The Climb

The vocals are definitely not deep enough. Well at times they are, but the big notes are ripping my head off in some spots. Work with more compression or volume envelopes or automation or something. It's like vocals over backing track. They sit on top, not in the mix. The vocals also seem to have a lot of midrange energy that gets kind of painful to the ol eardrums when they get loud. Look into that. The reverb is kind of weird, but not bad. I didn't pay attention to the actual lyrics, but the song has a big inspirational kind of feel to it, so if that was the goal, good job.
 
music sounds fine.

The vocals need some more attention mixing wise. They are really out there. gergs advice is good. go with the compression advice.


My speakers sounded like the were ripping.

Performance was fine.
 
Vox are overly sibilant here too, like in your O Holy Night. Balance is widely varied, in some places the vox are quite in your face (above about D4) and yet in the lower register, they almost disappear. More compression, perhaps but you're already pumping pretty hard.

On a separate (and more delicate) note, I'm hearing a little correctable lisp on some specific transitions; have you considered some vocal coaching or speech therapy? It sounds like a minor thing, like you're about 4 sessions away from a noticeable correction, because it doesn't happen on every S. But, it's there in certain situations, most notably in the lower parts of your range where these is the least breath support and least confidence. You have a magnificent set of pipes, and I really think it'd be worth the time investment to at least check into it. There are a lot of exercises you can do, most involve conscious pulling of the tongue back a little in your moutn and getting the teeth cloesd more on the spots where it is apparent. You have a great set of tools...
 
Great performance as always, Jon.
I'm listening on cheap phones right now and the voice seems to have a certain mid-range harshness about it. Have you tried the voice without any EQ'ing at all? Voices don't really need much EQ'ing if they're recorded right.
Nice song!

Joey :):):):)
 
Neat song. Very Disney-esque if you don't mind the comparison (it sounds a lot like something the brave young hero would sing just before plunging off on some grand adventure).

On top of the vocal comments, around 2:17 a weird sounding drum comes in. It sounds kind of like a high kick drum or a tom? (It's in time with the kettle drums (which sound cool)). It stuck out a lot.
 
On a separate (and more delicate) note, I'm hearing a little correctable lisp on some specific transitions; have you considered some vocal coaching or speech therapy? It sounds like a minor thing, like you're about 4 sessions away from a noticeable correction, because it doesn't happen on every S. But, it's there in certain situations, most notably in the lower parts of your range where these is the least breath support and least confidence. You have a magnificent set of pipes, and I really think it'd be worth the time investment to at least check into it. There are a lot of exercises you can do, most involve conscious pulling of the tongue back a little in your moutn and getting the teeth cloesd more on the spots where it is apparent. You have a great set of tools...

YES! And did you have a cold when you sang this? Cuz it sounds like your sinusus are mooked up. The coaching is a great idea...but a bottle of nasal decongestant is a cheaper and quicker auxilliary !! [intended only for accasional use...like when you're making a record you might listen to again and again!]

My auntie who gave me my first formal singing instruction was a Boston Conservatory opera deva....I obviously wasn't a good student...but she always tried to make me open my nasal works to get my head ringing...and all those other good things like deep breaths and diaphragm push and open mouth and pushing the locus forward...yaddayaddayadda...

It sounds like you have the back of the throat constricted...blocking your nose openings to the rear....when you close a consonant with your lips, I can hear the 'pop'....back-pressure...n' stuff....the air doesn't flow out the dual check valves...which also have to be open, IIRC, to get the buzz between the eyes. I do the same thing, and it made auntie really pissed cuz I didn't care about being a guy who sings on Lawrence Welk. I was hoping for results like Eric Burton.....

Or maybe you had an allergic thing that day??

Thanks, LLLarion for being the hatchet man on this one!!!

JeanP...yes, you got a great big booming gift of a voice.....just a little brush up on that classical training, maybe?? Get the delivery apparatus tuned??

ps...my fave carol, ever. And the recording is smokin'.
 
jeffmaher said:
On a separate (and more delicate) note, I'm hearing a little correctable lisp on some specific transitions; have you considered some vocal coaching or speech therapy? It sounds like a minor thing, like you're about 4 sessions away from a noticeable correction, because it doesn't happen on every S. But, it's there in certain situations, most notably in the lower parts of your range where these is the least breath support and least confidence. You have a magnificent set of pipes, and I really think it'd be worth the time investment to at least check into it. There are a lot of exercises you can do, most involve conscious pulling of the tongue back a little in your moutn and getting the teeth cloesd more on the spots where it is apparent. You have a great set of tools...

YES! And did you have a cold when you sang this? Cuz it sounds like your sinusus are mooked up. The coaching is a great idea...but a bottle of nasal decongestant is a cheaper and quicker auxilliary !! [intended only for accasional use...like when you're making a record you might listen to again and again!]

My auntie who gave me my first formal singing instruction was a Boston Conservatory opera deva....I obviously wasn't a good student...but she always tried to make me open my nasal works to get my head ringing...and all those other good things like deep breaths and diaphragm push and open mouth and pushing the locus forward...yaddayaddayadda...

It sounds like you have the back of the throat constricted...blocking your nose openings to the rear....when you close a consonant with your lips, I can hear the 'pop'....back-pressure...n' stuff....the air doesn't flow out the dual check valves...which also have to be open, IIRC, to get the buzz between the eyes. I do the same thing, and it made auntie really pissed cuz I didn't care about being a guy who sings on Lawrence Welk. I was hoping for results like Eric Burton.....

Or maybe you had an allergic thing that day??

Thanks, LLLarion for being the hatchet man on this one!!!

JeanP...yes, you got a great big booming gift of a voice.....just a little brush up on that classical training, maybe?? Get the delivery apparatus tuned??

ps...my fave carol, ever. And the recording is smokin'.
Click to expand...

