Starting Final Mixes: Song 1-My Praise

[BroKen_H]

Okay, had to clear up some space, so here's the fourth attempt at a final mix. Sorry, the rest disappeared...


With fixed vocals (Many, mucho thanks to Crazy Luke!!!)


The fixed vocal was a lot quieter than the original, so I hope I got the volume close...had to move some other stuff around (less distorted guitar on the right and some bass notes that needed pushed a bit) and fix the vocal timing on the end
Should be pretty close.

 

[BroKen_H]

Sorry to anyone that might have been listening...found some clipping and fixed it...i.e. deleted and reloaded.

 

[DM60]

Listening on HPs first. Very clean, bit more lower end would be good, but I wouldn't change it just yet. See what others have to say.

On speakers:

On full speakers with a sub, it has thump (good thump), but still seems to be missing some lower end above that. Maybe bring the bass up in the higher region a little more (guessing, but something above 200).

Lower the vocals a tad get in closer to the mix (your vocals cut through with no problem), once again, see what others say.

Over all, I think this is a very good mix. I don't have critical ears, but over mix is very, very close.


Hope I was a help.

 

[BroKen_H]

Thanks Dave! Still running a bi-amped bass setup, so I can raise the 10s and leave the 18. The crossover is at 187, so 200 is a pretty accurate spot to call out.
I have the darnedest time with my vocals. They always sound too loud to me, so I'm glad to see someone else agree. Most people tell me they're too quiet or not standing out, so I went ahead and shoved a splitter on a side chain to the piano, the strings, organ and the guitars. Pushes a bunch of stuff out of the way a LITTLE and makes nice space. Then a little ducking to the bass and the low end of the guitars off the kick, and everything just kind of gelled.
I was hoping this was close, so I'm very happy with your comments...but like you say, we'll wait for a few more ears. You don't even want to know how many takes it took me to get solid vocals for this. I've always said, I'm a songwriter, not a singer/songwriter...

 

[DM60]

You don't even want to know how many takes it took me to get solid vocals for this. I've always said, I'm a songwriter, not a singer/songwriter...

I am doing so many takes (I bet I average over 100-200 takes easy) until I finally say I can't do it it any more, it just has to sound like $&^*.

I think I have an idea.

 

[TripleM]

I like the bass part. The bass tone is pretty good too. I think it's a bit too loud.

It's a nice song. I like the piano part. The tone on it works for me on this mix.

Drums need some work. Cymbals are super swirly. I'm pretty sure that's partly SoundCloud, but it's pretty bad. So I wonder if it's the cymbals themselves. Snare needs some more power. It's kind of flappy.

There are sections of the song where you're carrying the vocal pretty well. I wonder if you can punch out the pitchy parts?

 

[BroKen_H]

Thanks Trip!
Okay, so that's one for the bass is too quiet, one for it's too loud.
Took a lot of tweaking to get that doubled piano to sound right. Sounds great a single instrument, but I wanted it left and right and it threw a couple frequencies for a loop.
The cymbals are not swirly at all in Reason. I get a bit when I run it through to MP3, and a lot when I put it on SC...might try some other samples for those as well. One thing SSD4 did well, I might have to go get my drum parts from the dark side again...(haven't been able to get SSD/Reaper working like it used to before the magical Win10 crash and fiasco..) Maybe I'll play with that tomorrow.
I'm learning to hate that particular set of snare samples. I need something better. It sounds great by itself, but sounds like someone overcompressed a cardboard box being beaten in the mix.
I have probably 230 vocal takes on this. I'm just done trying. I'm not a singer anymore. It will have to do. It sounds much better than some of the other songs I'm working on. When I've got all 12 done and where they need to be, I'll try picking the vocals apart again.

My drum routine USED to be 1) write the drum lines in Reason on Kong and get everything finalized 2) export the midi 3) import the midi in Reaper and place the notes in separate tracks for SSD4 to play all the parts. 4) Render individual tracks. 5) Save As in Reason Delete the Kong channel and import all the drum tracks. 6) Remix.
Now I've found some reasonable (and apparently some fairly unreasonable) sample sets for Kong and run direct without the import/export business.

 

[BroKen_H]

Oh, BTW, there are only two notes in the song that I HAD to use Neptune (pitch adjuster)...that's my new record...but maybe I should dial it on on a few more notes. I just find it difficult to make it sound good and not have those funny artifacts, and it boosts bad frequencies in my voice. I'd rather leave them sounding a bit naked than run pitch adjuster on my voice all the time. Pitchiness might also be coming from Polar (if you're talking about the 2nd half of the song). First half is clean vocal, 2nd half has the dual pitch thingy tripling my voice (Ozzy effect) On this song, it sits at 4 cents up and 7 down if I remember right. Other songs I've had to move the numbers around as it sometimes makes me sound consistently flat...(or maybe I'm just blaming the software!!!

