Longtime Lurker Humbly Submits ANOTHER Try

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric J
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Eric J

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Okay, this one is close to done.
Other than another doing the vocals over again, this one is almost done.
How's the mix? I'm concerned that it distorts in a few places, but that might be my ultra-cheapo system.

Ultra-cheapo system:
Rode NT1 and Radio Shack mics
Bheringer MX 802A
Soundblaster Live

Recorded into:
N-Tracks & Cooledit,
FX: SoundEngine & Freeverb2

Instruments:
ancient Mann guitar in open D
Big River Harp in D
Soundfont drums and bass

Standing Mid The Ruins
 
Hey,

I just listened once so these are first impressions.

It strikes my ear that the middle of the mix is congested. Maybe try some more liberal panning of the git and harp. The vox is well tracked but, a tad hot in spots. This could be to compensate for a cluttered middle.

Cool song. It reminds me of a John Hiatt tune.
Have you thought of some backups or re enforcements on the chorus vox?

I say spred the mix out and let each piece have a place on stage.

Hope this helps.

Theron
 
Ditto on Theron's analysis.

That synth bass is pretty neat sounding for what it is- it also fills up the low end of the song. Part of the congestion might be coming from a lot of low end stuff getting munged together. This sounds pretty bassy in my monitors

Do you have an EQ plug? I think there's some free ones out there and n-track comes with a demo one that lets you use 2 bands.

I might try cutting some of the very low end out of just about everything except the bass and drums- you don't need it and it will open up some room in the song. Say everything below 70Hz or so? Listen and adjust so that you are only cutting the stuff that doesn't add to the sound.

Between that and panning the guits a tad left and the harp a tad right?

Good tune. I wish I could play harp. :)
 
Good idea on what bands of EQ to cut - why didn't I see it?

EQ problems may explain why the bass and kick drum all but dissapear.

Well, yes, I have plenty of things that have eq's in all shapes and sizes.
But the muddiness maybe from my monitoring system - a 70's stereo amp (with QUAD button) powering speakers of uncertain lineage.
I was trying to get around my monitoring problem by basically copying the sound of other well-known well-produced recordings - I was referencing this against Tom Petty's Damn the Torpedos and Chris Issaks Forever Blue.

As for wanting to play harp, this song should be a good example of going ahead and doing it with complete disregard for playing the damn thing well!
 
It's sort of remixed...

Took out some of those EQ bands you guys mentioned. An old version of Cool Edit Pro, good algorythms or not, it seemed to do the trick.
And did a different second guitar track.
And a new vocal.
And with less distortion - digital zero seems quite variable in my computer!

Is this what you kind fellows meant?
I like it better this way, anyway.
 
Hey, Eric:

I had to check out your tune. I liked it. I have a couple of suggestions.

The hi-hat and snare are a little too far forward in the mix for me -try a little more reverb. Also, they are rushing - this tune should shuffle more -- lay back on the snare and hihat. Maybe a little less busy on the hat would be better too, and really thump on the 'one' with the snare.

Vocals are hard. That's why I almost never do them. You definitely get across the feeling of the tune and an appealing presence (the most important parts), but your intonation and rhythm have to be better, I'm afraid. You could try glissing into the notes more and broadening your vibrato, that works for Dylan and Lou Reed. Otherwise, do more takes, and comp together a clean performance from the good bits of each one -- that's the amazing super-power of computer recording! Use it.

Keep it simple, don't attempt anything trickier than you can pull off, and you'll be all right. More compression on the vocals would help too.

I urge you to get a real bass. You can obviously play guitar just fine, so bass will not be hard. You can pick up a Fender P-bass for cheap money, and that would be perfect for your sound. You don't need an amp, you can go straight in with some kind of direct box - also not much money. Or, make friends with a bass player, they tend to be helpful friendly types.

goon
 
Man, I wish I could check out your stuff. The download crapped out @ about 63% - I think I had this problem with your last tune. Have you considered a site at somewhere like IUMA or Nowhere Radio?
 
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