ILY - My Nephew's Track

[Tadpui]

My nephew pinged me this past winter, he'd just got a 2i2 and an SM57 for Xmas and was looking for some guidance in getting set up. I hadn't talked to him since then, and last week he sent me a track that he's been working on. Listening to people's first tracks is usually a painful experience, but I gave it a spin anyways. And I was impressed! It's a solid track.

So he asked if I'd be interested in mixing it, and I offered to play drums to replace the Apple Logic drum machine that was on most of the track. His friend recorded the drum intro (which I ran thru a Tube Screamer sim), and I recorded the rest. Everything else is my nephew (guitar, bass, vocal, soft synth). And I think his brother did the little vocal interjection in the first verse.

Last-minute he asked for a drum solo during the 2nd break and uh...yeah. I'm not on anybody's list of premiere drum solo orchestrators, but I ended up with...something...before the outro solo.

So this is where it sits as of now. I think that there's work yet to do, but this is what I've ended up with so far. Let me know what the Rebels would do from here

ILY Mixdown-002.mp3

[CrowsofFritz]

One could add a little guitar solo after the telephone drums and before the vocals. I love the verse vocals. Really cool! Chorus vocals leaves a little to be desired.

[CrowsofFritz]

I’d love to do falsetto harmonies on the second verse!

[Tadpui]

One could add a little guitar solo after the telephone drums and before the vocals. I love the verse vocals. Really cool! Chorus vocals leaves a little to be desired.

Thanks Crows. I actually just asked him if he could send a couple more takes of the chorus vocals to see if I could find a way to double and pan them. With the single vocal track I tried a few things to duplicate, delay, saturate, etc. but it turned out more like a chorus. I'll see what he comes back with.

And I love the idea of some vocal support for one of the verses. I'm not sure if he'd be down with it, but I'll pose the idea.

[CrowsofFritz]

One could add a little guitar solo after the telephone drums and before the vocals. I love the verse vocals. Really cool! Chorus vocals leaves a little to be desired.

Thanks Crows. I actually just asked him if he could send a couple more takes of the chorus vocals to see if I could find a way to double and pan them. With the single vocal track I tried a few things to duplicate, delay, saturate, etc. but it turned out more like a chorus. I'll see what he comes back with.

And I love the idea of some vocal support for one of the verses. I'm not sure if he'd be down with it, but I'll pose the idea.

I’ll just record a little something and you can see if he likes it.

[vomitHatSteve]

I like the drum intro a lot.

His vocals could use some work. I don't know how much constructive criticism he expects, but he could use more confidence and accuracy in the vocal delivery, especially in the verses. His verse melody could also use a lot more variety.

Synth tones are cool.

Crashes are doing a bit of pumping.

Guit and bass are sitting nicely.

[CrowsofFritz]

Here's the harmonies I've added. It's only in the second verse.

[Tadpui]

I like the drum intro a lot.

His vocals could use some work. I don't know how much constructive criticism he expects, but he could use more confidence and accuracy in the vocal delivery, especially in the verses. His verse melody could also use a lot more variety.

Synth tones are cool.

Crashes are doing a bit of pumping.

Guit and bass are sitting nicely.

Agreed on the vocals. I'm cutting him a lot of slack on that since I *think* that this is his first recording in the 1-man-band way of doing things. I think that just taking a deeper breath before each phrase would do him a lot of favors in just getting the words out with a little more chutzpah.

Yeah, the cymbals are pumping especially on that last part, which was recorded on a different day and I got carried away bashing away at them. There's a compressor across the drum bus to clamp down and bring out the room. You wouldn't believe the amount of effort I've put into sidechaining EQ to tame the pumping due to the kick drum. Believe it or not, the pumping is much better than it initially was, even though it's still there...so imagine how bad it was to begin with

Thanks for the input man, I'll take it back to the mixing chair and see what the next revision brings.

[Tadpui]

Here's the harmonies I've added. It's only in the second verse.

Thanks Crows, I'll put it to him and see what he thinks!

[vomitHatSteve]

Agreed on the vocals. I'm cutting him a lot of slack on that since I *think* that this is his first recording in the 1-man-band way of doing things. I think that just taking a deeper breath before each phrase would do him a lot of favors in just getting the words out with a little more chutzpah.

Yeah. I figured cut him as much slack as he needs. I doubt coming back with "some middle aged dude you don't know on the Internet says you need more movement on your vocal melodies, you hack!" will do anyone any good!

