Numbers (Please Critique)

  • Thread starter Thread starter propman
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I listened to mix #2.

I really like the song. Reminds me of the Dandy Worhols for some reason.

I liked the vocals quite a bit. Real clear and well performed. I like the minimal processing on them.

I think the kick is quite a bit too loud. I think the bass is too loud too - but not by as much as the kick. The snare sounds pretty good. I might give it a little boost somewhere between 4K-5K. Bring out just a little more crack. Do you record your own drums?

I like that little keyboard part in the chrous. Simple but effective.

The distorted guitar in the chorus is cool sounding. I would have liked a little more gain/distortion on it. Personal taste thing. It's a little grainy sounding.
 
Really great mix. It's open and breathes well. The vocal performance and sound is excellent. You have a very "indie" early 2000's sound akin to Of Montreal and The Shins (compliment). Do you play or mix professionally? This sounds amazing.
 
TripleM said:
I listened to mix #2.

I really like the song. Reminds me of the Dandy Worhols for some reason.

I liked the vocals quite a bit. Real clear and well performed. I like the minimal processing on them.

I think the kick is quite a bit too loud. I think the bass is too loud too - but not by as much as the kick. The snare sounds pretty good. I might give it a little boost somewhere between 4K-5K. Bring out just a little more crack. Do you record your own drums?

I like that little keyboard part in the chrous. Simple but effective.

The distorted guitar in the chorus is cool sounding. I would have liked a little more gain/distortion on it. Personal taste thing. It's a little grainy sounding.
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Dandy Worhols - another band I have to check out.
This tune, believe it or not, was inspired a ton by your work. I loved the vibe you produced and wanted to do something in a similar vein. I don't usually record my own drums (due to lack of the proper gear) but I did in this case, in sections. Snare/Kick then Hat/Symbol and I spent a considerable about of time quantizing the tracks so they wouldn't sound so loose against each other.

Thanks a lot for listening so intently. I wish I could say that I'd check into everything you mentioned but I'm getting really lazy at this point. I may just let things lay the way they are if the issues aren't too annoying.

Stevie_M said:
Really great mix. It's open and breathes well. The vocal performance and sound is excellent. You have a very "indie" early 2000's sound akin to Of Montreal and The Shins (compliment). Do you play or mix professionally? This sounds amazing.
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Wow. WOW! Thank you so much for everything you said. That is one of the nicest series of compliments I've ever received. I was trying to go for early 2000's indie -- maybe a bit more in the punk category but being compare to The Shins is stellar! I love them. Of Montreal is nothing to sneeze at either. I don't play or mix professionally, just (at this point) as a vigorous hobby but I'm beyond flattered! The entire time I was mixing this song (on a cheap pair of Sony headphones and a lousy single speaker), I thought it was going to sound atrocious. Then you come along and ask if I'm a pro. Thank you! You made my day, BIG TIME!
 
Good job on going from regular to falsetto and back - not easy to do.
 
Crazy Luke said:
Good job on going from regular to falsetto and back - not easy to do.
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Thank you! It's one of my favorite vocal "tricks."

TripleM said:
Dandy Worhols - check out "Bohemian Like You" The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You (Official Video) - YouTube . You'd probably like it.

Your drums sound pretty good. What gear did you record with? Maybe we can take it up a notch.
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Great song! But I must add to the slurry of songs that remind people of songs because that song reminded me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0_oNYx5yI0

As for my gear, I have a two-track M-Audio FastTrack USB (first [or close to it] generation), an Audio-Technica AT2020 condenser mic (which is my favorite piece of gear), a Shure SM57 knockoff (heavily modified [which is what I recorded the snare and hat with]), the predecessor to the SM57, called a PE66L (yard sale find - three dollars) and an SM58. My biggest hurdle is the low number of simultaneous inputs available to me through my interface.
Next in line would probably be my general lack of cables.

"Take it up a notch?" How do you mean?
 
propman said:
"Take it up a notch?" How do you mean?
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The things that come to mind: Getting a tighter sounding kick. Getting more crack out of the snare. Getting a wider stereo spread.

The drums sound isn't bad. I've heard much worse sounding drums with better equipment.
 
TripleM said:
The things that come to mind: Getting a tighter sounding kick. Getting more crack out of the snare. Getting a wider stereo spread.

The drums sound isn't bad. I've heard much worse sounding drums with better equipment.
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A tighter kick would be great but how?
 
I thought it sounded pretty good (mix 2). Not really too much to nitpick besides just personal preference things. The balance of the mix is fine. Nothing is odd or out of place to me. I'm not crazy about the distorted rhythm guitar tones, but they're timid enough in the mix that they're passable.

You're right that parallel EQ on the snare, or anything, is basically redundant. Just hit it with a regular parametric EQ and that's all you need. Parallel compression, on the other hand, has some merit. But EQ? No, not really. You're just blending the same track with itself using two different EQs. Not much point there. All that snare needs is some regular EQ and smart compression on just the snare track itself. Next time, tune it better and mic it better.
 
propman said:
A tighter kick would be great but how?
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I'm certainly no expert in recording drums. But the first thing I would look at is mic positioning. I'd make sure the mic is pointed straight at the spot where the batter head meets the drum. After that, I'd experiment with different mic distances. Does closer sound better than further away? Or vice-versa?

EQ-wise, kicks almost always seem to benefit from some fairly large cuts in the 300-600hz range. What "fairly large" is depends on the recording obviously. But I've always had good luck with cuts in that range.
 
Greg_L said:
I thought it sounded pretty good (mix 2). Not really too much to nitpick besides just personal preference things. The balance of the mix is fine. Nothing is odd or out of place to me. I'm not crazy about the distorted rhythm guitar tones, but they're timid enough in the mix that they're passable.

You're right that parallel EQ on the snare, or anything, is basically redundant. Just hit it with a regular parametric EQ and that's all you need. Parallel compression, on the other hand, has some merit. But EQ? No, not really. You're just blending the same track with itself using two different EQs. Not much point there. All that snare needs is some regular EQ and smart compression on just the snare track itself. Next time, tune it better and mic it better.
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Thanks for listening, Greg! I wouldn't mind hearing your personal preference nits. It's not badass enough, right? :D

On the snare, could you possible tell me how you tune and mic it? I like your sound.

TripleM said:
I'm certainly no expert in recording drums. But the first thing I would look at is mic positioning. I'd make sure the mic is pointed straight at the spot where the batter head meets the drum. After that, I'd experiment with different mic distances. Does closer sound better than further away? Or vice-versa?

EQ-wise, kicks almost always seem to benefit from some fairly large cuts in the 300-600hz range. What "fairly large" is depends on the recording obviously. But I've always had good luck with cuts in that range.
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Great advice! Thanks! I'll give all that a shot next time I record my kit.
 
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