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I have a hard time finding honest knowledgeable feedback to better some songs, thought I would see what you guys think. I recorded this in my basement all on a RODE NT1 using an acoustic guitar and a Roland Octa-Capture. Mixed it on the new garageband, the drums are done using there new auto drummer feature, worked pretty well I thought. My biggest frustration is vocals, getting good tone and proper pitch for one but as far as recording trying to make it sound less like its in a cave. Thoughts?
My apologies if this is in the wrong thread

[MEDIA=soundcloud]user-206815833/heres-to-our-memories-2017-02-09-758-pm[/MEDIA]

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DonnyThompson Mon, 02/20/2017 - 14:59

Bearfighter, post: 447648, member: 50396 wrote: but as far as recording trying to make it sound less like its in a cave.

Well, one of the things you can do to get rid of the "cave sound" you mentioned, is to pull the reverb back, or, get rid of it altogether.
As far as your pitch, well, you just need to practice ( and practice and practice and...). yeah, you're pretty pitchy. If you can hear where you're singing off, then that's a start.
If you can't, then I'm not sure how to help you. Just kep doing it, strive for the best performance you can get. Be picky. Don't settle for "that'll do".

That being said, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young weren't pitch perfect singers, either, and they did okay. ;) The thing is, does you pitch bother you?

The guitar tone is totally subjective. There are people who may like the tone you have on this, and people who won't.

I personally don't care for it, but again, that's just an opinion.

You don't have anything else going on except guitar and vox, so there's really nothing much left to critique.

I like that it's dynamic, you have softer part and louder parts, and that's always pleasing to hear, especially in this day and age of the super-limited, crushed, "balls to the wall" sound. ;)

pcrecord Tue, 02/21/2017 - 12:44

It's not so bad. . . It's craving for a bass player tho.
Rhithm guitar is often off time and of course the vocal is a bit pitchy.. but I heard worst.
The cave sound is the real puzzle. Did you put a lot of reverb because you wanted to mask the room sound ??
What is your recording environement like ?
The room, how you sing, the mic and preamp are all important parts of your sound.

You have a lot of things right in the center of the mix.. if you could record the guitar a second time and hard pan both tracks, it could let the drums and vocal go through

Bearfighter Wed, 02/22/2017 - 06:45

Thanks for the feedback, working on the vocals on the pitchy stuff but its getting frustrated lol.
The room is not so good for recording to be honest but its sort of all I have for now just drywall and an unfinished ceiling.
I did put a bit of extra reverb but mostly because I thought it sounded better but probably because it hid the room noise.

When you say pan do you mean have two guitar tracks pan one full right and one full left?

pcrecord Wed, 02/22/2017 - 06:52

Bearfighter, post: 447700, member: 50396 wrote: Thanks for the feedback, working on the vocals on the pitchy stuff but its getting frustrated lol.
The room is not so good for recording to be honest but its sort of all I have for now just drywall and an unfinished ceiling.
I did put a bit of extra reverb but mostly because I thought it sounded better but probably because it hid the room noise.

When you say pan do you mean have two guitar tracks pan one full right and one full left?

If your room has a closet with clothes in it you could try to open the door and sing toward it.. or even try with it in your back (if the rejection of the mic is good enough) .
Other trick, get moving blankets on the wall or put up your matress agains a wall.. anything that can cut reflection will help...

For the pitchy vocal, there is many training online.. but if you want, you could add a piano track to your song with it playing the vocal's notes as a guide (obviously you will remove it at mix time)

Yes full right full left, it'll make a wide mix and let space for the drum bass and vocal ;)

pcrecord Wed, 02/22/2017 - 07:26

Bearfighter, post: 447703, member: 50396 wrote: Hmm thanks a ton will try some of that, never thought of the piano track thats an interesting idea, my piano skills are fairly moderate but I'll giver a shot.

It could be any pitch perfect sound really.. Flute or others.. It may help to sing with a guide.. .
Of course doing some scale exercice and singing lessons would be also a good Idea.