Road Crew

[JD01]

This a Motorhead song that I've actually covered before.
But, I was singing it in the shower the other day and thought it would be a good one for practicing mixing vocals (I was discussing this in the Sing Sing thread with Greg yesterday) and I've changed a few things about how I approach it.

Any comments on the mix would be helpful.

JD

Road Crew Mix 1.mp3

[Lt. Bob]

actually your vocal sits quite well in the mix to my ears ...... I can clearly hear it without it having to be mixed way loud ..... I think you have improved your vocal sound quite a bit right there.

[musicturtle]

I agree with Bob...this is one of the better vocal recordings/mixes I have heard from your stuff. Not much I would change. If anything, for a Motorhead song, everything is a little too tidy. But your stuff is always so locked in...it really seems to be your style.'

Edit...forget what I said, I had my cans turned down too low and didn't realize it. Turned up the aggression is definitely there.

[JD01]

Great. This was quite rough n ready cover. I've done it purely to practice vocal mixing.

The vocal is actually a single take too. I've never done a single take on a whole song before.

Actually come to think of it, I did replace one of the lines cos I fumbled the words.

[Greg_L]

Yeah sounds pretty good. Vocals are sitting very well.

[JD01]

Cheers. Finally making some progress with this. Been struggling for ages.

[vomitHatSteve]

The vocal is sitting fine in the mix.

Some of the vocal grit sounds a little weird. The held notes especially. Where traditional choir vocals would have you gradually add vibrato, you seem to be gradually getting grittier. Is that an effect, or are you actually doing that in your throat?

[JD01]

The vocal is sitting fine in the mix.

Some of the vocal grit sounds a little weird. The held notes especially. Where traditional choir vocals would have you gradually add vibrato, you seem to be gradually getting grittier. Is that an effect, or are you actually doing that in your throat?

Yeah. Its vocal. There's no weird increasing effect on it or anything. I've simplified the vocal chain on this.

[TripleM]

Great energy. And yeah the vocal performance is very good. Guitars sound first-rate. Really cool.

The low end, to me, is perfect. Not super heavy. I thought it was just right.

Maybe nudge up the guitar in the lead break?

I like the reverb on the vocal. What did you use for it?

[JD01]

Great energy. And yeah the vocal performance is very good. Guitars sound first-rate. Really cool.

The low end, to me, is perfect. Not super heavy. I thought it was just right.

Maybe nudge up the guitar in the lead break?

I like the reverb on the vocal. What did you use for it?

The vocal chain is R0de NT1>Hi-pass>Compressor>EQ>Overdrive>Hi-pass>Delay send to ReaVerb which is just a vocal ambience impulse that I'd not used before but Greg recommended it to me the other day.

The lead guitar is actually the cab emulation from my amp not, its not captured with a mic - I wasn't in a situation where I could record loud over the weekend when I was working on the solos. The Emulation always sounds a bit darker and boxier than when I capture with a mic.

The rhythm guitars are all a miced cab.

[TripleM]

Thanks JD. Do you have specifics on the particular impulse? I wonder if I have it myself.

[JD01]

Thanks JD. Do you have specifics on the particular impulse? I wonder if I have it myself.

Its just called VOC vocal amb.WAV
On think about it is that its really fucking loud! I've got the dry signal muted (obvs) but I also have the wet signal set to -11db. That puts it at a similar level to my other reverb that I use for all the instruments.

[vomitHatSteve]

Yeah. Its vocal. There's no weird increasing effect on it or anything. I've simplified the vocal chain on this.

That's an interesting technique!

Does it hurt at all?

[JD01]

Yeah. Its vocal. There's no weird increasing effect on it or anything. I've simplified the vocal chain on this.

That's an interesting technique!

Does it hurt at all?

No. I'd been singing in the shower and I ran through the song to record a guide vocal and reacquaint myself with the delivery so I guess I was kind of warmed up. I can only describe it as pushing your voice really hard... and then dialing it back a bit so you still get 90% of the sound without any discomfort.

What line do you think its most obvious on? I'll post up the dry vocal and the processed vocal if you're interested.

[rayc]

The vocal does sit well and the overdrive works really well...has some Lemmy gravel.

[Alison]

Great cover! I agree with the rest that your vocals are really good. Love your lead breaks. I'd personally love to hear more bass but, then, I'm a low-end kind of gal.