 

[Nola]

I'm not familiar with the genre so take this with a grain of salt, broken, but the keyboard sounds too "midi" to me to standout as much as it is. The vocal could sit a little better in the mix. Is there any reverb on it? It's out in front but dry so sounds out of place. The drums are barely audible when the music kicks in, but I'm not sure that's a big deal as I can still feel the pulse (the snare is getting through just enough).

 

[BroKen_H]

You are going to laugh when you see the comment I made about your guitar. I hope. I know I just laughed after writing it and seeing your comment on my piano playing. That's actually me, playing an actual piano. Just like I'm sure your guitar playing was actually you playing actual guitars...

Anyway, I've dropped the vocal back and the drums (and guitar) up.

 

[Nola]

You are going to laugh when you see the comment I made about your guitar. I hope. I know I just laughed after writing it and seeing your comment on my piano playing. That's actually me, playing an actual piano. Just like I'm sure your guitar playing was actually you playing actual guitars...

Yeah hahaha I just commented in my thread about it. Total coincidence! And yes, I was playing a guitar...lol. I could have sworn that was midi keys.
What would you call this genre?

 

[BroKen_H]

I just lump everything I write into "Christian Rock" and let it fly. Not much on titles.

 

[BroKen_H]

Okay, I made changes based on the comments. Hopefully the snare sounds better, the vocals sit better, and since I didn't really get a definite on piano/bass sounds good/bad loud/soft, I left them alone...

It's on the same link, just to make things easier.

 

[Chili]

Sounds good overall. I think your mixes have come a long ways since I first heard them. I'm not always commenting, but usually always give a listen. And this is the best so far.

A little pitchy in the vocals, not bad though. I understand it took a lot of takes and I get that philosophy, but if you're going to tune one or two notes, it's not a stretch to tune them all. More so to save time from having to do so many takes.

The kick has a solid thump and I like it, but seems a little out of place. Maybe not quite balanced with the bass. I suggest soloing just those two tracks to see what you can do.

If you ever think you might play this song over the PA at your church, you might want to take a CD down there and audition it on their system; in private, on an off day. It would be the ultimate translation review. and you wouldn't have any surprises if/when it is played before a congregation. What sounds good in the studio, or car, or other people's questionable studios (ahem... mine) may not sound good in a big room.

my two cents.

 

[Robus]

It's a pretty good mix. The snare seems low and thin. There is a slight boxiness to the overall sound of the backing tracks that I heard most clearly in the intro. I agree with Chili about the pitchiness.

 

[Robus]

For me, the guitars are overwhelming everything else. I'd lower them, at least during the vocal parts. Don't take this wrong. I think your vocals are holding you back. I say that as somebody who is vocally challenged as well. Have you thought about collaborating with a vocalist?

 

[BroKen_H]

Chili & Robus. Thanks. I'm going to look at that kick/bass this afternoon. This snare is a fitful thing. What's funny to me is, it sounds loud and ringy in the mix on my speakers, but everyone agrees it's not there...maybe I should start looking at the acoustics in my room.
My voice: When I was in my 20s and 30s it was outstanding. Then I took 10 years off, gained 100 pounds and I just am not getting it back. I've done the exercises, I've taken the walks, I just don't know anymore. Part of the problem is that after I've heard the song 200-300 times, things start to sound right just as they are...especially ones I don't really care to deal with. Problem with correcting everything is I use Reason, and Neptune is nice, but it leaves artifacts and tends to boost some bad frequencies in my voice. So I tend to only correct where I HAVE to.
And still, I'd like to know if the pitchiness is overall, or just in the first half or the second half (after kicking in Polar...like I say, it's really hard for me to hear the pitch problems on this song.

 

[Chili]

The snare didn't stand out to me as a problem. Going back to listen again, it may sound a little flat or over compressed, but not bad. Some people might enjoy a little more body of the snare. To me, it works and is a matter of taste.

But on a revisit, it seems the whole drum kit isn't balanced and that might be why Ray is calling out the snare. Kick is prominent, snare is there, overheads are low in the mix.

Again, it goes back to our individual listening spaces and how well they are treated and respond to sound, especially the low end. I thought I had my room dialed in pretty good, but comments over the last few songs of mine has me wondering.

 

[Chili]

As for tuning vocals, I still do it on my own vocal tracks when needed. I will tune to save time and takes. Lately I feel I've gotten a lot better at hitting pitch and haven't needed to tune so much.

You should look at Melodyne. It can run in a standalone mode which makes it compatible with any DAW because it doesn't have to run as a plug.

 

[BroKen_H]

Wow. $200. That will take some serious thought. I see there's a $100 version, but it doesn't have the tools necessary for the job...
I know I've said this before, but I'm a songwriter. Maybe I should find someone who's willing to be the singer part.

Okay, pulled the guitars back to where they should have been and tried to fix the kicks. I pulled some of the Polar effect out of the vocal (second half starting at "I will praise You..." See if that helps the pitchiness.