live jazz mix, feedback please?

[loujudson]

Here's a singer's gig I did last year, and a mix I did recently. I used compression on the vocal but am thinking about remixing it with manual riding instead. Interested in people's opinions. The singer is happy with it, but I might work on it some more for my own satisfaction. She's working on booking more gigs to get more songs where she's happy with her performance.

L

[Douglas Whates]

Had a listen to Billie's Blues - a couple of things I might have done...

I think it sounds a bit too mono at the moment - also, the DI'd bass sound is sometimes getting in the way of the guitar. So, I'd be inclined to pan the guitar more to the left, pan the kit a bit more to the right. Also, ditch the hall reverb and go for that intimate club sound. Vocals sound great, particularly for a live preformance.

Douglas.

[loujudson]

Thanks Douglas, that is very useful feedback! Panning the guitar more left is part of my plan for remixing that I had forgotten to mention, and matches the stage layout exactly...

The bass DI was the better sound, as he was really close to the drums and difficult to get separation on the mic. To do it again I'd use a ribbon mic and point the null at the drums. I'm glad I'll get another chance later this year!

I'm not sure I want to pan the drums farther right, but maybe will. Thanks again.

The superb vocal sound is thanks to her wanting to use her own Beyer M69 - one great mic for jazz vocals!
PS - the verb is supposed to sound like an EMT - will use something tighter instead...

Lou

[videoteque]

Lou, it sounds fantastic!!!

Her voice sounds really great and it sounds very live AND very clean. I would love most live records sounded like this one!

If you can post some fetish-gear-slutz-ism details about the recording it would be great!

Congratulations!

[bass man]

Nice job

I like the guitar and the vocal sound . Bass is little bit too loud and uneven maybe some compression would help but great sound for di.Drums are too "far away" for my taste . Less fx on the vocals maybe ....

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by videoteque

Lou, it sounds fantastic!!!

Her voice sounds really great and it sounds very live AND very clean. I would love most live records sounded like this one!

If you can post some fetish-gear-slutz-ism details about the recording it would be great!

Congratulations!

Thanks for the compliments. I expect it to become a real live CD sometime this year, when we get more tunes...

Slutty details: Audix D4 on bass and guitar amp, Countryman 85 DIs on both, D6 kick, ATM350 snare, Shure VP88 overhead. Soundcraft LX7 mixer, preamps tapped out to Alesis HD24 with Presonus convertors. Mixed in Protools 7.3.1 on a Mac G4 Duak 1.25G FW800 with Waves and Massey plugins.

Not an elaborate or expensive system but it works for me and makes me a living!

I'll post remixes later on... all comments so far are welcome!
thanks,
<L>

[videoteque]

The recording has a 3D "live" quality to me, it seems that it "fills" the room. Did you compress a lot???

I would love to hear other opinions!

[cajonezzz]

agreed that it sounds a little mono... just go for it with some panning. Guitar is hot ( in my inears)

I don't care for the verb, perhaps a little shorter, brighter?

all in all very nice!

[loujudson]

Thanks for the compliments. Listening to the suggestions, I reduced the compression (now you can hear how she exaggerates her mic technique, moving a bit too far away at times) and changed the verb to a small warm chamber - maybe too much like a studio now, rather than the jazz club. Also panned guitar left as it was on stage...

[pkautzsch]

Generally:
I think a healthy mix of slight compression and fader riding is best.
I like the applause level and feel - that's not always easy to achieve.

A few comments, if allowed. Haven't read any replies so far, so I'm not influenced by what other posters might have written.

Billie's Blues
guitar is too dry for my taste. Vox and drums sound like in a club, but guitar doesn't - bass is too up front too. Either a bit down or a bit of reverb

Deed I Do
guitar&bass sound sits better here

Polka Dots
Do I hear the BD from a bit left and the rest of the drums rather from the right?
Guitar too dry in vox reverb context (again)

[loujudson]

Try this again. I lost my reply waiting for files to upload...

We did another gig in May, and we have amost final mixes. Thanks for all the responses. Let me know what you think of these, the same three songs and a few more:

Oh, it seems the software doesn't like files larger than 6MB - at 192k these are larger... Darn. some twiggy message about a security token. PM me if you want to hear more!

we really need larger than 6MB MP3 files here.
Lou

[loujudson]

I was going to start another thread but thought maybe just add to this one.

Did live sound for a JazzSchool )Berkeley CA) vocal class recital recently, and wanted to share this - it is the live mix, with a bit of tasty mastering. This will not be going to release, but it is my new favorite song, I play it over and over again.

Soundcraft Vi4 digital board, SD744T recorder, KMS-105 vocal mic, C-3000Bs on piano, Bass direct, drums AKG 460, Audix i5 and D6.

Kyra (say kira not Kye-ra) Gordon, singing Jon Hendriks' lyrics to Horace Silver's Come On Home. I don't know if is her great voice and technique, the great arrangement, or the message in the song, but I am loving this tune. This gal can blow! (a tune, that is.)

Oh how weird. I edited the post and the attached file disappeared! I'll add it in next. I forget the piano and basss player at the moment, but the dummer is the jazz legend Eddie Marshall...

[chris@theblue]

(snip)
The bass DI was the better sound, as he was really close to the drums and difficult to get separation on the mic. To do it again I'd use a ribbon mic and point the null at the drums. I'm glad I'll get another chance later this year!

I'm not sure I want to pan the drums farther right, but maybe will. Thanks again.

The superb vocal sound is thanks to her wanting to use her own Beyer M69 - one great mic for jazz vocals!
PS - the verb is supposed to sound like an EMT - will use something tighter instead...

Lou[/QUOTE]
----------------------------

from my kitchen logitech 2.1 spkr. . .

next time try a b52, d112, or md421 on the bass better rejection. . .
and bass di print both blend to taste. . .

reverb is suspect.

[danfoldes]

Hi Lou! Just came across this - small world. The recordings sound great by the way. Later, ~Dan

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by danfoldes

Hi Lou! Just came across this - small world. The recordings sound great by the way. Later, ~Dan

Hey Dan. Fellow slutz, eh? They're having this season's jazz vocal Institue performance thsi Monday, come on by. This great gal, Kyra Gordon, just won the scholarship for the next year, so we'll be hearing more from her!

Everyone else, we're talkling about Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, where tey are doing more jazz than in the past, which I love. We are two of the staff engineers...
| Freight & Salvage

Come on down anyone in the area, or check us out on concertwindow.com

Lou

[AlexK]

The drums sound a little to cymbal heavy to my ears. Maybe just shelf off a bit of the HF on the overhead and bring the overall drum level a tad?

Also the bass sounds a little too prickly to me, you don't need to be hearing all that midband/fret noise as firstly, uprights don't sound like that naturally, and secondly, all that information would be swamped by the other instruments when you hear it live. Just a HF shelf set to a fairly low frequency (say 400Hz upwards) of a dB or two would be more than enough.

Just my 2c. I like it otherwise...

[loujudson]

Alex, that was a live mix, no going back. Thanks for your critique.

"Bring the overal drum level a tad" - a tad what? up? down? left? right?