Thanks to you and Llarion for pointing this out. I did have a dry cough and phlegm among other things when I recorded this so maybe that could be it? Is it only apparent in this song or also in "O Holy Night?"

Is it noticeable in the whole song or only certain parts? Is there a nasal tone or is it just a problem with consonant parts? Can you let me know if a specific word or phrase that has this sound so I can get an idea of it and re-record?

Thanks again! :D:D
 
JonPaulP said:
Thanks to you and Llarion for pointing this out. I did have a dry cough and phlegm among other things when I recorded this so maybe that could be it? Is it only apparent in this song or also in "O Holy Night?"

Is it noticeable in the whole song or only certain parts? Is there a nasal tone or is it just a problem with consonant parts? Can you let me know if a specific word or phrase that has this sound so I can get an idea of it and re-record?

Thanks again! :D:D
Click to expand...

I'll crwal back through it to give you phrases tonight, can't do it from work.. :)
 
JP...Allow me to apologize..I thought I was commenting on your Christmas song. Gave this one a listen, and your sinusus are sounding real open...it was 'O Holy Night' that I thought you sounded congested on. This tune sounds great!
 
its potentially a good track but there is something about the voice that sounds very nasaly on the lower end ..although at the end with the effect that problem goes away...
 
I recognized this song, only cause my lil' niece loves Miley Sirus's (Hannah Montana's) version.

My two cents.

The compression is just killing the dynamics of the vocals. It's "pumping and breathing" way too much! The autotune has gotta go. I think you need to approach the mix again. The whole thing sounds not good. Sorry. My opinion.
 
ksounds said:
I recognized this song, only cause my lil' niece loves Miley Sirus's (Hannah Montana's) version.

My two cents.

The compression is just killing the dynamics of the vocals. It's "pumping and breathing" way too much! The autotune has gotta go. I think you need to approach the mix again. The whole thing sounds not good. Sorry. My opinion.
Click to expand...

Alright...attached is an image of the EQ and compressor settings. Which settings should I change? I think the autotune-like effects may be a result of the compression.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8362935

EDIT: Changed the EQ a little and re-uploaded it. Below is the current EQ/compressor settings.
 

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As soon as the drums come in...right at "Always gonna be..." the vocals start breathing heavy, going back and forth, and pumping. The whole thing sounds squashed. There's a lot of sibilance on the new mix. There's no dynamics in the song, because of the mix. Autotune has been toned down, which is good. Still a bit noticeable in spots, like 0:44. Maybe you're not using it, but something is giving it that effect, which, imo, robs the song of it's integrity a bit. Your voice is strong enough without that effect, whatever it is.

Mix (vocals mainly)still doesn't sound good to my ears. There are some low frequencies in the music that are pretty muddy. Is there bass in this? I hate to sound negative. Just trying to be honest. Vocals get completely lost starting at 2:30.

Back off on the compression. Try bringing the threshold back up, decreasing the attack and giving a longer release. Sweep the high frequencies to find out where the harshness is coming from, throw a narrow q on it and drop it. Define the instruments better and clean up some of the muddiness. Just re-approach it and figure out what's working and what isn't. If you have to revisit some things, so be it. It's the climb, right? This song really needs dynamics and space. Listen to some Celine Dione or Josh Grobon cd's to compare the mix to. You'll see what I'm talking about. Go back and forth every so often for comparison. That's what I would do.
 
ksounds said:
As soon as the drums come in...right at "Always gonna be..." the vocals start breathing heavy, going back and forth, and pumping. The whole thing sounds squashed. There's a lot of sibilance on the new mix. There's no dynamics in the song, because of the mix. Autotune has been toned down, which is good. Still a bit noticeable in spots, like 0:44. Maybe you're not using it, but something is giving it that effect, which, imo, robs the song of it's integrity a bit. Your voice is strong enough without that effect, whatever it is.

Mix (vocals mainly)still doesn't sound good to my ears. There are some low frequencies in the music that are pretty muddy. Is there bass in this? I hate to sound negative. Just trying to be honest. Vocals get completely lost starting at 2:30.

Back off on the compression. Try bringing the threshold back up, decreasing the attack and giving a longer release. Sweep the high frequencies to find out where the harshness is coming from, throw a narrow q on it and drop it. Define the instruments better and clean up some of the muddiness. Just re-approach it and figure out what's working and what isn't. If you have to revisit some things, so be it. It's the climb, right? This song really needs dynamics and space. Listen to some Celine Dione or Josh Grobon cd's to compare the mix to. You'll see what I'm talking about. Go back and forth every so often for comparison. That's what I would do.
Click to expand...

Here's the new mix. I reverted to the EQ/Compressor settings I had at the very beginning and just adjusted the limiter for the high notes. I also adjusted the EQ and volume on some of the instrument tracks. Is it better or does it still need work?

The main vocal on 2:30 is on a different track. I made it blend a little more with the harmonies. Should I bring it up?

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8362935
 
That's much better. It still pumps in parts a bit, but it's not nearly as distracting. I think the levels sound fine, minus the climax end - they could come up some. There are still some issues with sibilance here and there. When there is that much reverb on the track it really calls out the ssss, so you gotta be careful.

One final thing. I think in the future you need to make sure you hold onto some of your words. During the quieter parts, there's a word or two that you kind of say almost under your breath, and I can't make out what it was. It almost leaves a gap in the music. One instance: 0:58, the word "battle" gets lost quick. Just something to keep an ear out for. I'm not a professional, just my opinion. If I'm off, I hope someone chimes in and tells me to shut up and figure out what I'm talking about:rolleyes:

I know mixing isn't the easiest thing. I know I struggle with that part of the process too.
 
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