Please don't laugh.

N

nicka

New member
Here is a song that i am having trouble with getting the mix together.
I am no professional singer by any means but i am hoping it will get better in time but i hope my mixing improves even quicker.
The lyrics are by my 16 year old nephew and i am trying to put some music to it for him.
Any feedback would be appreciated good or bad ,i can take it...

Its the first song on the link below.

Fighting with the demons.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nickabrahams_music.htm

Cheers
Nick.
 
Nice guitar sound. Vocals are too processed for my likeing, they sound boxy. A better vox performance will make the mix work better. Distorted guitar sounds are a but thin. Not diggin the reverb on it. Drums need to be more punchy upfront.
 
the clean guitar & vocals parts don't need any input because that seems to be polished. I guess you're wanting to talk about the heavy stuff?

Finding new drum sounds to use will make a big difference. Once you've got full-bodied drum tones, they have heavy influence on the rest of your mixing and tones.

You don't get much guitar (overdriven/distorted guitar) to work with when you do it direct-in. You get too much of that narrow guitar mid sound, and not enough of the whole picture.

For vocals, you continued on into the distorted parts with very wet reverb, so check out the difference of how vocals mix with heavier music when you dial the reverb (substantially) to the dry side. It works for the clean guitar stuff, but heavy music usually matches almost dry vocals.
 
i like the roger waters pink floyd 70's vocals, reverb/accoustics and all :)

the drums are recorded live aren't they, i don't work with live drums so i'm useless there.... but i agree with the guys that they need to be a lot more prominent in the mix....

what mic do you use for the vocals?, sounds like a dynamic? what about the bass?




...
 
Over all i think ya got a good concept here...the thing that ruins it (for me anyways) is that distorted rhythm guitar...doesnt sound "beefy" enough.
And i LOVED the demon sound on the vox !

If going direct in with the guitars is the only option you have available...Id mess with a plug-in like "amplitube" if possible.Just go direct in with a clean signal and let amplitube do the rest for guitars.

IK Multimedia makes a free version of Amplitube...its a cheesier version of the one you pay for...but hey...it works right?

Go here to read about it and scroll to the bottom to download it:

http://www.betterguitar.com/Equipment/Recording/AmpliTube/AmpliTubeUno.html
 
The chorus parts sound alot like old Alice Cooper stuff,..right down to the guitar tones and even your vocal. Pretty cool really.

The problems I see with the mix is that everything sounds thin. Not just the drums. I dont know how you recorded the drums so I'm not really sure where to go in the direction of advice with'em.

The guitars need more meat like said before. Try close mic and distant mic(experiment with placement and read,..read,.read) then try some full wash panning for tight doubles. I read about this recently and have been experimenting with real good results.

I really like the lead guitar tone and playing. I think if you get the drums and rhythm and bass fixed,.. this tone will fit right in the mix. Wouldnt change that. However i might add delay or echo to it.

I think the acoustic guitar tone is close to being good. A little on the thin side but its close. If you mixed in a mic'ed signal with this it would be perfect in my opinion. The vocals sound really good(mix wise not pitch wise) during the acoustic parts but they need to change,..drier,..in the distorted guitar parts. Double up the vocs on the chorus parts and add some backup's maybe.

The lead in rhythm is way too long,..in my opinion,.. in both verses. I would shorten the verses up.

I agree with an earlier post,..that this tune is a good idea. I liked it,..but I would produce it differently.

Just my thoughts hope it helps.

Take 'er easy,..
Calwood
 
Thanks everyone for the listens and replies.
This was all recorded in a complicated way that i was experimenting with and i learned a lesson not to do it again.
The drums are done with a zoom ps_04 pocket recorder.
They were programmed then the files transferred to n-track and converted to 48000khz.
I then plugged my electric and bass into the zoom ps_04 to use as an effects unit and recorded into n-track.
Then the files were then put back into the ps_04 and i sang into the built in microphone which is about the size of 10 pin holes.
Finally the files were tranferred back to p.c for mixing in n-track and as the final wav was over 80 meg it destroyed the sound going to tape quality mp3.
I also ran the final mix through nero wave editor and added stereo processing to boost the overall sound but this is were the drums got really buried.
Also the demon should have said "me" at the end but i missed that part somehow in the mix and noticed it after i had posted it. :o
This is mainly done for my nephew so he can learn and cover it in his band but i will go back and work on all the suggestions above and i appreciate all the great advise and help.

I have no idea of what i am doing mixing but you guys will step me forward which is the right direction(I hope) :)

Thanks everyone.

Nick.
 
....It's pretty good, guys. Performance wise I think you're on the right track. I dislike the quality of the drum sound intensely. I think if the drums approached the quality of the vocals or acoustic you'd be in good shape - but the drums sound really really lo-fi and drained of all life.

The HH swishes starting at 1:08 wanted a kick behind them. And the second time the distorted rythim guit 8th notes kick in you should back it up with some floor tom figures, imho.

Keep up the good work!

-Que si
 
Que si

Thanks for the advise.
I just uploaded version 2 with a better drum sound.I originally had the 2 drum files panned hard left and right for a more stereo effect but by centering them it gives a lot more punch to them.
Great advise and thank you.

I think version 2 has a bit better mix but i still would not call it complete so i will keep at it.

Fighting with the demons


Thanks guys.
 
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