[Greg_L]

The opioids have had my ears hearing weirdly. I'm off them now and can hear normally again.

Ok I hate that sawtooth synth. It's awful. The rest of it is pretty good. I think you should maybe separate the overheads out of whatever compression/distortion you're putting on the rest of the kit. The cymbals are taking a beating. Give the overheads their own treatment and blend them back in. Solid drumming though. Maybe get the kick a little thumpier. I love the bass and guitar. Vocals are kind of mushy. I can tell his delivery is bad and his mic technique is probably equally bad, but the vocals could be a little tighter, cleaner in the mix. But overall a really nice effort by all of you.

[CrowsofFritz]

Funnily enough, I like the sawtooth wave. I like everything about this track except the chorus vocals.

[Tadpui]

Yeah. I figured cut him as much slack as he needs. I doubt coming back with "some middle aged dude you don't know on the Internet says you need more movement on your vocal melodies, you hack!" will do anyone any good!

Haha, no I do appreciate the comments. I'll probably have a chat with him in the next week and pose a few of these suggestions to him. Thanks Steve!

[Tadpui]

The opioids have had my ears hearing weirdly. I'm off them now and can hear normally again.

Ok I hate that sawtooth synth. It's awful. The rest of it is pretty good. I think you should maybe separate the overheads out of whatever compression/distortion you're putting on the rest of the kit. The cymbals are taking a beating. Give the overheads their own treatment and blend them back in. Solid drumming though. Maybe get the kick a little thumpier. I love the bass and guitar. Vocals are kind of mushy. I can tell his delivery is bad and his mic technique is probably equally bad, but the vocals could be a little tighter, cleaner in the mix. But overall a really nice effort by all of you.

Thanks Greg!

Man, the drums have been killing me on this one. It's a 4-mic Glyn Johns setup and I sent the entire drum bus through the ART TransY with the release as fast as it can go. I love the room sound that it brings out, but holy crap the kick is really driving the compression. I've got an EQ sidechained into it with all of the lows cut, but that still isn't quite doing the job. I'll try your suggestion and get the kick out of there altogether and see how it sounds if I take it out of the drum bus. maybe that'll allow me to give it more thump as well. I've already got a pretty drastic EQ on the kick to try to give it more presence in the mix. I think that the problem starts with the kick track kind of sounding bad in the first place. I still haven't gotten a good mic placement with the D6 that I like yet. I either get enough beater smack and a bouncing basketball tone, or no basketball tone and no beater smack.

[SweetDan]

Were the guitar and bass tones recorded by sticking a mic on a real amp? That's totally impressive for a beginner recordist!

I really like the first :30. The different guitar and synth tones and noodling lines makes for interesting stuff. The rest seems like a different song, though. It could use more noodling interspersed along the rest of the tune. I agree with @CrowsofFritz's suggestion for adding some vocal harmonies.

I don't get the super-long pauses at the end of each chorus; they're about 3X longer than they should be. (On first listen, I thought the song was over at the one minute mark.)

[TripleM]

I liked it. I thought it was a really cool song.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I liked the synth. I thought it worked well in the tune. I didn't like it in the breakdown at ~2 min mark where it's almost by itself. But when it's a pad instrument I liked it.

Lead guitar sounds terrific.

When you blast it, the bass has a ton of low end. Too much to me. There might be a little low end problem in the vocal, but it's tough to tell for sure.

[Tadpui]

Were the guitar and bass tones recorded by sticking a mic on a real amp? That's totally impressive for a beginner recordist!

I really like the first :30. The different guitar and synth tones and noodling lines makes for interesting stuff. The rest seems like a different song, though. It could use more noodling interspersed along the rest of the tune. I agree with @CrowsofFritz's suggestion for adding some vocal harmonies.

I don't get the super-long pauses at the end of each chorus; they're about 3X longer than they should be. (On first listen, I thought the song was over at the one minute mark.)

I think that the bass was recorded through an amp, at least that's what it sounded like. He sent me both wet and dry tracks, and the bass sounded the same in both, so I'm assuming that it wasn't an amp sim. He's mainly a bass player, so I figure it was an amp, but that's just a guess. I'll ask him!

I was a little taken aback by the long pauses upon first listen as well. Of course by this point, I've listened to the song so many times that they've just become part of the scenery If it were my song, I probably would have shortened them to 4 bars each.

