First mix, critique please...

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:02 pm

http://soundclick.com/stephencope

The song is called See Me Leave. This is my first mix, but the main thing I'm having trouble with is the vocals (recording-wise, not performance). They're not as focused as I'd like, perhaps not bright enough? As well, maybe it's just from listening to the song so many times, but I feel as though there are some sibilance issues. Am I wrong?

How would I fix these things?

Also, anything else you think could use work -- I really would love to make this song and recording sound as good as possible, and I'd like to learn what to do in future recordings.

Edit:

Oh, and:

Guitars and vocal miced with a Shure KSM27.

Processing on vocals consists of some slight EQ, bass cutoff at about 150 Hz, light compression, light reverb, and light pitch correction, as well as a noise gate, as it was done in my dorm room and isolation was relatively impossible.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:24 pm

What mic and pre are you using?

Your vocals sound good except for a few notes but I think you have the wrong mic for your voice. Did you EQ it? Compress it?

The whole recording sounds muffled. The guitar sounds too bright on the pick attack.

Nice not bad at all but I really think it's the mic you're using.

Sometimes the guitar seems to be lagging and not in a groove. It makes the song loose it swaying effect. It has that body back and forth folk song swaying effect but loses it.

You need more consistency in the performance for it to be professional and polished. Plus a little more production quality. You need some type of percussion even if it's a tambourine, a bell, egg, something. Plus a little more intensity in the middle of the song to punch it up emotionally and then bring it back down toward the end.

Overall very nice, but very forgettable, it doesn't grab you, it doesn't tug at your emotions, a song like that should.

The biggest issue is the mic, what are you using? It's wrong for your voice.

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:41 pm

Mic is a Shure KSM27. Unfortunately my options are limited: I have that and a Shure SM58. Audio interface is the E-MU 0404 USB.

I did EQ it, but my experience there is very, very limited, as with compression.

What sort of frequencies would I look at to resolve pick attack issues? I suppose I can use the analyzer and try my best at that, but what's the general range?

Right, I'll fix the performance issues: I'm looking at guitar lag in the swing and more vocal consistency. I'd been considering an egg, I'll see what I can do there. I had hoped that the bridge with the strings and the more focused, definitive vocals would be intense enough, perhaps the melody there doesn't have quite the intensity it needs?

As well, do you think a stronger performance will give it that emotional tug?

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 2:56 pm

Believe or not it could be just a matter of more pick attack to increase the urgency in the emotional state. as for the bright attack, it could be placement, mic type or room acoustics.

Break open the credit card and get a good mic. I made the mistake of trying to be conservative money wise and bought a RODE NT1A...blah. I just got a Mojave MA 200, what a difference, it fits my voice like a glove. I put it through a Great River preamp, yes that's close to $2500 worth of stuff. But the sound was awesome and worth every penny.

Ask around this place if you don't have a grand to spend, there are some very knowledgeable people who will send you in the right direction for a mic that will fit your voice.

I wold also recommend a good preamp. For the money something like an RNC. It's about getting quality without bells and whistles. Especially if your money strapped.

You have to mess around with the EQ, just don't over do it. If you have to do a lot of EQ work then there is something wrong. I had to make my bedroom into a studio and I put up auralex pads all over the place because it was terrible acoustically. That helped a lot.

As for compression, you really have to read a lot about how it works to understand it. Most often less is more in recording, as I have found so far since I am a neophyte in the recording end of music.

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