my first recorded song...

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Rocket Boy

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umm. first song i've recorded. everything was basically done in one or two takes...

the bass needs new strings. but besides that i think im pretty happy with how it all sounds... well im proud enough of it to show it to all of you anyways. so please give me your overall impressions of it.

http://hazzlemp3s.iuma.com the song is "you're so beautiful"
 
Pan the acoustic and vocals a bit. The acoustic gets a bit lost in the drums. Voice needs +dB, and perhaps a little reverb. The quality of the drums and guitar sounds very good, although I'm not so sure about the voice. A little thin and quiet? Raise the volume and it might sound better :)
 
k, i think it might just be my tendency to keep the vocals a little lower then they should be...

also my vocal/pre combo sucking might have something to do with that :-D
 
i tried panning my two acoustic guitar tracks to center instead of left and right and that sings to bring them out of the drums a little better.
 
mic-pre-mixer-computer

um. my drum mics were a Peavey 520i for the bass drum, sm57 for snare, and two MK012's for overheads. guitar was MK012 at the 12th fret, and AKG C2000b behind the bridge. Vocals were AKG C2000b. For pre's i used a audio buddy and the pres in a mackie power mixer. And I used a crappy boss mixer thing to mixdown the drums pres...

oh and the soundcard was a soundblaster.
 
Suprisingly good sound then. Well I guess slowly improving the chain will always make your recordings better, although I think the only real problem at the moment is the vox. Anyone else?
 
you mean recording wise?

sorry im really touchy about that...
 
Oh I'm sure your voice SOUNDS ok in real life, but it sounds a bit thin on the recording, probably due to the microphone. I'm usually wrong though.
 
what would a good microphone be to sort of thicken up and smooth out a voice? i was sort of thinking of maybe a Rode NTK... would that fit the bill?
 
I'll go out on a limb here and say that the actual SOUND of the vocal is pretty decent, especially considering the equipment used. But you're singing totally from your throat and nose - it makes for a really weak sounding vocal... Some people pull that off brilliantly (Tom Petty, Michael Stipe), but you HAVE to be dead on pitchwise in order to pull it off, and you're just not on this tune.

I'm no vocal coach, and honestly, I've seen a lot of them do more harm than good, but you have to find a way to sing that works for you... Let me ask this; can you HEAR that it's off pitchwise? If yes, then you can fix it by doing maybe more than one or 2 takes. The tentative way you're singing reminds me of the way most people sing when they're not used to singing with headphones on -- if that's the case, take one of the cans off of your ear when you're singing...it's amazing how much more confidently you sing when you can hear some of the room.

Also, try doing a lot of takes. I usually do a ridiculous amount of vocal takes, then I splice the best parts of each together. Tedious as hell, but in a tune like this, the vocal is definitely front and center, and you wanna' spend more time on that one element than probably anything else.

I know this is a mixing clinic, but the best mixes are born from the best tracks possible, and the biggest problem with this mix, in my opinion, is the vocal. There are other things...like some lags in tune where there's really nothing going on that you might want to fill with a little guitar lead or ...hell, whistle or something, lol...but the main problem, I think...is the vocal.

Just my opinion. Good luck.
Chris
 
i was gonna try the singing with one headphone off... to see if that helps. cus its always just weird to sing like that.

i also pretty much just did it as quick as possible... i've had lots of training and stuff... i know how to not sing from my throat and nose...

but yeah its just weird with the headphones. maybe ill try doing more takes and see what that sounds like...
 
Hi Rocketboy,

First thing I thought when I heard this? Sounds like one of MY songs!!! Chord progression and melody-wise, anyway. What sort of stuff do you listen to? What are your influences? I wonder if they're anything like mine...

Everyone's covered the tracking and mixing, so a couple of coments about the song.

Generally good, but I'd make a couple of edits.

First of all, what's happening between 0:37 and 0:59? Where's the vocal gone? I'd cut this bit, or sing over it.

Next, the solo at 2:00 is too long (and to be honest not really interesting enough for it's length). I'd come back in with the chorus at 2:20, and repeat it again.

Work on it, it could be a good track.

Cheers,
Mscmln.
 
thanks for the comments musichameleon... umm yeah. i was gonna cut that little section down. there was originally gonna be some vocals... but that didnt work out... so the next version i'll probably cut that. also... i sort of like the solo, but it doesnt seem a bit long.

thanks for the positive comments! as far as what bands i like, i like, the Beatles, Of Montreal, Beulah, John Vanderslice, the Cure, Weezer. Lots of things that I cant remember right now.
 
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