Newbie to Forum, Looking for Constructive Criticism

[Northwind]

Hey Everyone,

I am new to the forum. I recently setup my home studio (by setup I mean purchased a PreSonus Audiobox and setup all my gear in my house). I am going to post later about another room in the house that might be good for recording and mixing - but for now I wanted to share my first recording in this room with my new setup. The song is "What It's Like" by Everlast (does contain a few swears just so you know!).

http://www.4shared.com/audio/nU6Tt2mH/NDB_-_What_Its_Like.html

I am looking for real constructive criticism. Don't hold back.

Thanks all in advance for the listen and replies.

Nick

 

[guitar zero]

Not bad for a first effort. The guitar and vocal performance is good.
Here's what I think I hear that could make it better.
1) The shaker is fake sounding and way too loud. It's a distraction throughout the whole song. It should be background percussion to add flavor, not the main dish. Why not get a real shaker and record it?
2) Your vocal is nice and gritty. Some type of saturation plug would sound really good on your voice.
3) (this should be #1) Build yourself some bass traps. Check out the DIY threads on building them and placing them. Your room needs it. This will improve your recordings better than any one thing you could do. Don't buy any more gear until you have a good room for recording good tracks. Do this and mixing will get a lot easier.

 

[TripleM]

Having trouble with the link - spins forever.