it lacked energy...
Click to expand...

Ahhh....

Mixerman nailed it on the head in the 'Diaries when he discussed the "pitch versus performance" phenomena. In general singers focus on pitch, and everyone else focuses more on performance.

Some of the GREATEST vocals ever laid down were so out of pitch it wasn't funny. Energy sells a song. If the singer is really making me believe in the track I could care less about pitch.

Famous examples: Cobain, Johnny Rotten, Steve Albini, Chris Cornell. All great singers, but not 100% on pitch... in fact, Johnny Rotten was *NEVER* in pitch! But what a terrifying and wonderful performance!
 
aciddart said:
K-dub and Cloneboy always give honest opinions here in pursuit of making the best home recordings possible.
Click to expand...

Sometimes I come across a bit like a jerk, but usually that's because I'm posting while I'm in the middle of something else (or taking care of the baby) and have to be terse/short. Sometimes stuff just rubs me the wrong way, and you'll *know* when that happens. :) In general I try to be helpful and have been making more effort into saying my opinions while still sounding somewhat friendly. I mean, I post to HELP, not tick people off. Just gotta work more on taking the edge off...

Anyways, the song's first draft was what I would call an average home recording. It has good parts, great parts, and some parts that need work. Nothing was terrible. You're definately improving!

But I know that nobody is satisfied with average. Heck, I HATE average in my own recordings... it totally ticks me off when I produce something and it comes out average (or worse). It's usually the band's fault but still... it can be depressing.

I will listen to the updated mix tomorrow morning and post some more comments.
 
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