Trying to sound like the Tennessee Three

  • Thread starter Thread starter thuds
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thuds

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I won't say Johnny Cash, because I know better than to think my voice can do...THAT. Longtime lurker, still pretty new to recording. No chip on my shoulder, so I'd love some honest thoughts on this mix. I was trying to get a stripped down, not so modern sound. Thanks. Hopefully bandcamp html works, but if not there's a link.

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 142px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4183759177/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/t=1/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="http://theninebillionnamesofgodd.bandcamp.com/album/pearson-st-claire">PEARSON / ST. CLAIRE by PEARSON / ST. CLAIRE</a></iframe>

https://theninebillionnamesofgodd.bandcamp.com/track/walked-nights-miles
 
You don't sound like Cash, but keep him up there as a standard. Your song doesn't sound like what he'd do - he never crushed words together like that. That said, you guys did a good song here.

The mix: cut the drum level 2 dB or so. The vocals need to come through more and they're getting buried under the drums. You might bring each of them up a dB or so. The vocals are the star of the show alongside the eager drum rhythm, because they provide the downer counterpart to the upbeat rhythm, so they've got to come through loud and clear. Anyway, it's country, so the vocals have to shine. Your nick is Thuds. Are you the drummer? Is it affecting the way you're setting levels? Enough Sherlock Holmes...

Also, panning the two guitars hard left and right was one way of bringing them out, but if you listen in mono, they just about disappear. Can you EQ them or pitch shift them or distort them so they can stand out better even in mono?
 
Thanks for the feedback. You nailed it - I am a drummer. I played everything on this except the electric guitar parts....but drums are still my bias. And I come from more of a punk background, with vocals tending to be mixed lower in the mix. I was trying to fight that tendency, but i have to get over the "they sound so LOUD" feeling, for this type of song.

In the arrangement phase, I tried to let the words breathe and not be so rapid fire but it tended to bog things down. I wanted a quick tighter song, and the feelings in the lyrics tend to be rapid fire thoughts - on to the next thing and back to the start - when someone is feeling them. So I went with the non-stop approach.

I'll have to go back and listen to the guitars in mono more. Initially i had the acoustic stereo, and mostly wanted it's rhythm to augment the snare, but you're right about them getting lost. I didn't leave enough time between tracking and mixing, i think, so i could hear them in my head probably more than with my ears. Thanks for listening and for the input.
 
Ex-punk drummer does country. How's that working for ya? :D
 
Funny...before I read your comment back to Dobro, when I listened to it ...I kind of identified a Dead Kennedys "punk rock girl" feel about it.
 
to be fair, i'm not a "former" punk drummer - i still do that too. for recording on my own i tend to go wherever the wind blows and try whatever style interests me...but you can't hide what you are, i guess. ha. as far is "working"...about as well as anything i've done. which is to say that it's fun, and that's good enough.
 
TAE said:
Funny...before I read your comment back to Dobro, when I listened to it ...I kind of identified a Dead Kennedys "punk rock girl" feel about it.
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Dead milkmen:-)
 
I really like the song and arrangement. In fact it was stuck in my head for a while!
The sound is a lot like Cash to me, that is everything apart from the vocals.
I really like the drums, I agree they are too loud.
Also on the arrangement: I found myself wanting to hear some parts of the vocals solo. Not sure which parts. I think that doing that would add some variation, and also some emotional intensity.
 
Cow Punk - that was pretty popular in the mid 80s.
the snare is way too loud - it's masking everything else. If you need it that loud to punch through the mix you need to rethink it.
The vocals need to be MUCH louder.
The song & arrangementare really good. Just some mixing needed.
Funnily enough I've thrown up a "country" song for feedback. Yours sounds much more accomplished on the capture side.
 
Thanks for the notes.

Jessica_X - i did a song pretty recently where i had almost everything drop out except vocals, for a small section. I didn't consider doing that with this one, probably because i didn't want to keep doing the same things - but i do like the idea.
 
thuds said:
Thanks for the notes.

Jessica_X - i did a song pretty recently where i had almost everything drop out except vocals, for a small section. I didn't consider doing that with this one, probably because i didn't want to keep doing the same things - but i do like the idea.
Click to expand...

A formula has worked for many successful artists, AC/DC, Tom Petty, please feel free to add the the list).
 
Fun song.

I agree that the drums are too out front. The part is a little busy too. I'd go with a thinner snare sound too. Maybe cut some low midrange?

The vocal performances are a little loose. That kind of adds a certain charm to the song. But it also makes the words real tough to hear. If there is any reverb/delay/whatever on them, I'd remove it for the time being. It's just clouding things.

You hardly notice there are guitars on the song because they get clobbered by the drums and vocals.
 
Like everyone has already mentioned, bring up the guitars, bring down the drums. Can't hear the guitar properly, but I suspect it sounds a little dull. Everything else I really liked. The slurred vocals, I like it. Definitely goes with the song
 
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