What Next?

[johnblythe]

hey all,

this is my first post here. i'm excited to learn tons. quick intro: i've played music since my early teens and have been writing ever since. i've wanted to get into home recording for years now, but didn't have the money in college and then didn't have the time thereafter as i was simply juggling too many things in life. i'm finally beginning to simplify my schedule and pursue this hobby.

i've begun checking out various stickies and things posted in the recording/home audio subreddits on reddit.com, but recently found this forum when searching for info regarding bad mixes vs. bad mics. reason being, of course, that i can't tell which is my bigger issue at this point. probably both

with that in mind, can someone give a listen to this and point me in the right direction on a few things to check into, learn, redo, etc? i don't expect handouts as far as "do x, y, and z" so much as "check into X concept."

thanks for any pointers!

 

[DM60]

This is a pretty decent mix from my end. If I were to do anything is probably roll off the lower end on the acoustic to take a some of the rumble, but everything else sounded really good.

Nice first outing and your research sounds like it paid off. Nice!

 

[MusicWater]

hey all,

this is my first post here. i'm excited to learn tons. quick intro: i've played music since my early teens and have been writing ever since. i've wanted to get into home recording for years now, but didn't have the money in college and then didn't have the time thereafter as i was simply juggling too many things in life. i'm finally beginning to simplify my schedule and pursue this hobby.

i've begun checking out various stickies and things posted in the recording/home audio subreddits on reddit.com, but recently found this forum when searching for info regarding bad mixes vs. bad mics. reason being, of course, that i can't tell which is my bigger issue at this point. probably both

with that in mind, can someone give a listen to this and point me in the right direction on a few things to check into, learn, redo, etc? i don't expect handouts as far as "do x, y, and z" so much as "check into X concept."

thanks for any pointers!

Hi John! I just listened to your work, thanks for sharing, I found you have definitely gone through a maturing period with your work and fine tuned your sound and your technique.

I recommend that you check out an engineer, mixer, producer by the name of Bob Clearmountain (Bob Clearmountain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I've studied the practices, concepts and techniques by most world leading cats out there, in my view Bob takes it to the next level. I recommend that you pay attention to what he is saying and how he is thinking and complement that with the content and teachings produced by the great Dave Pensado at Pensado's Place.

In terms of mic vs. mix, the mix wins, but in terms of recording vs. mix, they are equal. I recommend that you try to steer away from the impact thinking as much as possible, because it is limiting/distracting and unless one does not have the mathematical understanding behind it, it's just going to confuse. It's much better to get real world first hand experience in an open state of mind. One thing you do need to know though: There are components part of this that are engaged in pretty much every aspect related to the final product: Recording/control room acoustics, converter input and output stage signal capacity, converter clocking technology, power quality, monitor amplification/monitors/headphones. Those are incredibly important.

 

[Chili]

hey all,

this is my first post here. i'm excited to learn tons.

Heya, welcome to the site. I moved this thread to the MP3 clinic where it will it belongs. The MP3 clinic is the perfect place to get feedback on your mixes.

 

[johnblythe]

This is a pretty decent mix from my end. If I were to do anything is probably roll off the lower end on the acoustic to take a some of the rumble, but everything else sounded really good.

Nice first outing and your research sounds like it paid off. Nice!

thanks for the kind words! the thing i really feel it lacks is 'presence'—not sure if i'm using laymen's term in place of an engineering one. in other words, it just doesn't sound full. it is overly obvious, in my opinion, that i did it in my little attic nook. i guess that's a matter of how the vox sit on top of the guitars?

Hi John! I just listened to your work, thanks for sharing, I found you have definitely gone through a maturing period with your work and fine tuned your sound and your technique.

I recommend that you check out an engineer, mixer, producer by the name of Bob Clearmountain (Bob Clearmountain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I've studied the practices, concepts and techniques by most world leading cats out there, in my view Bob takes it to the next level. I recommend that you pay attention to what he is saying and how he is thinking and complement that with the content and teachings produced by the great Dave Pensado at Pensado's Place.

