Lucy in the Sky rough mix

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 8:34 am

Yes, with diamonds. Well, in my case probably still coal.

This was a great learning experience for me because I ended up learning/playing all of the parts and getting a wicked better understanding of songwriting and how things can (and can't) fit together. I don't play keys or bass for that matter but I gave it my best shot. Learning McCartney's bass line was very inspiring as well, to say the least.

A few things too; I did my best trying to find a sound that would mimic the funky Tambura, I just didn't have a lot of options that sounded worth a poop. Also, the bass and the guitar were all direct and this was my first time trying to craft something with drums (EZ Drummer).

There are a few glaring points that I'll go back and fix, one in particular made me laugh out loud once I heard it (after bouncing it down)...I can't believe it got by me.

I just need a break from it for now. Any comments with respect to the mix would be greatly appreciated.

And yes, it's all mono.

http://www.customguitartracks.net/Music.html

Thanks.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 8:49 am

You might want to ck that mono button. Or maybe an eq issue on the 2bus.
The drums are brighter on 1 side and the gtr seems to come more from the other.
Other than that- learning can be fun.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:20 am

I'm a huge Beatles fan so it's hard to not like what you've done here!
The mix is very clean - I'm wondering if putting some saturation on the mix will help it sit into that classic, psychedelic sound.

/2cents

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:53 am

All truth be told, this song was a total PITA to record, mostly because the tempo is all over the place, so just setting a click and playing away wasn't possible. Additionally, the fact that is does ebb and flow (to me) gives it part of it's life...a mark that I fell quite short of. It simply wore me out trying.

I basically had to record segments at a time, jumping from instrument to instrument (forgetting my settings on the preamp too, *another* lesson learned), a veritable jigsaw puzzle as it were.

Thank you for the comments thus far, I'll take them with me when my vigor is renewed to tweak it some more.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:08 pm

The drums on the left thing didn't bother me at all. I'm guessing you did this on purpose. Reminds me of the early stereo recordings when it was ok to pan a bass well off center. I thought it sounded great and flowed quite well.

This is one of the things I hate about recording by myself. The feel is always so much better when you have a band together. Unfortunately, no one can stand my playing long enough to sit in on a full song with me.LOL. I think you pulled it off quite well. Nice job.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:57 pm

You're exactly right Hueseph, I tried to place everything as I heard it on the original. The Beatles put stuff hard left and/or right all of the time, so I have no problem with it.

The biggest challenge that I'm having right now with the mix is getting the vocals to sit IN rather than ON.

Thank you for the compliment, one man banding is very hard.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:44 pm

Yeah, nicely produced with the vocal? Oh that vocal. Killed me! Is over plug-ined. No warmth at all. Causing huge ear fatigue. Basically, you're recording is too precise. Too clean. Too accurate. No acoustic sustain. Its instruments & vocals clobbering you in a dark closet. Will saturation help? Sure as heck couldn't hurt.

Beatles blubbery
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 4:57 pm

Criticism is good...but not without instruction.

I'd rather go back and re-track everything before trying to fix it. I'm not into fixing; my editing skills are nil at this point.
I'm not into 'plugin-ery'. I don't however have outboard gear either. Verbs and compression are pretty much all I play with...save some EQ/shelving.

Please, do impart knowledge and wisdom blubbered Beatle broad.

Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:33 pm

sshack wrote:

one in particular made me laugh out loud once I heard it (after bouncing it down)...I can't believe it got by me.

Would that be not muting the vocal microphone for your walking around and mouth noise?

Sounds good. The drums do sound a little canned, but practice will fix that. I enjoyed it. My ears say that the vocals sound fine. Maybe a little less high shelf (or is that 9k... something up there. can't tell if the sibilance if from a shelf, or microphone placement) and some saturation might be nice.

Is "Custom Guitar Tracks" your new thing?

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:45 am

Actually the funny part was a mistake that I made with the drums. At the end of the song with the multiple choruses I had to create another measure of drums as sort of a turn around if you will and I had forgotten to make the same adjustments to the kit, room mics, etc. so over the "Ahhh" parts the kit sounded TOTALLY different than the rest of the drum parts.
None the less, I fixed it as best as I could for now. Yeah, the drums are made by Campbell's in this go round, but I suspect I'll get better over time.

So I went back and made some changes to the vox and what not; I think they sit better now...so yes, I agreed with you Remy.

Please give another listen if you have a moment.

http://www.customguitartracks.net/Music.html

Gecko - not sure what you meant by the site being my 'new thing'?

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:52 am

simonesongs wrote:

I'm a huge Beatles fan so it's hard to not like what you've done here!
The mix is very clean - I'm wondering if putting some saturation on the mix will help it sit into that classic, psychedelic sound.

/2cents

I'd like to hear it with this idea. Sounds pretty good so far.

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:21 pm

EricUndead wrote:

simonesongs wrote:

I'm a huge Beatles fan so it's hard to not like what you've done here!
The mix is very clean - I'm wondering if putting some saturation on the mix will help it sit into that classic, psychedelic sound.

/2cents

I'd like to hear it with this idea. Sounds pretty good so far.

I did on the revised link/mix. Maybe not enough?
I suppose I could have left the other up for comparison.
Sad

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:31 pm

I don't think I got to hear the first version. Ad more noise! J/k still sounds to clear to me for some reason. IDK. I should probably go listen to the original before critiquing yours huh..... hmmm, I still don't have that disk ripped in here. I should though. Maybe it will be my quest for the day. I did just add 1 terabit worth of hard drive space. Sounds like a good use of 100MB or so......

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:39 pm

It's got some old flavours and some new flavours.

It's got energy which is the most important part.

Nice work.

Rock on.

Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:31 pm

Gotta gig tonight so can't listen now ~
I'll give a listen in the morning and post back. Looking forward to it Smile

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