My Band's First Recording - Would appreciate Feedback

98dvl · #1 09-17-2010, 04:20 PM

So, my band finally did some recording, and we're in the mixing phase of things... This only represents about a half hour's work in mixing (i.e. not much more than just putting everything together).

We'd like some feedback if we could, so feel free to bash away (good or bad). We took our self-esteem pills this morning, so we should be OK...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...bandID=1105531

Song is called Sleep With the Light On...

Arrachion · #2 09-17-2010, 04:25 PM

Your link appears to be busted.

tangentmusic · #3 09-17-2010, 04:30 PM

Good tune. Good vibe. I listened to it over crappy speakers at a low vol (I'm at work) so I can't comment on the mix.
I think the guitar tone & vocal approach have a nice balance between them.
Keep up the good work

98dvl · #4 09-17-2010, 04:30 PM

Yeah, it's not easy getting a direct link on there (like Photobucket)...

I believe I fixed it now though.

agreatheight · #5 09-17-2010, 04:32 PM

Working for me.

Pretty good sounding recording, so nice job there. I would suggest to add a bit more punch in the mids for the bass, pull back the guitar solo. Overall, the song is pretty good, but a little flat. You could use a little dynamics to strengthen the chorus (maybe some extra guitars, some vocal harmonies, some organ, something). And I can't say I love the singer (but I don't hate him).

Hope that helps.

Dantreige · #6 09-17-2010, 04:36 PM

I like it. Nice groove. Personally, I'd like to hear more harmonies on the vocals.

Reminds me of Gin Blossoms and Soul Assylum.

98dvl · #7 09-17-2010, 04:37 PM

Also, guess I may as well post a bit about the recording...

Bass is an SX Jag copy recorded dry and direct with a Line 6 Pod XT. I used the SVX plug-in for the bass "amp"... can't remember what settings, but I can post later if anyone is interested.

Lead guitar is an American Fender strat basically the same recording set-up, except we used the Amplitube 2 plug-in.

Drums are Superior Drummer 2.0.

Vocals and acoustic guitar were recorded in our singer's spare bedroom using a Presonus firewire interface.

I should point out, we spend about a month trying to record "live" setting up amps and drums in our singers living room. What a waste of time. This came out 10 times better (not that it's perfect by any means, and the mix can still use some work) than we could come up with before, and took us each about an hour or so to get our parts done.

Our whole goal was to get something done before Christmas so that we can hand it out to people as a gift. We were going to do one "home" recording (as posted) and one "studio" recording (i.e. pay $$$), we're probably going to stick with the home route depending on what we can squeeze out if this later...

This is also our first attempt at mixing anything... So, we're not expecting any miracles.

mbrancalion · #8 09-17-2010, 04:37 PM

I'm listening right now, through a laptop computer (which also has a subwoofer).

I like the music and the musicians/singer, but most of all (IMHO) it's very very well mixed, with a great taste in sounds........
(at least for what i like to hear) ........

98dvl · #9 09-17-2010, 04:41 PM

Thanks for the replies so far... Yeah, we have some "fluff" guitar parts to put in... Just haven't gotten around to that yet. They'll go in during the verse and chorus parts. I think it will help a lot. I'll be sure to come back with a final mix if anyone is interested in hearing that.

None of the rest of us can sing. Our singer hates his voice as well, so we'll have to figure something out. Personally, I think he can sing better than this, I think he tried too hard and it came out a bit choppy.

tangentmusic · #10 09-17-2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98dvl

Also, guess I may as well post a bit about the recording...

Bass is an SX Jag copy recorded dry and direct with a Line 6 Pod XT. I used the SVX plug-in for the bass "amp"... can't remember what settings, but I can post later if anyone is interested.

Lead guitar is an American Fender strat basically the same recording set-up, except we used the Amplitube 2 plug-in.

Drums are Superior Drummer 2.0.

Vocals and acoustic guitar were recorded in our singer's spare bedroom using a Presonus firewire interface.

I should point out, we spend about a month trying to record "live" setting up amps and drums in our singers living room. What a waste of time. This came out 10 times better (not that it's perfect by any means, and the mix can still use some work) than we could come up with before, and took us each about an hour or so to get our parts done.

Tracking indivdually is a great way to go. The overall mix can be adjusted & re-adjusted as necessary. Each instrument can be EQ'd & FX'd at will, backing vocals can be overdubbed by one singer, ect...
If someone makes a mistake, the whole band doesnt need to do another take. The overall results most times sound much better than trying to do live takes of the band in a homegrown recording
Have fun Man!

**colcifer** · #11 09-17-2010, 05:04 PM

Right off the bat I have to give kudos for frequency slotting. EQ and mix still need some work but I'm not hearing mud.

Tom_RCJ · #12 09-17-2010, 05:43 PM

I purposely only listened to it once to be able to give a "first impression" comment, kinda like I just heard it on the radio.

Nice song. Tell your singer his vocals are just fine, but he really should add some backing vocals, just some accents here and there, it would make his vocals sound better still. I would redo the part where he sings "lights on, lights on, lights on". That part does sound a bit choppy (is that the part you where referring to?). If he smoothed that out a bit you'd be in business.

The guitar sounds good, but you could add a bit more strat twang. It sounds a little bit foggy as it is.

