Big pop/rock sound, small home studio? Not easy is it!

juicylime · 15th April 2007

Neccisity (for the moment!) has me working alone in my small home studio trying to get that big pop rock sound. Tell me how you think it's working out or what I can do to improve it all:
Street Lights

(EDIT: here's a new version taking on board some of the adivce offered: Street Lights v2

drakewire · 15th April 2007

the drums its a decent recording...
Those drums can be the hardest thing to make come alive in a mix,especially in a bedroom.
Good stuff though... Keep up the good work

juicylime · 15th April 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by drakewire

the drums its a decent recording...
Those drums can be the hardest thing to make come alive in a mix,especially in a bedroom.
Good stuff though... Keep up the good work

Thanks.

KPHayes · 15th April 2007

I like the production, lots of cool things going on. Octave Vox, nice. Drums are buried big time. Need to bring them up, then maybe the bass too. Can't comment on the drum tones because I can't hear 'em! If your going for a live drum sound you need to put some more effort into the programming (I assume they're programmed because they sound like it) to make them sound realistic.

juicylime · 16th April 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by KPHayes

I like the production, lots of cool things going on. Octave Vox, nice. Drums are buried big time. Need to bring them up, then maybe the bass too. Can't comment on the drum tones because I can't hear 'em! If your going for a live drum sound you need to put some more effort into the programming (I assume they're programmed because they sound like it) to make them sound realistic.

I wonder if the master compression is what might be holding in the drums? I've gone with a basic loop because, but I'll take on board your suggestion on the programing. Cheers!

racemize · 16th April 2007

I would definitely bring the drums and bass up (or maybe just the vocals down?) I can't help but think of "Save Tonight" with that particular naked acoustic sound. I'd also do some work on the vocals (e.g., tuning and effects) to get to the commercial pop sound.

stevie_vp · 16th April 2007

i agree with the rest..
and sometimes when the harmonies come in wich are panned hard left and right singing streetlights fading in.. they are reaaly loud and hollow sound...

juicylime · 21st April 2007

I know what you mean about that song Save Tonight. This chord progression has been used in alot of songs but combined with the acoustic sound it definitely is reminicent of it. I wish it wasn't though, oh well!!

I've done some work on the vocals. I even re-did the verse vocals with a different mic (a Blueberry, compred to an AKG C3000b for the rest, much better!). I also got rid of the crappy synth string sounds and tweaked the mix a bit. Here's a link to the newer version: Box.net - Free Online File Storage, Internet File Sharing, RSS Sharing, Access Documents & Files Anywhere, Backup Data, Share Files

15th April 2007	#1
juicylime Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 804 Thread Starter	Big pop/rock sound, small home studio? Not easy is it! Neccisity (for the moment!) has me working alone in my small home studio trying to get that big pop rock sound. Tell me how you think it's working out or what I can do to improve it all: Street Lights (EDIT: here's a new version taking on board some of the adivce offered: Street Lights v2 __________________ Saved. By the buoyancy of citrus. www.HamletSweeney.com

15th April 2007	#2
drakewire Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 832	other than the drums its a decent recording... Those drums can be the hardest thing to make come alive in a mix,especially in a bedroom. Good stuff though... Keep up the good work

16th April 2007	#6
racemize Gear Head Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 69	I would definitely bring the drums and bass up (or maybe just the vocals down?) I can't help but think of "Save Tonight" with that particular naked acoustic sound. I'd also do some work on the vocals (e.g., tuning and effects) to get to the commercial pop sound. __________________ Motu 828mkii, Cubase 4.5, Q6600 quad, 4 Gigs Ram, XP2 battery, bfd2, ivory, melodyne, EWSQL _____________________ http://www.joelstevens.net/music

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15th April 2007	#4
KPHayes Gear nut Joined: Jan 2007 Posts: 91	I like the production, lots of cool things going on. Octave Vox, nice. Drums are buried big time. Need to bring them up, then maybe the bass too. Can't comment on the drum tones because I can't hear 'em! If your going for a live drum sound you need to put some more effort into the programming (I assume they're programmed because they sound like it) to make them sound realistic.

16th April 2007	#7
stevie_vp Gear nut Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 76	i agree with the rest.. and sometimes when the harmonies come in wich are panned hard left and right singing streetlights fading in.. they are reaaly loud and hollow sound...

21st April 2007	#8
juicylime Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 804 Thread Starter	I know what you mean about that song Save Tonight. This chord progression has been used in alot of songs but combined with the acoustic sound it definitely is reminicent of it. I wish it wasn't though, oh well!! I've done some work on the vocals. I even re-did the verse vocals with a different mic (a Blueberry, compred to an AKG C3000b for the rest, much better!). I also got rid of the crappy synth string sounds and tweaked the mix a bit. Here's a link to the newer version: Box.net - Free Online File Storage, Internet File Sharing, RSS Sharing, Access Documents & Files Anywhere, Backup Data, Share Files