You'll be Fine (only have headphones)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nightfire
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Nightfire

Nightfire

Aspiring Idiot
I only have headphones so I have no real clue as to how this sounds. The voice will be retracked and drums will be added later. Everything was recorded with cheap gear (Behringer Dinamic Mic - Behringer Mixer - Soundblaster audio card - Acoustica Mixcraft). It sounds pretty good in my headphones, it may sound like crap in your monitors.
No reverb on anything, no EQ except a basic low-cut on the bass guitar (direct in with no di box). Guitar was direct in, and one mic at the 12th fret.
I know it doesnt compare to you other guys recordings but I figured I'll post it anyways. I can take tough love so let me have it.


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=694078
 
I'm not a fan of how an acoustic sounds recorded direct. Doesn't sound bad though.

The vocals are 'okay' but the singing isn't that great. They don't seem like vocals that stand out on their own too well. I'd push them further down into the mix maybe by about -2db or more.

As you said, you don't have any effects on there yet, so things sound pretty 'dry'. I think a good reverb especially on the acoustic and vocals would sound good. GlaceVerb would probably work good for this song, it's free and sounds real nice.

Sounds pretty good for a mix using headphones.
 
Yeah I hate my voice, Im having it retracked and getting my brother to sing, hopefully he can pull it of better. Im thinking of retracking everything at this point.
I hate the sound of a guitar direct in, but I have no condensor and the dynamics suck for guitar.
How is the sound quality overall? Im running a small mixer into the line-in on my average soundblaster sound card. Is the bass too boomy, not defined enough?
Thanks for the link, looks like a sweet reverb (hard to believe its free). I'll try adding some reverb later on.


Mike
 
I don't see a reason to get someone else to sing the vocals, yours sound fine. Just work on the performance a bit and it will be good.

I'd re-record the guitars with a decent mic. I think with proper mic placement even a dynamic mic will sound better than the direct sound. Just mic real close to the guitar, 1 or 2 inches away.

You can also get really good condenser mics from here for about $20-$40 a piece. I use these all the time and they're great:

http://www.naiant.com/

The sound quality sounds pretty good. The bass was a little bit 'boomy' on my speakers at higher volumes but the tone sounded good.

Hook up some speakers. A lot of this stuff isn't apparent when listening on headphones.
 
Definitely has that "mixed in headphones" thing going, the soundfield is a bit artificially wide. The vocal tone is fine, it's pretty pitchy though; practice it more so that you don't have to think about lyrics or melody, and you can just *feel* it, and concentrate on pitch and articulation. You have to sing confidently to sing on key. As someone who is a living example of how NOT to do it, but can spot it a mile away, I speak from a position of experience and authority here. :)

Plus, even some rudimentary mastering will sweeten this up considerably; there are thigns you can do to a direct-recorded guitar to give it nice ambience, but you have to do the production legwork...

No boomiess problems on my setup, but some lack of definition in the bass. Nothing to moan about though.

Nicely written tune, great sentiment!

By the way, screw the drums. Don't bother recording them, the tune has a nice organic groove without them. And I'm a drummer saying that.
 
Thanks for all the advice.
How can I make the soundfield less "artificially wide"? Is that a panning issue?
I'll retrack the voice for sure, I am by no means a confident singer (very self conscious).
I'll take your advice Llarion and dont add drums. I might add some egg-shakers or something to get some percussion in there.

And Danny, thanks for that link. The website is a little confusing but I found the mic in your sig, is that the one you mean?

Once again, thanks for all your comments, I'll post the new version sometime soon.


Mike
 
It sounds artificially wide because the guitars are recorded direct. There is no ambience and they are panned off to the side. It's also a sparse mix so things panned hard one way can make it sound too wide.

There isn't much of a 'sound stage' and no sense of a live setting. It's hard to get that naturally with a direct recording. You can try adding some reverb to give some sense of dimension in the mix. Or maybe even play the guitar track through your monitors and re-record it that way to get some room sound.

I would still retrack the guitars but I'm picky when it comes to acoustic guitar sound. Also, scooping the low mids (400-700Hz) can help a direct guitar recording sometimes.

What kind of guitar is it anyway? And what kind of dynamic mic do you have?
 
First of, this is my first recording and I dont really know what exactly Im doing EQ wise, not too sure what you mean with "scooping". I have a 10-band EQ in the software, its not great but it will do the trick. Do you mean boosting the 400-700Hz range?
It's a Takamine G-series guitar, the pre-amp in it is pretty decent (I find) and it sounds great naturally (lots of bass). I have Behringer dynamic mics (3) (XM1800S super-cardioid). I dont have firewire so everything I do is in one shot. I'll add some reverb, take the volume of the existing guitar track down and overdub a second guitar track with only mics.


Mike
 
What I meant is cutting the frequencies in the 400-700Hz range. Like making a small V shape with the bands.

It's worth a try. That's what I had to do with my guitar when recording direct. It might not sound good for yours though.

I think over-dubbing a 2nd guitar track would be nice. Pan one to the left, and maybe the direct one to the right, or whatever sounds good. Sometimes direct recordings can add something to the mix as long as there's still a 'natural' recording in there with it.
 
I'm also a fan of non direct recorded acoustics. I reckon the left track chhck sounding percussive effect bit is a little prominant. Is that you muting and striking the frets?
 
It's not bad. The vocals are too up-front, but I think the performance is good enough. I think a little pitchiness here and there makes it sound more natural and emotional. You can work with this with some effect plug-ins. Just keep playing with it.
 
Monitors will help when you get them...I found a big difference in mixing when I got mine. Until you get some use your headphones and get some feedback here and adjust accordingly. That being said.....I would probably lower the vocals and raise the bass.

Singing is something that improves with practice. Make sure you are warming up before you record your vocals. Listen to the recording for a while and pick out the areas you want to keep and those you want to change. Then go back and re-record.

Come back here and post the update for review...

:) :D :) :D
 
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