New release needs some perspective! Novus Cantus - Romance

[NovusCantus]

Hi Everyone! This is my very first post, even though I've been creeping through these forums for years now...

My band, Novus Cantus, just recorded the attached track (below as YouTube link). After days of mixing (we mix and master ourselves), I'm saturated (and not an engineer ), and cannot tell whether what I've done is worth modifying much further. This track is really our best sounding out of the gate, and we really need to make sure this is the best it can be before it's released. ANY AND ALL feedback is welcome, even if it is about the composition itself. Thank you in advance and please just let me know if you have questions. We will also be happy to return the favor if you have a track that needs listening.

Couple notes before you listen:
1. There is background hiss in several tracks and some noises that can and will be cleaned up
2. The song is supposed to fade at the end
3. Be brutal
4. THANK YOU



-Christian

 

[BCF1]

Love the guitar !! Performance and tone are great !!
The backing vox feel a bit wide for me but that's just a personal preference thing.
Sounds really good to me !!!

 

[HeavyMusic3000]

AMAZING! Sounds fantastic. Thank you for sharing.

 

[NovusCantus]

Thank you so much @BCF1 and @HeavyMusic3000 - I was literally GIDDY that anyone posted!!! First, I am really happy that you both said something positive. I've been stressing over this. Regarding the wide vocals, I was actually having trouble placing them in a clean spot that didn't detract from the main vocals. I think I might try placing them more off the the left or right. I'm not thrilled with where they are now.

One question though... how to I get that intro guitar to have that really pretty yet full "stereo" presence? I have always struggled with this. Currently I am using a slight delay and chorus effect. I would likely pull it back a bit to a right pan after the intro, but I really want those first few seconds to draw people in.

Thank you again for replying. I am again just happy that it's striking a positive chord.
-Christian

 

[BCF1]

For back vocals somewhere in the 9:00 or 3:00 positions often work for me. I think the guitar sounds great, if you wish to experiment consider the Haas effect

 

[Robus]

Double track the part with a different amp. Pan wide apart.

 

[musicturtle]

Hey man, I echo the sentiment here. Nice work. The only part the distracts me a bit is the rim shot of some kind starting at about the :50 mark. It has a lot of reverb on it and is quite loud. Maybe you meant this to be this way, I just found my attention taken away from the rest of the performance.

Again, just my two cents.

 

[NovusCantus]

For back vocals somewhere in the 9:00 or 3:00 positions often work for me. I think the guitar sounds great, if you wish to experiment consider the Haas effect

Ok I'm going to look this up.

 

[NovusCantus]

Hey man, I echo the sentiment here. Nice work. The only part the distracts me a bit is the rim shot of some kind starting at about the :50 mark. It has a lot of reverb on it and is quite loud. Maybe you meant this to be this way, I just found my attention taken away from the rest of the performance.

Again, just my two cents.

Totally, and thank you. It is too loud for sure - I'm doing some work on the drums tomorrow I added the reverb to try to make it a littleeee bit more like a cool ambient sound, but maybe too much? I'll tone it down and see what happens.

 

[NovusCantus]

Double track the part with a different amp. Pan wide apart.

Ah! Let me see what I can do with this. We already recorded but it doesn't mean we can't re-record and double some parts for emphasis.

 

[zepfan59]

Vocals and guitar recorded beautifully. Drums not so much. Snare needs tuning. I thought I heard a bass come in near the beginning but it sure got lost. I would separate a little more, sounds a bit bunched up in the middle. And don't think bass always has to be in the center. I often slide it over just to keep the middle from stacking up. Very nice song though.

 

[NovusCantus]

Vocals and guitar recorded beautifully. Drums not so much. Snare needs tuning. I thought I heard a bass come in near the beginning but it sure got lost. I would separate a little more, sounds a bit bunched up in the middle. And don't think bass always has to be in the center. I often slide it over just to keep the middle from stacking up. Very nice song though.

Thank you, zepfan - sorry for the delayed response. I agree with all of this. I'm debating whether to post the next version on here since honestly, I've received really great feedback that has improved the mix. I JUST spread out the guitars last night and it definitely helped to clarify the mix. The ONLY issue I am really really struggling with is getting the darn bass drum to not getting muffled out by the bass. That is probably why it was hiding in the mix. I want this to be "dancy" so that it can pass as bachata-inspired rock and something the people can dance to. Do you have any thoughts on how to get the bass and bass drum out of each other's way? I can slide it to the side, or maybe even remove the center channel of that track and spread it to the left and right of center, creating a vacuum for the bass drum. BUT (n00b question) would that cause issues during playback with a subwoofer? As in, does the subwoofer use the center channel for playback?