The drums were forgettable in a good way. What I mean is that your drummer doesn't hijack the song with poorly placed or overdone fills. They sat nicely in the mix as well.

I listened to it on a laptop, which does have fairly good built in speakers so I could kinda hear the bass but... you know... I'll leave the bass comments for someone else. I guess the fact that I could actually hear the bass on tiny speakers without it being incomprehensible rumble is pretty good in itself.

Thomquietwolf · #13 09-17-2010, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98dvl

So, my band finally did some recording, and we're in the mixing phase of things... This only represents about a half hour's work in mixing (i.e. not much more than just putting everything together).

We'd like some feedback if we could, so feel free to bash away (good or bad). We took our self-esteem pills this morning, so we should be OK...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...bandID=1105531

Song is called Sleep With the Light On...

Don't over think it
The guitar work is very nice
The vocal has a nice feel

98dvl · #14 09-22-2010, 01:03 AM

Thanks again for all of the help guys...

I spent some time re-mixing things and have our latest version ready... I'm happy with this one so far except for a couple things (the open high hats and cymbals in the chorus for example)...

Would appreciate any more comments you all may have:

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9658019

Reynoldbot · #15 09-22-2010, 02:30 AM

It sounds real nice, very tight. The drums are a bit too loud compared to the rest of the instruments, and strangely it seems everything but the drums are dead center in the mix, so I'd pan the guitar and bass a bit to either side.

taphappy · #16 09-22-2010, 03:05 AM

Second mix is way better. Very, very good first effort! I'm on headphones, and my ears are tired, so I'm a bit limited over here, but here's what I get as far as the mixing goes, and a couple tricks:

Hats are too hot in the mix, especially open. Will have to bring down the cymbals a little. Start with your OH track, then compensate with dropping the hats a little more, and see if it levels out the drums.

Nitpick -- I'd suggest moving around the crashes here and there - two of them that are used predominantly are right pan, the main crash is being hit a lot. When this happens in succession with no tonal change, it's obviously samples. What can help, is to play with velocities a little bit (on HH and crash), which can change the tone a little, and humanize it, so that it isn't the exact same sound every time it's hit.

Vocal tracks sound crisp and clear, but need a little beefing. Play with the compressors you got handy. The reverb's a good effect from what I can tell, but pushing the limit on wetness. Reverb's almost a "seen-but-not-heard" rule with good vocal tracks. A good idea with mixing is to check balance by firing up what you think is a good mix, then listening to it outside the door.

At the same time, watch your compression :) Listen to the chorus, something's going on in the mix that's mostly effecting the kick frequencies.

Bass needs mids (something I've found habitually while using my X3), and it's heavy on the low end. Very little definition. Should be fixed by a wee bit o' scoop out at 300-400Hz (bell curve), then try bumping up the 500Hz-1K range, and maybe cut it out a bit at 60-80Hz. Fix your patches on the POD later.

+1 on the frequency slotting, it's natural byproduct of well sampled drums (it's hard to beat Toontrack on this). If you really wanna get funky with it and learn a bit, especially since you're doing this yourself - start playing around with a frequency analyzer and EQing. Rather than typing for a half hour, this'll explain far better than I can. And has pretty pictures!

http://www.homerecordingconnection.c...w_story&id=154

You're on the right track. You're not paying for studio time, which is one of the best moves you can make as a musician. But, be warned. It'll suck hours out of your life like a shiny swirling vortex of DOOM. Take breaks away from the computer to stretch your body, your eyes, and your ears, and remember that there is a clock in the lower right side of your computer screen :)

Anyhoo. As is, this is better than most of the $30/hr demos I hear. Good work, man!

Nurb · #17 09-22-2010, 03:09 AM

I like the second mix better. Good sounding song overall.

98dvl · #18 10-23-2010, 12:56 AM

If anyone's still interested, here's what we're burning to CD to hand out tomorrow. We appreciate all of the feedback we got on this.

Just listened to the last version we put on soundclick, and this one blows it out of the water by miles (at least we think so!):

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9793664

We can't believe the product we ended up with with just a Pod XT Live, a Blue condenser microphone and a laptop (and some software - Reaper, Superior Drums 2.0, and Amplitube 2). We're planning to get a full album (10 or so songs) out by the end of the year.

We'd still appreciate any feedback though, it's been really helpful to us, as well as interesting to hear what others think about our music. (P.S. if you like it, tell your friends!)

Also, here's the other song we're giving out tomorrow night, Sunshine Gone:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9793663

ric3xrt · #19 10-23-2010, 12:55 PM

Love the bass work not to thrilled with that "Light on, light on break "in the chorus,but the rest of the song is fantastic. Guitar solo, has a lot of soul to it.
Is Mick Jagger your singers Fav? I hear a ton of late 60s early 70s stones in there.

98dvl · #20 10-25-2010, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ric3xrt

Love the bass work not to thrilled with that "Light on, light on break "in the chorus,but the rest of the song is fantastic. Guitar solo, has a lot of soul to it.
Is Mick Jagger your singers Fav? I hear a ton of late 60s early 70s stones in there.

Actually, he's a big Elvis fan, but I'm sure he'll get a kick out of the Jagger comment!

Thanks for the other feedback, we appreciate it!