Mixing

[Alison]

Hi all,
I'm a newbie at home recording, so, I thought I'd throw this song out for some suggestions on mixing. It's an original song. I do have a friend who has offered to mix it for me but I thought I'd get some input from you all (and I'm hoping I'm doing this right!)


Thank you!
Alison

[Greg_L]

Wow, really nice.

First off, this belongs in the "Let's Have A Listen" section for critiques and feedback.

But since it's here....this is very impressive. Please please tell me those are real instruments. That violin and banjo sounds awesome. Voices sound great.

The only thing that I'd like different is the acoustic guitar needs some "warmth". It's a little bright to me, like it was recorded direct through an onboard preamp. If you mic'd it, it's a simple matter of EQ.

But other than that, leave it alone. The mix is great. Welcome to the site.

[Lt. Bob]

welcome to the board and you've come in with a bang.
That's quite nice ..... if you're a newbie then you're gonna be awesome at this!

Are you doing all of the instruments?

[rayc]

Hello & welcome.
Lovely song.
The levels are good, the panning is good.
It's good.
Greg's thoughts on "warming" the acoustic guitar are good too.
I particularly liked the fact that the banjo didn't take over - they are loud, brittle beast at times.
Sweet fade out too.

[Armistice]

I can't really do critical listening at the moment on my laptop when I'm literally 1000 miles from my studio, but welcome - you've been lurking for a bit - we were wondering when/if you'd actually post - now I'd concur with the others on the need to soften/warm the acoustic a bit - there are a few ways to go about this - best is to track it again with better mic placement/different mics - assuming it's miked - but if that's not an option then I would suggest perhaps trying to find the frequency that's causing the "brittleness" (narrow Q max dB boost on a new EQ band, and then you roll up and down the spectrum until you go "ouch!") and doing a shallow, wide-ish cut at that point - you'd have to play around - but if you're not aware of what we're talking about then a low pass filter at the higher end of the spectrum is worth a go - and perhaps a saturation plug-in to soften it a bit.

Depends upon your aims, equipment, gear and the like - so perhaps tell us more about how you've recorded this and perhaps we can bit a bit more helpful. I'm also getting a little too much "looseness" in the interplay between guitar and banjo at the start - but this is a taste thing - when the singing starts it's less problematic.

Hope that's useful. See you round.

[JD01]

Hi Alison it was me and WhiskeyJack (He runs the recording rebels Twitter) that were hassling you to post.

I've not managed to have a proper listen to this since early this morning on earbuds, but I'll have a listen on proper monitors when I get home.

If Greg thinks it's a good mix though I'm looking fo4ward to it. Greg, they should all be real instruments, Alison does these streamed live shows on Twitter where she plays everything with a looper.

[vomitHatSteve]

WhiskeyJack can probably move this to the LHaL subforum.

I'm on my work cans, so can only hear so much definition.

But the mix sounds pretty good from here. Every voice is coming through clearly when it needs to.

The one nit that sticks out to me is that the panning on the vocals might be a little unbalanced. The male voice on the left is very prominent. I didn't even notice that there was a female voice opposite it until almost the three minute mark. Turning her up might help the balance, but I suspect the tone of the voices will still sound off. Putting them closer to center would be my recommendation.

Welcome!

[WhiskeyJack]

*Moved thread to let's have a listen*

to Echo JD, I have been watching Alisons live streams on twitter the last little bit, and while she may be a newb behind a DAW she has some pretty great musicianship skills! She sort of has the hardest part beat with the performance, playing and skill set. learning the software and stuff will be a minor blip on her radar.

My studio is still in shambles for the make over so best i can do is give it a listen in my earbuds at work after my meetings. Welcome aboard Alison!

[JD01]

OK, home and listening properly now.

1st thing - sounds really good. You don't need anyone else to mix this for you.

I agree with Greg that the acoustic guitar sounds a bit DI/piezoish and it would be better if you recorded it using a mic - its fine when the other instruments are in, but sticks out a bit when its on its own at the start.

I also hear what VomitHatSteve was saying about the backing vocals. The male is way off to the left but the female backing seems to get lost behind the lead. Maybe try panning the backing vocals equal amounts either side and then listen carefully and watch your meters to see if you can get them at the same perceived volume on either side of your mix. When I'm doing this I actually just listen to the backing vocals on their own until they're balanced how I want them, then just fit them in at the right level in the mix. The male vocal appears at about the right volume to me.

All the performances seem great and well captured though.
What mics and DAW are you using? How did you capture the performances. The violin in particular sounds excellent - I've tried recording a violin and it was a disaster.

Just a suggestion - why not put a little cello on it to give it a kinda bassline towards the end of the song? Don't go mental with it, just fill the tune out a bit more. Doesn't really need it though, but might be worth a try if you haven't already.

[Minerman]

Wow...I thought I was the only hillbilly here...

First, welcome to our humble little forum...I don't post like I should at times, but I do check in several times a day...
So again, welcome to the forum...

This is a little off-topic, but I'm actually pretty surprised with this, I don't hear this type of music very often, so it's a welcome change...I've been around music like this my entire life, so this actually hits pretty close to home for me...When I was a kid, it was pretty common to see folks sitting around on a porch playing music like this using acoustic guitars, banjos, fiddles, etc, with several folks singing along...I'm afraid this is becoming a lost art because of all the technology we have these days, so again, thanks for posting your song...

