I think this is a good song and it was recorded well. Beyong a bit of eq and ambiance that could help it sound more in the same environment, the obvious timming problems of the instrumental is a bit disturbing for me (being a drummer).

What happened at 1:21 and a few other places? was some cable being unplugged or something ?

Thanks pcrecord. Much appreciated that you could check it out. I know, it needs to sit more in the same space. I hear ya.

I have to go back and fix that timing issue too. It's more of a rough draft I would say that would get improvements based off of input such as yours. The undesirable noises you hear are a result of my sound card. It doesn't play well when the internet is connected while I record. I made the mistake a few times and now you hear it.

Thanks again, pcrecord!
Chuck

Cool and mellow tune. I'm not sure if the timing things I'm hearing are internet based or what? An extremely jarring acoustic? Maybe try spund could or Dropbox instead.

It sounds well recorded. I would like to here some more body and roundness overall. The snare and vocals are in the same range, the enter the acoustics up there and it's a bit of a competition from 3-5k. Vocals first in a message song. Maybe a less modern more rounded Kik with some body to round things out?

It's nice, and bright recordings can be well done, I just think it's a little too cloudy up in the higher mids. Some of that is arrangement based but I think calming the snares eq down in that range would help immensely. I think it's would present an overall more focuse sound to the recordings ambience as well. Just my 2 cents. Cheers!

kmetal, thanks a lot to you too. Wow you gave it the extra 3-5k talk. I'll change that in the mix, along with things pcrecord has mentioned. Hopefully I can get this done on short order so I can get tue improvements up here soon.

Thanks for your input. I'm glad that overall you like the tune.

Chuck

eternalsound, post: 428247, member: 48927 wrote: I have to go back and fix that timing issue too.

Are you fixing it in the DAW or retracking ?

I'm gonna retrack those parts. I'm playing all the instruments so it's not like I have to round up the gang to do this. The drums are triggered via a midi keyboard. I have to track down that offending crackle though to rerecord it.

I really want to work on that space issue you spoke of and look to favor the vocal over the snare like kmetal was saying.

Thanks pc

Take your time I think it's gonna be a great song ! ;)

Pick a thicker snare sound maybe? I'm thinking something like this maybe. maybe not quite so exhaggerated. It gets to the snare at 1:24, but the build up is mildly similar to yours.

Do you see what I mean about sonic space.? Her voice is all attitude and personality an she needs that upper range to define that. It's simpler in frequency to your tune, and a lot of folk singers I've heard. You can hear in the intro, that even the sidestick has considerable girth. Sparse arrangement and an important voice/vocals calls for that, just like I think it does in your tune. In a rock mix or deep dance track a lot of that girth would be filtered out, not left/added in.

-Kyle

Ok, here's the latest. I've done quite a bit with it per mostly your suggestions so far:

- Tried to adjust the eq and reverb for more ambiance.
- Eased timing problem during instrumental. Not perfect yet I don't think.
- Shouldn't be anymore clicks!
- Added more low end body with subs.
- Tried adjusting 3-5k range for snare and vocal competition.
- I changed the kick drum but limited snares made me keep the same ..I'm using addictive drums.
- Redid some vocals and guitar (I was told guitar sounded like another tune.)

Thanks Marco and Kyle for your help so far!

Right away I'm hearing a difference. Much better. Songs none even over yet, and I'm done with the critique. There ya go buddy! Excellent work. Check your sibilant sounds on the vocal chorus's. Often backups don't need the consonants audible. Or just d ess them a little.
Good work. The production suits the song.

I really like the song and the performance... but tonally, the sibilance is killin' me on this track, brother ... Have you checked your 5 - 7k range to see how hot it is on just your vocal track? I'd also be checking around 3.5k as well - there's some "edge" there that's kinda nice - at times - but it also seems to sporadicallybecome too much - depending on how you are singing, the word, how hard you're hitting it...

Of course I mean to check all this by listening, but also perhaps using an analyzer of some kind on it - like Span, or one of the other freq analyzer plugs out there - you might even have one built into your DAW already, maybe an FFT? Something that could show you a detailed frequency response)

just a suggestion. ;)

d.

Thanks for the critique you guys.

DT:

I will look into this. I thought things may have seemed a bit harsh but I wasn't sure if it was just a loudness thing. Now that you mention it maybe the electric guitar is a bit harsh too. Maybe I can just lower around the requency range you speak of. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks again!

Chuck

Ok, this time I think I tackled the sibilance issue on the vocals. I also removed some of the harshness out of the electric guitar. Also, is it apparent that it has been mastered? How does it sound as a complete production now?

Thanks!

-Chuck

eternalsound, post: 428712, member: 48927 wrote: Also, is it apparent that it has been mastered?

Are you saying the song was sent to a Mastering engineer ? To be Blunt, it seems you are still working on the mix.. Mastering should be kept as a seperate step in the production.
To me, other than a more conform volume, mastering shouldn't be apparent. Unless you compare the mix and the master together.

Anyway.. I'll listen to the mix at the studio tonight but I hear a bit of compressor pumping action with the bassdrum and snare.??

pcrecord, post: 428713, member: 46460 wrote: Are you saying the song was sent to a Mastering engineer ? To be Blunt, it seems you are still working on the mix.. Mastering should be kept as a seperate step in the production.
To me, other than a more conform volume, mastering shouldn't be apparent. Unless you compare the mix and the master together.

Anyway.. I'll listen to the mix at the studio tonight but I hear a bit of compressor pumping action with the bassdrum and snare.??

Yea, I did the mastering myself because I thought I was kinda there on the mix at first. That is until I posted it up here and you guys knocked me into line. Also, I'm trying to do all this with headphones right now. I've done mastering for some time but this is really the first song I have written, played all instruments on, then recorded (mixed, produced, etc.). I've dabbled for years but this time I committed myself from beginning to end.

I'll listen for the pumping, pc. Somehow it might not surprise me since I thought I may have been hearing something strange with the b-drum.

Ok, all is good now. I'm gonna release it: http://chuckh.bandcamp.com

Thanks much!!
-Chuck