Pillars

[Bubba po]

Really? Cheers Bubba. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I hate it (the vocal performance I mean) I really like this song though so I wanna make sure I have it right now I hear it in my head. How's it mixed in? I was really happy with the pre vocal mix of this track.

The vocals sit really well, mate. Just to be clear, I'm not talking a whole lot of weight, here - just a tweak.

 

[JDOD]

I might add hint of drive to the bass. That's always fun.

 

[robgreen]

It's cool to finally hear what you had in mind for the full version of this song. The instrumental side of things was already well settled and the playing is really good. The vocals change the direction of the sound a little, but it works and fits into the mix well enough.

Have you tried dialing back the vocal layers in the verse at all? I think it would give more power to the chorus if they were only really audible in the choruses. There's nothing wrong with it as is, and the way you've arranged it gives it a little bit of an old school industrial feel - but it could be worth a try.

 

[JDOD]

It's cool to finally hear what you had in mind for the full version of this song. The instrumental side of things was already well settled and the playing is really good. The vocals change the direction of the sound a little, but it works and fits into the mix well enough.

Have you tried dialing back the vocal layers in the verse at all? I think it would give more power to the chorus if they were only really audible in the choruses. There's nothing wrong with it as is, and the way you've arranged it gives it a little bit of an old school industrial feel - but it could be worth a try.

I hadn't, but I'll give it a go. My voice is a bit scratchy and whiney so I tend to keep it double tracked, I'll see what it sounds like with a single track centred instead of the panned double track. Cheers.

 

[fat_fleet]

I hadn't, but I'll give it a go. My voice is a bit scratchy and whiney so I tend to keep it double tracked, I'll see what it sounds like with a single track centred instead of the panned double track. Cheers.

You panned your doubled vocals? Don't do that, bring em in to the center. You'll still get the effect you want from the variations in the performance.
And you might want to choose the best take to "lead" and drop the gain on the other track.

 

[JDOD]

You panned your doubled vocals? Don't do that, bring em in to the center. You'll still get the effect you want from the variations in the performance.
And you might want to choose the best take to "lead" and drop the gain on the other track.

Yeah, all the vocals are doubled and panned - they're very similar performances though.

 

[BroKen_H]

Clean, crisp, great work. Love the tones all around. Very nice bass tone. Reverbs are nice, but sound inconsistent; here a little, there a little. Ah, I see from the comments that's intentional. Press on! Gives the music an odd vibe that makes you want to hear it again to figure out the odd vibe...

 

[JDOD]

You panned your doubled vocals? Don't do that, bring em in to the center. You'll still get the effect you want from the variations in the performance.
And you might want to choose the best take to "lead" and drop the gain on the other track.

You're right - it does sound a bit better. It reduces that weird phasey effect I was getting from the slight pitch variations in the choruses. I've moved all vocals to the centre, put one of the tracks a couple of db quieter and added a hint more reverb to it.

I've also lowered the snare by about 1db as it was starting to getting right on my tits.

Have a quick listen to this:
View attachment Pillars - Centred Vocals.mp3

 

[JDOD]

Clean, crisp, great work. Love the tones all around. Very nice bass tone. Reverbs are nice, but sound inconsistent; here a little, there a little. Ah, I see from the comments that's intentional. Press on! Gives the music an odd vibe that makes you want to hear it again to figure out the odd vibe...

Cheers, mate. I've made a couple of changes bases on fat-fleet's comment.

 

[robgreen]

I hadn't, but I'll give it a go. My voice is a bit scratchy and whiney so I tend to keep it double tracked, I'll see what it sounds like with a single track centred instead of the panned double track. Cheers.

Yeah, I did wonder if it was something you did at least in part because of self-consciousness about your vocals.

Regarding the phasey sound you mention, it may be trying to tell you how to suck eggs, but are you using some kind of phase invert plug-in or switch between the various vocal layers? That might really help in that regard if not.

 

[JDOD]

Yeah, I did wonder if it was something you did at least in part because of self-consciousness about your vocals.

Regarding the phasey sound you mention, it may be trying to tell you how to suck eggs, but are you using some kind of phase invert plug-in or switch between the various vocal layers? That might really help in that regard if not.

I don't even know what that is!

 

[fat_fleet]

That does sound better. I'd boost em a .5 - 1 dB during the denser chorus part. What's going on @ 2.23? Could be a submerged ambient vocal, but could also be a scratch take you left unmuted?

 

[JDOD]

That does sound better. I'd boost em a .5 - 1 dB during the denser chorus part. What's going on @ 2.23? Could be a submerged ambient vocal, but could also be a scratch take you left unmuted?

Ah, that's just a random line I threw in there kind of off the cuff when I was working on the vocal, I thought about giving it a couplet on the next bar but couldn't think of one and started to like the slightly random nature of having on line on its own and sung straight after all that screaming.

 

[fat_fleet]

Ah, that's just a random line I threw in there kind of off the cuff when I was working on the vocal, I thought about giving it a couplet on the next bar but couldn't think of one and started to like the slightly random nature of having on line on its own and sung straight after all that screaming.

Yeah sounds good, I like stuff like that too.. just didn't know if it was intentional in your case.

 

[JDOD]

Cheers. Anyway - I think I've got this pretty much finished now - which is nice as its the first track that I've managed to get finished!

You might remember that I actually came up with the one of the riffs to this when I first started posting on the forum just over 18 months ago. I ended up building a song around it as I learned more about recording. Now I have a vague idea what I'm doing I'll start finishing everything else!