For once, I'm not embarrased by my singing on this one...

[SweetDan]

This is still a rough mix. Usually my singing is the worst part of any of the tunes I record. Hit me with notes on the most offensive parts of the track overall so I can fix those first. ;-)



(Still having trouble w/my guitar tones; the clean-ish rhythm guitar you hear sometimes in the center or on the left is the amp for which I've posted a few clips in the tone thread. I think a speaker upgrade (or maybe a different amp entirely!) may be in order. The lead guitar is a sim. The acoustic...is an acoustic.)


(EDIT: clarification)

[Audio Monster]

Nor should you be embarrassed, Dan.

Is this the final cut or are you going to keep at this one? if so the vocals could definitely come up^ .. from time to time it sounds as if you're not right on the mic (turning slightly to read lyrics)? Any chance of exchanging the electric lead guitar for the same solo played on your acoustic guitar? That would really give it a lift. If so, add a little early reflection to it.

Nice song

[JD01]

I'm a rubbish at singing so I can sympathise. The singing is a bit pitchy, but that's not the main problem to me, just sounds like it could do with a bit more energy. Sounds like you sung it really quietly.

I think the guitars are a bit loud. The acoustic sounds alright, but the rhythm electric on the left is really dark/muffled sounding
Particularly when you are singing I think the lead should sit further back - its a cool little riff/theme for the song though.

What are you using for drums? The beat is super-repetative and there's little variation, the snare rolls sound really typewriterish! You really should try and make the drums sound more natural. Have a listen to a tune by Armistice, his drum programming is really good.

[SweetDan]

Thanks all. I hadn't caught that the vocal sat so low in relation to the other parts.

Some answers to your questions:

Is this the final cut or are you going to keep at this one? if so the vocals could definitely come up^ .. from time to time it sounds as if you're not right on the mic

This is just the first rough mix. Other than some corrective EQ on the electric rhythm guitar to make up for the bad-sounding speaker, it's all just faders, panning, and levels. I do intend to do more processing and adjusting of things, adding EQ/compression where needed, etc.

What are you using for drums? The beat is super-repetative and there's little variation, the snare rolls sound really typewriterish!

They're programmed (with a few live cymbal rolls/crashes thrown in because I haven't yet found a sample that closely matches the timbre I want) using the built-in sample packs in Studio One.

Yeah, robotic. I actually recorded a scratch track of me playing the drums (which is is way worse than my singing) to get the general idea of the kinds of rhythms I wanted and that might fit the song. I then quickly programmed a rough approximation of that scratch track, but didn't put any of the nuance of a live performance. I'll do that on one of the future passes, pushing the MIDI velocity up where I accented things, pulling it back where I played a bit more quietly.

It was nice to have a target rhythm and vibe from the scratch track to work towards as I programmed these drums; in some of my former tunes (not posted here), I always struggled with the drums, and often ended up with the same 2-bar loop for the whole song - talk about robotic!

---

So, paraphrasing your suggestions:
- get the vocal more consistent and energetic, and in better balance with the lead guitar and the song overall; maybe throw a bit of auto-tune on it too ;-)
- work on the tone for the electric rhythm guitar, make it more clear (I may have to default to using an amp sim for that)
- humanize the drums
- (and from my own todo list) - work on the sound of the bass, compress the vocal, and add tasteful amounts of delay/verb where needed

Is it missing anything? I pre-allocated a track for another rhythm guitar, but is it needed? If so, what sound should it have? What about some high percussion part, like a tambourine or shaker ticking away at 8th notes in the choruses?

[JD01]

What are you using for the drums? EZ Drummer?

What you could do with Autotune is ttune a guide track for you to sing along with. You'll probably find it much easier to sing to an accurate guide track.

Try not to have it on the final track though, just re track the fuck ups till you get them right. I often end up redoing individual lines 5 or 6 times until I'm happy with them.

[Audio Monster]

Yes! To summarize what I was saying:

Consider redoing the vocals with some authority. Own the song, it's yours. Whatever about the guitar stuff, the title of your thread is about your vocals.

[ido1957]

What are you using for the drums? EZ Drummer?

What you could do with Autotune is ttune a guide track for you to sing along with. You'll probably find it much easier to sing to an accurate guide track.

