It's okay (Songtitle)

[annikajayne]

Listening on my regular system.

Guitar definitely leans way left. If it were me, I'd center it.

Harmonies in the second half of the verses and choruses would be nice.

Guitar also gets boomy on some of the low notes.

Yeah, harmonies might be a good idea. I'll think about that. I'll also think about centering it all. The panning was just an idea - but many have pointed this out so I think I'll just center it.

[SweetDan]

Actually, those words are more than imprecise. When reading these I'm like "Ummmm...right...ok. If you say so...." I think I'll do as @WhiskeyJack suggested and just trust my ears.

Yeah, sorry that I've rambled so much. Forget everything I wrote up thread, and let me try again, more concisely:

It's a lovely tune that was nicely performed. As a small critique, the vocal in this mix, in comparison to the guitar (which was very nicely recorded, btw), is a bit muffled to my ears. If you wanted to combat that, EQ is a tool that could help. If you were to use EQ, you might want to slightly boost frequencies in the higher ranges, which seems intuitive - listen and find what sounds good and give it a little boost. Counterintuitively, you could also use EQ to slightly cut some of the mid/lower frequencies which contribute to the muffled sound of the original mix.

And I agree, use your ears...you're the final judge.

I might also redo the vocals.

I don't think that's necessary. This is good. Like you mentioned, it sounds "human", and that's good.

[Lt. Bob]

just listened ..... lovely song and some nice guitar work too.

The vocals are great ... nice intimate feeling to them.
As someone said though, they're muffled sounding and I think it's mostly to do with EQ although I wonder about your mic .... if you've mentioned it I missed it as I haven't read the thread yet so I don't get influenced on what I'm hearing.

Anyways ...... if it were me there are a couple of ways I would approach it.

First I'd want to look at how it's recorded because it seems to me it should have a little more 'sparkle' to it .... some high end in that 8k-10k area.
That seems to be missing so I'm really curious about the mic/interface.
EDIT: I see you're micing in stereo but I'm not seeing what mics they are ...... it really seems odd to me that the guitar has enough highs but your voice doesn't.

As for EQ'ing what you have ....... I'd try pulling down by maybe 3db or so, the area around 550hz or so ..... that'll take away some of the energy in that spot that's overwhelming the higher mids.
And I'd add a little 'sparkle' to it ..... give it that sprinkling of fairy dust by bumping it up very slightly around maybe 8k .... not much ...... db or two.
I think that would clear it up a lot.

Then, if you want to dive into using EQ you can experiment a bit.
For instance you can shift the frequencies around to dial in what complements your voice and mic best.

It could be that 550 is too low so leave it cut by a few db but slide the frequency around to see if there's an area you like best and try the same thing with the high-end boost 'sparkle'.

It's a pleasure to have you here and to get to enjoy your music.
I have really enjoyed Alison's work and I can see I'm gonna like yours too!

[Tadpui]

It's a lovely song, I really enjoyed it.

I agree with the notes from others, the vocal could use a bit of "sparkle" of some sort. And the panning isn't quite my taste, but it's your choice to make. That's the good thing about being both the talent and the producer...you can do anything you want with it

The guitar really does sound great, the mic(s) and positioning did it justice.

[Manslick]

Listening to this through my television sounds great.

[annikajayne]

Actually, those words are more than imprecise. When reading these I'm like "Ummmm...right...ok. If you say so...." I think I'll do as @WhiskeyJack suggested and just trust my ears.

Yeah, sorry that I've rambled so much. Forget everything I wrote up thread, and let me try again, more concisely:

It's a lovely tune that was nicely performed. As a small critique, the vocal in this mix, in comparison to the guitar (which was very nicely recorded, btw), is a bit muffled to my ears. If you wanted to combat that, EQ is a tool that could help. If you were to use EQ, you might want to slightly boost frequencies in the higher ranges, which seems intuitive - listen and find what sounds good and give it a little boost. Counterintuitively, you could also use EQ to slightly cut some of the mid/lower frequencies which contribute to the muffled sound of the original mix.

And I agree, use your ears...you're the final judge.

No problem - it's all news to me, I'll just have to get used to these descriptions! Thanks so much for taking the time to explain it so thoroughly!

I might also redo the vocals.

I don't think that's necessary. This is good. Like you mentioned, it sounds "human", and that's good.

Thank you! However, I think I might also change the lyrics - it was pointed out to me that it might be confusing if I'm singing of "he" and "her" in the chorus. Someone asked me if the inner child had changed their gender within the song....and I just wanted to make it relatable for everyone. But it may be more authentic if I stay with "she/her" since I am a woman?

[annikajayne]

just listened ..... lovely song and some nice guitar work too.

The vocals are great ... nice intimate feeling to them.
As someone said though, they're muffled sounding and I think it's mostly to do with EQ although I wonder about your mic .... if you've mentioned it I missed it as I haven't read the thread yet so I don't get influenced on what I'm hearing.

I am using these mics for the guitar: https://www.thomann.de/intl/rode_m3.htm

And this one for the vocals: https://www.thomann.de/intl/aston_micro ... origin.htm

Anyways ...... if it were me there are a couple of ways I would approach it.

