No pods and real drums!

[mkeene]

Hey guys,
This is my first submission to the mp3 mixing clinic, but dont be afraid to tear into me...I need it. The song is pretty straightforward, but I think its great musically. I only had a few different mics to work with, so everything was done one at a time.

Drums: I used a pair of MXL 603s both 3 feet out from the snare and 5 feet from the bass. 57 on snare...and a shure kick mic on kick.

Vocals: Mojave Audio modded MXL 2001

Acoustic: I sort of did the M/S with this one...but i used the two MXL 603's as the "figure 8 mic" (both facing opposite directions) and flipped the phase on one of them. Mojave audio Tube mic for the one cardioid facing the guitar. This was about a foot out from the 18th fret.

Electric: 57 on grille and Mojave Audio mic 1 and a half feet out in the middle of the cab. I used a Gibson Les Paul and Fender Hot Rod Deville 212.

Bass: This was the only insturment I went direct with...and i then sent the direct signal out to a bass amp miced with an AKG D112, and blended.

Harmonica: Wierd combo of sm58 and the D112.

Piano: spaced pair of MXL 603's.

I used my RNP and RNC for most of the tracks, and a DMP3 for some of the insturments that required 4 tracks. Delta 44 soundcard into Nuendo.

Thats pretty much it. Im pretty happy with how it sounds, with the exception of the harmonica and acoustic, which can be a little brittle sounding. The Acoustic was an ovation...so that might have contributed to the sound. All in all, I think it sounds pretty decent...for a home recording.

Oh and by the way, I didnt write the song, but I did write and play the Electric guitar parts along with the bass. My friend (Kyle) ,who wrote the song, played everything except for the drums and what I did. Thanks for listening!

The Harmonica Song: http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=2357/singles

-Mike

 

[volthause]

more vox. they seem way low in the mix during the verses. during the chours the balance seems a little better.

the harmonica sound is way cool, buy maybe a tad loud in certain sections.

the acoustic guitars sound good. so you used two cardiods and then phase inverted one of the channels? that doesn't really make it mid-side, but it still sounds cool. if you wanted that to work you would have to sum the two cardiods, and then take that track, copy it and phase invert it.

i didn't hear any piano on my first listen. maybe a little louder.

the electric sound was good, but a little dull... it was screaming out to me for a uni-vibe or something. maybe re-amp the current track through a uni-vibe effect and mix it in under the current one just to get some movement.

i liked the song. very mellow.

 

[studioviols]

In the Intro, the harmonica and the guitar do not sound like they are in the same room.

Your vocal, although mixed at a level where I can understand all the words on the first listen, that is by the graces of your good pronunciation. I think you have a nice spot hollowed out for your vocal EQ wise and that helps also. But it all sounds so massively reverby ...reverb re-re-re just all over everything.

The nice ladies voice behind yours is lost in the 'funk' of the reverb and I have to struggle to hear her.

At 0:25 the cymbal is just droopy, dripping with reverb and delay ... hee hee lol ...

Maybe that's what you want, I dunno ...

At 2:45, the vocal is generally mixed better, but remember, this is very 'breathy' and very 'intimate' singing, lots of reverb does NOT promote an intimate feeling, it promotes a wide open feeling, the more reverb the further we are away from the band, from the singer, the larger the building we are in.

At 4:03, that is the most reverby harmonica I have ever heard on this board, if reverb were honey, it would be sagging out of all the holes of the harmonica ...

And if that's what ya want ...

I just don't feel like things are in the same room here.

At 4:58, her backup mix is a bit better.

This song could do with more 'lonesome wailing fills' ... I think the tempo could be 10% faster also.

Now hear me out ... there is nothing 'wrong' with this song. All of this is my opinion. Generally speaking it's a good performance, good lead vocal, good writing, good song.

Just to many coats of reverb.

 

[TexRoadkill]

I like the song and recording. The vocals have a weird artifact to them. I can't tell if it's just the MP3 or some type of processing on them. The harmonica seems a touch hot and the vocals a touch low. The bass could use a little more definition. As I listen again the bass tone doesn't really seem as good as the rest of the tracks. Overall I like the vocal, guit and drum sound. It's got a cool vibe.

 

[joro]

Hey Mike,
Welcome to the clinic...
Tres' Dylanesque...
Vox is too low man...needs to be more up front..
so is the bass at some points but too loud at others....try compression there......
the acoustic guit is a little on the thin side...could use some verb....just a touch
there is dissonance on the crash
The snare sounds far away and thin...so do the tom rolls...
needs kick too....
I know it's called the Harmonica song but, the harmonica is not the lead instrument anywhere in the tune...it should be panned out in the mix as a complimentary instument....

Take it easy man,
Joe

 

[mkeene]

Thanks a lot guys, ive listened to the song so many times by now its nice to hear some other views on how it sounds.
Thanks again!
-Mike

 

[TripleM]

Nice and relaxing piece. Nice expressive singing voice.

Was that a goofup in the intro (at about :11 or :12)? Seemed like a timing issue.

Maybe the low end is a little heavy for this type of piece. Maybe roll off some lows on the guit to lighten things up a bit down in that range.

The bass is a little undefined and muddy. Just a bit.

The reverbs on this are a little big. It kind of sounds like Neil Young doing an MTV Unplugged show.

Maybe double track the acoustic guit? I think that would help the overall sound out considerably.

Skip/pop at :43. Some kind of click on the left side at about 4:03. A couple more clicks around 5:34-5:35.

Cool bridge/solo just after 4:20 or so. I'm not sure all the strings on that lead guit were in tune though.