New member = new music!

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chawps

New member
Hi all,

Been reading for a while and posting a bit, but I think its about time to post some music of my own. A little backstory:

I've been playing drums for around ten years, and have picked up keyboard, guitar, bass, ukelele... along the way. I started getting into recording around five years ago but I've just recently started getting decent (read:any) equipment.

My first album, "Out from Under the Bed," came out last year and was an electronic jam-band album. I wanted something with electronic sounds and a human jam-band type of feel.

My second album, "Waves of Sound," is my first attempt at writing lyrics and recording vocals. I tried recording it for RPM, but ended up missing the deadline because I was also recording and producing a full-length album for a friend of mine for RPM. I finished them both in a month and a half, though, so not totally off. I guess that means I get to try again next year!

I look forward to benefiting from the knowledge on this website and I hope to receive some helpful comments on my albums. I'm interested in mixing comments, composition comments, anything really. I just recently (after the two albums) got my first set of monitors and I'm already hearing things in my mixes that I intend to change in future works. I'd still love to hear what people think.

You can stream and download both of my albums here: chawps

Thanks for listening,

chawps
 
the vocal performance is a little luke-warm at parts. It's not that you are pitchy. It's just that I'm not buying your performance. You sound quiet, timid, underwhelming. I'm listening to Escape, and the energy being conveyed in the vocal performance doesn't match the lyrics or mood of the instrumental.

Just work on opening your mouth more. Focus on enunciating, focus on emphasizing certain words that you feel worth emphasizing. Work on singing louder with more power.

After that, you might need to work on integrating the performance better into the soundspace of the instrumental. It sounds like the accoustic guitars have some reverb on them while the vocals are almost completely dry. It's like they exist in two different spaces musically, and brings the listener out of the effect of the song.
 
Hi Chawps,

It takes me at least half an hour to give the useless crap advice I offer here... on one song... let alone an album. Or 2! I like to listen properly, so I would like you to nominate a song you would like to work on.

As I write I am on about your 3rd song and think you need to work on getting your melody and performance more direct and compelling. At the moment it’s all a bit drawn out. Try working on lyrical/melodic content with a bit more movement and your performance style needs to add more lilt and diversion and interest.
 
Thanks for listening. I really value the unbiased opinions that you "outsiders" can have. Most of the opinions I've heard have been from friends/bandmates, so they are inclined to hold back on criticism and be hefty with praise. The other side of the coin, while not as nice to hear, is more valuable for future improvement.

@FadeToMuffins: I agree completely with your vocal critique. As I mentioned in the OP, this was my first attempt at writing and recording vocals, and I still haven't figured my voice out yet. I'm struggling to find a comfortable range and I lack enough confidence in my vocals to sing as "out" as I should, which leads to even worse sounding vocals. Hopefully I'll get over this confidence hump soon. The idea of matching sonic spaces when mixing is an interesting one that I will give much consideration upon my next mix. Thanks again!

@Tobe: One song, hmm. Definitely something off of "Waves of Sound," as that is the newer release of the two. I would recommend "Euterpe," "Escape," or "Anxiety Lullaby." I realize that's three and not one, but it's tough to pick one. "Euterpe" is sort of the title track, "Escape" is the most complicated and was tough to mix, and I thought "Anxiety Lullaby" came out pretty well. I don't really know what you mean by making melodies "more direct and compelling," but the idea of more movement is a good suggestion. As far as mixing for interest goes: I'm still working on mixing things so they don't sound bad. I haven't yet gotten into attempting to add too much in the mixing phase, though I do like playing with panning. Thanks again for your critiques!

Looking forward to more critiques. Thanks again for all who have listened, including those who haven't posted!
 
Hey, I listened to parts of all 3 you mentioned, and I think you have some nice songs with some interesting changes thrown in here and there. I preferred the more intricate numbers lke Escape, as the lullaby (although I realize it's a lullaby) was a bit too sparse and monotonous for me (sorry).

Mix-wise (and this is coming from a very general, listener's perspective, not the perspective of someone who could necessarily mix this material better), the overall sound was kinda dark and murky for me. While the track I just listened to previously by another poster seemed overly bright and harsh in spots, I think you could do with a little more brightness. Whether that means introducing some new, higher frequency elements to the arrangement, or EQ, or different tracking methods, or some combination of those things I cannot say. Just too sonically subdued for me.

For the vocals - I think you have an interesting voice and just the sound of it seems like it would be really well suited to your style of music. I do think your delivery is too timid though. I hear some pitch issues, although not too dramatic. More importantly, I think you need to be more expressive, especially given some of the lyrics you've given yourself. It doesn't have to be over the top at all...just more projection, annunciation and emotion if possible. Just some thoughts for you to mull over....thanks.
 
@heatmiser: Thanks for listening, and great avatar. I recently got my first set of monitors, and when I listened to my headphone-mixed music through the monitors, there was definitely a lack of clarity. I hope that now that I can hear better, I'll be able to use eq more effectively and remedy that issue. I'll heed your vocal performance remarks as well, especially with project, annunciation and emotion. Thanks again!
 
I listened to Release. Nice guitar riff, but you got timing problems with the performance of it and the vocals are kinda lifeless. I played a few seconds of other tunes and notices them all to have a low-end wave smothering all of them. I'm not sure what you want to sound like, but you could use a toe-tapper in there. Sleepy. Sorry, don't mean too sound to harsh. Keep lurking around the clinic and you'll learn a ton and find others who might have an ear for your particular style.
 
