Retrack, remix...re-critique?

A

ashulman

New member
I redid the vocals and ending guitar solo and remixed the whole thing so I'd appreciate a fresh listen, or a first listen as the case may be. The vocals are tough on this one and I'm still not convinced I have it nailed. The ending guitar was inspired though, so thats a keeper I think.

Its called "Too Late"

I've got 5 other songs in various stage of completion so I hope to post some new stuff if I can only stop playing so much golf.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=2716&alid=-1
 
Nice chord progression. Nice strumming pattern on the acoustic guit.

A few notes waver in pitch slightly. Sounds like the vox could be compressed (at least more so than they they). They're pretty dry - some verb would help I think.

The harmony vocals could be just a bit tighter.

I liked when it kicked in at 1:07 - it had a good sound. However, I thought that was kind of late in the song to make such a dramatic shift. I had assumed by that point that it was a slow acoustic song.
 
Nice tune man! I dig the vocals you have a good voice. Wish it was mine! :)

I'm at work listening on phones so I hate to say anything about the recording. The only thing that kind of bugs me is the rhythm guitar sound that comes in at 1:07. How is that tracked? It almost sounds direct from an amp or an amp modeler?
But like I said I'm on phones here at work so I'll need to give it another listen on my monitors. May be my hearing!:D
 
therage! - I think Pedullist pointed out how much he hated that sound. I thought maybe that was because it was too low so I pumped it up. Now that you mentioned it, it seems like I may be forced to redo it. It is a modeller built into the Zoom recorder I'm using. Some of their sounds are OK but that might not be the best. Sounds a little phony.

TripleM - You are right on the vocal comments I think. Too dry, a little pitchy, and too dynamic. Its a tough part but I like the song so I want to get it right.
 
TripleM said:

I liked when it kicked in at 1:07 - it had a good sound.
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TripleM, are you on monitors? I'm not getting a good sound (at least to my sorry ears) on cheap phones so I need to give it another listen at home. Might be time to stop listening on cheap phones! :)
 
Hey nice work Alan. The writing of the vox and rhythm give me a Beatleesque feel at times. Like those harmonies and the chorus is very catchy.
 
Khom - They're the best, so why not? Hey, do I detect a not so subtle Radiohead reference in your user name? I'm going to see them next month and I am primed.
 
therage! said:
TripleM, are you on monitors? I'm not getting a good sound (at least to my sorry ears) on cheap phones so I need to give it another listen at home. Might be time to stop listening on cheap phones! :)
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No I'm on phones. It's probably just a difference in personal tastes. My thing was I didn't care for the transition. I thought the sound was good, but didn't fit with the slower parts of the song. Again - just a personal taste thing.
 
Hey,
...very cool tune. Nice beatle-like changes, especially :19, etc. Cool! I agree that the vocs might be just a touch too dynamic. A touch more compression should fix that up nice. Nice tune man... ...nice listen.
g
 
real emotion

I can hear a lot of real emotion in that lead at the end of the song.
I liked the way the heavy guitar comes in. Yes that is a good chorus.
I didn't like the harmonies, but I am having harmony issues of my own right now, so it's probably just me.
second listen I REALLY like that fadeout lead!!!
 
Man I'd love to listen, but my dial-up is so slow right now that I can't even get a lo-fi stream. If it's the last thing I do, I'm getting cable!


bd
 
Listening now. I agree with the comments so far. I really like the beatle'y type changes, and it has kind of a country flavor to it. I thought the vocals sounded real strong on the chorus...there was a bit of wavering during the verses, but not too bad.

Nice playing. Drums sound like they could use a bit of a boost during the chorus, but they sound fine during the verse (they are kind of buried behind the heavy guitar)

Nice job. I like it!

