05-11-2014, 10:34 AM
hi Pauli,
some nice discussion going on here chaps.
in your v2, there's a gtr note that really jumps out @0:06 around the 500Hz zone. actually, i found the levels on the guitar to be a little on the intrusive side on occasions? perhaps the reverb is helping to exaggerate this somewhat. it's very dynamic, perhaps excessively so, as i'm almost losing it while auditioning at the comfort level with the cans. on the subject of reverb generally, i think you might be overdoing it, cos there's times when the accumulative effects are stacking up against you and there's some "ambiance collision" going on, especially around the mids (400-1000Hz) and up in the HF zone - the cymbals for example seem to be adding "tape hiss", a sign of too much reflection, hard surfaces and/or extended decays in your emu - not a cozy ambiance. with extended listening levels, this won't be user-friendly because of the equal loudness contours.
sibilance is a [major] problem. i've read the discussion already about mike choice for the vocal....another sad day. i wish there was a law against using sm57/58's for tracking vocals - they are totally dangerous weapons (in 99.9 percent of cases). did i mention the mike used on the Speak Softly Like Horses vox? ......an sm57!! no surprise. the mike is causing other issues too, one is the proximity which then makes it difficult to place in the mix depth-wise, the other is the tonal variations and balance, again because of proximity variance during performance. it doesn't need much of a change in distance/side axis for the vocal to drop right off and change tone along with it - many dynamic mikes are problematic in this regard. this song is all about the vocal.....but the wrong mike choice makes this technically unmixable which i think is a real shame. i like Patrick's vocal character, it deserves a far better mike
Personally, from a Producer's perspective, i'd like to have some double-tracking to work with, i think this would add some synergy to the song. i don't know if Patrick used headphones during tracking, but i'd recommend a review of strategy, because it might be contributing to his challenge remaining in key - it's a problem for many vocalists, even the pros! if cans have to be employed (some will use a monitor instead to good effect), try experimenting with the reverb return...often helps. so does a few lessons...and a good vocal warm up session first. a vocal can tire very quickly (eg Loud and Clear multi'), so the best take will happen in the first 3 attempts depending on the song's demands and it's length. i thought this song was too long, by the way. i'd try and edit it down to 3:45 max.
loved the way you got the toy piano working in the mix.
not sure why you were running a 10Hz test tone.....this is seriously outside the box's working/design specification. i'm surprised the woofer didn't jump out and go for a jog down the road. feeding it an out-of-spec wave can risk permanently damaging the driver by exceeding it's mechanical limits, so go easy. the upright bass is quite lumpy, a character we're unaccustomed to hearing in your mixes.
looking forward to getting the old Pauli back.......
some nice discussion going on here chaps.
in your v2, there's a gtr note that really jumps out @0:06 around the 500Hz zone. actually, i found the levels on the guitar to be a little on the intrusive side on occasions? perhaps the reverb is helping to exaggerate this somewhat. it's very dynamic, perhaps excessively so, as i'm almost losing it while auditioning at the comfort level with the cans. on the subject of reverb generally, i think you might be overdoing it, cos there's times when the accumulative effects are stacking up against you and there's some "ambiance collision" going on, especially around the mids (400-1000Hz) and up in the HF zone - the cymbals for example seem to be adding "tape hiss", a sign of too much reflection, hard surfaces and/or extended decays in your emu - not a cozy ambiance. with extended listening levels, this won't be user-friendly because of the equal loudness contours.
sibilance is a [major] problem. i've read the discussion already about mike choice for the vocal....another sad day. i wish there was a law against using sm57/58's for tracking vocals - they are totally dangerous weapons (in 99.9 percent of cases). did i mention the mike used on the Speak Softly Like Horses vox? ......an sm57!! no surprise. the mike is causing other issues too, one is the proximity which then makes it difficult to place in the mix depth-wise, the other is the tonal variations and balance, again because of proximity variance during performance. it doesn't need much of a change in distance/side axis for the vocal to drop right off and change tone along with it - many dynamic mikes are problematic in this regard. this song is all about the vocal.....but the wrong mike choice makes this technically unmixable which i think is a real shame. i like Patrick's vocal character, it deserves a far better mike
Personally, from a Producer's perspective, i'd like to have some double-tracking to work with, i think this would add some synergy to the song. i don't know if Patrick used headphones during tracking, but i'd recommend a review of strategy, because it might be contributing to his challenge remaining in key - it's a problem for many vocalists, even the pros! if cans have to be employed (some will use a monitor instead to good effect), try experimenting with the reverb return...often helps. so does a few lessons...and a good vocal warm up session first. a vocal can tire very quickly (eg Loud and Clear multi'), so the best take will happen in the first 3 attempts depending on the song's demands and it's length. i thought this song was too long, by the way. i'd try and edit it down to 3:45 max.loved the way you got the toy piano working in the mix.
not sure why you were running a 10Hz test tone.....this is seriously outside the box's working/design specification. i'm surprised the woofer didn't jump out and go for a jog down the road. feeding it an out-of-spec wave can risk permanently damaging the driver by exceeding it's mechanical limits, so go easy. the upright bass is quite lumpy, a character we're unaccustomed to hearing in your mixes.
looking forward to getting the old Pauli back.......
Beware...........Cognitive Dissonance!