Welcome. Just a little suggestion...Pick one song & post that - if you've been reading around the forum for a while you should be aware of that as the best way not to cause bother & get more responses.
I look forward to listening to something soon.
 
@maximusbs: Thanks for listening. Your comments motivate me even further to inspect my low frequencies and general eq-ing. This album was mixed on headphones that are lacking in bass, so I'm sure that (coupled with my new-ness to recording/mixing) led to funky low frequencies. As far as a toe-tapper, I intend to write more rhythmic music in the future. I wrote and recorded this album in a month and a half, and I wasn't in a particularly toe-tappin mood during that period of time. Hopefully brighter days lead to more toe-tappable music.

@rayc: Thanks for the heads up. I probably won't post any of the songs from these albums for individual critiques but rather will record/mix something applying what I've already learned from this thread and post that new song individually. Hopefully you check back in when I have a more focused thread and a better mix!

Also, thanks to anyone who gave the tracks a listen but didn't comment. Even without critiques, I appreciate anyone taking the time to listen.
 
chawps said:
@maximusbs: Thanks for listening. Your comments motivate me even further to inspect my low frequencies and general eq-ing. This album was mixed on headphones that are lacking in bass, so I'm sure that (coupled with my new-ness to recording/mixing) led to funky low frequencies. As far as a toe-tapper, I intend to write more rhythmic music in the future. I wrote and recorded this album in a month and a half, and I wasn't in a particularly toe-tappin mood during that period of time. Hopefully brighter days lead to more toe-tappable music.
Click to expand...
The good news is that you are quite productive as an artist. Just submit one song at a time and we'll give you the best advice we can, based upon each of our preferences, prejudices and tastes of course. The toe-tappin thing is just a 'preference' of mine - you gotta go with your muse.
 
Anxiety Lullaby. There is some good detail on the guitars and vocal. They're very wide. Some excessive fret noise here and there. Little guitar flub on the left at :55. Vocals are pitchy in spots.

Escape. I liked the feel of the song. Some pitchy vocals. Liked the harmonies. Interesting snare sound. Not sure if I like it or not.
 
@mazimusbs: I'll be sure to post an individual song, hopefully in the next week or two. I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks again for your help!

@TripleM: Thanks for listening. Glad to hear that you heard some things you like. Not to be a total noob, but what do you mean by pitchy? I've seen the term a few times but don't really have a grasp of it. A google search indicated that it can be vaguely bad or soulfully good. I hope you meant the latter, but I'm anticipating the former. Could you clarify?
 
Pitchy, as in off pitch. A note or two here and there that wasn't in tune.
 
I chose Escape. I have an old song with a similar theme... but it sounds nothing like yours so don't fret :)

I quite like this song, and the singing and melody is good in the verses, but if anything the melody slows as the instruments gain pace in the chorus.

When it comes to matters of taste always do what you want rather than listen to anyone, unless they say something that makes sense to you. So if it makes sense I would look for more impact around lyrics like "right now". When you are recording you can push the vocal a bit, because if you stuff up you can just do it again. The vocal sounds a bit lazy in the chorus to me. I would also recommend you do some research on mastering.
 
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Hi chawps, had a listen to three of the songs on your link:

Release - I think is my favourite of those I played. The lazy vocal works best on this for me because it contrasts well with the insistent, gentle pounding of the guitar riff. Nice change at the end with the organ coming in too.

Euterpe - Good tune too. It's bedroom folk's answer to Atmosphere by Joy Division! As mentioned by others a bit more emotion on the vocal would be good though.

Anxiety Lullaby - Needs something more going on I think to add a bit more depth/sustain the interest, whether it's harmony lines coming in at various points or more instrumentation.
 
@Tobe: Thanks for listening; I'm glad you enjoyed. Thanks for your encouraging words and your vocal suggestions. As far as mastering goes: I have very little clue what I should be doing. However, before I saw your post, I had this and this open in different tabs. Hopefully some reading can get me heading in the right direction. Thanks again!

@robgreen: Thanks for listening; I appreciate it! When I was recording/writing this album (again, a month-and-a-half process), I was really into "Release," which is probably why it came out better. "Euterpe" was one I didn't really know how to sing, and that came through. I think following the advice I've received so far about singing fuller, opening my mouth, etc, will make it easier to sing more emotionally. And I like your suggestion with harmonies on "Anxiety Lullaby." I didn't play much with harmonies on this album (there is one harmony on one tune) because of my reservations about my singing. Now that I've broken the barrier of putting out an album with vocals, hopefully I'll be more comfortable and confident experimenting with harmonies. Thanks again!
 
Hi Chawps,

I think the 2nd link you gave is more what I had in mind for your situation... to extend your mixing skill set rather than send you off paying other people to add the polish.

It is true that (for example) singers, depending on their temperament, will either overdo or under do their treatment, so I do understand the value of objectivity in the final product. But I think for home recording these issues are better identified (if possible) and resolved in the mix rather than the master.

Most mastering techniques can be done using various free plug-in downloads, or you can trial stuff like Ozone.
 
@Simon

I definitely don't intend to pay anyone for mastering. Aside from just simply enjoying recording/mixing, part of what I like about home recording is that I can record as much as I want to record, which wouldn't be as true if I were paying for mastering for every record. And the singing fixes are ones I'll aim to make mostly during performance, but I'm sure I'll need some mixtime doctoring. I've played a little bit with some mastering plugins, but I didn't really get that deep into them. That's something else I intend to work on.

Boy, my "To Do" list is approaching the length of my "Gear I Want" list. That's probably a good thing!
 
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