Hey Talkbass! I have something I want to run by you. Recently I got my hands on a mixing board and some recording equipment. It has 8 channels, and so I was really excited about being able to record my whole group in a live setting. We recorded one of our originals, but the piano was pretty muddy so we had to go over it again. Myself, the piano player, and the guitarist went back and we re-recorded the piano part. After I showed what I had mixed to the rest of the band, our singer was saying how he didn't like the piano during the first verse (where he is just playing on the 1). He said it was so opposed to that section that he was going to skip over it when demoing the song to people until we have a better tracking (which I thought was over the top). I was just wondering if I could get your opinions on this, as well as any other part of the song, (composition, playing, mixing). Here is the song, and you are welcome to listen to the other song of ours I have posted on my account, it is not fully finished yet but it is most of the way there.
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Okay, my twenty cents:
Good song. Performances are fine. Vocals are fine for the type of song it sounds like. For a rough mix, it's ok for a demo. For a finished recording, not so much, although you're not really far off, tbh. Did you multi-track this, or is this a live stereo mix? If it's multi-track, then you can always re-mix. Consider perhaps doing a instrument mix first, then a vocal take after if you're recording this live to stereo. Lots of inexpensive programs (REAPER, AUDACITY, ETC) out there to help you out.
Compression is your friend. Multi-band compression even better. Limiter even. If you got outboard units or built-into the mixing console, consider engaging them in the channels, especially for the vocals and drums. Even a little will go a long way. Use hard knee compression on the vocals, soft knee on the drums. Way too much room ambiance is washing out the sound, and the piano and drums sound too wide.
I think for the drums to cut through without overpowering, perhaps lose the gated short reverb, it'll give them more focus. If you're using a kick and overhead, either sum them together, or mix them slightly apart, placing the kick drum slightly back from the front to get a bit more of the kit. Tune the kick drum down a little for recording, it'll pick up a lot better. If you have 4-band EQ on your mixer, consider putting a roughly 3dB boost around the 1.8-3kHz mid-range for the kick drum. It'll help accentuate the transients. The other drum mic, pull it back behind the kit a little bit (consider using a large diaphram condenser, low cut off, aim it at the snare from behind the drummer instead of right over.
As for the piano, perhaps narrow its stereo field a bit, maybe even make it mono, then pan it either right in the centre, or on one side. Use a little bit of reverb with a pre-delay of about 150-180 ms (that will keep the reverb from washing out your sound) and if it has a hi-cut filter, put it at around 5kHz and the low-cut 400 Hz below. That will give more impact to your piano stabs. If this is a digital piano, consider using the upright patch instead of the grand. Or use a Wurlie electric piano patch instead. If you use the wurlie, consider rolling off the bottom below 120 Hz, so it doesn't compete with your bass.
Put the riffing guitar off to the opposite side from the piano. Have a small amount of room ambience for the guitar summed to mono in the centre, away from the guitar -- if you have a pre-delay setting, put it the same as the piano. It doesn't need to be noticeable throughout the mix, just at the beginning and during breaks. Panning it hard left or right won't matter, since the ambiance will give it enough presence in the rest of the stereo field.
Good bass sound, but perhaps shave a sliver of top-end off, and keep it dry, dry dry. I'd increase everything below 150 Hz on your bass, and mix it a wee little lower, so it doesn't compete with the other instruments. Either put it right in the centre, or pan it about half-way to one side, with the kick of the drums on the opposite side of the stereo field (don't pan it hard left or right, it'll sound too lopsided in headphones) This is so neither the kick or the bass are modulating each others' frequencies.
If you have a plug-in or an outboard multi-band limiter, don't be afraid to use it. Rule of thumb, threshold at about -4.5 - 6 dB, roughly 130 ms release. That should get you something that'll sound decent, and pretty sure the band will like the result better.
