17 year old's new recording!

[joedarbyshire]

Hey everyone,

I'm relatively new to producing/recording and I'm looking for some feedback and opinions/ideas on how to improve the tracks i record for my solo project. I don't have much equipment yet please bare in mind!

Here's the latest one I've done...

http://www.garageband.com/mp3player?...0LdsaSiZFO0YGg

Please let me know what you think?

Joe

[brandondrury]

Not a bad little tune, especially at an age where your pubes have only been in full force for a few weeks.

The Mix
A few things strike me.

#1 I don't like the vocal reverb.
#2 There is too much upper midrange in the vocal.

When these two things combine, you end up with a cheap sounding vocal.

However, at the end of the song, where the vocals are much dryer, the tone is MUCH better. I'd go for something more like that throughout the song. The reverb should be less obvious, in my opinion.

If you really want the reverb, use a darker setting and/or use EQ or a multiband compressor to knock down 5Khz (with a broad Q) before you send the vocal to the reverb. Be very careful and subtle about cutting this 5Khz region. If you overdo it, it'll sound horrendous.

I wanted to hear the big loud part again, but the media player thingy is screwing up and won't play now.

Brandon

[joedarbyshire]

cheers mate, i know what you mean about the vocal and the reverb... i can never get away from it sounding like a karaoke preset! haha

the overEQing might have a little to do with the fact that the mic I used to record it is only a 30 quid (60 dollars) dynamic mic, nothing of a professional standard haha

can u advise me on a half decent condenser mic I can purchase for less than 200 dollars?

joe

[brandondrury]

the overEQing might have a little to do with the fact that the mic I used to record it is only a 30 quid (60 dollars) dynamic mic, nothing of a professional standard haha

Condenser mics are over rated. Read this:
Microphones Don't Make THAT Much Difference

While I'm all for you upgrading your equipment, I think you can get a fine vocal sound with the mic you have now if you want to bother learning a little audio engineering.

It's tough finding the perfect mic for a voice. I still have to EQ and process the tracks recorded with my $2,500 Soundelux U99 to get what I want. Even if you find a right mic for the quiet parts, it may not be the right mic for the loud parts.

If you really think a condenser is going to save your life, I'd probably go with something like this:
Audio-Technica AT2020 Cardioid Condenser Microphone

or this may be a better deal for you...
Audio-Technica AT2041SP - AT2020 & AT2021 Microphone Pack

The dynamic you used did have an upper midrange peak. This has NOTHING to do with quality. It's an issue of character. I thought the mic sounded okay towards the end of the song when it was dry, remember.

Most condensers are not going to have that upper mid peak, but they are going to have a tendency to get sibilant (where the eeesssssesss HURT). I usually turn a mic 10-15 degrees to knock some of that down a little bit.

the overEQing might have a little to do with the fact that the mic I used to record it is only a 30 quid (60 dollars) dynamic mic

I didn't hear "over eqing" so much as I heard "not the right eqing".

Brandon

[shylessness4924]

Originally Posted by joedarbyshire

can u advise me on a half decent condenser mic I can purchase for less than 200 dollars?

joe

Yeah, like Brandon said, the mics are so over rated; i have the cardoid technica and i bought it for about 100 CAN$ and it sounds good. Just when ull go buy ur mic, dont let the seller tell u stuff like "unless you buy a 600$ condenser mic, its not worth it" . It is worth it, although you will need the phantom (a pre-amp for ur mic, a mixer for example) Anyways! have fun shopping Btw Very Nice song, good quality


alex

[Jroye82]

Originally Posted by joedarbyshire

can u advise me on a half decent condenser mic I can purchase for less than 200 dollars?

joe

i use an akg c3000 b on all my vocals - for 300 bucks it aint bad.
theres always some processing you'll need to do for vocals I think

Automation/EQ/Compression/Delay/Autotune/....you name it.

[brandondrury]

theres always some processing you'll need to do for vocals I think

Yup. I wish I didnt' have to agree...but I do.

[cpbball3]

ive had this song stuck in my head for 3 weeks lol.. i put it on my iPOd haha good job.. i would like if you posted other songs if you have them

[DemonicTempest]

Theres not a whole lot more i could add, though i find the section where the drums enter, the lead vocal becomes a little overpowering, and i think you should bring up the backing vocal melody, theres some really nice lines there that are to my ear, wanting to be brought forward.
Though, after recording allday today, my ears are hella muddy baha.
Great tune too, Extremely catchy.

[humdogj]

Good tune....I'm interested on how you recorded everything. Well, maybe not everything, but your piano parts. They sound really good.

Probably needed to be tightened up in a part or two but I think you're heading in the right direction.