What About Me V3 - Final?

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ido1957

ido1957

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Time to stop mixing and get some feedback on this song. This is our 3rd version and hopefully this will balance a bit better.
Let me know what you think of this version....
Hamilton Steele - What About Me V3

Edit - made some changes to bass, kick and vocal levels 20141102
Edit - latest and greatest 20141108
 
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Sounded pretty good to me. I could live with the bass where it is now or up a smidge. The only thing that stood out for me that I would personally change is that I couldn't hear any beater attack on the kick drum. But different strokes for different folks... I'm sure if your drummer wanted some he'd see to it that he got it.
 
The last thing we did was turn down the bass and kick - my fault as I thought they sounded too loud. I've sent Mike a request to turn them up and repost the new version.
 
Agree that the bass and kick need some more thump. Sounds like the EQing has been a little extreme - vocals have no 'air' and the guitars are all high end. I noticed that there's a 'click' sound (pick attack?) from the guitar chords that would probably get fatiguing after a while, probably due to the EQ.

Did you know there's a Quicksilver Messenger Service song called 'What About Me?"
 
mjbphotos said:
Agree that the bass and kick need some more thump. Sounds like the EQing has been a little extreme - vocals have no 'air' and the guitars are all high end. I noticed that there's a 'click' sound (pick attack?) from the guitar chords that would probably get fatiguing after a while, probably due to the EQ.

Did you know there's a Quicksilver Messenger Service song called 'What About Me?"
Click to expand...

How would you add air to the vocals? Guitars are high passed to allow for the bass to come through although the bass and kick will need to come up as mentioned.
 
ido1957 said:
How would you add air to the vocals? Guitars are high passed to allow for the bass to come through although the bass and kick will need to come up as mentioned.
Click to expand...
Really depends on how you recorded the vocals (mic?) and what's there in the track to use - a boost in the 9K+ plus range, if there's anything there (or lower the rest of the spectrum and boost volume, of course - subtractive is better than additive).
What frequency did you hi-pass the guitars at?
 
The guitars are high passed at 125. The vocal mic is AKG C414XLS into an ISA Two at about 8-10 inches away. I think we added a 5db boost at 7.4K but that's from my old version from last week - we may have changed that yesterday but Mike would know as he has the latest project. High pass on vocal is about 40 I think.
 
I'd get rid of all the high passing. The guitars sound too thin to me. Let em have their full frequency spectrum. The vocals do sound a little cloudy. They don't have the air and sparkle your vocals usually have. The low end is a little light, but it doesn't bother me. I can hear the kick and bass.
 
Thanks Greg - I'll get Mike to see about those guitars. The C414 is new so we're working a bit on that too.
 
I love it. Very well done.
I always loved two rhythm guitars playing same groove together.
You decided to run all the way to the end and it really works. I expected vocal harmonies to join in just before the chorus.
Harmony came but I was expecting few more voices. I'm not saying you should have few more voices.
I just share what hit me when I was listening to it for the first time.
 
The last note in the 1st solo ring off at little oddly.
A better mix fellows but the guitars are a little polite.
 
Thanks Ray - we automated the solo to fade at the end so it would not interfere with the vocals coming back in. I'll have another listen and see if the slope is too steep...
 
Hamilton Steele - What About Me V3

Edit - latest and greatest 20141108
So here's some details.....

Rhythm guitars - we turned off the low cut completely. They are now straight off the amp. There are 5 tracks - Custom LP + (2) LP Studio on high gain, really low just for an edge panned L/R. The main rhythms L/R are Am Std Deluxe Strat on clean channel on humbucker. Lexicon Medium Plate panned away from the vocals.

Bass - Mike had a bit of string noise on his Reggie Hamilton - need a light touch - so we eq'd out the string noise in the upper register. Added a few db's from the last mix to give it some punch.

Drums - all separate tracks. Pushed the kick and snare up a bit. We eq'd out the ring that was leaking out between guitar chords. I had talked about this is the mixing forum if you recall. Took a little bit off the overheads to remove some of the cymbals and the washing out they did.

Vocals - We sidechained the Strats so they ducked under the vocals just a bit, subtle but effective. We had to bus the vocal so we could add a reverb send. That's where the dryness was - the reverb send was too low. We reduced the effect but upped the send so it's more effective. Lexicon Medium Plate. Turned off the delay we originally had on.


Be good to get some final feedback now that you know a little more of our process.
 
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Much better with fuller guitars Gerry.
Just about done I'd reckon - good one gents.
 
Just took a listen. Sounds great, guys! I like a bit more attack on my kicks, but that's just personal preference. Sounds great!
 
Sounds pretty good. I think the lead vocal still sits in front somewhat, but the added reverb makes it better than it was. The lead guitar at the end could have had some more balls, but that's just my taste. :D
 
Thanks guys - this mix has been a challenge with all the new things we've tried. Time to move on to the next song :)
 
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