Original song by my sister... hoping to get thoughts on production and mix.

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TheGreatBongChicken

TheGreatBongChicken

Musician who mixes


Hey guys, I haven't been on in a long time again. As usual anyone who knows me knows that I have seizures and they get in the way of things... that should be stopping soon though thanks to a crazy diet that I'm starting that seems to be working. I am planning on starting up a full-time Studio... I know this is crazy, but honestly.. listening to this, do you think I have what it takes? Also do you have any advice for starting one? Pricing, hours, practical tips etc.... and mainly, I just posted the song for a critique of the mix and production. And any other things about it you want to critique!

Sorry I have been away my friends... I owe a lot to some of you, you listened to the first mixes on here that I posted and told me how much I sucked and gave me advice... and it hurt my gigantic ego at the time, but was what I needed. Hopefully you won't tell me that this sucks, but if you do that's cool... I just want the truth. And I know I'll hear peoples real opinions here!

EDIT:I should point out that I have posted this song before, but this is a remix and remaster of it. Also the drums were re-done and a few other changes were made particularly to the vocals. I took a lot of the advice I was given.
 
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I listen on mid range boss headphones

1. Beautiful clarity to the mix of this song, despite the emotional intensity and energy of the singer

2. I love some of the subtle echoing that is going on in places. So many songs overdo echo, but there's just a touch of it and its nice.

3. I think compression was used very well.

4. The final chord of the song, with the slow fade, was OUTSTANDING, from a mix perspective. It made me think "WOW"

I know ziltch about the studio business, but if you asked me to judge what my ears say about the mixing of this song, I'd say it was excellent.
 
A little too much echo/reverb for my tastes, mostly on the vocals during the verses, and when the drums are prominent. I'm not in an ideal listening environment, and some one with more experience may have better/different suggestions.

Very well done, otherwise
 
Great stuff. The mix is very balanced and the clarity is outstanding. The delays and reverb sound very tastefully done to my ears. Very nice vocals. The guitar tone is really good. Just one thing I might change. When it gets quiet near the end, I can barely hear the acoustic guitar, and it sounds pretty thin, with lots of plectrum sound. Made me wonder if there is acoustic guitar throughout the whole song. If so, I'd be interested in hearing a mix with a little more of it.

Every once in a while I come here and listen to a mix that blows my skirt up. It's a pleasant surprise, and this one surely did that.
 
Thanks guys. This is the third mixdown I've posted of this song and I'm glad not to hear any of the same problems being stated so far... I think I am probably going to keep the reverb on the vocals though for her. As for bringing the acoustic up, I may do that... I'll have to think about it. If I do another mix of the song we'll see about that. And Guitar Zero... I'm flattered by the remark, but does your wife know you wear a skirt?

:-p

Thanks for all of the input though... I look forward to hearing more.
 
Loved it! reminded me of some Bic Runga stuff, hope that's not an insult. Thought when the piano came in it was too dominant / full or maybe just the sound of the patch.
 
Specifically which part where the Piano came in? You mean the intro? Cause I didn't play the main Piano, I'm not much on the Piano... but there's a second one that I added in during the really soft chorus towards the end that basically serves as the bridge. I'm just wondering which one you think is too dominant.
 
The intro one, on listening again I think it's because it sounds unnatural against the rest of the song, maybe if it had more air? sorry I can't be more specific just doesn't sit right for me.
 
Wow you have got great studio chops-and a the song is really good too. My only criticism is that, to my ear, the snare drum is a bit too hot on the quiet verses and dominates the vocal. Otherwise this is really well done.

I got no wisdom for you on running a studio-I fix teeth for a living!
 
hmm... the keyboard in the beggining was a cheaper Casio Keyboard. It was older but was the only thing I had around when we recorded it.. that might explain it. I don't know what I could do to it to make it sound more real.

And as for the snare drum, yeah... I have had so many problems with that snare drum. I usually record on my drums, but in this case I used a different set, and the snare drum just wasn't right. But I think I got a decent sound out of it... a little too "pingy" for my taste perhaps, but I can't get it warmer without it sounding dull for some reason. It seems so simple in my head... but anyway, you weren't speaking of the sound much... though I think that might be part of the sound in the verses that might dominate the vocals. I could probably simply bring it down for the verses.
 
Great song. Great vocal performance. The snare is a little hot in my headphones too but not distorted at all. It seems to mellow out half way through and then the guitar gets a little loud. I do hear quite a bit of white noise. I love the arrangement. I will be ecstatic if my songs sounds this good! Very bright, clear and warm. "Easy A" :)
 
TheGreatBongChicken said:
I owe a lot to some of you, you listened to the first mixes on here that I posted and told me how much I sucked and gave me advice... and it hurt my gigantic ego at the time, but was what I needed. Hopefully you won't tell me that this sucks, but if you do that's cool... I just want the truth. And I know I'll hear peoples real opinions here! :
Ha! I had the same experience, my first Mp3 offers make me laugh now, I learned so much here, (and still am)

Sounds great to me, I dont see why you couldnt attract clients with that caliber. I have a friend here on Long Island (where everything is expensive) running a studio with I'd say similar sounding gear. His rates are 50 to 100 per hour depending on what he's doing. Not an easy business though, he knows a ton of pro and semi-pro cats, and its still hard to book alot of hours. Good luck with it!

Oh and you can offer other things to fill in making money, like giving lessons on your main instrument, even beginners engineering lessons etc, be creative!
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Yeah, blatant honesty may not always make you feel good... but if you don't get offended and run away crying or give up, it can be really good for you. I am very glad that most if not all of those old links are dead now. I think Greg L was the harshest, but my ego needed to be popped... and he certainly helped with that!

And thanks for the advice, I'm in an area where there is only one full time studio, and they suck... the stuff they put out is horrible. They have good facilities and equipment, I have a room, a drumkit, some guitars(one really that I use), some sm58s/57s, a Beta52(that's a new addition), two MXL large diaphragm condensers and one pencil mic. I also have a Computer and a Zoom R16... running Mixcraft 4 on my Compy and have some good plug-ins that I got from a friend who is at Recording College, and some that I purchased and some that are just out there for free. So this studio that has tons of pro stuff will not be happy if/when I open up and start advertising with the Recordings I have compiled. Believe me, they really put out bad recordings... and they are where ALL of the local artists up here go.

And yeah, Dionna Blue... I really hate that Snare Drum. It was a huge mistake to record using it, I was not at my studio(really just my room)... I just had the song on the R16 and was at my Church and there is a decent kit there... in fact, it's great, aside from the snare. It's just the factory snare that came with it... I wrestled with that snare drum so much. Too muddy, or too hot, or too bright, or too thin. Currently I can't change anything about the mix, but I should be able to once I get my Recording computer rebooted with my new Hard Drive(my first Terabyte!) and I'll try bringing it down a touch. As for the guitar, I'll have to consider that...

One thing I KNOW I want to change is the outro, her background vox is barely audible! I don't know how that happened... it's eaten up by the huge guitars I guess.

:-p
 
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