Opinions? [Amateur Recording Content]

RDY2RMBL · #1 02-04-2010, 08:26 PM

I wanted to get some outside opinions on this track that my band recorded awhile back. We're thinking of going back to the same guy again. It's a pretty amateur recording setup, but he does have a vocal booth.

The problem is mainly records hip-hop stuff, and so is not very familiar with band recording techniques (capturing drums, Eq-ing and finalizing the mix). He's our friend and only charged us $15 for two days of work (I spent 3.5 hours in the vox booth doing the vocals lol). We want to record 3-4 more of my originals with him in the coming months to get a nice EP that we can hand out.

That said, I would really appreciate any constructive criticism on the mix and what things I should make sure our guy considers next time he records us. Also if you'd like to comment on the composition (it's not very intricate) or playing/tone go right ahead! thanks for your time.

www.myspace.com/threepeaces

It's the first track, "Confusion"

RDY2RMBL · #2 02-05-2010, 03:30 PM

Anybody? check check, is this thing on?

deliciouspesto · #3 02-05-2010, 07:36 PM

its hard with a crap mp3 thats clipping and all... but here are some thoughts:
-vox are too up front and or dry
-everything is mono, which is ok, but no depth to it
-bass sounds nice, it fits in there well

again, its nearly impossible to get good feedback when the material is a low quality mp3.

RDY2RMBL · #4 02-05-2010, 08:29 PM

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W70TG3LX

Perhaps this is a better solution? This is the higher quality original master track. Thank you for your thoughts on the lousy one however!

deliciouspesto · #5 02-05-2010, 08:57 PM

its completely clipping, half of the vocals are pure distortion. Do you have a .wav of it? Presently the mix is mono but the vocals aren't, there is a little bit of something going on with it but I can't make it out over the compression artifacts.

The very first thing is to determine what is going on with the clipping... if that is in the mix, that is your first and biggest problem.

sweetwillyp · #6 02-06-2010, 12:37 PM

As far as Mixing is concerned

Guitars to loud they interfere with the groove and Stomp on the Vocals

Drums need to come up in the mix

Vocals need a Limiter and some soft room reverb..

Good Idea and Good Niche..Everyone appears to be able to play there parts..

RDY2RMBL · #7 02-06-2010, 01:19 PM

delicious- I do not have a .wav, I believe that possibly our friend with the studio has it. When I'm back home I can talk to him about it and give it a listen. Let's just say that the clipping is already in the mix, how do we go about resolving that? decrease the gain on the line in from the vocal mic? What are some things to double check to prevent future clipping incidents?

sweet- So the guitars and vocals should come down some in the mix, and the drums should come up? Is the limiter on the vocal a solution to the clipping? And thanks for the kind words on the music itself!

deliciouspesto · #8 02-06-2010, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RDY2RMBL

delicious- I do not have a .wav, I believe that possibly our friend with the studio has it. When I'm back home I can talk to him about it and give it a listen. Let's just say that the clipping is already in the mix, how do we go about resolving that? decrease the gain on the line in from the vocal mic? What are some things to double check to prevent future clipping incidents?

sweet- So the guitars and vocals should come down some in the mix, and the drums should come up? Is the limiter on the vocal a solution to the clipping? And thanks for the kind words on the music itself!

Ask for the wav, but I have a feeling you guys just dont know how to mix. No offense, its just the truth there. You will want to go back to the multitracks and mix it so you are actually fitting it within the storage. Imagine a being given a picture frame of a fixed size, a very generous size, so that an artist can draw whatever he wants inside of it. What you guys did was use the frame as a guideline and make your picture way way way too big. Never aim for 0 or the red.

You should never ever at the loudest point be above -3 or so.

I mean at this point we have no idea if the vox take is clipping in the master, so please go ask the guy to examine the multitracks first.

Sorry to be harsh, its just a major issue that you should haven't to think about when evaluating a mix. It could be rough or whatever but for us to help it does need to be corrected.

funkingroovin · #9 02-07-2010, 11:34 AM

Everybody's forgetting the original question,should they go back? At $7.50 per day,how could you not!!! Go back,lay down your tracks,take your "demo" and send it out to have it mastered!

deliciouspesto · #10 02-07-2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkingroovin

Everybody's forgetting the original question,should they go back? At $7.50 per day,how could you not!!! Go back,lay down your tracks,take your "demo" and send it out to have it mastered!

you are right, for that price go you can deal with almost any problem

RDY2RMBL · #11 02-07-2010, 04:40 PM

haha okay, so it's a good deal, I'm still not exactly sure what to do about the clipping, but I can talk to the guy when I get home and hopefully we can figure out the cause of it before we do the next recording. Thanks for the tips, I wouldn't have even known there were issues without it being pointed out to me. The picture frame analogy helps, so I will definitely keep that in mind when we lay down the next track.

sweetwillyp · #12 02-07-2010, 05:06 PM

Also Remember that Amateur Recording is Amateur..

So That being said, Get a Good Sound and Don't waste your money on stuff you do not need to..

IMHO I think that Traxx3 Deluxe is a Excellent mastering Program that works great " My Recordings and Mastering for my band is played in 4 Countries" All My recordings are Amateur also..

Just remember DON'T WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY