Welcome aboard Circuit...glad you make it over to have some fun!! I'll try and listen to everyone's stuff as soon as I can but I've been hell of a busy these days! Plus I just got a girlfriend(why, I'm still asking myself that...oh yeah..SEX!!...lol, just kidding!)
so my time be pretty damn precious!!
I'm sure others will chime in on critizing your music..err, I mean critiquing! :p
Opus

Take your time, Opus. And thanks for pointing this place out to me. Enjoy your Valentine's Day with your new honey.

Anyone? Anyone?

This is nice-sounding stuff. I like the way the vocals are done, and how they sound further away and a tad quieter than the guitars. It's a nice touch.

I'm normally an advocate for lots of panning, but I think the spread on these songs works well; I like it.

There's always a complaint--and mine is, when you have percussion, not to bury it; it often sounds like you're trying to hide it like that. It doesn't have to be right up in your nose, either, but just not buried too deep. Of course, in this case (despite my bias) it does seem like it was placed where it is in the mix very intentionally, and it does work appropriately. (I think the song was Beautiful Nothing, with the said percussion bit.)

It sounds like you have a nice guitar. Very good work, FWIW coming from me.

Hey Circuit Rider:

I listened to 2 of your songs, "Beautiful Nothing" and "Horseshoe".

Overall: I like the recordings, and the guitars sound *great*. I loved the tone you got on the electric guitar in "Horseshoe", and the accoustics sound great in both songs...really nice job.

I also liked the little bits of purcussion that you added to "Beautiful Nothing", I felt they were subtle, but added to the mix nicely, especially since there isn't a steady drum or percussion beat throughout the song.

I do have some other specific comments here too:

Beautiful Nothing:
Vocals: they need more compression in my opinion (or maybe some limiting). On the "ooooh" parts especially, it needs a bit of "squashing" I think. Also, I think the harmonies need to be worked on a bit. There are a few "rough" spots here and there, and I think it detracts from an otherwise great song. (Sometimes it is the harmony that is out, and other times it is the lead line that drifts...).

Horseshoe:
I like the feel of the song, reminds me of some of the more mellow Allman Bros instrumentals...It needs something more to create tension, and then relieve it. At the risk of offending you, it bores after a while (please don't be offended, you asked for a critique...). The guitar parts, while *excellent*, get repititious, and there is not really any dynamic movement. Maybe even adding a bridge of some type, or a key change???

Once again, overall, I liked what I heard. The songs are well-written and well recorded. Good luck...here's to great success!!!

gabrielk,
Thanks very much for your comments. In case you were curious, the acoustic guitar is a Martin D-15. It's the Mahagony-bodied one. I've found it to be very satisfactory, especially for recording, because of the range of deep and bright tones that the wood produces. Plus it's not really a very expensive guitar. Thanks again.
Helix,
Thank you, also, for your comments, and of course I'm not offended. Horseshoe started as a test to see how well I could mix an acoustic and an electric with nothing else. It wasn't even supposed to be a song for the overall project. I just liked the way the mix came out. I was particularly interested in what you said about "Beautiful Nothing", because although I do like the levels of the vocals, there is something that I don't like about them. They do come across a little thin. I'm not very experienced with compression on vocals, so I'll definitely be working on that in the next couple of weeks. The lead vocal is mine so I may even re-record that part. Thanks again for your time and advice.
For anyone else interested in critiquing, I'm concentrating on the first four songs listed in the mp3 section, "Beautiful Nothing", "Simone",
"Harbor Greene", and "Horseshoe".
~CR
http://www.circuitriderstudios.com

I listened to Beautiful nothing..
here is my comments...song is nice..but..(here's the catch..lol!)
The mix is too centered..also mid rangy..muddy!
You can hear everything but it needs to be brightened up..Also I would make the accoustic more stereo..double it with a small delay on the left channel to make it sound stereo..also brighten the accoustic up a little..give it some shimmer..also the vocals need to be brought up so they're more present and jumping out at you..
I started to listen to some of the other but got sidetracked with some work...go figure :roll:
I noticed that most of the mixes do sound muddy..
Opus

Beautiful nothing:
I actually liked the song, although I'm more of a electronic guy. That's a real compliment (in my limited point of view). I would use a bit more compressing on the left guitar (without adjusting gain acordingly). Also I would use more compression on the right guitar, but with adding gain accordingly).
(to me the song has too much dynamics)
Panning wise I would try to put the left guitar full left and right ( a bit more left f.e. and a tiny bit of reverb) and the right guitar more center.
I really liked the (main) vocals, maybe try them a bit more dramatic / more feeling.

I'm sorry if I sound stupid. I'm just trying to give feedback the way I would like to get it.
And I do like the song

Cheers

Thanks Opus and GentleG. Opus, Are you saying that everything should be EQ'd higher? I've decided that I definitely want to do something about the vocals. And when you say make the acoustic more stereo, did you mean the lead or rhythm? GentleG, you don't sound stupid. I like to take all criticism into consideration. I appreciate you taking the time to listen to something outside your normal genre. Your advice is very valid IMO.

See, I kinda disagree with Opus & G...and am also a big fan of dynamics.

I like how the vocals are pushed back in the mix (which I mentioned before, but wanted to reiterate). It was mentioned that they drift off key a couple times, and that the backing vocals could use more compression...to which I respond (and this isn't to you personally, CircuitRider) that even if a vocal part needs to be on-key, it doesn't mean that the vocalist can sing the part better than it was done, nor does it mean that he ought to find someone who can.

I don't find the guitar tracks to be distastefully muddy either, but I dunno, maybe if the mids got scooped out it would sound better. Or just sound bad. Sometimes it's so much easier to just *try* it and see if you like it than to argue a point...in fact, MOST times. =D

Also, I think the sound you're getting is tasteful. IMO (again, inviting myself to make 'producer's' comments) your music doesn't need a lot of effects on the accoustic guitars, because the intent and focus seems to be on the songwriting and the guitarplaying equally, and unless it's a part of the actual song (ie, if it's NECESSARY that the guitar be chorused, doubled, delayed, tremello'd, etc) I would stay away from it. Reverb is similar, but reverb is pretty much its own thing anyway. And I'd re-iterate again how I like the way the stereo spread evened out.

Uhh, so just my comments all over again because I think I'd like your music a lot less if you followed some of these peoples' advice. (Not that it's bad advice...just some of it is inappropriate for what I hear in your music.)

Was this post PC enough?

gabriel,
Thanks again for your comments, and you do make a good point. I was trying to stay away from making the songs sound too "produced". I was pleased with almost every aspect of the recording (Beautiful Nothing) except for the vocals. They did it for me on the first couple of listens, but the more I listen to the song, the more I think the vocals could use a little thickness. My problem was doing that without making them sound too muddy. I'm still working on that, and I've yet to get a mix that sounds better overall than the one I have posted on my site. As for the ability of the vocalist, well that's what makes this whole thing so much fun. If I were a professional, I probably wouldn't have to record my own music on a PC in my living room. lol. Regardless, you all have been very kind about that part of it and everything else, for that matter. The truth is, I'm a better singer than banjo player, just listen to "Simone".