Why You Called - new original alternative track, please give thoughts!

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andrushkiwt

andrushkiwt

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Hey yo guys, please share your thoughts on this mix. It was a challenge getting these very dynamic vocals to sit in each spot, but I think the job is decent...what do you think? A touch I made at the final moment was the softly played harmonics in the beginning and throughout the verses, though that falls into producing and not really mixing.

https://soundcloud.com/andrushkiwt/why-you-called

THANKS!
 
The only thing that really sticks out to me is the sibilance in the vocals. You may want to notch it out if you can find it. Make sure your EQ is chained before your effects.

It's a really cool song. Good job...wish i had time to push out songs like you do lol
 
I thought the vocal sounded good. But I didn't care for the stereo reverb or whatever it was that made it sound so wide. If it were me, I'd widen the mix via the guitars and drums (as you've done). Just keep the vocal in the center. Just me.

I thought the guitars sounded pretty good. So did the drums.

The bass was kind of boomy and muddy. To me, that's the thing in the mix that needs the most attention.
 
TripleM said:
I thought the vocal sounded good. But I didn't care for the stereo reverb or whatever it was that made it sound so wide. If it were me, I'd widen the mix via the guitars and drums (as you've done). Just keep the vocal in the center. Just me.

I thought the guitars sounded pretty good. So did the drums.

The bass was kind of boomy and muddy. To me, that's the thing in the mix that needs the most attention.
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I added a widener to about 110%. Before that, the main G's were at 100% L & R. Too wide? I'll back off a bit, or leave off the widener altogether, in the future.

Anything that could make the guitars sound more than pretty good? As in, really good?

Yeah I experimented with a different bass cabinet (sim). i used an 8x10 instead of the usual, smaller model. It's definitely boomier. If I use that one again, i'll shape more with the EQ. I think all I did with this one was a dip at 500 and a slight bump at 1.3

thanks dude
 
Bruthish said:
The only thing that really sticks out to me is the sibilance in the vocals. You may want to notch it out if you can find it. Make sure your EQ is chained before your effects.

It's a really cool song. Good job...wish i had time to push out songs like you do lol
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my chain is long is complicated...there are about 8 vocals tracks altogether, all going into a Vox Bus w the following, in order: EQ, DE-ess, Comp (2:1), Verb, Comp (4:1), Delay. Then there's a signal chain on that bus from the guitar bus compressor (1.3:1), and a third vocal compressors that were used only by the background harmonies. The individual vox tracks were all different. The ones w sibilance issues are probably the ones running through amps for that slight dist effect, but of course, they run through the long bus chain i mentioned above. it's a headache.

I always have a tune somewhere in the process, ha, thanks man. it's time consuming, absolutely.
 
andrushkiwt said:
I added a widener to about 110%. Before that, the main G's were at 100% L & R. Too wide? I'll back off a bit, or leave off the widener altogether, in the future.

Anything that could make the guitars sound more than pretty good? As in, really good?

Yeah I experimented with a different bass cabinet (sim). i used an 8x10 instead of the usual, smaller model. It's definitely boomier. If I use that one again, i'll shape more with the EQ. I think all I did with this one was a dip at 500 and a slight bump at 1.3

thanks dude
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I just think vocal widening makes it sound like a slick, over produced Katy Perry song.

On the guitars... I thought the clean guitar sounded really good. I don't have a thought on how to improve it. The distorted guitar was a little mushy to me. It had a bit too much gain. I thought the tonal balance (low, mid, high frequencies) was good. Just a bit undefined.
 
TripleM said:
I just think vocal widening makes it sound like a slick, over produced Katy Perry song.
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OUCH!!! well, actually, wait a minute...i'll take it, i think. i don't know. i'll get back to you on that!
 
I didn't mean that as a slam, sorry. The vocal sounded really good. It was a terrific performance. It doesn't need slick producing. Again, just my opinion.
 
TripleM said:
I didn't mean that as a slam, sorry. The vocal sounded really good. It was a terrific performance. It doesn't need slick producing. Again, just my opinion.
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ha no worries, i was joking around. the choruses are double tracked with a third track of just a stereo chorus effect to thicken it. The "performance" was about 7 takes, and then cut into the best pieces...my voice will go out if i sing that high and loud for more than 30 minutes at a time. i struggled on the bridge.
 
Yeah, the vocals are kind of over the top, but I liked it that way, personally. The song kind of asks for it IMHO.

I noticed that the kick drum is kind of not so present. It is there, but I think it could have more presence and a little bit of low end. But I'm a kick drum geek, so that could be me, haha.
 
+1 on the sibilance. There's also a kind of warbly auto-tune/vocoder sound on the verses.

I like the rapid-panned held note after the first big chorus.

Also, +1 on the kick being a little absent.

Some cool stuff going on here.

Edit: I just hit the big "Don't" at 4:18. It sounds like the compressor is kicking in really hard there. A lot of build and then the compression kills the payoff.
 
It sounds good but too loud. I had to turn it down. My guess is this has a limiter set to the max. I'd turn that down personally because the volume takes away (everything sounds maxed out, squashed, and on the cusp of distortion)
 
VomitHatSteve said:
Edit: I just hit the big "Don't" at 4:18. It sounds like the compressor is kicking in really hard there. A lot of build and then the compression kills the payoff.
Click to expand...

Yeah I dont know why that is. I noticed that. There is no main compressor. There's a 1.3:1 on the guitars, 3:1 on kick Tom snare busses, and vox channel. There's one limiter in the master session at +2.1 with a -0.10 threshold.

I'm not sure what is taking the life out of the initial hit in the final chorus. Ideas?
 
4tracker said:
It sounds good but too loud. I had to turn it down. My guess is this has a limiter set to the max. I'd turn that down personally because the volume takes away (everything sounds maxed out, squashed, and on the cusp of distortion)
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Hey, the limiter is barely on. It's at +2.1 with a high threshold. The mix session was bounced out at 0db with about 3db headroom. The master had the limiter applied but I did turn up the master fader to 1.8. I experimented with pushing the master fader for volume instead of relying too much on limiting. There is no main compressor either. Just the minimal limiting.

Also, I went with K14 and made sure nothing clipped. The closest call was at about -0.52 db near the end somewhere. Only once.
 
andrushkiwt said:
Hey, the limiter is barely on. It's at +2.1 with a high threshold. The mix session was bounced out at 0db with about 3db headroom. The master had the limiter applied but I did turn up the master fader to 1.8. I experimented with pushing the master fader for volume instead of relying too much on limiting. There is no main compressor either. Just the minimal limiting.

Also, I went with K14 and made sure nothing clipped. The closest call was at about -0.52 db near the end somewhere. Only once.
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Interesting. Are there any doubled/summed tracks or anything like that? I am perceiving loudness even if the meters say otherwise and don't know why. I had to turn down my PC volume 40% to make it comfortable listening. This could be something with my system -- nobody else had this issue, so it's probably nothing to worry about.
 
4tracker said:
Interesting. Are there any doubled/summed tracks or anything like that? I am perceiving loudness even if the meters say otherwise and don't know why. I had to turn down my PC volume 40% to make it comfortable listening. This could be something with my system -- nobody else had this issue, so it's probably nothing to worry about.
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I think youre right though. I thought it was much louder than the rest of my tracks. I turned it down in my car as well, so it's not just you. But if it doesn't show clipping when set to k14, I'm not sure where the problem is. make me wonder.

I would really love to have a one on one session with a mix and master engineer. Just to go over my process and show me where the kinks are in my "chain". Guitar Center has sessions, but they are for groups. Im selfish. ;)
 
andrushkiwt said:
I think youre right though. I thought it was much louder than the rest of my tracks. I turned it down in my car as well, so it's not just you. But if it doesn't show clipping when set to k14, I'm not sure where the problem is. make me wonder.

I would really love to have a one on one session with a mix and master engineer. Just to go over my process and show me where the kinks are in my "chain". Guitar Center has sessions, but they are for groups. Im selfish. ;)
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What is the average volume on it? that will be more telling than the peaks
 
I like the song and the production. Maybe it's because of what you've done to the mix since you posted it originally, I don't know, but I like the way the vocals sit, and guitars, and the overall mix. I wonder, too, about the different systems and ways people are listening to it - headphones vs. monitors vs. stereo speakers, etc.... Anyway, to redirect to your original question, I think you've done a good job on sitting the vocals in the mix. Also, on a personal note, I like songs with a hook. Many of the songs I hear on this website don't have a hook that stays in my mind but yours does. I guess I'm showing my age or something but I like songs that make me want to listen to them again because of a "hook." Good job!
 
fireflyva said:
I like the song and the production. Maybe it's because of what you've done to the mix since you posted it originally, I don't know, but I like the way the vocals sit, and guitars, and the overall mix. I wonder, too, about the different systems and ways people are listening to it - headphones vs. monitors vs. stereo speakers, etc.... Anyway, to redirect to your original question, I think you've done a good job on sitting the vocals in the mix. Also, on a personal note, I like songs with a hook. Many of the songs I hear on this website don't have a hook that stays in my mind but yours does. I guess I'm showing my age or something but I like songs that make me want to listen to them again because of a "hook." Good job!
Click to expand...

Hey thanks a lot firefly. Its actually the same track, I didn't edit it. So, it's probably how it comes across on different systems...something you mentioned as well. The bass needs some clearing up though, that's a definite.

Thank you so much for the comment on the melody. I spend more time on the hook than anything else. Riffs and chord progressions are nothing to me without a good hook on top of them, so thank you for mentioning that. Its something I put an extraordinary amount of time into so it's great to hear others find it catchy. I'd like to work somewhere in the "biz" helping others with melody or writing my own, but I'm lost on where to start. Being 33 probably doesn't help.
 
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