Please critique my first try

R

Rusty K

New member
Well here's my neck chop it off!

The song is one I wrote 25 yrs. ago and never recorded. I'm just trying to tie up loose ends so if it sounds dated try to overlook it and just give me technical advice.

It's just me and my boss drum-machine. I won't tell you what other equpment I used. It might cloud your judgement.

You will notice there is a space for a solo. I have a guirarist lined up to help but I don't want to call him in till I have my mixing technique and equipment under reasonable control.

Go to http://r-dkeith.home.texas.net/temp . The song is "Get On The Road Again".

Thanks for your time and input.
Rusty K
 
First off, cool tune. I know what you mean about dated but then again so am I. It sounds pretty good but personally I'd level the bass a bit more with compression and you say you're going to fill that hole with a lead. Overall a good tune.
 
I download it, then try to play it (winamp) and it gives me the error thing will shut down message....tried three times...but yet I've downloaded and played others today...I'll keep tryin'.......gibs
 
Rusty, that was a cool tune... very retro (you admitted writing it quite some time ago).

I was going to suggest backing off on the vocal reverb a bit, but for the feel of your song and the time and place it puts me when I listen to it, I think the amount of verb serves a good purpose.

I'd like to hear a little more warmth in the vocals though (not in your singing, your singning was great), I mean in the vocal tracks' sound/quality/texture... It sounded a little thin to me. What gear/setup are you using for vocals?

Great tune, Rusty... Keep it up and don't wait so long...haha.
 
Thanks much guys,

I'll reply in order of response.

Track Rat: I'm always worried about too much compression. With respect to the bass, by "flatening" do you mean it should be tucked into the mix a bit better? Would that also be a function of volume? Also could it be that I've compressed the other parts too much making the bass stand out?

Teddie: I used a Sennheiser into my 4trac Sony digital then Nanoverb for effect and through a Nanocompressor into the computer.
I don't have a preamp. I tried the Art but it was so damn noisy I returned it. As for the compression I'm still totally confused about purchasing outboard or just upgrading to editing software with pro effects. Any suggestions.

Keep your input coming guys. I'm at a place where I need to know what my next best step should be.


Thanks,
Rusty K
 
Why do you think my mp3 isn't working with Winamp. It's a bummer for you guys to be trying to listen but getting nothing. If there is someting I can do to correct the problem let me know.

Thanks,
Rusty K
 
I have no idea why...maybe drstawl could help us out...he's pretty much a techno wiz on this sorta stuff...gibs
 
Great job for a first try.
And you actually got Marilyn interested in that solo line....
But what'd you use for an mp3 encoder?
Sure wish I knew what was up with those .mp3 files. I went through several downloads and several players. My initial cable D/L of "Get On The Road Again" wouldn't play in Vegas! That got me worried until I tried it in Winamp and the application crashed hard. So I D/L'ed it at work on the DSL line and it played right away in MusicMatch. I tried it once more on cable in NS and IE both! Neither one would play in any player I had at home. (I wiped MusicMatch on that system)
So I copied the mp3 to Zip Disk at work and loaded it on my home system.
Success in Vegas.
Still crashed WinAmp.
And wouldn't open in Sound Forge XP!
OK it was worth getting. Notes on the mp3:
I think you've got a bunch of digital clips throughout that were trimmed to 0dB. Back off on the input levels and then boost the whole thing after the fact up to 0 dB with normalization. Sure- that won't get you any "mastered" sound but it's a necessary evil if you wanna ride at 0 dB.
Normalizing after you clip won't do much.
 
drstawl

Well first let me thank you for all your trouble in trying to listen to "Get On The Road Again". I really appreciate the effort and your feedback.

I use Goldwave and Blade to encode to mp3. I thought that was a common encoder. I don't know if this is relevant but I used WS FTP to upload it to a temp file on my homepage. My mp3's play fine on my Real Jukebox.

My monitors are Altec multimedia. I know not even close to the best. I never heard the clips though my level meters are sometimes pegged. I was simply trying to get max volume but I'll definately follow your advice from now on.

I didn't quite understand the 0db and "mastering" stuff though. If you get a chance could you elaborate a bit?

Tell Marilyn that I often work on stage with a fabulous guitarist from a one hit wonder band from the sixties. He's versatile but can sound ever so latin like Santana which I thought would work nicely with the rest of the music. I don't know if that's what was going through her head but I'm gratified that the tune is working.

