Country Song advise needed

[Chris Parsons]

I'm not the most experienced guy (21 y/o) in the studio world so i'd like some advise about how these basic tracks sound. The guitar and bass will be reamped (they are just direct now). Mostly, id like input on the drums. The vocal is scratch with a SM58 so don't bother commenting on that :-)

I worry that the kick is a little to THWACK sounding.... maybe that's good I don't know...

here's the track:

Livin' it up

and this is a softer track, let me know what you think about the ac. guitar, and how "room-y" the drums are...

Lord please forgive them

thanks for you time.

[JKL]

I play a lot of country stuff (drums). A few things...
If you're intent on playing your own drum tracks (that is you,right?), then start practicing with the metronome. You have to really intend to smack them and get much more attitude when you play the part. The drums really have to be right on the money. I just listened again - your time is not bad, I think the playing just needs more attitude. I'll get into the sound/style more later, I have to get going, but will finish the post.

Jon

[Chris Parsons]

Actually i'm not the drummer, just the engineer. His time wasn't all that great but I will be doing some magic in DP to take care of that...

[JKL]

My bad Chris, I thought maybe this was a one man type production. As far as the drums go, I think it would be best to retrack to get a better sound. I think the problem with the drum sound is not with the recording, but with the drums themselves. Sounds like they are old heads or maybe too much muffling on the heads... or maybe single headed toms with too much muffling. Like a Hal Blaine "Three's Company" sound. Pretty out dated. The drums, to my ears, need to have a more open sound so one can hear the depth of the drum (toms especially). It also sounds like the drummer didn't really think his part through. Like is the backbeat gonna be on 2 & 4 in this section, or just 4, or whatever. Personally, I would have tried staying away from the cut time feel (backbeat on the "an's) at least until the end. That might give it a more contemporary feel. If you're interested on more details, I'll gladly give them, but at this point I don't know if a retrack is possible for you or not. If not, I could give some suggestions on slice/dice and maybe adding some dimension to the drum track as it is. I don't want to come off as a know-it-all, but this is one area I actually feel qualified to give a stronger opinion about.

Jon

[Chris Parsons]

well, retracking isn't an option. I might trigger some tom samples to get those sounding a little better (not replace but mix).

What about the kick?

[JKL]

I thought the kick was the closest to where it needs to be. Maybe carve a bit more flab off it to make it even tighter. Usually cutting in the 400hz area does wonders and don't be afraid to let the Q reach down into the 150hz area. You've probably already cut in that area but try a little more. Most of the chest thump comes from the 60-110 range (try boosting a little there). Anything below, especially if you're boosting, adds flab and eats headroom. It might not sound as groovy soloed, but it will punch through the whole mix. Every country tune I've listen to lately has a real contemporary drum sound that would work in a pop/rock tune as well. Tight punchy bass drum with a little nipple of boost in the 2-4k range for the defining click/slap sound. Try doing a similar carve job on the toms. Cut out the boxy mids and find where the bottom tone of the drum is and boost it just a bit - usually on toms it's gonna be in the 100-150 hz area. For attack, you can try boosting a small area in the highs, or even better mult them out to a compressor and smash so that only the attack is coming through, then mix in with the original sound. The mult trick works great for all the drums btw. Of course, after all the hot air I've just blown, it'll be hard to do this if the drums weren't tracked individually. It almost sounds like you used just a few mics for the whole kit???

Jon