First I'd want to look at how it's recorded because it seems to me it should have a little more 'sparkle' to it .... some high end in that 8k-10k area.
That seems to be missing so I'm really curious about the mic/interface.
EDIT: I see you're micing in stereo but I'm not seeing what mics they are ...... it really seems odd to me that the guitar has enough highs but your voice doesn't.

Well - I recorded the guitars with the Rode mics in stereo. The voice was recorded mono with the Aston Origin.

As for EQ'ing what you have ....... I'd try pulling down by maybe 3db or so, the area around 550hz or so ..... that'll take away some of the energy in that spot that's overwhelming the higher mids.
And I'd add a little 'sparkle' to it ..... give it that sprinkling of fairy dust by bumping it up very slightly around maybe 8k .... not much ...... db or two.
I think that would clear it up a lot.

Then, if you want to dive into using EQ you can experiment a bit.
For instance you can shift the frequencies around to dial in what complements your voice and mic best.

It could be that 550 is too low so leave it cut by a few db but slide the frequency around to see if there's an area you like best and try the same thing with the high-end boost 'sparkle'.

I'll try all of that and will post another version, hopefully soon! Thanks for all the advice!

It's a pleasure to have you here and to get to enjoy your music.
I have really enjoyed Alison's work and I can see I'm gonna like yours too!

Thank you so much!

[annikajayne]

It's a lovely song, I really enjoyed it.

I agree with the notes from others, the vocal could use a bit of "sparkle" of some sort. And the panning isn't quite my taste, but it's your choice to make. That's the good thing about being both the talent and the producer...you can do anything you want with it

The guitar really does sound great, the mic(s) and positioning did it justice.

Thanks so much! I'll try and play around with the EQ a little and will repost!

[annikajayne]

Listening to this through my television sounds great.

Thanks so much!

[Lt. Bob]

Well - I recorded the guitars with the Rode mics in stereo. The voice was recorded mono with the Aston Origin.

ah, I didn't get that ..... lots of time people will record guitar and vox at the same time.

[annikajayne]

Well - I recorded the guitars with the Rode mics in stereo. The voice was recorded mono with the Aston Origin.

ah, I didn't get that ..... lots of time people will record guitar and vox at the same time.

Whoa!! I did that once for my Nostalgia Unplugged album - it was....hell! I made way too many mistakes, usually right at the end of the song! I have to be very relaxed to be able to record that way!

[annikajayne]

Here is my first attempt to apply some EQ and reverb.

I also redid the vocals (I changed the lyrics in the chorus) and the panning (all centered).

The second version also has some harmonies in it. The harmonies are panned left and right. Personally, I think it may be a bit much. But I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[TripleM]

The harmonies are nice. You might want to double or quad them. I think that would sound terrific.

Lead vocal has fewer pitch issues. It still sounds dryer than the guitar.

[vomitHatSteve]

Vocals are definitely matching the guitar better.
Yeah, some stereo reverb on the vox would further help them gel

[stratmonkee]

Love the guitar, well played Listened to original post and the harmonies version, listening on headphones , dry lead vocal sounds ok to me , but would be interested to the sound of a touch of reverb added, may add a bit of depth perhaps? Harmonies work nice and add a lot to this. Nice job on this, I enjoyed the listen's!

[annikajayne]

Thanks, for listening and your comments, everyone!

As much as I love the harmonies, I will maybe keep them for the fully produced version, where I will also add more instruments. But for my project, I really only need guitar and vocals for now as I'd like to keep it as raw as possible. But thank you so much for the input and your ideas!

[JD01]

OK, I'm jumping in right on the recent Without Harmonies version.
Guitar sounds good, the lyrics are good and its a good song which is the most important thing.
You're clearly a good fingerstyle guitarist!
The main problem with the vocal is that its a bit pitchy in places - I think you just need to listen to it critically and re-do the bits with the tuning issues. I'm all up for a few vocal inflections and I don't think things should be perfect, but some of the mistakes don't sound good.

Also, just a bit of nice reverb would help a bit - you could add some reverb to the guitars too while you're at it.
A little compression on the vocal even it out would also help.

[Alison]

SO sorry that I've been away for so long!

Oh, Annika, yet another beautiful song and I am so happy to see you here, taking advantage of these wonderful musicians. I love the song! And I have always admired the sound you get on your guitar (not to mention your playing)!

Eq is something that takes a while to grasp, IMHO. I still don't understand frequencies myself but, I definitely use my ears to set Eq. I also agree with adding reverb on your vocals, the right reverb can do a lot. . .again, using your ears!

Good to see you here, Annika! You will learn a LOT from these guys!
Now I'm off to catch up on more music!

[Alison]

SO sorry that I've been away for so long!

Oh, Annika, yet another beautiful song and I am so happy to see you here, taking advantage of these wonderful musicians. I love the song! And I have always admired the sound you get on your guitar (not to mention your playing)!

Eq is something that takes a while to grasp, IMHO. I still don't understand frequencies myself but, I definitely use my ears to set Eq. I also agree with adding reverb on your vocals, the right reverb can do a lot. . .again, using your ears!

Good to see you here, Annika! You will learn a LOT from these guys!
Now I'm off to catch up on more music!

[annikajayne]

Thanks so much for your kind words, Alison!

I already learned some very useful tips about EQ - it's helped me a lot. :-) I won't officially publish my own mixes for quite some time but it's always good to learn. ;-)