Lost Letters NEW VOX

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rayc

rayc

retroreprobate
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4214178&q=hi
Hi Folks,
It's been a while I know. Terry has rerecorded the vocal track & addes some news lyrics. He's also redone the flute/recorder track. The above link OUGHT to take you to the Soundclick HI streamer.
Let me know what you think of the mix please. I know there are a few problems with some hard sounds at the beginning of phrases - I'm attempting to deal with them & any ideas would be gratefully received.
I look forward to your suggestions.
 
Listening on laptop speekers right now, harman kardon laptop speakers but none the less.

For now the only thing I would say is the vox and recorder/flute sound on top of the mix to me.

I will try to listen on the monitors later.

Your stuff always reminds me of very old floyd stuff :D

Not exactly a cheery song is it;)

F.S.
 
Love the song, especially the instrumental breaks are quite beautifully done. I really liked this one the first time I heard it as well. I hear a high pitch tone coming in when the vocals stop , thats my only real nit mix wise but I think it's just my computer/soundclick here at work. When i get home from work i'll grab the actual mp3 and see if I still hear that. Lyrically it's fantastic and the flute solo is quite well done. Has a vibe i really like mix wise, I'm not actually hearing anything overly harsh with the vocals like you mentioned. Really like it, when i get home i'll download and listen on something a little better then these headphones .

Take care

gary
 
two things that stand out : vocals and flute are way too loud and the mix seems drowned in reverb. i can perfectly sense where you want to go with this and i totaly dig that but this is just too much! vocals too could do with a lot less reverb.

none the less i like the way this sounds.

i enjoyed this a lot and indeed the instrumental breaks are brilliant!
 
It has been a while Ray - but sometimes that's how things go....it's good to hear from you, Miriam and Terry....

This is probably my favorite song that you've written. It's a great combination of music and lyrics.

Lyrics - I miss the old lyrics because they were so familiar, I've heard them so often. However, the new lyrics are excellent. They bring more detail to the story, one which takes me away every time I hear Terry sing it. His words are classy and mature, and invoke the imagination when I hear them.

The instruments - no problems there, they accompany vocals well. The cellos are really smooth here - not boomy or bassy - with a nice low mid ring to them.

The vocals - the delivery is stronger on this version. They're sung with more punch it seems, good job....

The mix - Overall solid mix. Vocals don't have the best tone. I have no ideas on how to remove that pre-phrase sound. It sounds like maybe a pop filter thing or compressor thing. Not sure...... I notice a bit of distortion on the vocals - like an effect almost - not clipping. I would try and take that out and beef up the vocals with some low end. They seem a bit scooped right now.

Looks like you may be reloading this as it is no longer available. I'll try and check the update a little later.......

Again, probably my favorite from you, Miriam and Terry......

:) :D :) :D
 
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4214178&q=hi
Hello folks,
Thanks for taking the time to listen & respond. Above is a remix based on your comments/suggestions.
Freudian Slip,
Ta mate. I'd not attempted to bed the additions at that stage. I've pondered what to use - sonic max, touch of verb across the top? Certainly not a happy ditty.

gbav,
Thanks cobber. I'm heartened that you like the piece. I've listened for that high pitch but couldn't locate it but have dropped the faders between phrases etc to attempt to remove anything that might have originated with the vox. there was some hiss in the vocal track. I hope you grab this latter version & can comment so precisely again. Cheers.

faderbug,
Thanks. The bits were a bit loud - I'cve adjusted the compression & volume to lower them. There was no verb on the vocal or flute. There was some across the whole mix though. I've removed it for the latest mp3. There may be some on an instrument or two abut that is actually as tracked to tape. Ta for the detail.

ido1957,
G'day. It has been some time. I've actually brought more Miriam into this mix as her solo was too good to ignore. We worked really hard at editing the lyrics for the 1st version you like so well. Terry, however, felt we'd been too harsh and wanted to flesh out the story & has done so very well I agree. I've added some bottom to the vox. Thanks - they were recorded in audacity & sent to me on CD. I don't know why they were a little scooped. I'll try to address the distortion - hopefully it's not at the source. Thanks for the excellent detail - as usual. I'll pass on your comments to Miriam, Terry often drops into the forum to read but prefers not to comment.
 
