"Down the River Road" by Kyle Knapp

[kyleknapp]

I recorded most of this at Barnstormers Studio in Austin TX, but wanted to attempt mixing myself. So I'm mixing at home on my PC, using Nuendo 1.6, and a pair of Event TR6 monitors (just got these). This song is for a project I hope to finish/release in the next few months.

Let me know what you think. Am I approaching semi-professional quality, or do I need to hire someone who know what they're doing? Be as brutal as you like, I want this to be good.

Download the song at http://www.kyleknapp.com/audio/rroad20070118.mp3

Thanks!
~kyle

[damoh]

It sounds like you have some well recorded raw tracks there mate. If you are really serious about making it the best you can, let a professional engineer do the job of mixing properly for you.

What you have done isn't terrible, but it is far from what it could be.

It is very hard to mix your own stuff. A good impartial set of ears is a must.

[brandondrury]

The acoustic guitar is awesome. Maybe better than awesome. What kind of guitar is that? It reminds me of a Larivee a buddy has.

The vocal sounds like an ant crawled into my ear. I mean that it sounds like the vocal is coming out of my own head...in other words (SUPER LOUD and SUPER DRY).

When you grab that vocal volume fader, you've got to play with it. I mean, turn it up way too loud and then turn it down way too low and then kind of bounce around until it feels good. I've got a feeling that you used some other part of your brain on this one.

I'd say the vocals are at least 3dB louder than I would have put them. The vocal has a lot of low end energy, which can be good. At the volume, you'll need to EQ some out. However, if the vocals were down about 2-3dB, I but they'd sound amazing.

What kind of mic was used?

I would like to hear more of the drums as well. Not a whole lot, just enough to make them a little more important.

You are lucky because you don't have to fix anything. These tracks sound great. You can have fun and be creative....so do it!! Enjoy this. This will be one of the funnest mixing experiences of your life.

Brandon

[brandondrury]

It sounds like you have some well recorded raw tracks there mate. If you are really serious about making it the best you can, let a professional engineer do the job of mixing properly for you.

I wouldn't mind taking a stab at this song.

Brandon

[kyleknapp]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

The acoustic guitar is awesome. Maybe better than awesome. What kind of guitar is that? It reminds me of a Larivee a buddy has.

Wow, thanks! It's a Tacoma DR-20. I've had it about 10 years and really like it.

The vocal sounds like an ant crawled into my ear. I mean that it sounds like the vocal is coming out of my own head...in other words (SUPER LOUD and SUPER DRY).

When you grab that vocal volume fader, you've got to play with it. I mean, turn it up way too loud and then turn it down way too low and then kind of bounce around until it feels good. I've got a feeling that you used some other part of your brain on this one.

I'd say the vocals are at least 3dB louder than I would have put them. The vocal has a lot of low end energy, which can be good. At the volume, you'll need to EQ some out. However, if the vocals were down about 2-3dB, I but they'd sound amazing.

Quite an apt description. Yeah I've been particularly unhappy with vocals. I'll try lowering the volume.

What kind of mic was used?

sorry, but I can't remember... It was an expensive-looking thing with a tube in it that hung upside down. (presumably better than the $100-150 mics I have in my home studio)

I would like to hear more of the drums as well. Not a whole lot, just enough to make them a little more important.

The drums are an interesting point. I actually didn't like the drum track much, but for some reason couldn't figure out why until much later. The rythm as the drummer originally played it clashed with the guitar rythm. So I heavily edited the snare track (I deleted beats 1, 2, & 4 from each measure for most of the song, how cheesy is that?) could you tell? I'm wondering if I bring them up if it will sound "artificial". Anyway, I'll give it a try.

You are lucky because you don't have to fix anything. These tracks sound great. You can have fun and be creative....so do it!! Enjoy this. This will be one of the funnest mixing experiences of your life.

Thanks, you've been totally encouraging! I'll work on it a bit and post an update.
~kyle

[kyleknapp]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I wouldn't mind taking a stab at this song.

Brandon

That sounds like a compliment too - thanks again! I'd like to play with it a bit myself and see what I can do. But if you were to seriously consider mixing it for me, what would that entail? I'm mixing in Nuendo - would I need to export and send you the tracks as .wav files? And what's your rate? (or is it appropriate to ask such a thing in the forum?)

~kyle

[brandondrury]

In regard to the snare thing, I thought that burrying the drum was "cheesy" move. That whole notion of "turning down the thing you dont like" is about like the notion of improving vocals with using enormous amounts of reverb. It just doesn't work.

I'd try cranking up the drums and see what happens. Not a lot. Just a enough. Then go from there.

I noticed the drums were sparse, but it actually seamed to fit the song pretty well.

But if you were to seriously consider mixing it for me, what would that entail?

Why don't you give it a few more stabs? It doesn't sound like you've been having fun when you mixed this song and I think if you were just mixing it for fun, you may have hit it dead on. It's really just volumes anyway.

That was one reason I wanted to mix it... because without a ton of effort I could have a great time mixing a song and not "fixing" a song.

Have fun with it and post your latest version. We'll go from there.
Brandon

[kyleknapp]

thanks again
~kyle

[kyleknapp]

Okay, let me know what you think of this.
http://www.kyleknapp.com/audio/rroad20070125.mp3

I added some compression and reverb to the vocal track, and then lowered the volume a little. I also compressed the snare, which made it sound "snappier" to my ear, and raised the drum tracks overall in the mix. Sounds a whole lot better to me - what do you think?

[Andrew07]

mp3 cuts out about halfway for me