Thanks for the input, Dan!

I liked it. I thought it was a really cool song.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I liked the synth. I thought it worked well in the tune. I didn't like it in the breakdown at ~2 min mark where it's almost by itself. But when it's a pad instrument I liked it.

Lead guitar sounds terrific.

When you blast it, the bass has a ton of low end. Too much to me. There might be a little low end problem in the vocal, but it's tough to tell for sure.

Thanks Trips! I like the song as well, I was impressed that a newbie came up with it. I guess that's why I've been so enamored with it. Honestly I like the synth as well, it adds some texture. I probably could turn it down a bit just to keep it from getting overbearing in that breakdown.

So it sounds like he's going to run with this mix, although I'll probably sit and fidgit with it some more based on everybody's suggestions. I really appreciate it, Rebels!

[WhiskeyJack]

Man i am so sorry @Tadpui I don't know how this one has slipped off my radar. Apologies.

For what it is worth this is the first thing i have listened to on my daw and big boy monitors in months since i rebuilt a W10 daw and it's so much better than listening in my "good" cans.

Hmm, so while i am not a fan of that synth at all t is the lads creative expression so it can be worked with. I see it's merit in the song but it needs some work and i am at a loss as to how to suggest going about it. All i can i say is if i knew how i would aim for something a bit bigger and fatter and taking up more space. Is there any way you could marry what you have here now in with the bass? Like is there any way you could try to get them more of a unified thing with the synth radiating out around the bass but still kind of be part of it?

I am sure that doesn't make any sense but I'm trying my best here.

The edit after the hand claps around ~1:11 seems very abrupt and mechanical as it get's back into the swing of things. It's either the way it comes in or the the way the crash just drops off the face of the jam. Maybe a gate closing on your overheads or something? It just slams and then there is just the sound of the noise floor. Someone else mentioned those gaps being a bit long. Which can be cool if it was filled with something like a pad or swoosh or swirl of something maybe leading up to the build up.

I like the pause idea, it just needs some icing.

The solo guitar is hella loud too. Luckily it has the playing to back it up!

[JD01]

Jesus - don't like that synth that sounds like a kazoo at all.

Generally though, the whole thing is cool. Most importantly, its a good song.
Vocal is a bit messy, but works well with the song generally, could probably do with another take with a bit more practice though.

[Tadpui]

Man i am so sorry @Tadpui I don't know how this one has slipped off my radar. Apologies.

For what it is worth this is the first thing i have listened to on my daw and big boy monitors in months since i rebuilt a W10 daw and it's so much better than listening in my "good" cans.

Hmm, so while i am not a fan of that synth at all t is the lads creative expression so it can be worked with. I see it's merit in the song but it needs some work and i am at a loss as to how to suggest going about it. All i can i say is if i knew how i would aim for something a bit bigger and fatter and taking up more space. Is there any way you could marry what you have here now in with the bass? Like is there any way you could try to get them more of a unified thing with the synth radiating out around the bass but still kind of be part of it?

I am sure that doesn't make any sense but I'm trying my best here.

The edit after the hand claps around ~1:11 seems very abrupt and mechanical as it get's back into the swing of things. It's either the way it comes in or the the way the crash just drops off the face of the jam. Maybe a gate closing on your overheads or something? It just slams and then there is just the sound of the noise floor. Someone else mentioned those gaps being a bit long. Which can be cool if it was filled with something like a pad or swoosh or swirl of something maybe leading up to the build up.

I like the pause idea, it just needs some icing.

The solo guitar is hella loud too. Luckily it has the playing to back it up!

Thanks Shan! Yeah, the tracks that I was handed had some issues with having been clipped awkwardly at a few spots. Mainly the solo guitar. I may have also put a bad edit or two in there as I was trying to consolidate the tracks that were broken in several pieces and had pretty wildly varying gain between clips. I'll go back to the raw tracks and see if there are any ways to salvage a couple of those abrupt edits.

Jesus - don't like that synth that sounds like a kazoo at all.

Generally though, the whole thing is cool. Most importantly, its a good song.
Vocal is a bit messy, but works well with the song generally, could probably do with another take with a bit more practice though.

Thanks JD! I asked him for a couple more takes of the chorus vocal, in hopes of being able to comp them and also have something to double and pan. I'll see where this goes from here, if he's interested in retaking the vocals.