untitled track needs help

[knowndebaser]

heres a song my band and i just did. its a little rough. let me know what you guys think i could do to the mix to improve it.

[brandondrury]

The whole thing is harsh. The vocals hurt. The cymbals are bitey in the upper midrange also.

Brandon

[eddiechilton]

This is really not meant to be mean, but it's a little hard to listen to. The vocals are distorted and SO harsh. Not in a tough, good way, more of in the way a cell phone gets distorted sometimes.

The drum sounds are wrong for this type of song. You need a clicky and low bass drum sound; this one sounds like it cut out everything from 120Hz and down. The snare sounds cheap and kind of toyish. It's tuned poorly and EQed in an unflattering way. It sounds really pingy and doesn't fit the song. The cymbals are supposed to be "glue" but in this case, it's just a constant hi pitched noise in the background while the drummer wails on the crash.

The guitar tone is very thin. It may need to be recorded again, if you can't salvage it.

I don't mean to sound like an ass; the song is cool and I could see people listening to it, just not in this state. I'd just re-record it all and work on the tininess and the distortion in the vocals and the overall lack of low frequencies.

By the way, what method did you use to record this?

[GrantP]

Let me say first I really dis-like this style of music, my musical preference is for blues & classic rock.

I could only last about 18 seconds into the song before having to hit the stop. Everything seemed so harsh & once the vocals kicked in I was out of there.

I know this forum is about giving constructive criticism so I am sorry if my comments are not very flattering. The technical issues with recording I will leave to brandons & others with much more knowledge.

When I heard this song I felt aurally assulted & that is not a good. I assume there is a market for this music & that you really enjoy the energy & excitement that it creates.

I agree with the comments by the previous reviewer & should you be able to re-record with his advise you will have a much better production. This forum is all about learning & improving what we love to do so keep on plugging away.

PS When I have the guts to put something up for review I hope you give it what for.

[lolzgreg]

Originally Posted by GrantP

Let me say first I really dis-like this style of music, my musical preference is for blues & classic rock.

Why bother comment at all if you're negatively biased towards this style of music?

If anything at least tell him why you don't like it and maybe how to improve upon this particular song to make it more accessible to an audience like yourself.

-Greg

[lolzgreg]

Originally Posted by knowndebaser

heres a song my band and i just did. its a little rough. let me know what you guys think i could do to the mix to improve it.

Let's try constructive criticism now, okay guys? If there's something wrong, let's tell people how to fix it.

Okay, I'm going to give you every single ounce of advice I have to improve this mix as soon as you tell me the following:

I. Guitar
1- What guitar amp are you using?
2- Are you using an effects pedal for distortion
a. If so, what pedal and what are the tone settings?
b. If you are using your amps distortion, what are the tone settings?
3. What mic are you using?
a. Where is the mic placed on the speaker (draw a diagram on paint and attach it if you please)
4. Where is the amp in your house?
* The guitar tone you're using may be able to work for this song if you had a nice thick bass guitar underneath.

II. Drums
1- What drums are you using?
a. Do they sound good in the room they're in?
2- What/how many mics are you using on the drums?
a. How are these mic's set up (draw a diagram, again if necessary).
b. It sounds like the snare is panned left in this recording, try to keep the kick and snare center, it usually drives the song better and makes it much less distracting. The overheads should be panned left and right, respectively and the toms to follow their positions in the panned overheads (not panned as drastically, but to provide some spread of the toms in the mix.

III. Bass
1- There is no bass, you should try to borrow one and lay some down. It will really fill out the lows.

IV. Vocals
1- Whoever sings in your band has a pretty good singing voice or so it seems, their screaming voice is okay, I can't really tell exactly how it sounds; the signal is distorting.
a. Make sure your singer isn't deppthroating the mic when they're singing. When you get too close to a mic something called proximity effect occurs, or the bass response becomes much greater, lets say, if you were 2 inches from the mic than 5 inches.
b. Make sure that the input on your mixer or whatever your mic is going into isn't going into the red. The signal is definitely clipping on your recording and if it is digital (which I presume it is, if it's not, let me know) is DEFINITELY a huge no no.
c. Have your singer alter his screaming voice for certain passages and words, a little deeper or more shrill in appropriate places depending on the mood e is trying to convey.

V. Mixing
1- Did you apply ANY eq, compression or reverb to this mix? If so TAKE IT ALL OFF, leave only the volume levels currently set and post that mix, we may be able to help you more.

VI. Songwriting

a. I have attached my interpretaton of the guitar riff. Hopefully, you won't mind me playing a very similar variation to your riff here. If you do, I will immediately remove it. If you wish to expand upon my idea, I am surrendering my rights to this riff for your usage (haha).
* It doesn't seem your guitarist has too much of a knowledge of music theory. If I am wrong, please disregard this whole section: His/her technique is not bad and they keep quite good time, but their choice of chord voicing/riffage in the song isn't really too adhesive. a minor would be a good key for this song which would consist of the notes a, b, c, d, e, f, g or the frets 0-2-3-5-7-8-10-12 (all on the guitars a string). You seem to start the song on an a, or an a minor chord (as your riff implies). You may want to have your verses and choruses start on an a (or a minor chord (x02210)) and your prechorus be on a G (or G Maj chord (x55433 - the x because it is common that this music be played in dropped d, or the strings tuned to dadgbe instead of eadgbe).

b. Sorry, but the lyrics are very cliche hardcore. Why don't you try to sing about something that really means something to you, or is really pertinent in your life? Maybe the loss of a loved one, or a lover. If someone hears a song like this and realizes that the lyrics are very mature and well thought out, you begin to give hardcore a "great" name (booya to those who attack it). Personally, I do death metal vocals in a Christian band, growling and screaming does one heck of a job conveying emotion.

Get back to me asap regarding what I asked, and I'll be more than happy to lend an ear or a hand.

-Greg

PS. Please don't mind the miserable quality of the clip, its a Boogex default patch with my Guitar DI'd into my creative audigy, ezdrummer and a cheap synth as a bass; all my recording gear is at the studio.

[Stratomaniac]

I agree w/ Greg about the clipping for sure. Sounds like it was recorded WAY too hot. Would like more info on the recording as well...how did you record it? To me it almost sounds like my first recordings from back in the day where we put the old cassette boom box in the room, hit record, and jammed...way too loud. Seems like this was a digital recording though...different kind of distortion...ah, but what do I know?

[eddiechilton]

Originally Posted by Stratomaniac

Seems like this was a digital recording though...different kind of distortion...ah, but what do I know?

I agree that it's digital. I've made some shitty tapes in my life, but they never have the same distortion as digital. You can even use tape distortion in your favor, if it's like roots blues or something along those lines.

[jamie78]

WOW.... that was abusive! I can hear the potential though..... And in some way I was really diggin what was going on here. I think that everything that you need to do to make it better has already been said... so I won't add to much.
What I will say is that I've alway been told to A/B my songs with a commercial release that is in the same genre as you are going for. I think you should " google" and search out a band called "Tenant" . I'm not in the band or anything. There a bunch of young dudes from vancouver BC and their album is killer! I think that sound is what your going for here .

Good luck!
Jamie.

[rorry]

I like the general idea of the song, it sets a feel even if its a crazy, pissed off, frustrated but it sounds like that amount and or type of distortion on the vocals covers up the energy your trying to create way too much.
i want to hear your angsty vibe for real and not overly distorted digitized.
Maybe try and overdrive effect on low to mid and dont peak your signals.(like me)

Anyway keeps writing, playing and recording and you'll do some kick ass stuff