Barry Seymour Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 (edited) I've never revised a song or a recording so much as this one! Perversely, as soon as you add vocals, for some reason mixing becomes a lot harder. I'd love some advice on this; including but not limited to lyrics, mixing, etc... New bits here - me fumbling around on piano. Thank God for quantizing! ?https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/starting-out-again-alone-mix-1/s-q6ggAZfeohm Edit: Final Mix Here! https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/starting-out-again-alone?in=barry-seymour/sets/nice-hat Edited October 29, 2020 by Barry Seymour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSband Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I think a little less delay/reverb on everything. Maybe a different tone for the piano, like a more acoustic sounding one maybe. Some B3 might be nice in there too. Just my thoughts for the little they are worth. I'm not a keyboard player either so it's tough to make it sound like the real thing. Vocal recording sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 2 minutes ago, kurt soderquist said: I think a little less delay/reverb on everything. Maybe a different tone for the piano, like a more acoustic sounding one maybe. Some B3 might be nice in there too. Just my thoughts for the little they are worth. I'm not a keyboard player either so it's tough to make it sound like the real thing. Vocal recording sounds good. I was striving for a bit of 'wall of sound,' so the extra reverb was deliberate. We'll see how it holds up, I guess. I too would like a better tone for the piano, but couldn't find one that was both better than the built-in one and easy to install. I'm open to VST suggestions. Thanks for the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSband Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I got addictive keys studio grand for free with my focusrite, I think it sounds pretty good. I think there are a lot of free ones out there that sound good too, others will be able to tell you which ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 50 minutes ago, kurt soderquist said: I got addictive keys studio grand for free with my focusrite, I think it sounds pretty good. I think there are a lot of free ones out there that sound good too, others will be able to tell you which ones. I found Keyzone Bitsonic, which installed pretty easy, and sounds much better. New mix coming soon. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Kirby Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I liked the song and as always I enjoyed your vocal. It's a pretty good mix, but I think the rhythm guitars could be a bit more full/wide/more depth. I think that would take the mix to another level, but that's to taste. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Douglas Kirby said: I liked the song and as always I enjoyed your vocal. It's a pretty good mix, but I think the rhythm guitars could be a bit more full/wide/more depth. I think that would take the mix to another level, but that's to taste. Just my two cents. Good suggestion. Do you mean surround sound, or just panning them further out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Kirby Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Barry Seymour said: Good suggestion. Do you mean surround sound, or just panning them further out? Perhaps pan them further out - but they do sound a bit thin - that was what I meant to say. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 12 minutes ago, Douglas Kirby said: Perhaps pan them further out - but they do sound a bit thin - that was what I meant to say. My struggle is getting it all in the mix. If I thicken them up with more low end, then they collide with other instruments. I'll try a bit of both. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Walsh Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 (edited) Vocals are great! If you want the wall of sound I think you need three more drummers, three more piano players and about six more guitar players all gathered in a high school gymnasium (with the floor freshly waxed.) I think a little more breadth in the instruments would be nice. I read once that ZZ Top would push doubled guitar tracks out wide left and right and then de-tune one of them just a few cents to the that massive sound. I keep meaning to try that one of these days. Oh yeah, and the keys are nice, they worked here for me. One other thing; there's a bunch of videos on Youtube on creating dense mixes without muddying things up. Here's one I found on just vocals that looks pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LrTB9JFBME Edited October 28, 2020 by Kevin Walsh PS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bapu Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Hey Barry, nice little rocker there. Has a taste of Bruce Springsteen. That break around 2:20 could really use a nice B3 solo. I will be back for the remix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Bapu said: Hey Barry, nice little rocker there. Has a taste of Bruce Springsteen. That break around 2:20 could really use a nice B3 solo. I will be back for the remix. If only I could actually play keys. I pieced these piano bits together painstakingly, one track at a time - practically one finger at a time, ha ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 (edited) Here's MIX 2: https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/starting-out-again-alone-mix-2 I panned guitars left and right, panned piano a bit right More bass in the guitars Had to autotune a few bits in the voice. :'-( Edit: Oooh, I forgot - new piano sound. Let me know what you think. Edited October 29, 2020 by Barry Seymour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bapu Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 (edited) 21 hours ago, Barry Seymour said: Here's MIX 2: https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/starting-out-again-alone-mix-2 I panned guitars left and right, panned piano a bit right More bass in the guitars Had to autotune a few bits in the voice. :'-( Let me know what you think. Much betterer. Now my only 'crit' (he says very softly) is maybe cut a small/narrow Q at 300Hz off the vocal at about 1 to 1.5db. The vocal is 'almost' clear but has a slight muddiness/muffledness to my ears. Still reminds me of Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!!! Edited October 29, 2020 by Bapu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 29, 2020 Author Share Posted October 29, 2020 32 minutes ago, Bapu said: Much betterer. Now my only 'crit' (he says very softly) is maybe cut a small/narrow Q at 300Hz off the vocal at about 1 to 1.5db. The vocal is 'almost' clear but has a slight muddiness/muffledness to my ears. Still reminds me of Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!!! "Still reminds me of Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!!!" - Mission accomplished. But as to your comment yes, I want the vocals to be clear, sharper. Are you essentially recommending a notch in my graphic equalizer to quiet a frequency that makes the vocal muddy? I'm unsure of the terminology and metrics you're using. I'm using the built-in graphic EQ provided in the Pro Channel; can you tell me what to do using that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Wilson Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 Barry, this is a terrific song that's just a hair from being stellar mix-wise. You've got the clarity down pretty well. All elements are easy to hear and are in the right place. What I'm missing is "body". There's a thinness as if too many low frequencies have been shaved off by a hi-pass EQ. The latest version of CW has a ton of good presets in the quad EQ in the PC, which might be a good starting point if you're interested. Not to worry, your songwriting is as sharp as ever, and your music is a pleasure to hear! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bapu Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Barry Seymour said: Are you essentially recommending a notch in my graphic equalizer to quiet a frequency that makes the vocal muddy? I'm unsure of the terminology and metrics you're using. I'm using the built-in graphic EQ provided in the Pro Channel; can you tell me what to do using that? Always remember there is no one size fits all and this is just my opinion of what works for me. Since we have a similar timber in our voices (I'm quite a bit more nasal than you tyhough) I use sometimes ise this (adjusting the bottom orange knob to cut more or less) Or sometimes this helps even more for my particular voice. This achieved by using the HP option. Edited October 29, 2020 by Bapu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 29, 2020 Author Share Posted October 29, 2020 44 minutes ago, Barry Seymour said: "Still reminds me of Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!!!" - Mission accomplished. But as to your comment yes, I want the vocals to be clear, sharper. Are you essentially recommending a notch in my graphic equalizer to quiet a frequency that makes the vocal muddy? I'm unsure of the terminology and metrics you're using. I'm using the built-in graphic EQ provided in the Pro Channel; can you tell me what to do using that? Tweaked. It's clearer. I'm getting ready to put out the final, you'll hear it. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Seymour Posted October 29, 2020 Author Share Posted October 29, 2020 Final Mix. THANKS for the feedback, everyone!https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/starting-out-again-alone?in=barry-seymour/sets/nice-hat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bapu Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 45 minutes ago, Barry Seymour said: Final Mix. THANKS for the feedback, everyone!https://soundcloud.com/barry-seymour/starting-out-again-alone?in=barry-seymour/sets/nice-hat It doesn't play, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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