Why do the mixing Gods hate me so?

T

theron

New member
I wrote this acoustic story song and wanted an earthy, natural but powerful recording and mix. I can't seem to get any further than this. The more I touch it, the worse it gets so, I thought I'd solicit your help. Am I even in the ballpark for a story song mix?

The song is called "One More Day"
http://www.nowhereradio.com/theron/singles


Thanks for any and all advice and opinions

Theron.
 
that was cool! ha! :D

Sounds good over here man..

I dont really have any suggestions.. This is a rockin' tune, got my blood flowing right away!

I like it! :D

sam
 
oh man!

that was a fun tune!! good lyric's!! good playing!! recording!! singing!!

should i go on?? nahhh!!! fanfrickintobulous!:p

if the mixing god's hate this so much, im going straight to mixing HELLLL!!!!!!!:eek:

THANK'S MAN

peace

rick
 
a more earthy and powerful mix. I'm not sure what that might exactly mean, but I've some ideas.

One thing I noticed is the skitzo-frentic strumming is the mainstay of the beat in this song...and they are not quite together, sync wise. Close, but no cigar.

The bass gtr also just follows along with the strumming, and hits only on the 1st beat of each chord change...thus, really has no rhythm of its own. A more unique "bass line" would probably hold the fort down a little better, especially in the absence of drums.

If you could imagine drums, even a hefty cut time, boom-chick would do wonders in providing a base for the song. But, I'm not sure if that's really what you wanted.

I'm not really finding problems with the mix, but more in the performances. They're just having a tough time finding their own special place to contribute to the song.

As far as a powerful mix...with high pitched instruments, that might be tough to pull off...unless you have a zillion violens playing Bartok, or something.... Keeping the instruments playing together TIGHT, makes for powerful performances, imo.

Earthy....more natural?...is that what you mean?
 
Yippee, I get to comment on your stuff after the great feedback you gave me.

The song is quite good. Your vocals are awesome and have the perfect feel for the material. I agree with mixmkr about the lack of a solid beat to hang your hat on. The strumming guitars aren't enough, as they are kind of frantic sounding, you might need to try strumming with more string muting to help emphasize the beat. Also, I kept imagining one of those guys with only a kick drum and a tambourine- kick on 1 & 3, tambourine on 2 & 4.

Great song though, I like the changes and the licks.

Jon
 
Sam,
Thanks for the thumbs up. Always good to hear.

fenderlikingood,

All too kind words indeed. I appreciate the positive vibes!

mixmkr, Thanks for the close ear and solid suggestions. Maybe I am trying to fix performance issues with the mix. The bass line is banal at best but, it is what I could do. I really have no right to play bass:). I tried a kick/stomp beat by pounding on my acoustic git but, it didn't fly. I want a "front porch stomp box" kinda thing but, don't know how to achieve it. I've about 5 git tracks all playing the chord riff a little differently. Maybe I should scale that down and tighten it up. I'll mull over the low end and see if I can't anchore the tune more solidly. Thanks again for your time and attention.

jjtcorsair,

Hey, thanks for listening!
Yeah, it looks like the bottom end is too thin. Bass and drums are not my strong point. I don't know what is but, B-n-D's sure aren't!;) I'll see if I can't build a percusion track with your kick/tamb suggestion. Thanks for the listen and help

Peace,

Theron.
 
nice i really like the"flow"?? of this song the narrative nature of the vocals does very well!!..the guitar playing i thought was great so of course im seething with jealosy as im writing this...naaa i dont knoow squat about mechanics but i know harmony and rythym...and i thought you did great on both fronts..k now im going back to check out some of yer other stuff now....

jamal
 
sorry to fill up yer whole post...
ok i just heard "close your eyes"..and from about 3:56 on i lost all will to ever play guitar again...wow....and to expound on that further..WOW...anyway just wanted to swell yer head up a bit..gotta go back and hear more

jamal
 
jamal buchet,

Thanks a lot for your time and warm comments. On "close your eyes" I didn't cut the lead gits, my friend did. Credit where credit is due. If we were to cut teeth, your chops would prevail...trust me;)
 
Good work, Theron.
The guitar work is nice.
Vocals well done. The lyrics are cool.
I go along wholey with Mixmkr's comment about the bass. It needs to move a bit more.
 
Thanks badgas,
Lyricaly, it was a rewarding song to write and have come semi-alive. The recording and mixing endevour is a different beast entirely. I've restricted myself to Songwriter and Singer(cause I wanna hear the song:)) but, I find a passion building to do it all,,, I must become a better musician, engineer, producer, vocalist, technical advisor and visionary to fullfill my internal standards. This board seems to have all the info I need. Time to turn internal and see if I can expand enough.:rolleyes:D

I hear songs that kick my ass every day on this clinic. A strong majority are by one persons talent and learned skill. Someday, I'll kick my own ass and be pleased with a creation.:)


Theron
 
Theron--very cool song! Great lyrics, melody and feel. And if this is how you sing your own stuff, there ain't a thing wrong with your voice. I really love your voice on this. Its got personality and character and identifiability (is that a word?) There are no pitch issues either!

