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youse 28 December 2012

I'm no pro - I write and record my own stuff. Am I welcome to post stuff here?

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audiokid Mon, 12/31/2012 - 09:10

Interesting track. Not sure what to think or suggest because its so different. Its a bit dry for me but you've done a great job recording this. I mean, its clear and because of this, you have a lot of mixing options and direction you could take this song.

Personally I would add reverb and delay on various tracks. But maybe you want this really dry like this?

Some Suggestions to start:

Delay on brass sounds wonderful. I'd do that
The drums are very weak, snare is really plain and too far back. There is no kick worth mentioning?
The lead vocal needs some EQing in the lower mid to help with the too close proximity ( I would cut a few DB around 300/400hz and use a HPF on it too). Also a bit of verb to help it sit a bit better in the track would be ideal.

I would also hit this with some compression on the master bus but you need the mix tweaked before I would do that. There are more things I would suggest but the first things I've suggested are what I'd do first before anything else. So thats my two cents at this point.

You've got a great start.

audiokid Mon, 12/31/2012 - 09:47

a lot of times its another ear that really helps.

I listened again, I might even switch out that snare for a sidestick. You don't really need a twack but a more dominant sidestick with a longer reverb tail might be the ticket for this. I'd experiment more. The snare isn't quite right for this.
The overall bed tracks would benifit from a second reverb. Something like a gentle Hall added with a sweet decay. An early reflection ( which you have) with a hall is a nice combo.
NOTE: When I say reverb, not too much either. Too much verb makes everything sound cheep (IMHO). But you need more to help the mix glue better.

I'm just shooting blanks suggesting more than this right now. Hope it helps. Maybe others will chime in with their suggestion to really shake this up.

Cheers!

youse Wed, 01/02/2013 - 09:31

audiokid, post: 398397 wrote: Interesting track. Not sure what to think or suggest because its so different. Its a bit dry for me but you've done a great job recording this. I mean, its clear and because of this, you have a lot of mixing options and direction you could take this song.

Personally I would add reverb and delay on various tracks. But maybe you want this really dry like this?

Some Suggestions to start:

Delay on brass sounds wonderful. I'd do that
The drums are very weak, snare is really plain and too far back. There is no kick worth mentioning?
The lead vocal needs some EQing in the lower mid to help with the too close proximity ( I would cut a few DB around 300/400hz and use a HPF on it too). Also a bit of verb to help it sit a bit better in the track would be ideal.

I would also hit this with some compression on the master bus but you need the mix tweaked before I would do that. There are more things I would suggest but the first things I've suggested are what I'd do first before anything else. So thats my two cents at this point.

You've got a great start.

Okay, I addressed most of what you suggested in this post (in my own clumsy fashion). The new mix is in Soundcloud.

Boswell Wed, 01/02/2013 - 11:27

This could be a really nice track, but there several details to get right first. In addition to what audiokid mentioned, for me, it's the opening guitar sound that's setting my ears against wanting to listen to more.

Was this a solid-body guitar or an acoustic? Was there any microphone channel (amp or body) blended in with the DI track? Either way, it needs more acoustic sound.

Also, I suspect the guitar is out of tune or is not accurately fretted. Try playing each of the notes in the opening sequence separately into a guitar tuner and see what spread of pitch you get around the correct note.

The later parts of the track are sounding good.

youse Wed, 01/02/2013 - 12:25

Hey, thanks for listening and sharing impressions - I appreciate it.

I'm less concerned that the listener might not be able to tell whether the guitar's acoustic or electric than I am with the out-of-tuneness your're hearing. I wonder if that's got something to do with the delay I put on it. (I'm just getting into delay - I've been relying on reverb for space until recently.) I'll check it. It's easy enough to re-track it if I have to. Thanks again.

Oh - it's a Fender Tele close-miked and no DI. :)

youse Fri, 01/04/2013 - 08:15

Boswell, post: 398473 wrote: Was this a solid-body guitar or an acoustic? Was there any microphone channel (amp or body) blended in with the DI track? Either way, it needs more acoustic sound.

Just for the record: on second thoughts, I think this track might have been DI'ed, and not with a Tele. My forgetful.

Boswell Fri, 01/04/2013 - 08:36

I certainly was surprised when you said it was a Tele and via a mic, as the track has a very DI sound to it.

The frets on genuine Telecasters are as accurate as you will find on a production guitar, but the note accuracy when playing does depend on using the string weight they were designed for.

youse Fri, 01/04/2013 - 13:24

I did this track a long time ago. I think now it was an Ibanez, with microtuners, and I traded it in on the Tele because I had to tune it all the time. So you might be right - maybe I've heard the track so many times I'm not hearing the out-of-tuneness. But I'd really appreciate it if you'd listen again if I repost it with a different effect on the guitar.

Boswell Sat, 01/05/2013 - 02:02

Yes! Much better. The guitar has some character now and (to my ear) is in tune. If you wanted to go further with it, you could try re-amping the track you have and spreading the result a bit wider in the stereo field. You may only need this for the opening 35 sec until the vocal entry.

I suggest you need a little more reverb on the sax to give it some more space. I didn't say it before, but I really like the harmony vocals.

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