Try not to have it on the final track though, just re track the fuck ups till you get them right. I often end up redoing individual lines 5 or 6 times until I'm happy with them.

This ^^^ I usually do several vocal tracks and pick the best parts of each. I don't feel the need to be able to sing the whole song end to end in one go perfectly anymore. Hard parts/High Harmonies I sing in pieces at the end (or later) so I don't blow out my voice. After all I ain't Freddie Mercury.

[SweetDan]

What are you using for the drums? EZ Drummer?

No, just one of the built-in sampled drum kits (VST) and the midi piano-roll editor in Studio One. (And a few of the cymbal rolls are from the scratch track I recorded of myself playing live drums, since I couldn't find a similar sound in the samples.)

[Greg_L]

Yeah you just need to sing this thing with more authority. Don't be scared. It may need to be in a higher key so you can move some air through your lungs. Your lower register is weak. Pitch shift all of the music up a few notes and re-try singing it and see if it comes out better.

[SweetDan]

...Pitch shift all of the music up a few notes...

Pitch shift? Them's fightin' words! 'Round here we transpose when we need to change keys.

[Greg_L]

Pitch shift? Them's fightin' words! 'Round here we transpose when we need to change keys.

Same shit different day!

Pitch shift is non-destructive. If you're using a DAW you can change the key and put it back if you want to.

[SweetDan]

Same shit different day!

Easy now, boss...just trying to make a little joke. (I hate it when my kids try to tell jokes about things that aren't really joke-worthy...guess they learned it from me. )

---

New mixdown, still really rough, but with better balance between the lead vocal and the guitars (I turned those gee-tars down and the vocal up), plus EQ and compression on the lead vocal. Just taking baby steps with the mix for now; I have yet to address the guitars/bass/drums.

[Audio Monster]

Baby step in the right direction. I can now make out the lyrics.

[Greg_L]

Easy now, boss...just trying to make a little joke. (I hate it when my kids try to tell jokes about things that aren't really joke-worthy...guess they learned it from me. )

Lol. I wasn't mad. I was saying transpose/pitch shift is the same thing the way I meant it.

[einstein magoo]

If you're not embarrassed by the singing, let's hear it a little better. I like it! Like the whole song. Just need to put those vocals out there so we can all hear them a little better. There is a stiffness to the whole production, don't know how to describe it, but just a little stiff. May be a confidence thing and loosening up a little will help. Sounding good though.

[miroslav]

The song has good potential.

Vocals...it's just a matter of getting comfortable singing, and not being afraid to belt it. You're voice is not horrible, just sounds very tentative.
The drums kinda kill it though. If you could do some better groove sequencing, and find some decent drum samples, it would help the mix a lot.

The guitars seem to lose their tempo in some spots...there should be a tighter lock between the guitars, and the strumming/playing need better sync. It's not way off...but in spots if it was tighter, it would work in your favor. I think it's the lame drums that are the problem. IOW, if you have a nice solid drum track, then all the other instruments are driven by that. When you have limp drums...then everything else is limp too.

[SweetDan]

The song has good potential....

...(snip)...

...I think it's the lame drums that are the problem. IOW, if you have a nice solid drum track, then all the other instruments are driven by that. When you have limp drums...then everything else is limp too.

Thanks!

I concur on the drums. I meant to get back to them over the weekend, either by putting some finesse into the programmed ones you hear here, or perhaps having a go at recording them live, but instead got to work on brakes for my car. Check back after next weekend...hopefully I'll have made another set of tweaks to this track by then.

[miroslav]

If you work up a really good groove sequence, but don't have any decent drum samples...I'll be happy to kick out some drum tracks for you using my extensive Superior Drummer library.
I would just need the complete MIDI file for your drum sequence, the whole song, start to finish...and then it's not a big deal for me to apply the MIDI track to some of my SD drum kits....but it has to be a really good sequenced groove.

[rayc]

The vocal levels are too low at the beginning and in spots throughout - not consistently though.
Experiment with the key using your DAW just to suss out what may suit you better as Greg suggested.

[Bubba]

Yeah, the key is too low for you. The guitars are too loud, by the way - I know the drums aren't doing much more than keeping a beat, but they and the vocal are both being drowned out by the guitars. The drums are the soul of a track, everything else is just gravy.