Song: Driftaway

MonkeyShock

New member
Hey gang, Can I get some feedback on this tune please? It's a bit more middle of the road for us. We were going for a very laid-back groove without bells and whistles. I record the music here in Houston, and the singer Angy puts down the vox in Portland, Ore. We both use Magix Audio Studio.
Thanks for your time and any comments and reviews...you're welcome to post them at the site if you choose.
The song is "Driftaway" Cheers!
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?pid=532256&T=2824
or http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/coldcomfortusmusic.htm
 
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I think it's a nice melody. I think the recording is bad. It sounds like it was recorded on a 4-track with a really old drum machine, which isn't fatal, but the extreme over-reverbing of everything makes an already kinda' bad situation worse. Can't really make out the vocal....well, some I guess; the whole thing just sounds like a big furball of music
 
Yeah man, you gotta get rid of some of that reverb. It's just kind of like a sea of mush right now. The vocal has no presence because of it.

The guitars are so scooped sounding that it's hard even times to make out the chords that are being played. They're just kind of all highs and nothing else.

You've just got a lot of things competing for the same frequencies, and it just sounds really muddy. I would try carving out some room for each instrument with eq. In other words, if you cut, say, 500hz in the bass, boost that in the guitars. I would say kill ALL the verb and start the mixing totally dry, trying to carve out some space for each instrument. When you do add the verb back in, I would say to not add nearly as much ... but that's just my opinion.

The drums don't sound bad in the beginning when they're by themselves, but once everything comes in, you can hear everything competing for the same frequencies.

The vocal sound is by far the weakest link to me---not the performance, just the tone. (Though there are a few sour notes that could be better. The first line of the second verse, for example.) It's total mud and lacking any definition at all. Some eq could help, but it will take some experimenting. Right now it just has an all-encompassing muddiness to it. There's no breathiness or clarity to it. The vocal sound is not flattering to her voice at all. It almost sounds like a karaoke vocal track. What type of mic was used? It sounds like a dynamic instead of a condenser.

Other than that, it's a nice tune. I like the use of the dominant IV chord in the chorus, or pre-chorus, whenever it is. The harmony guitar line is nice---kind of reminscent of "Melissa" by the The Allman Brothers I guess.

Anyway, take these comments for what they're worth--- just my opinion.
 
how much compresion is getting used here? (not mix but all over)
maby slack up on that.

truth is i'm not sure thats compression (half the reason i come here is to make a guess and see if i'm right)
but if it is back off and see how it sounds.

the guitar (see above) should be fix #1

start by removing old eq.
 
So....you liked it eh?

Some good advice here, thanks. I'll start with the guitar eq and work my way towards the vocals. I compressed only the bass...after phasing it. I was actually trying to...not bury the bass, but keep it from standing out too much. As far as the strat, I'm running it through a digitech RP200 with a light phase and into a Behringer (yeah, I've heard) 1202 with flat settings...zero ed out. My soundcard mixer (2496 Maudio) settings are also flat for this tune. Guess I just need to mix it up some...pun just happened, sorry. The singer and I go back and forth on reverb. Gonna have to put it down straight and add if needed later. I was fine with it myself, but I've heard it before.
Anyway, I appreciate the responses. Thank you. Peace. :o
 
Well, not so much reverb, but its a tempo-synced slapback delay it sounds like. It makes the lyrics almost indestinguishable. I actually think you've got a pretty good drum sound. the bass is kind of mush though. and throw some mids in the guitars.
 
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