Longtime Lurker humbly submits a try...

E

Eric J

New member
Longtime Lurker humbly submits a folk/pop try...

I have been lurking long here long enough to know that I am doing everything wrong.

For the (no-name) guitars i'm using two radio shack dynamics (shure built) into a bheringer rack into a soundblaster live!

Vocals through an NT1.

The rest of the sounds are soundfonts, although played live, using cakewalk.

Mixed and minimal FX applied through n-tracks.

Mastered through a 70's transistor amp, with a 'quad' button!

I do have an opportunity to take my tracks (burned CD's of wav files) into a 'mastering' place - the control room of a television station.

Before I do that, I have a rough mix that I am happy with. I am curious what anyone and I mean ANYONE else might think.

And so, I humbly submit....

Stephanie
 
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I also tried but the download got stuck when 925 kb was downloaded.
If this gets fixed I´d love to hear it... Us guys with not so fantastic gear got to stick together :)
 
I like the idea of budget minded people grouping together

I know that my equipment isn't the best by any means, but what I have was quite a substantial investment for me!

There are so many things I 'need' that I forget that what I already have is light-years beyond my fostex four-track, and using headphones for mics.

I'm sorry about the server, it seems reliable and quick to me, and I haven't had a problem accessing it anywhere else. It's from a cable company, recently built their own network after excite@home collapsed. You'd think it would work perfectly right out of the box.

I'm going to see if I can post the song elsewhere where you can get it, as I really think that it's worth the effort, and well-done to the limits of my equipment.
 
Well, I got it. And here goes my rundown:

I fired up the song with notepad in hand. My first thoughts were "Where is the kick drum?" Granted, I am listening back on laptop speakers but when referenced to other material your kick was non-existant. The snare hits are very inconsisitent. If that is what you are going for then cool, if not, you might try retracking those or putting some compression on them to bring em up.

Speaking of bass? Where is it? Is there one in there? If so, I couldnt here it sonically. Either its buried or non-existant. You might want to bring it up or put it somewhere in the mix where you can here it. (Since the mix sounds like it is pretty open sonically you shouldnt have any trouble there.)

Musically, I spotted a lot of timing issues. Especially at around 2:50 to 3:00. The snare hits and the guitars were very chaotic sounding. Also, vocally you seem to stray off-key quite a bit.

The lyrics were catchy. Almost reminded of that group, bah, I cant remember their name. Sung about a tangerine...something like "I got a girl...she lives with me" or something.

Anyway, thats my rundown.
 
Good and fair comments.

Most of the timing issues you speak of are in the bridge, and I know that they are a big pile of sonic mush.

I might add that I am focussing more on the songwriting isssues than the technical aspects at this point. This rough mix/sketch uses me playing soundfonts, in real time, for the bass and drums. When I can wrangle the human drummer to come in, we will redo the rythym section with real instruments.

My sonic concerns were about the acoustic guitars interfering with the piano and the soundfont hi-hats, and the vocal sibilants. I am taking your lack of comment of that as a good sign. Or else you had so much to comment on you didn't get to that!
 
Re: Good and fair comments.

Eric J said:

My sonic concerns were about the acoustic guitars interfering with the piano and the soundfont hi-hats, and the vocal sibilants. I am taking your lack of comment of that as a good sign. Or else you had so much to comment on you didn't get to that!
Click to expand...

Hmm.

Listening to it again right now. Then guitars are there. They are jumping out there and overpowering your keys a bit. I think some eq'ing (if possible) is in order there. You might be able to bring the keys out a little more if they occupy a different space sonically. The hi-hats? When they are there, they are there. When I turn the song down to low volume all I can hear is vox and guitar.

As reference (using Candlebox - You) when turned down to a low volume you can still hear almost everything. How are you mixing? Are you cranking your monitors up? Are you mixing through headphones?
 
Re: Good and fair comments.

Eric J said:
I might add that I am focussing more on the songwriting isssues than the technical aspects at this point. This rough mix/sketch uses me playing soundfonts, in real time, for the bass and drums. When I can wrangle the human drummer to come in, we will redo the rythym section with real instruments.
Click to expand...

As a reference I think that what you have is fine. You probably need to do a tune-up on that bridge. It might be a little hard to follow as a reference.
 
Version 2, all your comments are valid. The guitars do pop out too much, and the piano is drowned out. But there is a bass, and it comes across on my system. It's fairly subtle though. It's only in the verses, with a synth taking over for the choruses.

And I do check the mixes on various settings, loud and quietly, on headphones through different amps. One thing I do is put it blaring on the stereo, then go into another room or in the stairwell.

I need to seriously re-do this song. If only I could do so easily!
Man those drum soundfonts are frustrating me. Well, you get what you pay for, I guess.
 
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I agree with Version2 on most things, needs more bass and more punchier kick drum. I like the guitars. The vocals are really clear. I am impressed, I use a NT1 and cant get it to be that clear.

To Version2: The band your thinkin of is Trippin Daisy. the song is called I got a girl.


Cool little song Eric.


John
 
Welcome fellow Albertan!

I'll listen when I'm back in the studio, seems I'm there less and less these days...

Shaw is having some major issues in its infancy, since none of the techs there are over 20 :) Okay, probably are, but they are very new to the business of serving.

Feel free to sign up on NoWhere and drop me a line if you ever play in Calgary, I'll come out with the whole NoWhere crew :)

W.
 
Ok, now I got it, here goes...

Like the song, its simple and rough i a good way!

I feel its much a question of evening the volume and presence of things out.

I agree with above posters that bass is needed. The drums I would bring up altogether. The guitar dominates a little too much, it almost scared me a little when it came in :)
It drowns out the keys, I would bring them up a bit.
The guitar I would make "mellower" by dampening its presence in the mix, maybe widening it a bit and putting some reverb on it.

That you sing out of key in some places... not a problem for me, you do it in a cool way, a little like Shane Mcgowan...
 
If anyone is interested, here's the remix

I know this is a lot to ask, but if anyone wants (and has the resources) to check out the slightly retooled Stephanie, here it is.

Stephanie Retooled

There's still timing problems, but they have been reduced. Unfortunately, the song was recorded before a win98 re-install, and the midi drum tracks are hopelessy muddled. Before I redo it completely, I resurrected what was possible.

I can't thank everyone enough for taking the time to check out this song in the first place.
 
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