:)
 
Hevy - the harmonies are not spot on and they are a little up front so its probably noticeable. The great thing about this forum is that people here know what they are talking about and will usually give it to you straight. Especially when the things they pick up on are the things that bugged you in the first place. For me, this is a cure for my natural laziness to let the songs go "warts and all", as long as it feels ok.

boydj - Its funny how many people hear country influences on my songs. I guess I hear them too. But I never listen to country music outside of Gram Parsons and Lucinda Williams! The Beatle thing is where I get it. There was a little country twang in many of their early records. Dylan too maybe.

Guernica - Thanks for the comments. Compression it is!

bdbd - Go cable, even though the bloodsuckers monopolize the market and will suck you dry. Speed is a drug. I hope you check out the tune sometime.
 
ashulman - I would kill for your acoustic guitar sound man. I really like the tune, I think it's the best you've put up here yet. Maybe a little rough when the distortion comes in - seems to take away from the clean sounds...excellent job.
 
You got some really nice exciting stuff in there. The melody your singing and the way it lays over the chords and changes the flavors of them in the verses is cool. I like that acoustic tracking. I`m a fanatic about the bell on a cymbal, always turns me on, but the top end of the drum kit is a bit overiding the low end. The bass could come up a bit for me with the kick while backing off the cymbals a bit. The crunch rythym was a bit strong but softening it a bit and moving it back would be nice. I'd let that last chord ring and let it fade over the horizon with some verb, when it goes back to the clean acoustic sound instead of stopping so abruptly. When the lead comes in, Id either spread it wide or take a touch off center, this is just personl taste here. The voice trembles jus a little here and there, could use a touch more compression and a touch of verb like has been said and it`d soften up, its really clear though and sang well.
I think this is a really nice tune now, but can be carried a touch further in production. I appreciate your stuff.
 
lynx - the acoustic sound probably has less to do with my tracking technique than the guitar itself, which is a Martin D-28 and was well worth every penny I sank into it (and for me, that was a lot of pennies).

Toki - Interesting thoughts on the drum kit. I'll try to re-orient that the way you mentioned. Its hard to get the balanced sound you want from programmed drums, and the module I'm using always seems to accentuate the cymbals (except for the crash for some strange, stupid reason). I've been backing off the low end in my mixes after several "muddy" comments. I think I went a little too far here and on my last post "Foot on the floor".

I also like the idea of letting the electric ring with some reverb. Great idea! Why the hell didn't I think of that?!

I'm not sure what to do with leads as far as panning goes. I'll have to listen to songs I like and see what is generally done. I thought it was supposed to go in the middle as it is taking "center stage" so to speak.
 
ashulman said:
therage! - I think Pedullist pointed out how much he hated that sound.
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Hey hey hey, hate is a big word. I don't usually hate sounds, especially not on your tunes Ashulman. Because you can write a song. And I usually don't care about sound when the song is good.

Like this time. If you'd fix the vocal waverings I could live with this (it's not bad, but it can be better.....and you've got a lovely voice so please fix it)

Mix is a little bit undefined in the lows. Bass seems to be over-ultralow rangy. Kick drum is fighting for its own space. I've got nothing else to say but: noodle around cutting frequencies to make it sound right :) Tip: start cutting under 20Hz.

Guitarsolo is a bit too dirty (or perhaps not dirty enough? ) for this, IMO.
 
I like you Pedullist because you're always pushing me to do better and you are usually right. I wish I could spend the money on a new bass. I really struggle getting a good sound out of it that is well defined.

Unfortunately, I like the solos too much to change. And besides, I really can't play any better. Hey, thats what gives it character (or so I like to think).
 
I really enjoyed the song and that is always number one in my book. It's a good song!

I agree with Pedullist (and some others I think) on the vocals and the bass. I really like the vocal sound a lot for this song. Just fix those little wavers.

Also, can you widen out the distortion guitars or adjust some EQ when they come in? It's a little crowded in the middle with the vocal. Maybe I am way off here.:p

Nice work!

I don't know about that loose OJ reference. ;):D
 
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