Rock a billy

M

moptop

Member
I thought I would work up this rockabilly tune. This has a scratch vocal for now so I could get a feel for where it was going and if the phrasing fit. I'll recut it and add some harmonies and also add some cymbals to the mix since it only has the 2 at the begining of the first chorus. Maybe do a better lead break since playing lead is not my forte'.

Give it a listen and give me your input. Thanks
 
Well, the tune sounds great. I like the song and the vocals are the strong point. I don't see a need to retrack them, but they do seem to be off-centered to me. Maybe a little to the left. If it is, then you should center them up. Okay, there might be some pitch issues, but nothing no one can't get past.

The low end needs a lot of work. This tells me you don't have a great room to mix in. The bass has a lot of super low end energy and not a lot of upper freq definition that this style clearly calls for. The kick drum is all click and I don't hear a thump. But that might be because the bass is covering it up. The cymbal crashes are god-awful. Sorry, no better way to sugar coat it. Don't add any more unless you can get them to sound better.

Hope this helps.
 
Good performances. But, yes, please tame the bass: 300Hz region is cluttered and muddy. Everything under 150Hz is just fighting. BTW, the kick thump is there, just down around 45Hz. I can feel it, but it's hard to hear. All that mud makes most of the electric tone disappear. The vocal not only has a left dominant, but it's like only the sibilants come through on the right (with a bit of a slap-back). I couldn't even tell there was an acoustic in the mix until the very end.

Good tune, but you've got a ways to go to get the mix on.
 
Thank you both for the replies! Here is a second, errr, 5th try at this mix. yes, I've tried to tame the savage beast cymbals first off. I tried to add a little more punch to bass drum without it taking over the whole bottom end. and as for the bass, I cut the freqs below 150 ish and raised the low middle a bit. Sometimes there is no much you can do with a Hofner. I'm normally a rhythm guitarist so I play with a pick and I know that kinda adds to the dilemma. I also recut the vocals and added a bit of harmony. Don't worry, I still have the original vox track.

Chili, you are correct, I don't have the best room for mixing. I'm not a pro, just a hobbyist so make do with what I've got.
BroKen_H, It was that slap back I added to the vocals that made it leftist. I tweeked that too.

I hope this sounds better. Thanks again for the input. Although I've had radio broadcasting in school and have been in and out of bands for years, this mixing stuff can be over my head someitmes.
 
Much better. You've cleared out most of the mud. I really like the way the kick sounds now. Still getting quite a heavy left presence. I can hear the acoustic! :) Even the crashes sound better
I can hear a bit more in the right of the vocal, but I have a really strange suggestion. Your mix is left dominant. Try reversing the stereo on the vocal so it's more prominent on the right to offset and the weak slapback occupies with the guitar (and snare and solo and....) on the left.
 
BroKen_H, thanks much! I do think though that I'm gonna have to drop the kick drum down a bit. I really thumps hard when I play the track in my car. Still not sure about the vocal thing. It doesn't sound out of balance on this end so I'll have to investigate that.
Appreciate you listening and giving your input and help. Mixing live is a piece of cake, but this can be a PITA!..with all due respect of course!!
 
Hmmm, I didn't mean out of balance left dominant. I meant more instruments and such going on on the left. But that's another story. :)
 
Great song! Mix wise, seems a little bright to me. I might bring the solo guitar upfront more, nothing else I'd like to hear different though. Maybe some backup vocals during the chorus would be icing on the cake.

Sorry, I think I'm late to the party- I listened to mix 2.
 
Fun tune. Moves right along. I might have used less gain on the guitar for something like this, but then the guitar is pretty low in this mix, so I'm not really getting a full taste of it. I'm listening on my tracking phones, and the bass and kick sound pretty clear to me.

The vocal effect is very strange (in phones anyway)...the main sound of your voice is coming through a little to my left, and then these little bits of echo on some of the words come through way off to the right. I guess it actually sounds kind of cool, and might sound great on monitors, but on phones it was a little distracting to me.
 
The cymbals seem weird closer to the beginning.
The hits don't support the melody very well - you should program or OD some more that flow from the vocal track.
I think it needs a little more bite to get the rocka in the billy. It sounds a little tame & country. Probably the plaintive vocal emphasizes that aspect.
Try to get a bit of slap into the bass line - it sounds like standard solid rock bass.
Cool song - sounds like something Rockpile or at least dave edmunds would have enjoyed.
 
Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions. I glad you like the song and think it's a "fun" tune. I think I have the voice slapback to the left thing fixed by changing the type of delay I'm using.

Thanks again for all of the help.
 
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