Nice song RayC,
I am impressed. I'll listen to the song again tomorrow and get back to you.
Right now = PC speakers only.
sikter
 
Listening to the second version now....
- I never noticed an overabundance of reverb on the first mix. On this second mix the reverb seems to be lacking. The vocals are intimate but I miss the swirl - the overal effect,wash or colour.
- The pre-phrase sound seems to be lessened a bit here.
- The vocals and flute were at a better level in the first mix. Especially flute.
- I think my suggestion of more low end on the vocals was ok but it needs a touch of highs to cut through a little more.
- There is definitely something going on with the vocals. I can't put my finger on it exactly.... I noticed when the last verses come in at 3:30 the first few words are perfect - clear, clean, crisp you can hear them really well (maybe a db more for me). Just a few words later it seems like the mic overloads, or a compressor kicks in, distorting/compressing the vocals and taking away the clarity that was oh so present at the beginning of the verse.
- sorry if I'm dwelling on the vocals too much. It's just that Terry has an excellent voice and I'd like it to be as clean and clear as possible, with a smattering of reverb/echo for effect. And maybe some comp at the end when mixing. The vocals are so important in this story telling setting (well other times too).
- Audacity is probably like Cakewalk. It should be pretty clean, what is the signal chain, setup, processing like on the vocal bed tracks? What kind of mic and pre is Terry using? From what I remember he had a really nice mic...
- you are doing a great job lining these tracks all up by the way, I have yet to work the mix in a computer.
PS - What's the word on the new acquisition?
 
Well I finally got a chance to listen on my monitors.

It sounds pretty well balanced to me.
The vocals have that old fashioned sound you always get.
The seems to be a frequencey that's part of your vox sopund that gets a little overwhelming at times.
I am guessing around 500hz to 750hz or so. Id personally try a cut on the vox at 600. Not so much that you lose the sound but enough that when the singer puts out alot of 600 that is doeesn't mask the song.
The vox also go into distortion at times. Not sure if you where going for that or not.

Vox sound too on top to me but thining them up a bit may take care of that.

cool stuff.

F.S.
 
Cool song and performances but it sounds very muffled. There is some type of high pitched noise on the vocals that comes in and out with the compression. You HAVE to get rid of that.

I love the strings.
 
TexRoadkill said:
Cool song and performances but it sounds very muffled. There is some type of high pitched noise on the vocals that comes in and out with the compression. You HAVE to get rid of that.

I love the strings.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. That high-pitch sound is distracting. Sounds like the vocal compression is kicking in kinda hard too. The song is very good, but it does sound sort of lo-fi.
 
I think the main things to look at are the high pitched noise in the background, as already stated, it seems a bit distracting. The vocals seem too loud and also too dark. You might try bring up the eq on the vocals around 3-5khz and bring it down in the low mids around 500-750 hz. I'm listening on some not very great headphones, but it still sounds dark and needs some brightness in the vocals. Great track though.
 
Hey dude, this is a nice song.

The lyrics be powerful.

The spoken parts are little hard to understand. Maybe bring those up slightly.

Overall, the cello'ish or violin'ish parts are really cool.

The guitars could lose some verb. The vox definitely hard to understand. All the suggestions made already are cool.

:) This song is very cool. The violin/cello parts are just right for this piece.

The guitar arpeggios are cool.
 
bigbubba
89gtsleeper
Greg_L
TexRoadkill
Freudian Slip
ido1957
sikter
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=4214178&q=hi
I've scrapped that vocal & tried again with the source. It seems that the wav files, stored on CDRW aren't happily ripped, converted, copied or inserted. That's the 1st prob.
I've had to record them into waverepair from the CDRW & What You Hear input as the files play on media player, run the noise reducer over them & then insert them.
The latest version is NOW up. I'll not bother much with the mix - I'm more concerned with the high pitched noise. Is it still evident?
let me know please.
faderbug,
Thanks mate - that version your listened to is the one just now scrapped. There's another up now.
 
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the high pitched sound is there, i didn't pick it up in the first version but now it's very prominently there.

the vocals sound better btw, less distorted.



i reckon with the vocals just a tad more to the foreground and minus the weird sound this would be a perfect mix.
 
I have to admit that, at this stage, my tinitus is masking the sound. Frustrating isn't quite the word.
 
if it is any help it's there between phrases, so when the singing stops the sound is there and vica versa. like a compressor ducking.

and i did listen to the newest update.
 
Thanks bug. I actually hadn't uploaded the newer version until after you'd posted. I edited mt post to include the info & link.
Thanks for the detail - between phrases I can now go in & have a squiz/listen in there for noise/waveform.
Thanks mate.
 
ok so just to rule out any confusion and misunderstandings : i'm listening now again and well ... even though it's at its most prominent in between the singing, it's also there when the vox come in, only not as obvious.

maybe spitfish can clean it out?


is that you playing the cello?
 
Faderbug,
That's what I like almost instant response. OK, new mix, newly cleaned vox and the high pitch is still there! Right Oh! I'll have to try something - I'll have a burl with EQ to see if I can locate its frequency at least. I wonder if it's not the vox? But then again - in the mix I did with the MP3'd vox no one noticed it.
'Cello - I play the simple lines all the way through. My former tutor, Miriam, plays the nice lines taht pop up here & there and the excellent solo - her 'cello also has a much better tome than mine - due in part to it being better quality and her being an excellent 'cellist.
Thank you VERY much. I can get to work on it tomorrow.
 
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