Safe For Sleeping

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cincy_kid

cincy_kid

Active member
Hey all,

This is my first recording take at an original. The song is called "Safe for Sleeping" and was just recorded minutes ago after finally getting my new Tampa to work with my Delta 1010! (Thanks to Punkin and SRR) :D

Firs off let me give my thoughts/disclaimers:

1) Intro: I didnt want to start with just drums, it was kind of layed down so I knew where to come in on guitar hehe.

2) Drums: Yes I know they are very cheesy and was more or less a scratch track so that I had something to keep timing. I will eventually redo the drum part for sure. Also, the fills kill it, I wish I would have just a straight up beat and left the fills out, but again, 2AM and Oh Well ;)

3) Vocals: I had some extra harmonies in there on the chorus but my wife convinced me that they were not very flattering to the song so I left them out. The main vocals may be too out in front I dont know.

4) Effects: I ended up not putting ANY effects on anything. This is all raw tracks. Source >> Mic >> PreAmp >> Card >> Acid. So Maybe eventually I will add some reverb or Chorus or some of those fancy effects that I know nothing about ;)

5) Mix: This was mixed on headphones because my monitors have not arrived yet, hehe. So Be gentle on the mix critiques.

** Any and all suggestions or advice is appreicated. This si my first real original recording and just want some feedback on any aspect. Songwriting, playing, recording, anything....

Without further ado: Safe For Sleeping
 
cincy_kid said:
Hey all,

This is my first recording take at an original. The song is called "Safe for Sleeping" and was just recorded minutes ago after finally getting my new Tampa to work with my Delta 1010! (Thanks to Punkin and SRR) :D

Firs off let me give my thoughts/disclaimers:

1) Intro: I didnt want to start with just drums, it was kind of layed down so I knew where to come in on guitar hehe.

2) Drums: Yes I know they are very cheesy and was more or less a scratch track so that I had something to keep timing. I will eventually redo the drum part for sure. Also, the fills kill it, I wish I would have just a straight up beat and left the fills out, but again, 2AM and Oh Well ;)

3) Vocals: I had some extra harmonies in there on the chorus but my wife convinced me that they were not very flattering to the song so I left them out. The main vocals may be too out in front I dont know.

4) Effects: I ended up not putting ANY effects on anything. This is all raw tracks. Source >> Mic >> PreAmp >> Card >> Acid. So Maybe eventually I will add some reverb or Chorus or some of those fancy effects that I know nothing about ;)

5) Mix: This was mixed on headphones because my monitors have not arrived yet, hehe. So Be gentle on the mix critiques.

** Any and all suggestions or advice is appreicated. This si my first real original recording and just want some feedback on any aspect. Songwriting, playing, recording, anything....

Without further ado: Safe For Sleeping
Click to expand...


Hey cincy,

The song itself as in structure is fine, very Goo Goo Dolls!

The whole mix is a little muddy and boxy but I won't go into too much detail because I think this will be purely your headphones and the fact that you have no room to relay the true mix!

Add some mids to the drums and guitars and you will achieve a more lively sound!

A lead break would be a nice touch in there as well!! :)

Good Stuff cincy!!


Gorty :)
 
Not bad for a first try! Everything as a whole, I think, should come up in volume. The acoutic guitar could use more gain at the source and some light to mid compression/limiting post. The vox sounded too far back. Try the same technique as the acoustic recommendation. Throw the least bit of reverb on the vox. Always remeber this when adding verb', "Too little is usually enough.".

I won't comment on the drums.....haha. They do work though!

Nice overall. Keep it up! :D
 
Gorty: Thanks for the listen man ;) When you say muddy/boxy what do you mean? Just bringing up the mids or somethign more involved? I am totally clueless on this dang new PreAmp with the built in compressor. I am sure I can get some good warmth from it when I learn it better. Any suggestions on settings?

Yea, I for sure thought about a lead and a bridge but this was just soemthing I wanted to throw up because I told Punkin and SRR i owed them a sound file for their help tonight ;)

Jayke: Thanks for listening also. Wow I thought the vox were too much in front but thats what I get for listening thru the phones. On the mids suggestion, I wish I knew WTH I was doing on this compressor to fix that crap hehe. And I started to throw some verb on the vox but thought it sounded to cheesy since I dont how much is enough and what settings, but I will get it eventually!

Thanks again to both of you!!
 
Wow CincyKid, I really liked the song. I forget, what mic did you use on acoustic guitar? B1? Vocals were a B1? I am so happy we have 95% or are we at 100% of the problems fixed? I know you need to learn about your compressor yet, but hay it sounds so good I want a Tampa. I bet you are chomping at the bit to get monitors, which ones are you going with?
 
SRR said:
Wow CincyKid, I really liked the song. I forget, what mic did you use on acoustic guitar? B1? Vocals were a B1? I am so happy we have 95% or are we at 100% of the problems fixed? I know you need to learn about your compressor yet, but hay it sounds so good I want a Tampa. I bet you are chomping at the bit to get monitors, which ones are you going with?
Click to expand...


Hey SRR :D :D

Thanks for the listen man. I used a Studio Projects B1 on the guitar and vocals (both with the same settings on the Tampa). Yea we are at 100% fixed on the problems. I now just need to figure out how to use the Tampa properly to get some better warm sounds and I am good to go!

I am going with the KRK RP8s. They will be had within a week.

Thanks again ;)
 
Cincy....this is a beautiful song. The lyrics are very heartwarming.

Great vocals!! Think you have a hit there!!