Thanks again for your time,

Rusty K
 
Okay, I got it to play with MusicMatch. I'm guessing 48kHz is what choked Winamp. I'd highly suggest using a different encoder... Blade is not very good. It's probably best to stick with 44.1 as a sample rate too.

Here's some random thoughts. I'm not sure how you mastered to digital, but it sounds like you either compressed or normalized a buttload. The style really screams to have some breathing space with the dynamics, but the average volume level seems really, really high through the whole song. I originally thought the loud level might be some anomaly with MusicMatch (not my usual reference), but my ears were definitely fatigued rather quickly on the piece even at a fairly low level. Don't squeeze the life out of this tune, I beg you... back the boa constrictor off a bunch :D. Watch the digital overs, too. Those two things would clean it up a lot. I like the tune, dated or not.
 
pglewis,

Thanks for your help.

So where did the 48kz come from, the encoder? I used 44.1 sample rate. Could you suggest an encoder?

Track Rat suggested that I flaten the bass more with compression and I responded that
perhaps it was that I had compressed the rest of the music too much. From your assesment it sounds like perhaps I was correct and just too heavy handed with the Boa Constrictor.

Thanks much for your response.

Rusty K
 
Yeah, good work! My thoughs:
I think the biggest problem, soundwise is that the voice sounds thin, but not thin and canny enough for being an effect (like Flash in the Pans telephone voice). And it's a bit to much reverb on it. Sounds like you are compressing it pretty hard. Not enough to be disturbing, but I'd probably easy down on the compression ratio for your next recording.
As a whole the sound lacks bottom. Giving the bass more bass should do it. The sound now is a bit treble heavy. But in general, the recording seems excellent.
Arrangement-wise it's a bit to long I think. Cut some of the acoustic parts and maybe shorten one of the verses. Or make the arrangement in the verse and chorus different, because as it is now there no difference between the chorus and the verse. And a lead during the break would also give it more interest, as previously noted.

Keep up the good work!
 
Rusty: I'm not sure what happened with the samping rate... MusicMatch reported it to be 320kbps at 48kHz. I use LAME, which is free and pretty good on bit rates from 128kbps and up. It's not as easy to install and use as other encoders though. Check the encoder section at www.mp3-tech.org

Yeah, I'd definitely back the compressor off, at least on the final mix. The fatigue I was talking about isn't an issue with one pass, but it starts to show up with a few critical listens in succession. Another side effect of the heavy compression is that the string squeek is loud in a couple of spots.

The "overs" are audible on the vocals. It might just another goofy thing with the MP3, not sure.
 
Thanks guys,

regebro: Yes I need a tube pre for my vocals. I'm waiting for a RNC that's supposed to come out this month for under $200 unless you've got a better plan?

I'm having trouble with bass, which curiously is my instrument. It's probably my monitors but I have to roll off bass all the time. I think I've been try to record too hot and it may help to back off and roll more bass on everything. It really seems to kick the overall gain way up and crap my Altec Multimedia's. Would it be better to monitor with my Onyko and KLH speakers?

As for the arrangement. The song is 3:35 as is. I plan a fade at the end which will cut it down a good bit and I'll consider the other things you mentioned but there is nothing like a whiz bang guitarist to fill all the empty uninteresting space and I have one. I've done the best I could as a bassist/songwriter to create a basic format.
I apperciate your input thanks much.

pglewis: Yes I'm a newbie with compression and I just followed some suggested settings but I'll back off some.

What did you mean by "overs" are you talking overdubs? What are you hearing that I'm not?

Thanks,
Rusty
 
I wanna hear this tune but it's telling me the web page is locked exceeded this month's traffic allotment. I can't get to it. What's up. T.J.
 
By "overs", I thought some of the vocals were "peaking" in spots. It's subtle, and something else might be causing it. There's a lot of spots where you can hear some "fuzziness" in the vocals. It was either distorted when you initially recorded it, or it turned up somewhere else downstream. It may even be artifacts from your encoder (it doesn't sound like it, though). If you can't hear it over your monitors, try listening to the MP3 with some decent headphones. Pay particular attention to the high-end of the vocals and you should hear it.

I don't wanna seem like I'm picking it apart, though. The distortion is audible, but not glaring.
 
No, sorry, I no NOTHING about preamps. I use an Art Tube MP, and thats the only mic preamp I've ever used... :)
 
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