Meet The Beatles - more harmonies

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K-dub

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... done by Who We Are ...

Are the vocal sync's just a little too "off" in this? I don't want to make it sound robotic, but I'm wondering about the timing of some of the phrasing.

Thanks in advance for any/all help!
 
I noticed the main melody vocal sounds great but both harmonies fall out of tune at some points. You can hear both fall out and then correct themselves. That jumped out at me more than them being out of sync. Some of the vocal syncs are a little too off on the sustained words. Other than that it sounded good. I think the sound of the voices blends well.
 
musicgeekandlvr said:
I noticed the main melody vocal sounds great but both harmonies fall out of tune at some points. You can hear both fall out and then correct themselves. That jumped out at me more than them being out of sync. Some of the vocal syncs are a little too off on the sustained words. Other than that it sounded good. I think the sound of the voices blends well.
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Frank ... the lower vocal to the right ... had a terrible cold. He's also asthmatic and was very challenged w/ his breath that night. The sustained notes were not easy on him ... and he had a little trouble holding pitch. JJ (the high part) also was a bit stuffy and recovering from a cold, but I'll have to go back and solo his part. To my memory, he wasn't wandering too far astray.

Frank was another story. He struggled a bit. You can hear the rasp in his voice.

Thanks for the comments! I will attend.
 
Hey man,
I hear what you're talking about for sure, although I think you'd get away with it if the mix was more in favour of the main vocal as one thing, and the rest as another.

Right now the guy you described (right hand side) is actually drawing my attention more than the main vocal is, and I don't think it's just because he is being discussed.
The tone of his voice cuts through a little more, whereas main vocal is quite soft and rounded.

I think I'd want to mute the main vocal and try to mix the rest in such a way that no one person sticks out.
I'd be using an eq or pretty hard compression on Frank to take the edge off him, and maybe narrow the bvox as a group.

Bringing the main voice back in, I'd centre it. It's slightly off to the left, yeah?

Just my thoughts. It was a nice listen, all that aside. :)
 
Steenamaroo said:
Hey man,
I hear what you're talking about for sure, although I think you'd get away with it if the mix was more in favour of the main vocal as one thing, and the rest as another.

Right now the guy you described (right hand side) is actually drawing my attention more than the main vocal is, and I don't think it's just because he is being discussed.
The tone of his voice cuts through a little more, whereas main vocal is quite soft and rounded.

I think I'd want to mute the main vocal and try to mix the rest in such a way that no one person sticks out.
I'd be using an eq or pretty hard compression on Frank to take the edge off him, and maybe narrow the bvox as a group.

Bringing the main voice back in, I'd centre it. It's slightly off to the left, yeah?

Just my thoughts. It was a nice listen, all that aside. :)
Click to expand...

Great suggestions!

I'm singing the main vocal ... and doing the production. It's kind of funny how real life translates into mixes ... as I wanted to be careful not to step on any toes ... letting the others clearly hear themselves; so the comments about the harmonies stomping on the main line are duly noted and appreciated. Personalities should slave to presentation.

I do have the main slightly to the left ... about 15-20% lean.

I probably do have Frank eq'd pretty hard in the 3k neighborhood ... as his rasp, which is there even when he doesn't have a cold, is particularly growly on this recording. I'll further attend, as he should blend ... and not be featured or stand out too noticably.

Accordingly, I like the idea of putting JJ and Frank together so that they're more indistinct in a harmony "wash" sense, and then fold in the main line. Doing so employing that technique will also allow me to isolate who, exactly, is wandering off pitch at times ... and allow me to focus more clearly on individual correction.

Thanks bud!
 
In terms of timing and being completely in sync, the performances could be a bit better. The timing is off by a bit in a few places.

The low harmony on the right is a little too loud and the high harmony on the left is a little too soft.

And if the harmony tracks were double tracked it would sound cool. Unless you're going for a real stripped down, natural mix.

edit: saw Steen had mentioned the harmony on the right was drawing too much attention. I think it still is. I didn't listen to the first mix, so maybe it was worse. But it's still a db or two too loud.
 
Hey man...sounds pretty good, actually. I don't mind some minor vocal sync problems, as it tends to give more of a live feel. We can all nudge them over to perfection and boredom.

The only thing I was going to mention is that the vocal on the right seems a tad loud. Sounds like a duet with a hint of top end, and I think that's not what you're shooting for.

By the way, I hear only 3 parts. Lead vocal, what sounds like a 2nd lead vocal on the right, and a Timothy B. Schmidt type thing on the left. If there's a 4th part, it's either blended perfectly or it's too low. Maybe it's an octave that I'm just missing.
 
chrisharris said:
Hey man...sounds pretty good, actually. I don't mind some minor vocal sync problems, as it tends to give more of a live feel. We can all nudge them over to perfection and boredom.

The only thing I was going to mention is that the vocal on the right seems a tad loud. Sounds like a duet with a hint of top end, and I think that's not what you're shooting for.

By the way, I hear only 3 parts. Lead vocal, what sounds like a 2nd lead vocal on the right, and a Timothy B. Schmidt type thing on the left. If there's a 4th part, it's either blended perfectly or it's too low. Maybe it's an octave that I'm just missing.
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Yes. We've a dog singing it in a pitch only they can hear. :D

Thanks bud!

I started out wanting the three singers across the stage ... so I mixed one more to the left, the other more to the right ... w/ me up center. I came to think that there was TOO much disparity in the distinction ... and the harmonies sounded like 3 singers more than a unified harmony. So I remixed the whole thing ... and to your note ... I rolled a bit of high end up to pare down Frank's competition (good point), and then brought the stage closer to center ... together.

New mix is up top.
 
Sounds good to me. What's the acoustic? And how did you record it?
 
Acoustic is my Larrivee. Mic is an AT4050 positioned about a foot or so off the middle of the neck, pointed 45 degrees diagonally back at where the neck meets the body. I'm running it through a Peavey MP2 tube pre.

In the DAW (Sonar), I've got under 100 cycles rolled off, a wide midrange scoop to clear sonic space for the vocals, and then a 3-5k hype to add sparkle.
 
TripleM said:
In terms of timing and being completely in sync, the performances could be a bit better. The timing is off by a bit in a few places.

The low harmony on the right is a little too loud and the high harmony on the left is a little too soft.

And if the harmony tracks were double tracked it would sound cool. Unless you're going for a real stripped down, natural mix.

edit: saw Steen had mentioned the harmony on the right was drawing too much attention. I think it still is. I didn't listen to the first mix, so maybe it was worse. But it's still a db or two too loud.
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Hey Trip!

I pulled the stage placement more center. Still too loud on the right?
 
Manslick said:
i like the A under the C chord. nice arrangement touch there.
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I'm playing the guitar on this. I forget where I picked up that trick, but I've been playing it that way for 30 years. :D

2nd page link for convenience of convo:

 
My drummer hated my vocal. So I redid it and remixed it.

It's tough working with others who tell you you suck to your face. :D
 
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