I’ve been chipping away at this number for a couple of weeks now with a good buddy and ex bandmate from over in Kiwi land.
Have done a bit of treatment to various elements right through the tracking stage, but there’s still probably shitloads more to work on.
Drum tracks need more tweaking (variation, feel, accents) and I may possibly add a guitar solo, but I think overall, the backbone is in place.
I’d be interested to get an outside perspective, both on the mix and the composition itself, in case there’s any glaring issues that need some attention, cheers.
A bit of a mix revision based on @Wicked giving some really helpful suggestions.
I spent a bit more time on the vocals as well as trying to make the mix a lot more drum-centric, as opposed to the initial, guitar heavy mix.
I like the retro 70’s hard rock vibe! I think I can see what you’re aiming at. This has good potential.
I’ve only listened to this twice and haven’t listened in a critical, detailed fashion but the intro sounds slightly loose…, Ah, listening again, it might be that the two guitars might be fighting with each other a little. I hear the same thing again in the middle of the song when the twin harmony leads happen. I think it might be the note selection. It’s not something that most people will notice though so maybe it’s not worth mentioning. There’s lots of inconsistencies in 70’s recordings but we usually don’t pay it any mind because we first heard that stuff long before we ever understood the technicalities of music and that’s the only way we have ever heard that music played. If it was perfect it wouldn’t be as great as it is. I like the guitar sound quite a bit here…
A bigger issue with the recording is the vocals. They don’t sound strong enough for this style of music. They could use some compression and/or some volume automation to help them sit more consistently in the mix. I like the song and the melody but the vocals could probably be improved. Sounds like the singer doubled the vocal. That’s good, because it can help. Maybe turn one of the vocals a little lower in the mix. A delay might help the vocal sit better too. Try recording the vocals again. The singer might be more comfortable with the song at this point and maybe he’ll have a better performance.
I’d try to get those drums sounding bigger and turn them up a little bit. I like that you focus on the guitars but I think things would sound better if the drums were louder. Maybe some compression and EQ could get the drums coming through better.
I dig this style. Lots of good things going on in this song.
Ah, listening again, it might be that the two guitars might be fighting with each other a little. I hear the same thing again in the middle of the song when the twin harmony leads happen. I think it might be the note selection. It’s not something that most people will notice though so maybe it’s not worth mentioning
Yeah you’re absolutely right, they’re a little off (timing wise). I really made a conscious effort to make this sound like it wasn’t being put together and created on a digital grid…even though it was. So I thought I could get away with loosening up the guitars without affecting the rhythm too much. Maybe I went too far.
A bigger issue with the recording is the vocals. They don’t sound strong enough for this style of music. They could use some compression and/or some volume automation to help them sit more consistently in the mix. I like the song and the melody but the vocals could probably be improved. Sounds like the singer doubled the vocal. That’s good, because it can help. Maybe turn one of the vocals a little lower in the mix. A delay might help the vocal sit better too. Try recording the vocals again. The singer might be more comfortable with the song at this point and maybe he’ll have a better performance
In an ideal world I would have gotten my buddy to lay down the vocals as he’s a 100x better sing than I’ll ever be, but he’s just not set up to track vox, so I had to do it myself out of necessity more than anything. I’m not really sure I could sing a “stronger” vocal than what’s been laid down, but as these takes are pretty raw in the mix there’s definitely things I could do to hopefully make them sound a bit better, like as you mentioned comp, automation, as well as an overall tune and so on.
Even the doulble tracks are pretty sloppy with some quite audible delays on places that could be tightened up quite a bit to help compensate for my lack of vocal talent
I’d try to get those drums sounding bigger and turn them up a little bit. I like that you focus on the guitars but I think things would sound better if the drums were louder. Maybe some compression and EQ could get the drums coming through better.
I agree totally, I’ll play around over the next few days and try and dial the drums in, and see if I can’t get them out in front a little more.
Hey thanks a ton for the feedback man, I’ll definitely look into those for areas and try to improve upon them, cheers.
nicely done. listening to the second take and it is sounding good. I think on the vocals you could take the dry signal compress and blend into the wet. it will give the vocal more body, clarity and strength.
Hey thanks for the feedback man. I think I know where you’re coming from in regards to the vocals, but being a bit slow, without big colorful pictures and spoken words to guide me along I could be way off track, but definitely interested to get the lowdown.
Turns out, one of my other buddies (who can actually sing) is gonna redo the main vocals, meaning I’m off the hook and the song will be improved greatly, but you just know it’s gonna fuck with the entire mix dropping a new singer in there.
overall sounds pretty good with nice separation that my mixes have yet to show
only thing sort of poking out at me is the kick sound. Im wondering what is the resonant frequency of the kick? sounds a bit weird to me like it doesnt really have enough low thump…its almost more like a “pop” (this is why im guessing maybe the resonant freq of the fundamental might be like 100 or above as opposed to more like down at 60-75ish)
From memory it was around 70Hz, and you’re right, it sounds off. Now that I’ve got a proper singer getting ready to lay down vox it gave me a chance to really concentrate on the music and I think I’ve got the kick sounding way better now (as good as I can achieve anyway). I’m actually using two kick tracks, one for the resonant thump, and the other for attack, but i’d boosted a crazy amount of 11K tick which didn’t sound very natural and lacked bottom end power overall.
I’m super happy with this drum sound.
now the bass gtr sounds a little boomy or maybe just too loud, but it sounds kind of resonant like it wants to howl a bit
Listening for about the first minute the bass gtr seems too loud the whole time but really like 1:08, 1:14 etc it sticks out
when the bass and floor tom hits together its a bit much but thats probably just purely the bass. rest of it sounds nice/ Put Ozzy over it and its a killer
Actually just listening back over the cans I was actually thinking the distorted bass track was a bit too loud. It’s not that noticeable over the monitors but sticks out like dogs balls through the headphones. You’re right though, the low bass track could definitely come back a smidge. Cheers.
Pulled the level of the low bass track down by around -1db as well as lowering the dist bass track level a smidge, and it really seemed to open up the bottom end, in addition to being a bit less brutal on the ears.
I’d call that a fair reference for a vocalist to work his magic.