Technology is great, no doubt about it, but it just can't replace real instruments...I have all kinds of virtual instruments, drums, pianos, keyboards, etc, but I've yet to hear a violin that sounds "right" to me with this kind of music...I know how it's played is basically the difference between a violin & a fiddle, but again, I've yet to hear anything that sounds authentic...So, I've been thinking of learning to play fiddle/violin to use in some of the music I do, & your song has sparked that interest again...

I'm curious to know where you live, I've lived in the Appalachian mountains of southwest VA my entire life...


Back on topic: The only suggestions I can think of have already been mentioned (guitar eq & vocal panning), so I'm gonna suggest maybe just flipping the panning of the vocals...Not sure if I hear 2 male vocals on the left & 2 female vocals on the right, but if so, just flip one of each on each side...
Maybe try this:

• male bg vocal 1 = 100 left, change to 100 right
  male bg vocal 2 = 100 left
  female bg vocal 1 = 100 right
  female bg vocal 2 = 100 right, change to 100 left

That may take care of what we've mentioned...But, IMHO, there's nothing wrong with this as-is, at all...

Well done, & again, welcome to the forum...

[musicturtle]

Nice work Alison. Do not have anything to add that has not already been mentioned.

Welcome.

[Alison]

Wow, thank you all SO much! And for the lovely compliments on the live streaming. . . you don't know how nervous I get!
I totally hear what you mean on the guitar. I have a PreSonus Studio 1 DAW and I recorded the guitar (my Ovation) both plugged in and with the Presonus M7 mic so, maybe that was overkill? In my next project, I'm using my Martin with the Presonus mic and a Shure Sm58 mic, maybe that will make a difference? What I don't know about EQ could fill VOLUMES!
The fiddle was done by my friend Matt Steady in the UK and the banjo and male vocals were done by my friend Paul Race in Ohio (he sent the vocals on one track so, I couldn't separate them. I live in Las Cruces, New Mexico and am very grateful for the modern technology that enables us to record from afar! Anyone need a cello? Lol!
Anyway, I thank you so very much for all the input. I really look forward to participating in this group more. For now though, I must go PRACTICE!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[TripleM]

I thought this was really nice. Very pretty. Levels on everything are well balanced. Performed well. One flat note on the fiddle, but not that noticeable.

Yeah the guitar is just a bit bright. But otherwise, I really liked this.

[CrowsofFritz]

When will mobile support for playing songs come!!!!

[CrowsofFritz]

Though I can’t hear your song, what you said about the Martin sounds fine. Don’t just accept whatever you do first. Really try to search for that sweet spot. I used to use a 57 on my classical, and it’s a little bit of a balance to try and find the perfect spot so that it doesn’t sound boomy nor thin.

That being said, it’s not too hard with my particular guitar. The sweet spot on it is definitely larger than most acoustics I’ve played with it. Martins make great sounding guitars so you may find the same applies to you.

[muttley]

Its great leave it as is.

On the guitar thing. Thats what Ovations sound like, great for generic live work, crap for recording. For a more rounded guitar tone do as you suggest and use the Martin. Experiment with mic placement and playing technique to get the tone you are after. Micing and recording acoustic guitars (and acoustic instruments in general) could have a whole forum all of its own. A sound investment if you want to improve the guitar tone would be better mics. I'll leave the other guys to suggest what if you go that route.

Song is good, delivery is good, God is in the detail and that will come as you record more and experiment more. Whatever you do keep the simplicity of the arrangements, thats what jumps out the most and emphasizes a strong voice and sympathetic backing. I really really like it. Lets have more. A ten from me.

[muttley]

OK, home and listening properly now.

1st thing - sounds really good. You don't need anyone else to mix this for you.

I agree with Greg that the acoustic guitar sounds a bit DI/piezoish and it would be better if you recorded it using a mic - its fine when the other instruments are in, but sticks out a bit when its on its own at the start.

I also hear what VomitHatSteve was saying about the backing vocals. The male is way off to the left but the female backing seems to get lost behind the lead. Maybe try panning the backing vocals equal amounts either side and then listen carefully and watch your meters to see if you can get them at the same perceived volume on either side of your mix. When I'm doing this I actually just listen to the backing vocals on their own until they're balanced how I want them, then just fit them in at the right level in the mix. The male vocal appears at about the right volume to me.

All the performances seem great and well captured though.
What mics and DAW are you using? How did you capture the performances. The violin in particular sounds excellent - I've tried recording a violin and it was a disaster.

Just a suggestion - why not put a little cello on it to give it a kinda bassline towards the end of the song? Don't go mental with it, just fill the tune out a bit more. Doesn't really need it though, but might be worth a try if you haven't already.

No. Don't do that. A one note per bar standup bass is all you need. And it should be way in the back and not right from the top. If you dont know a stand up player find a Ubass and do it yourself...

[vomitHatSteve]

If you dont know a stand up player...

Yo!

At least if you're sticking to something as simple as one note per bar, I'm your huckleberry.

[WhiskeyJack]

When will mobile support for playing songs come!!!!

Are you on an iphone of some sort?

[CrowsofFritz]

When will mobile support for playing songs come!!!!

Are you on an iphone of some sort?

iPad. I use it for 90% of my internet browsing. Occasionally I’m able to use my desktop.