Please Help a 20-year-old Improve his Skills

N

ndycus1

New member
My name's Nathaniel. I'm twenty. My sister-in-law sings. I wrote all of the music to this song. She wrote the lyrics and sang. I also did all of the engineering and mixing. Please critique my engineering and mixing down to the smallest detail. It's something that I really want to get better at. Thanks so much.

The Sea (click here to listen)

Here's a list of the equipment used if you would like:
Software: Sonar 4
Monitors: Fostex PM1
I/O: M-Audio Delta 1010
Preamps: Mindprint Envoice
M-Audio Tampa
M-Audio DMP3
Mics: Neumann TLM103 (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar)
Shure SM57s (Snare and Toms)
AKG D112 (Kick)
AKG C1000s pair (Overheads)
Electric Guitars were recorded direct and used AmpliTube for distortion
 
Please critique my engineering and mixing down to the smallest detail.
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OK: your acoustic guitar is out of tune! Just a bit but I noticed it RIGHT away.

The song is very good and she has a very good/interesting voice. The production is pretty darn good and its a good tune. This is CLOSE to something you would hear on the radio. Close ;) The part at 2:20 is fuzzy with the sound on the right. The guitar panning is good, background vox good.
Tune up the acousitc and I will give you an A, very cool and well done young whippersnapper.
 
First of all,

you didnt even acknowledge my checking out your track with a customary "thank you", so I cant see where anyone would want to check out your stuff.

Secondly:

YOU have to check out the tracks of others. When you do that, they will check out yours in turn.
 
DavidK said:
First of all,

you didnt even acknowledge my checking out your track with a customary "thank you", so I cant see where anyone would want to check out your stuff.

Secondly:

YOU have to check out the tracks of others. When you do that, they will check out yours in turn.
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I have to agree with David. A simple thank you would be a great way to appreciate David's time. Simple courtesy.


There are ways to go about getting good feedback, if not, no one is gonna waste valuble time listening!
 
I liked the tune! Very nice and creative. Cool vocals as well.

Are the vocals durring the slower parts of the song "dry"?? If not, what did you do to them??

Thanks,
Rick
 
David K, I do apologize. Trust me, I completely appreciate you taking the time to check the song out. I've listened many times and still don't hear the guitar as being out of tune. Maybe I have bad ears, or maybe I've just heard this recording WAY too many times and I'm starting to get used to the errors in it. The part at 2:20 with the sound on the right is fuzzy because it's a mono drum track with a distortion insert on it.

Werner 1, the verse vocals aren't dry. They are sent to a mono plate reverb. Are you suggesting I should use more?
 
David K, I do apologize.
Click to expand...
No problem. :cool:

Maybe I have bad ears,
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Nah, mine are just super-good. :rolleyes: :D I am a pro classical violinist and intonation is a big deal with us. The instrument itself is just a bit out of tune, you can tell when you hit the open strings. Its not like " The Who is stoned playing Tommy" out of tune, just a tad. Nothing to worry about, its just that the SUPER productions always have spotless intonation. :cool:
 
Well I just went to listen to it again, and I guess the soundclick site is experiencing some problems (My soundclick page is not working either :( )

But, NO,.. I personally like that "dryer" sound on the slower passages.....it seems to be the going trend and is something that I've not been able to put my finger on my self.....mostly due to me adding way too much effects on vocals :o

Good stuff!

Rick
 
I think the tune is nicely done. I'm not a big fan of the guitar sound during the heavy parts...and I also find the vox a little annoying.

I personally dig the acoustic intro. I couldn't tell that it was out of tune, as the others say. Nice harmonics dude.

I don't know if it's radio ready..sounds a little creedish or something. BUT, I think you did a great job in recording and writing...just not my personal choice of style.
 
acoustic out of tune. Good voice, make that great voice. wish I had someone like that to work with. and good guitar sounds, gotta love digital stuff. Good job overall. Re record the acoustic , it will be worth it.
 
hey man... really really good job. I'd compress the vox just a bit espescially on the chorus and bring them down a tad... they're a killer performance and deserve ALMOST that big of a space in the mix, but they're a little piercing (well, this IS on laptop speakers)

very cool drum effect.

i'd also recommend double tracking the chorus vox for that kelly clarkson feel it sounds like you're going for. since they're the focal point of the song, i'd say they deserve the most of your attention. however, great performance by all players AND by the producer. keep it up
 
Thanks a lot guys!

The more and more I listen closely, I have also come to believe that my low E is off. I can try compressing the chorus vocals a little more. I think I'm already hitting them at about 12db of gain reduction in the really loud spots. But, maybe a little more wouldn't hurt.

The choruses do have doubled vocals. But, they're not mixed in the Kelly Clarkson style. I have the main lead vocal heavily compressed and up the middle. And the doubled vocal non-compressed and panned hard right.

I really appreciate all of the feedback. This is great!
 
Nice tune, good performance.

I'd try starting the song off with the acoustic centered and then pan it to the side when the vocal comes in but just a little if any at all. Throughout the song you have the acoustic panned way out. I picture the acoustic being centered on stage with the vocalist and not way off to the side. Centering the acoustic may also take care of the volume problem with the vocal. Everythin else sounds just fine.

Welcome to the forum Nathaniel!
 
The vocals are one of the best I've ever heard. Not kidding you. Amazing job dude, both musically and mixing-wise.

I do like acoustic guitars that are dark, but I'd add a little bit of treble some how. They fit better when the electrical guitars come in, but in the beginning they sound mighty dark to me. MIND YOU, I'm listinging the the hi-fi stream, so it could very well be the encoding, but I'm not convinced by that, since the electrical guitars do seem to have a decent top.
 
This song rocks man I love the music. The drum fills and arrangement are awesome. The only thing that stood out is the vocals seem a bit dry but I have always favored a bit more reverb.
 
Thank you all for these great comments and suggestions! I've been trying to better my recordings and these let me know what other people think I should keep and what I should change. I'm sure it would be next to impossible to please everybody. But, I feel like these are really helping me out.
 
Nathanial love the song and a killer job mixing too. The only thing I didn't like was the electric guitars. Personally I would never DI guitars. Assuming you already have a good electric guitar, I would suggest getting a good Marshall amp and a killer pedal or borrow them from somebody. In my opinion that would make the mix. When that chorus hits, the guitars will just hit you with that great distorted Marshall tone and it will be sweet. Judging by your mixing skills, you'll just know it when you hear it! Other than that I dig the song and the sounds. One of the best songs I've heard on this site.
 
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