TRUE :)
 
true-eurt said:
Cincy....this is a beautiful song. The lyrics are very heartwarming.

Great vocals!!

TRUE :)
Click to expand...


Thank you True!!!

This song was written about 3 years ago and I was trying to get a decent recording of it to start tweaking it to be a keeper.

I appreciate the compliments, your opinions are very well received! :D
 
cincy_kid said:
Gorty: Thanks for the listen man ;) When you say muddy/boxy what do you mean? Just bringing up the mids or somethign more involved? I am totally clueless on this dang new PreAmp with the built in compressor. I am sure I can get some good warmth from it when I learn it better. Any suggestions on settings?

Yea, I for sure thought about a lead and a bridge but this was just soemthing I wanted to throw up because I told Punkin and SRR i owed them a sound file for their help tonight ;)

Thanks again to both of you!!
Click to expand...

Hey cincy,

Have a listen to your mix when you get your monitors and tweak the eq slightly, just a suggestion with the mids, try a boost in the mids and see what you reckon. It will just breathe a little more clarity into the guitars and drums!

Once you mix through your monitors you will have a better feel and soundscape of what is really happening with your mix!

Gorty :)
 
Cool song Cincy. Very laid back Sunday morning. I like it.

I'm not in an acoustically "sound" environment right now, so I can't comment on the mix. Unless you want to hear how it sounds over a washing machine on full spin :) But one of my housemates just asked "Whose that singing?" So you've touched someone who wouldn't normally listen to our homemade productions.

Nice work. When you tweak the mix, please don't lose the emotion.

Ciao
aspiring
 
Cool...Nice tune. Some nice balance there. The acoustic guitar needs to pop out just a little more. I would disagree with your wife, the vocal harmonies fit quite nicely. A very "warm" feeling song...a good listening tune.

Did you do this with the Tampa? If so,...considering the difficulties you were having, all in all for a first shot, the mix is quite good.
 
Nice tune man. Good guitar sound. I think youhave most of the parts down well, and just need to work on getting them to fit together a bit better. By no means is this bad, but I think it has the makings to sound even better. Everything is pretty quiet, so maybe just bringing up the levels will add that extra bit of dynamics to it.
Anyway, nice tune. Everything does have a good sound. Just needs some TLC.
 
Aspiring: Thanks for the listen and thanks to your housemate ;) I will most likely not re-track for now so I wont lose the emotion hehe, but I do indeed need to fix this mix.

Punkin: hey! :) Thanks for all the help last night Punkin. How do I get the acoustic guitar to pop mout more? Just more V's? Also, the wife thinks this version I posted is great. There is another version that had EXTRA harmonies on the choruses that she thought was overdoing it. Sorry for not being more clear on that hehe.

Dogman: Hey Dog, thanks man! Yea, when I listen to this back thru my PC speakers, I have to turn the speakers all the way up and my media player all the way up to get an average volume, so its for sure too low of volume. I guess I control that with the gain on the PreAmp?

Thanks again to all, I am very glad to get some feedback on my early recordings in hopes that it makes my latter ones even better ;)
 
Also, just to point out, Lemontree got a REALLY awesome sound out of his recordings and he was/is using the same Tampa PreAmp and the same SP B1 mic. Have a listen to Penny and Star. I would love to achieve this sound, great warm acoustic guitar in there man. Back to the drawing board hehe.
 
This is a great song cincykid, well written and played.

It just needs a bit of work on the mix. I pretty much agree with most of the previous recommendations to up the volume and pull the vocals forward a bit.

I'd also like to add you have a great voice....very nice.... :) :) :) :)
 
Dude,

Nice tune. Very nice tune. Nice playing on the guitars and good job on the vox.

The drums are ok. But much has been said them already.

Like the chord progression. Lyrics are cool. :)
 
ido1957: Thanks a lot! When you say pull the vocals forward dont that mean make them louder? I thought the vox were too loud in the mix as it is, am I wrong? And thanks for the vocal compliment :D

bigbubba: Thanks for the listen. Guitar is not my forte, but I can do a little rhythm here and there ;) Yea those darn drums. Besides the fact that the fills kinda stink, is it very easily noticed that they are fake drums? I know I heard a few samples where peopl used an Alesis SR16 and got some pretty good results, so I am not giving up on it hehe...
 
cincy_kid said:
bigbubba: Thanks for the listen. Guitar is not my forte, but I can do a little rhythm here and there ;) Yea those darn drums. Besides the fact that the fills kinda stink, is it very easily noticed that they are fake drums? I know I heard a few samples where peopl used an Alesis SR16 and got some pretty good results, so I am not giving up on it hehe...
Click to expand...

The beginning gives them away for me. So if you didn't have them start until the music starts, it would be much better. Before I go much further with the drums, let me say that all I use is drums machines (software) of different kinds so I have the same issues with drums. Don't really know how to fix them all that much. In the fills, the toms would have to go down a little bit in volume 'coz they're louder than the rest of the pieces. And the snare is a little too drum-machiney. I'd say with the right amount of EQ and reverb and stuff, these drums might do the job. This is a song where drums and banging on the drums is not the focus. :)
 
Cool, thanks again Bigbubba. I used to have the drums goin into my mixer where I could EQ it. Now I have them going into the Delta 1010 so I will need to mess with the EQ in Acid which I didnt do on this one. I just wanted to get something up online last night :D
 
The song stands on it's own even without the drums. Believe me. :)

So you're an Acid user too? I've primarily used Acid sing I started messing with this. Can't really get used to anything else.
 
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