My first "serious" recording

[mgjr73]

Hi Guys!

Just finished my home recording and would like other FRESH ears to have a listen. I've listened to it with headphones on my mp3 player, in my car stereo, my pc speakers and our home theater system. While I think it sounds fine and some friends say it's good... I'd like to hear other people's opinion aside from myself and people I know.

http://www.reverbnation.com/pill#/artist/song_details/5052639

Let me know if you encounter any problems getting it to play. Thanks for listening and your comments.

-Mario

 

[Farno]

Sounds good! Personally I prefer a little more upfront vocals... louder and clearer but that's just me!

 

[mgjr73]

Hey Farno,

Thanks for the quick comment. It's encouraging to read that it sounds good to you. That means I'm on the right track. I know there's a lot of room for improvement and I'll work towards that "upfront" vocal (especially when the song calls for it). If you have any techniques that you can share in order for me to achieve that, please send them my way. Thanks again.

 

[Live42]

Overall I thought the mix was a decent start but I think its a little bit wet sounding, and could use a little cleaning up here and there. Lets go one at a time:

Drums: Kick needs a little more attack. Try to find the frequency where you hear a little more of the beater sound instead of just the thump. Snare sounded pretty good. Cymbals were a little thin and buried.. maybe play with the EQ there.

Bass: Sounded good. I might add a little more attack with some EQ, but thats just preference.

Acoustics: I don't really want to comment on the acoustic guitar sound because I know you were going for an effected sound, so thats just a matter of preference. It sounds like you DIed the acoustic, which also gives a very different sound than Im used to.

Electrics: I thought it was a little distracting where you only had the distorted guitar in the left channel. Maybe double it, or pan it a little more towards the center, I know there is a lot of stuff going on so its hard to find space. Not a bad sound, although maybe a touch harsh, try to tame the top end a little.

Vocals: I loved the harmonies, those were spot on. I think in general, a little less verb could make them sound less distant, which I think would be an improvement.

Overall: Levels were pretty good, but it was a touch muddy. Make sure you cut the bass out of your rhythm guitars. Be careful of whats going on in the mud region... maybe 200 to 500hz. Also, it sounded like there was a timing issue during the solo with the cymbal in the right channel. Overall, a good start, but a few tweaks would make a big improvement.

 

[mgjr73]

@Live42,

AWESOME suggestions. This will be very useful for future projects and also for tweaking the song (I'll probably do a remix as I learn more about recording) As far as the acoustic, you're right. I didn't have a "good room" to record so I opted for DI. I plan to build some acoustic panels to help make a better recording environment. Thanks loads for the precious nuggets!