Longtime musician / New Digital Recorder - Please critique my first two efforts

M

marmes

New member
Hi -- I've got a couple songs out there that are my first "finished" products (are they ever as finished as you'd like?) out of my digital studio that I would really welcome any comments/suggestions on.

Please let me know what you think of the mix (it seemed to change when I converted from WAV to MP3!) or the content, or whatever. Getting other musicians' opinions always helps, especially after you've heard you're own songs long enough you stop really "hearing" them.

http://www.mp3.com/markbayus

(No pay for play scheme here - just want feedback :-)

Thanks!
Mark.
 
I listened to both of the songs and they have plesant melodies. These are those sorts of songs you like to email to special people.

I would suggest that you bring up the mid-range. The bass seems to be outside the mix and it makes it sound a little out of tune in places.

Did you use compression on these songs? The sound is a little "boxey." This might be the MP3 conversion software, so I wasn't sure. If you used compression, then you might want to ease it back a bit.

BTW, good guitar playing.
 
Thanks Sonic for the listen and the comments.... man, I *really* appreciate hearing some unbiased feedback. So far it's been my family and a couple friends. They can never really be as honest as they'd like.

Your comment about the bass being out of the mix is interesting. I've always been fond of a prominent bass guitar and I definitely made a conscious effort to have the bass "hearable" without the listener having to strain too much. However, I will play with the midrange on another mixdown and see what happens. BTW, the bass guitar I'm using is a very cheap, very old Univox that might really be out of tune on some frets! :o

I did use compression on the individual tracks and on the entire mixdown. I'm not sure what you mean by boxey; do you mean sort of over-limited on the high and low end, not enough dynamics "outside the box". Or do you mean a boxey sound, like a tin-can sound?

Thanks also for the compliments on the melodies and the playing..... :D

Mark.
 
marmes said:

I did use compression on the individual tracks and on the entire mixdown. I'm not sure what you mean by boxey; do you mean sort of over-limited on the high and low end, not enough dynamics "outside the box". Or do you mean a boxey sound, like a tin-can sound?
Click to expand...

What I meant by "boxy" is sort of like a tin-can sound without the high frequencies. It is caused by overcompression on the high end, or even over-attenuating the EQ around 2k to 3k Hz. (It is a little hard to describe sound with words.)

I hope that this helps.

BTW. I know what you mean about needing critical feedback. The old joke is: "I'm a folk singer, because I only sing for my folks."
 
Thanks for the clarification Sonic.... I will listen again and play with some of your suggestions.

Mark.
 
Marmes,

Hey I listened to " Everything in a way" and its hard to listen close, I have only a 56k dial up connection and so i heard the 24k version. It still sounded great. all the parts seem mixed well. I too agree that it might need more bass. Personal opinion.

....you do a lot of campfire playin dont ya!.....


The vocals are great. Really, really clear and a nice melody. I liked it. Not a lot of my style but I can appreciate good work.

Keep it up.

John


ps I hear what you say about getting family/friend opinions. I remember a couple years ago I would get feedback and they say "That is great!" Then I pull out my old tapes and cant believe how much I sucked!

But your song is good. Trust your family on this one.
 
Thanks for the listen John.... and the feedback. Even though I like :rolleyes: to hear constructive criticism :D, I gotta tell you that your compliments are very gratifying. Thanks especially for the vocal plug. Happy Holidays....

Mark.
 
Didi you record these acoustic guitars direct? They sound somehow direct, like they were recorded from a pickup. They'd probably sound better miced. If they are miced, then I apologize, but they don't sound it.

The drums are a little low (Everything in a Way). It alos sounds lie there's a little bit of reverb on everything, to make it "wash." This kind of use of reverb is a personal peeve of mine. You never need reverb on music that is this personal and direct. But nice playing and singing overall.
 
Charger, good ear man. In both songs the ac guitars are direct. Not that I wanted it that way, but I just could not get the sound I wanted through the mic, and direct sounded better. I was sort of up against a deadline to get these done, but I plan on working on the mic sounds more -- you are absolutely right, it would sound much nicer.
It drives me nuts that I have a Martin and I'm not even getting the real sound down. The main problem I'm having with the mic is too much noise at the gain I need (I think I may have solved that one).

As far as the reverb goes, I also do not like "overall" reverb sound, and I didn't do it. There are various small amounts of reverb on the individual tracks, but I tried to use it very conservatively. I know what you mean though, I hear it too, mostly on Everything In A Way. If your comment was exclusively toward that song, then I'm pretty sure it's the massive effects I had to put on the direct acoustic to make it sound as acoustic as I could -- that probably gave it the tin-can sound. I've actually got a Lexicon MPX1 on the way, so when I do use reverb it should be a nicer verb. Hopefully that coupled with solving the micing problem should improve the overall sound.......

Thanks alot for your constructive comments, and for the compliment.

Mark.
 
Hey Mark,
I enjoyed the songs. Everything in a Way had a sort of "tropical" feel to me. Great vocal sound! Keep it up.
 
Thanks leahkim. Tropical huh? That's one impression I didn't get from the others who heard it, but I sort of know what you mean. Thanks for the compliment on the vocals. And thanks for listening!

Mark.
 
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