Need a Willj style bash

[willj]

Lets see, i gotta put vocal trax on this yet, and it needs some mixing. I'll prob just fix the obvious stuff or whatever anybody points out and be ok with that.

There is something bugging me about this track. im not going to say what it is, id just like to know if it ends up bothering anybody else. Please dont try and guess. Just whatever happens - happens.

Thanks for listening.

[Mackanov]

Sounds great as always dude. Listening on consumer cans on a noisy environment so I'll keep to what's most obvious to me. Some minor noises and late notes on the bass guitar that I think you should fix. Vocals need a bit more polishing (compression, automation) I think, but you said they weren't done? Backing vocals need to be tighter. Didn't hear anything that bothers me sonically on these cans. I'll have another listen later.

[willj]

Mack! i just started reading your how to soldier tut! Amazing piece!

[Mackanov]

Thanks man!

[Emma]

Need a Willj style bash

Hey WillJ...
I'm not sure wot a Willj bash is so thought I'd give it an EmmaBash instead
Firstly, I was mystified by the non-vocals, having read in the collaboration thread thingummy that you didn't 'do' lyrics, I was all ready to see if there were lyrics that popped into my head in the music... it was kinda magical... next thing i knew there were truly really vocals PLUS backing! (EmmaBashes are notoriously waffly and non-technical!)
Loved the guitar work in the song, some very tasty singing riffs in there, yum, and cool tight drums. I found the vocals a little looser by contrast, a touch strained at times. I had to listen a few times just in case I could find that thing you told us not to guess what it was, and I just found myself enjoying the song!

[garageband]

Drums are a bit dominating. Vocals sound a little overprocessed. Nice guitar solo. It's a shame it has to fight such a battle against the drums. It also makes it seem like the vocal is too low, which it is around 2:30 on til the fermata. After that for the instrumental bridge, it almost sounds like a different song 'cause those problems aren't and the proportions are better.

[bobbybovine]

Hey willj, great song man but there are a few things that pop out to me. I share garagebands opinion on the drum, a bit too "large" and the vocals are a bit buried in general. You said there wasn't a vox track but there is and the "ch" and "s" have a lot of energy in them, but maybe you are going to redo them anyway since they are not there The initial solo should also come up in level a few db as well. That's all noticed, cool track dude.

[aj113]

Very good man!

Personally I like the drums that high in a mix - the problem can be making everything else fit well when the drums are that high. I think the vocals are suffering a little bit. In terms of sound maybe you overcooked the shelving a little bit? In terms of level - well, they sound too low in the mix but that could be a frequency masking thing - you maybe need to find a notch for them.

The ned needs cleaning up but I guess you know that already.

Very nice!

[Stanfic]

More on the drum sound... In addition to turning them down a bit, maybe turn up the room mic, if you used one. If not, you can simulate a room mic with the predelay on a reverb. Not a whole lot though... Just enough to kind of push the drums toward the back of the mix. I would also maybe cut more around 400 hz-ish for the drums in general. I liked it though.

[willj]

Hey WillJ...
I'm not sure wot a Willj bash is so thought I'd give it an EmmaBash instead
Firstly, I was mystified by the non-vocals, having read in the collaboration thread thingummy that you didn't 'do' lyrics, I was all ready to see if there were lyrics that popped into my head in the music... it was kinda magical... next thing i knew there were truly really vocals PLUS backing! (EmmaBashes are notoriously waffly and non-technical!)
Loved the guitar work in the song, some very tasty singing riffs in there, yum, and cool tight drums. I found the vocals a little looser by contrast, a touch strained at times. I had to listen a few times just in case I could find that thing you told us not to guess what it was, and I just found myself enjoying the song!

Thanks Emma! An Emma bash is quite cool in its on right ,so i'll take it!! Yeah the vox - im just not sure what i wanna sing yet, so i end up kinda searching around for notes as i sing. You pretty much have it spot on about the lyrics. Really im just mumbling whatever comes to mind. Theres no swtory line or anything. I did this tune a while back for a girl, and i like the tired of being alone part(i think), but the rest of it was kinda blah(i think)

Drums are a bit dominating. Vocals sound a little overprocessed. Nice guitar solo. It's a shame it has to fight such a battle against the drums. It also makes it seem like the vocal is too low, which it is around 2:30 on til the fermata. After that for the instrumental bridge, it almost sounds like a different song 'cause those problems aren't and the proportions are better.

