a live multi-track mixjob. critique?

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:39 pm

Hey so whats up, thanks for visiting my thread. Hopefully that warm introduction will make you feel good enough to take a listen to this:

www.rockstardave.com/per/shesaid.mp3

while you're listening, you can read all these details:

beta58a - vocals (placed in coincident with c1000s, aimed a bit up)
c1000s - vocals (aimed downward at chest)
shure sm57 - guitar
cheapo DI - bass
shure beta52a - kick
shure sm57 - snare
cascade m37s - OH-L and OH-R (recorderman method)

mics -> onyx1640 -> firewire -> imac g5 -> tracktion

the vocal is doubled i think (copy/paste), with a delay on one and reverb on the other (if i remember correctly).

lousy mic placement of the beta52a meant that i had to do a bunch to get a reasonably decent sound. a few EQ adjustments, compression, etc.

3 person arrangement recorded live multi-track: vocal/guitar, bass, drums.

thanks in advance!

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 6:06 pm

I like it Dave. I think perhaps the delay time could be shaved a hair off of the vocals, but the verb doesn't bother me. The kick could be a little louder too...I think it would help drive the tune better.
The thing that stuck out the most was the pitchy-ness of the singer, but that's not really mix related, I'm just throwing it out there.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:41 pm

I particularly enjoyed your recording & mix. I thought the echoes on the lead vocal were groovy! Wish I still had a little chunk of windowpane still? Now that vocal was beautiful, fat & smooth, silky. Did I say it was beautiful? It was beautiful.

The guitars were well defined and set just right in the mix. Those Cascades make beautiful overheads. Love that nice snappy snare drum sound. Right on! I could hear the bass drum, if I listen really carefully but couldn't hear it enough to even consider it there. You may have worked a lot on it but you forgot to turn it up! It needs least six DB more in the mix. You may even want to invert the phase on the bass drum? It will give you a more solid, tighter, harder kick if you haven't done so already? But it's so low in the mix, it really ain't there. And really the only thing about your mix that made it a 9 out of 10 for me. So that's the only element that needs to kick your ass, to kick ours.

Big kickin' girl
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 7:16 am

so i got 2 reviews... or i could say it as 2 people's input, .. or i could say i have stereo input! ha! no but seriously you're both rght about the kick drum thing.

sshack - what do you mean by "pitchy-ness"?

remy - i'm glad you like those cascades, i hate them. so brittle and dingy.

anyone else??

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 7:51 am

I'm pretty much along with the crowd (of 2). Very good mix in general. I like the retro vibe of the vocals. Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress. Takes me back. More kick please. Love the snare sound. You may not like the Cascades, but you did a good job with them. Clear and crisp on the top end. You should post this over on the budget forum and show them what a pair of $75 overhead mics can do. (That's a crazy price. Do they seem durable? I might get some for our church for instrument mics. Budget's a little tight right now.)

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:12 am

He's out of tune, mostly flat in quite a few places.

Granted, this style of song is fitted best with a singing style that's loose and perhaps slides up to the pitch, but he's falling short of getting there.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:30 pm

sshack wrote:

He's out of tune, mostly flat in quite a few places.

Granted, this style of song is fitted best with a singing style that's loose and perhaps slides up to the pitch, but he's falling short of getting there.

haha, yup! it's ok, they're mostly a party band at bars, not really touring quality or status yet.

for anyone who's interested, this is a cover of The Tragically Hip , it's a song called "New Orleans", i think.

these Cascades are not too durable, but i keep them in one of those skb mic cases, so they're taken care of. for $75 for the pair (including shocks) i couldn't refuse though. i'd like to get some LDCs for another option as OH mics.

thanks for the thoughts!

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 5:20 pm

Cool. Of course, no harm meant.

Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:50 am

Pretty much gonna echo what everyone else said, save for the folks that liked the really long delay time. I thought it was a bit distracting. Snare sounded cool. Of course there's the problem with the kick.

Maybe one suggestion I would make would involve the main guitar part. It was pretty prominent. I think being turned down a touch would make it blend in the mix more.

Peace/Love

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