I'm sitting here thinking "what in the world were we discussing Theron's voice for on the last tune you posted?" The only thing i could think was maybe that other song was out of your comfortable range or something. I try to sing too high I sound like Mrs. Butterworth. :D Anyway, this is great stuff!

As for making it more earthy, you might want to mess with an idea I had when I was listening. Try playing it at about 120-124 beats per minute, slowing it down to emphasize the backbeat and give your words a bit more breathing room. Just something to mess with, hearing the same song with a slightly different feel.

If you don't play drums, a trick that a friend of mine does sometimes is put his acoustic face down, using it like a conga or percussive instrument. He plays the back with his hands and mics that up. You can get some real cool sounds that way! And its kind of earthy too!
 
Good song theron.............Mixmkr pretty much covered everything that I think could use some work. I liked your sounds actually. The guitars had a nice live sound with plenty of presence........there were just too many of them. With the bass you could simply try alternating between the 1 and the 5 on beats 1 &3. Just doing that would make a huge difference and it wouldn't be hard to do. The vocals sounded nice......what's the chain on them?
 
Yep, earthy, natural, and powerful=simplify. Voice is already there, very cool. Just too many guitars. Good suggestion about the bass, too.
I like the song, good rootsy sound and feel. Really does sound like a back porch blues, just tell some of the other guitar players to wait their turn. :D
I dig the song!

Mark
 
Theron, that is friggin AWESOME! I'd say you've already been taken care of as far as suggestions...particularly the bass line. VERY good sound, performance, and song!!! Lots of fun...hope you don't mind if I download...unless you're going to remix....

Very nice!
 
Hey Theron,
First off let me say that the vocs smoke!! Nice job man. Did you do the voc. doubling manually or is that a cloned track......if you doubled it "Farkin Bravo".......you nailed em. If you cloned em......they sound great........I cant tell for sure. This would be a great song for a banjo or a mandolin to replace one of those guit. tracks. A nice "strong and simple" country walkin' bass line would suit this really well too. Great song Theron, and smoking and well suited vocals......... Love this!!!!:D :D :D :D
g
 
Thanks all for the listen!!

crawdad, I guess my vocals are more suited to this tune. I like to write and play in different styles so, I'll keep plugging away at the weak points.

I did originaly try a Git Tap track for percusion but, I didn't like it. I'll find something. Thanks alot for the suggestion, that is the very type of stomp percusion I had in mind but, it doesn't quite cut it. I played this tune slower when I first wrote it, to sort out the arrangment and rhythm. Now I'm kinda endeared to this tempo. Thanks for the comments on the vocals. Maybe I'll give that git tap another shot with a different mic approach.


Lt. Bob,
I really appreciate the bass suggestion. I'll try it out.
The vox chain is an MXL v67 into an ART pre then into a SB live soundcard. Not very impressive, I know:o:D
Appreciate your time and assitance.


mkg,
I think you and Lt.Bob might be right about too many gits. I need to decide which to keep and where to put them a little better.
Thanks!

SLuiCe,
Glad you like the song. Of course you can download it and when I remix I'll let ya know. Thanks for the positives dude,

Guernica,

yeah, this tune is fun to play. It was fun to write.
The vox are me. One track on the verses and I manually doubled on the builds.
I hear banjo and mando as well but, I don't play either. I used a six string acoustic, a resonator, and another acoustic with (I think,)nashville tuning. I'm gonna try Lt.Bob's suggestion on the bass. You must have cringed something fierce when you heard my "bass line";):)
Thanks for your ear!!

Theron.
 
theron said:
Thanks all for the listen!!

crawdad, I guess my vocals are more suited to this tune. I like to write and play in different styles so, I'll keep plugging away at the weak points.

I did originaly try a Git Tap track for percusion but, I didn't like it. I'll find something. Thanks alot for the suggestion, that is the very type of stomp percusion I had in mind but, it doesn't quite cut it. I played this tune slower when I first wrote it, to sort out the arrangment and rhythm. Now I'm kinda endeared to this tempo. Thanks for the comments on the vocals. Maybe I'll give that git tap another shot with a different mic approach.


Theron.
Click to expand...

Your voice works very well with this. I know what you mean about different styles too. There are some styles I couldn't do to save my life--hard rock, heavy metal, etc. For me, its been about finding what my limitations are and learning to live within those boundaries (oh, did I ever wish I could sing like Perry or that guy in Boston! Ain't gonna happen!). You have something pretty magical happening vocally in this genre and that same attitude/sound would work for a lot of things.

As for the other suggestions, I understand. They were just ideas at the time. Take the best and leave the rest, I say. Forge ahead!
 
Thanks crawdad,

Slowly but, surely this recording thing is coming together.

When I find my place, I tend to want to either make the place bigger or find a new place;):D

Theron.
 
I know what you mean! I have found that one of the great things about this forum is that you can put up any style of music you want. That's made me want to diversify and do everything from rock and blues to folk, country, jazz and electronica. Not to mention a dash of comedy. When I get to the rap stuff, watch out! I'm trying to make each posting completely different from the last, just because its fun and there are no market expectations. Thats like freedom for me after having to write country songs for a living for a few years!

I figure not everything will work, but I want to learn as much as I can about recording, producing, writing and mixing every style of music I can. Broaden my narrow mind some. :D Heck, maybe even (hush) learn something new!
 
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