Thanks for the compliments. I know what you mean about the last chorus sounding better. I maybe should have put the vocal track on this first and then asked for the bash, but that may be months away until i come up with some lyrics that im comfortable with. I appreciate your time bud.

Hey willj, great song man but there are a few things that pop out to me. I share garagebands opinion on the drum, a bit too "large" and the vocals are a bit buried in general. You said there wasn't a vox track but there is and the "ch" and "s" have a lot of energy in them, but maybe you are going to redo them anyway since they are not there The initial solo should also come up in level a few db as well. That's all noticed, cool track dude.

Thanks for the bash Bibbsy! Now when you say the drums are too big, are you thinking the sounds of them? the panning? the volume? because sound wise im a little annoyed at how small the snare sounds to me. Mainly because its a sample(which i dont normally use unless an instrument sounds like hell and i thought that was the case here) and by rights maybe *should* be the biggest sounding of all the drums, but is ending up sounding tiny/dead to me.

Personally I like the drums that high in a mix - the problem can be making everything else fit well when the drums are that high. I think the vocals are suffering a little bit. In terms of sound maybe you overcooked the shelving a little bit? In terms of level - well, they sound too low in the mix but that could be a frequency masking thing - you maybe need to find a notch for them.

Thanks for your ears dude. I love the drums up in the mix. The only problem with that is that i love the guitar up too - and the bass - and the vox i hi passed the hell out of the lead vox and they are burried because of my insecurities. As i told GB i maybe shoulda waited until the vox were nailed down.

[aj113]

..... i hi passed the hell out of the lead vox and they are burried because of my insecurities.

Yeah I thought so - just ease off the high pass a bit and then nudge the fader up a bit. Don't worry - there's nothing to be afraid of, we're all friends here.

[willj]

Yeah I thought so - just ease off the high pass a bit and then nudge the fader up a bit. Don't worry - there's nothing to be afraid of, we're all friends here.

Yes we are. way ta come back with some class

[bobbybovine]

Thanks for the bash Bibbsy! Now when you say the drums are too big, are you thinking the sounds of them? the panning? the volume? because sound wise im a little annoyed at how small the snare sounds to me. Mainly because its a sample(which i dont normally use unless an instrument sounds like hell and i thought that was the case here) and by rights maybe *should* be the biggest sounding of all the drums, but is ending up sounding tiny/dead to me.

It is mostly the kick I notice on second listen. I think it is a combination of tone and volume. It is the ratio of bass guitar to kick drum, the kick is not locking in with the bass. I agree with you on the snare. Try adding some distortion to the track or even duplicate the track and apply the distortion on that then eq the snot out of it to get it to fit when you blend. Might work, might not.

[Radukku]

Yeah, i am not sure what the Willj style is (yet) but I will give it a Rad one instead!
Firstly I LIKE the song man!...Judging you by your posts I would.ve never guessed this was your musical style!...I can't put my finger on even the influences (a tad of country maybe but ...)
I like the vocals and I definitely agree that they SHOULD be more up front and 'in your face' - good singing voices is that all you or there's an actual second guy you sing in duet with?... - but other than that they are terrific!
Guitars are excellently tracked but on my cans (Audio Technica ATH 50 - the Brandon model...) I detect some mid high that stick out a tad too much at least on the rhythm one so I would re-eq a smidge (weird word but one gets tired of bit, tad, little etc..)
Drums don't seem to high or too loud neither the bass...actually they're tight and sound VERY good together!...I have no useful suggestions for something that's good already...You might as well talk about how you tracked this thing and some technical snippets (guitars used and amps would be interesting to know....)
I wish my songs/mixes sound like this!!Let alone the singing...Easy going, good tune and listenable track!
It certainly left me wanting more!
Good stuff man!!!!

[aj113]

.......im a little annoyed at how small the snare sounds to me......... but is ending up sounding tiny/dead to me.

OK well if we're being hyper-critical you're probably right. If it was my mix I'd have a shit load of very short (HF damped) reverb on that snare. Not sure if you have enough real esate left to pull that off but it's worth a try at least.

[Jeronimo Mora]

I just thought the drums could use a little more reverb or something make make them gel together. I felt they were a little dry. Other than that and stuff that's already been mentioned, I thought it was pretty good.