Creep (WARNING! SWEAR WORDS!)

[jpjeffery]

You’ve heard a little bit of this already (a snippet I posted a few months ago).

The mixdown seems to have come out very quiet, which would be my point 1, but anyway, get bashing!

[Lophophora]

Hi! Nice cover of an epic song.

I think you did a good job overall, there is some musicianship and a good vocalist.

Things that could be improved, in my opinion:

• the rendering as a whole is a little too tame/sober, I can’t feel the gut-wrenching “creepiness” that the original conveys
• the guitar tone sounds a bit too processed (EQd and compressed), I think it would benefit from a more natural sound
• the bass guitar is lacking… bass, it is barely audible in its usual range and doesn’t fulfill its role here
• the snare sounds tiny and meek, which doesn’t fit the song
• for some reason, the vocals become sharp from 2:28 to 2:50 on the high, long held notes
• most of the mix is in mono (I believe eveything but the cymbals is in the center)

I like the piano sound and the soft touch it brings to the ending.

[jpjeffery]

@Lophophora

there is some musicianship

There is definitely some musicianship!

@Lophophora

the rendering as a whole is a little too tame/sober, I can’t feel the gut-wrenching “creepiness” that the original conveys

Can’t disagree. It’s an arrangement based on a live, acoustic version by Chrissie Hynde and very closely resembles how we play it live, except for the added hooligan guitars in the crescendo and the piano. None of which changes your point though, just giving some context.

@Lophophora

the guitar tone sounds a bit too processed (EQd and compressed), I think it would benefit from a more natural sound

I’ll have to go back to look at what I did, but whatever I did would have been because it sounded too weak (remember this conversation?)

@Lophophora

the bass guitar is lacking… bass, it is barely audible in its usual range and doesn’t fulfill its role here

Noted. It’s a lot more bassy than the original sound, but yes I also found that sometimes it kind of disappeared.

@Lophophora

the snare sounds tiny and meek, which doesn’t fit the song

Drummer’s choice.
I’ll have a try with some sample replacements (although it’s an electronic drum kit, his performance was recorded as audio rather than the midi events). This might also contribute to the lack of stereo spread in the drums.

@Lophophora

for some reason, the vocals become sharp from 2:28 to 2:50 on the high, long held notes

I presume you mean as in the notes drift upwards (e.g. from C to C#), but just in case, do you actually mean the EQ is a bit trebly?

@Lophophora

most of the mix is in mono (I believe eveything but the cymbals is in the center)

There’s some spread on the hooligan guitars, I think, but still, excellent point.

@Lophophora

I like the piano sound and the soft touch it brings to the ending.

I take full credit for this. All my idea.

Thanks for this bashing. I’ll have a look at these points later.

[Lophophora]

@jpjeffery

There is definitely some musicianship!

No I didn’t mean it that way,

there really is musical know-how in this cover song.

@jpjeffery

(remember this conversation?)

Absolutely, although I didn’t remember you were the OP!

@jpjeffery

I presume you mean as in the notes drift upwards (e.g. from C to C#), but just in case, do you actually mean the EQ is a bit trebly?

The pitch is drifting upwards in this section.

[jpjeffery]

@Lophophora

The pitch is drifting upwards in this section.

I should be able to fix that. There were other places where she was off (poor monitoring rather than lack of skill/ability on her part) but Cubase 10.5 Pro’s built-in equivalent to Melodyne came to the rescue. It’s just tricky to avoid that ‘Cher effect’!