In terms of mic vs. mix, the mix wins, but in terms of recording vs. mix, they are equal. I recommend that you try to steer away from the impact thinking as much as possible, because it is limiting/distracting and unless one does not have the mathematical understanding behind it, it's just going to confuse. It's much better to get real world first hand experience in an open state of mind. One thing you do need to know though: There are components part of this that are engaged in pretty much every aspect related to the final product: Recording/control room acoustics, converter input and output stage signal capacity, converter clocking technology, power quality, monitor amplification/monitors/headphones. Those are incredibly important.

thanks, @musicwater! i'll definitely check him out as well as the other names mentioned.

re: my music journey, i've always been much more at home with playing, music theory, etc. than hardware, so reading all those incredibly important things makes me start to glaze over, ha. i'll have to get over it, dig my heels in, and start learning things!

Heya, welcome to the site. I moved this thread to the MP3 clinic where it will it belongs. The MP3 clinic is the perfect place to get feedback on your mixes.

ahh, thanks for that. and sorry for the mis-posting! google led me here and to a thread in this section in particular that had an mp3 posted so i just went for it, should've looked around first. thanks!

 

[DM60]

thanks for the kind words! the thing i really feel it lacks is 'presence'—not sure if i'm using laymen's term in place of an engineering one. in other words, it just doesn't sound full. it is overly obvious, in my opinion, that i did it in my little attic nook. i guess that's a matter of how the vox sit on top of the guitars?

Maybe you are right, but since I don't know what is in your head and I took it at face value, I thought it had all the presence it needed. Now, if you wanted a fuller production, now that is a different story. That is a composing and arrangement issue (which I don't think you have here).

Ny suggestion, on your next composition, compose and arrange it to allow more instrumentation. But I will be honest, for singer, song writer that is very difficult to do. We think words first, the instrument(s) is/are just a backdrop.

I am not an expert and I am just giving my opinion, so take if for what it is worth. If you want fuller songs, you will need to balance the words and give the instruments more of a place. You could try composing the music first, then add in the vocals. That would force a more instrument oriented song. Which might be what you are calling "fuller".

Just my two cents, but what you provided here was a very nice song. (period)

 

[MusicWater]

thanks, @musicwater! i'll definitely check him out as well as the other names mentioned.

re: my music journey, i've always been much more at home with playing, music theory, etc. than hardware, so reading all those incredibly important things makes me start to glaze over, ha. i'll have to get over it, dig my heels in, and start learning things!

Great, in response to your thread post I felt I wanted to push you in a direction that makes sense.

 

[johnblythe]

Maybe you are right, but since I don't know what is in your head and I took it at face value, I thought it had all the presence it needed. Now, if you wanted a fuller production, now that is a different story. That is a composing and arrangement issue (which I don't think you have here).

Ny suggestion, on your next composition, compose and arrange it to allow more instrumentation. But I will be honest, for singer, song writer that is very difficult to do. We think words first, the instrument(s) is/are just a backdrop.

I am not an expert and I am just giving my opinion, so take if for what it is worth. If you want fuller songs, you will need to balance the words and give the instruments more of a place. You could try composing the music first, then add in the vocals. That would force a more instrument oriented song. Which might be what you are calling "fuller".

Just my two cents, but what you provided here was a very nice song. (period)

great points, dm60. that's one of the sticking points i've found as of late: figuring out what i want. i have a very wide range of stylistic gravitations as far as my listening goes, but then when i sit down to write i tend towards a pretty simplistic songwriting style. part of me wants more because of what i'm listening to, but maybe i need to simply learn to embrace what i've got coming out organically. or, on the other hand, give myself a style/artist/etc. to attempt to model for any given song and work from there.

we'll see. either way, i'll keep moving forward and learning. thanks for the thoughts!

Great, in response to your thread post I felt I wanted to push you in a direction that makes sense.

i appreciate it!