Skip to main content

Hey guys (and Remy), I'm back with a practice session recorded in my basement studio. I'm hoping you could lend your ears and give me some tips and constructive criticism as I prepare to do the full LP. This band is known for thier tremendous stage presence, the album is going to be a representation of that by making it feel as live as the studio will allow. I'll go into the gear used later, but I appreciate your opinions on the overal mix and tone. You can listen to it here:

http://homepage.mac.com/backinthelab/iMovieTheater2.html

PS I know someone will mention MARSH. Thing is, I've already posted it there and don't have too many responses.

Comments

MadMax Thu, 05/25/2006 - 21:51

Initial impressions as I'm listening the first time:

Verb's a touch too hot. Seems a bit mushy...

Rythym Guitar's a bit too nice - MY personal preference... I like em' just tad nastier. It does sound good and natural though.

Kik's a lil' loose, might be fixed up when you back the verb down

More thump in da' bass... I'd squash it just a touch and bring it up -or- shelve a bit less @60Hz and bring the 4-500Hz Q in some... to get it nice and tight and find the song key and goose it just a touch... I'd also go for getting at bit more string slap... maybe 4K? Maybe 8K and up... have to play with it and see where that bit of sparkle is.

All in all I like the sound! Great tune, BTW!

Second listen...

Same...

I just wanna hear more of that bass. He's doin' some really nice stuff... I'd really like to hear it up front some more.

Drums all sound good. Just that verb gettin' a bit too washy. Conga's blend in real nice. Horns are tasty, sax is natural and tight. Lead Gut's in the right spot volume and soundspace-wise.

Uh Oh, Wait a minute...

There's seems to be a hole...

Something's missing...

What is it?

OOoooooh... OK... just realized what it is!!!!

YER MISSIN' THE COWBELL!!

MORE COWBELL!! MORE COWBELL!! MORE COWBELL!! MORE COWBELL!!

You NEED more COWBELL!! :-?

Seiously, it's a smokin' band with a nice track there! GREAT JOB!

X

anonymous Tue, 05/30/2006 - 16:27

OKay, V2 is posted, although it took a bit longer than 5 minutes. I cut the schnizzle out of the verb it sounds much cleaner now. The bass is up a bit and the sax and lead guit are a bit more set apart. No cowbell, though, MadMax, sorry. Maybe next time we could throw some in and make some gold records. 8-)

Davedog Tue, 05/30/2006 - 17:18

"I'm tellin ya, you guys are gonna want more cowbell..."

This is a sweet track. Its always a hard day at the office when ya gotta sit and listen to this kinda crap....

Bass.....NOT louder....tighter

Toms more ...present....

Gotta go listen to my Average White Band Cd ....

......Ummmmmm Cut the Cake....please......

BobRogers Tue, 05/30/2006 - 18:15

Davedog wrote: "
Bass.....NOT louder....tighter

That's the ticket... What is he using? How are you recording it? Doesn't have the low-fi thump of a P-bass with flats through a B-15 or the bright snap of an active bass with rounds. Sort of caught in between in no man's land. Good bassist though. Lots of good elements to the track.

anonymous Tue, 05/30/2006 - 18:28

Davedog wrote: "I'm tellin ya, you guys are gonna want more cowbell..."

This is a sweet track. Its always a hard day at the office when ya gotta sit and listen to this kinda crap....

Bass.....NOT louder....tighter

Toms more ...present....

Gotta go listen to my Average White Band Cd ....

......Ummmmmm Cut the Cake....please......

It's tough to have to put up with such a shitty band, I wish I could work with someone more along the lines of Lil Jon. LOL

Yes, I used to love this track...before I listened to it a thousand times. No, still do, it's downright funky as hell. This band is very tight and extremely talented in all facets. It's a ton of fun being involved with them to the degree that I am.

Anyways, back to the mix. I'm not so sure that I can do much with the toms as the kit was tracked with only four mics (QTC40's on the OH's, MD421 on the snare bottom, and a iFet7 on the kick). I can try to make them more present with some eq on the OH's. A good project for tomorrow.

On the bass, do you mean tighter as in musicianship or tone?

Thanks for the compliments overall. I can't wait to track the whole album!!!

Anyone else care to post thier $.02?

anonymous Tue, 05/30/2006 - 18:36

BobRogers wrote: [quote=Davedog]"
Bass.....NOT louder....tighter

That's the ticket... What is he using? How are you recording it? Doesn't have the low-fi thump of a P-bass with flats through a B-15 or the bright snap of an active bass with rounds. Sort of caught in between in no man's land. Good bassist though. Lots of good elements to the track.

I'm not a bass player so I'm not sure of the bass he's on, but I can tell you that it was recorded direct through a UA 6176. Lemme check out the EQ, maybe I messed with something, it sounds much more well-rounded in my control room.

Davedog Tue, 05/30/2006 - 18:54

With this kind of bass track and player, its all about the articulation. It sounds like hes playing all the cool stuff its just not sticking like it should. Bob got it with 'no mans land'...

I R UH BASSPLAYER and i gotta thing for that articulation. Could be the instrument, but your chain shoulda got you more thump and bump.

Check it out and it may come down to a reamp or maybe running it back through that 1176 side of that unit.

Its all about the thump. Little grace notes....back feel....that up and down ....

Reggie Wed, 05/31/2006 - 21:24

'bout the bass. Could be no fault of yours. Could be homeboy had his bass set on his rumble rumble sub bass sound that he plays with live. I get that all the time. Probably coulda checked out the tone knob to see what sounds are in there; chilled out the active bass boost if applicable. But for now, EQ afterthefact may have to be your friend. Search out the 300-900Hz area for boosts perhaps...and play with the highpassfilter. Bass dude rocks. Make him stand out (in a good way).
And I know that the kick on this kind of stuff shouldn't be really overbearing or clicky, but I think it could be worked out further to make it tighter and uh poppier.
cool stuff

MadMax Thu, 06/01/2006 - 17:04

DANG! Man, it's really gettin' there!!!!!

About stickin' the toms out there a tad more... What about trying to double the tom parts over and kickin' the eq pretty hard on the doubled tracks? Might work.

To me, the kick and bass need just a tad more thump in the ass-end... 60-400Hz. I think the EQ's good in that spectrum. Maybe drop the threashold a bit? By easing the compression off a bit, that might do it... but you still need that bass squished like a mofo to get it jumpin'... tough call. (I know I'll probably catch a rash of it, but I really love throwin bass through my Meek VC1Q for exactly this reason.) If you can snag one for a mix, you outta' check it out.

The bass still maybe needs that extra push to articulate as DD said... in the fret range (2k-6k?) It might be false, but what the hay... if you can get it, get it however you can, right?!? What about scooping out 800-1.6K a touch?

It's gettin' real nice. Now, it's just gettin' nits picked.

Shame these cat's can't play, right?

Rock on!
Max

anonymous Fri, 06/02/2006 - 12:51

Snare sounds a bit "Tupperware", could be brighter, more like "Snap!", just my pref. More toms, and in general I'd say things sound a bit too "nice", like rawer sax, thump'n'twang on bass, etc. As madmax sez, its nit-picking, and a matter of taste.

Personally, with funky stuff, if it sounds too clean things sound kinda midi/bordering on Seinfeld to me. The JB's or The Meters had a lot of attack in their sound, that's how I like funk. I imagine it sounds a bit more in your face live so if that's what your after, you could always nasty it up a bit.