this band wants the "dashboard confessional sound"

[a27thletter]

i'm about to be mixing for a band that wants the sound as from the dashboard confessional song "screaming infidelities". any advice on the use of eq and panning and such to achieve a similar sound? i think theres a lot of delay used on vocals, and it kindof seems to me like there isnt much done as far as e.q. but i'm new to this. the recordings are of one and sometimes two acoustic guitars and a single vocal track. how should i go about this?

 

[Chris.]

Rent Dashboard Confessional for a day and have them learn the new songs.

 

[hrwmusic]

i'm about to be mixing for a band that wants the sound as from the dashboard confessional song "screaming infidelities". any advice on the use of eq and panning and such to achieve a similar sound? i think theres a lot of delay used on vocals, and it kindof seems to me like there isnt much done as far as e.q. but i'm new to this. the recordings are of one and sometimes two acoustic guitars and a single vocal track. how should i go about this?

i think they have the guitar over dubbed a few times, thats where that open sound come from, along with the fact that the guitar is in a open d tunning, or somthing like that.

 

[IronFlippy]

Just listened to the song. Seems like your typical acoustic solo act. Everything's panned center, except the little lead part which sounds slightly to the left. As far as EQ goes, you're going to want the voice to stand out. This might mean analyzing the frequencies of the voice and cutting some of those from the guitars. I noticed a good deal of compression used on the voice, as well as the guitars. I'm not really sure what they mean by the "dashboard confessional" sound. Over compressed, dynamically flat pop music maybe?

 

[IronFlippy]

i think they have the guitar over dubbed a few times, thats where that open sound come from, along with the fact that the guitar is in a open d tunning, or somthing like that.

Yea, I forgot to add that. Multiple recordings of the guitar played in the exact same way. Try multiple recordings of the vocals as well, and then pan them slightly.

 

[sixways]

You'll also need to kick the vocalist in the nuts and tell him his mommy didn't like him so he can whine correctly.

6

 

[giraffe]

You'll also need to kick the vocalist in the nuts and tell him his mommy didn't like him so he can whine correctly.

6

hehehehehehehehe

 

[hrwmusic]

I'm not really sure what they mean by the "dashboard confessional" sound. Over compressed, dynamically flat pop music maybe?

it may be overcompressed pop music. But is it flat??? no!


add on:
oh and btw, im atleast positive that the other guitarist tunes his flat (either that or sharp!) so that makes me question my ears, huh?

 

[a27thletter]

thanks guys. i'll see if it works out.

 

[IronFlippy]

it may be overcompressed pop music. But is it flat??? no!


add on:
oh and btw, im atleast positive that the other guitarist tunes his flat (either that or sharp!) so that makes me question my ears, huh?

i meant dynamically flat, as in there are no dynamic changes in the song, which is due to over compression.

 

[Kore]

I've been through a Dashboard Confessional phase before, so I'm familiar with the type of sound you are looking for. Here are some suggestions to try out:

Guitar:Overdub guitar tracks twice, at least the rhythm guitar, and pan them L/R about 50%. Wide enough to not conflict, but not a huge spread. They need to sort of feel like the same guitar, only provide a stereo image so that the listener does not get bored out of their f***ing minds.
Also, I believe that in many of Chris's recordings, the guitar track (each guitar track) is a mix of mic'ed sound and piezo pickup sound. It gives a kind of crispness to the guitar track, but too much and it sounds shitty and amateur. I've had fair success combining piezo/mic sources. Just make that once you think you have the piezo just right, drop it a decibel or three.

Vocals: As someone pointed out, make these fairly clear and upfront.

Other than that, don't use much reverb (for a DC sound).

Oh, and by setting the rhythm guitar tracks at about 50L and 50R, you can use the "outside" of the soundscape for secondary guitar tracks, strings (with stereo reverb), and vocal harmonies.

Hope that helps. And I'd like to hear some of what you get done.


R

 

[a27thletter]

thanks kore, very nice advice. i'll let you hear it when its finished.