50's doo wop, rock, ? comments please

[stoneagejim]

hi all,

just finished mixing an EP for a friend.

any comments on mix please.

Played mostly live, big room everything mic'd NO click.... great bunch..



Jim

PS they are called "barefoot smile" The Barefoot Smile on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

[stoneagejim]

wow! so many replies!!

thanks guys!...


makes me want to give some feedback.....


jim

[dmmiller612]

I am sure you will get different opinions from people who know more about sound than me, but I personally like how it sounds for the style it is. At first I wasn't sure of the beginning vocal part, but I think it fits well.

[Mark A. Jay]

thumbsup

Originally Posted by stoneagejim

hi all,

just finished mixing an EP for a friend.

any comments on mix please.

Played mostly live, big room everything mic'd NO click.... great bunch..


Jim

PS they are called "barefoot smile" The Barefoot Smile on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

I totally dig this. Love the tune, and the sound / production. Nice job.

[stoneagejim]

thanks mark,


its just an hobby now so comments are well received.

glad you liked the band,

best

jim

[Raven Nin]

Originally Posted by Mark A. Jay

thumbsup

I totally dig this. Love the tune, and the sound / production. Nice job.

Agreed!

[stoneagejim]

thanks mark!

but i cant believe that there are no critique??? come on im an amateur!

best

jim

[Zippo]

I'm no expert, nor am I a big 50's fan, but I love this tune.

I pulled it down and ran it thru a quick master and it turned out rather nice.

I know the song has an "indian" theme and the drums add to that, but I think they need to be pushed back a little bit in the mix as they are a little bit over powering.

That is about the only thing I can offer as a critique.

For what its worth, the town where I live was home to Charles Hardin Holley, better known as Buddy Holly, and there are still quite a few folks around here that listen to music from this time frame.

Very well done.

[stoneagejim]

hi zippo,

thanks v much,


interested in getting these mastered, the band have a pal that will do for free so we cant lose there.... but i am interested in getting these done "pro" i have some waves, soundtoys plugs but i am no mastering engineer. would be good to chat with someone regarding tracks... i will contact band and see what they have to say.


best

jim.

[j-madd]

Sounds real nice for premasters. I think you have done a good job. A mastering engineer worth his salt will find anything that sticks out ( I am listening on a cheap pair of dell comp speakers), but the mix sounds fine here.

Justin

[mrfairplay]

i do hip hop and R&B but i like this track mastering shouldnt be too hard it's clean already. you really brought something different to this forum we dont get to listen and critique this genre much and it was a pleasent change of pace! good show!

ReverbNation

[Dean Roddey]

I thought it sounds great. Personally, I wouldn't let anyone crush it to death. Are the kind of people who will like this the sort who really give a crap if it's massively loud? Probably not. I'm listening on small speakers, so hard to give too much feedback on the mix. I didn't find the drums too overpowering, but some of it may have been below these speaker's ability to reproduce. The performances all seemed good to me, understated in a good way.

[stoneagejim]

hi guys,

thanks for the feedback..

with regards to the overall loudness to track... i find myself doing same thing on the 2 buss every track.... i dont like pushing too hard as i always think that all the dynamics are lost but seem to lose some punch and loudness... altho i am also looking for a certain "gloss" as well.. would be good to watch a mastering engineer do his thing on a few tracks..

thanks

jim

[DavieB]

I'm loving the song but I have a few suggestions:

Drums are a bit intimate sounding, maybe more room ambiance and lower the hats and cymbals on the ending bit, also get some "resonance" on those toms on the verses; at this tempo you could get away with some ambiance to thicken up the fundamental drums, kick, toms and snare ...

The toms should be working with the bass ...

I think the guitar on the left might be a bit loud, or maybe the guitar on the right isn't loud enough ...

@1:26 consider muting the lead guitar until @1:30 cos it sucks; after that it's good and it will sound great with the harmonies coming in. It's too central in the mix ...

The guitars "pan" balance is off overall I think ...

@2:54 the vocal panning and reverb is a bit off putting, I like the idea, the call and answer thing but maybe too extreme, maybe move them slightly inside the left and right guitars ...

The vocal on the track needs to be more intimate, lay off the reverb a bit or kill the high end of the reverb...

The oooo wahhh oooo bits sound spot on...

Hats, cymbals, ride and crash are wayyy too loud and they ruin the mix... Is the shaker a touch too loud...?

[binarymilton]

Really like the mix in terms of tone and timbre of individual sounds.

You've captured a sound that would actually work really well for alt.country, americana or some indie bands too, if you ever felt like producing that kind of music...

[stoneagejim]

cheers guys... i have done another mix with suggested changes and i will send to band before i commit on here


best

jim

[loicwall]

Really liking the sounds you got here. My only comment would be that i think you could bring the gang vocals that are panned left up a few db without losing that sense of depth that you're going for. as it is the drums seem a little loud in that section. v nice work though

[stoneagejim]

well im really grateful that people have taken time to listen and give feed back.

im really happy for the band as well as they are such a great bunch of blokes... no egos or me me me...

from a small record label point view... would this be good enough to put out?

ive been recording for a good 10 years now. and only really started learning in the last 2... now i know that it takes time!

once again thanks for your time..

jim

ps... ive been returning the favour by listing to others work.

[Roman English]

awesome, sou

[stoneagejim]

Originally Posted by Roman English

awesome, sou

Thanks!

jim

[stoneagejim]

bump for a good track......


looks like this ones gonna be signed....

couple more mixes have been done and mastering is in the hands of a great guy.... so wish us luck



jim

[awkwarderic]

I dig this, but I would of cut some lows out of the vocals so they wouldn't compete with the other instruments( not a very much at that)

[Teddy Ray]

sounds good.thumbsup..they need a baritone and a bass though!!

[Toro]

Abbey Road 60's drums? or some kind of drum emulation? i'm listening tru my mac book laptop speakers so i dun know. I would turn the drums down, sounds like a Sting version of a 50's Doo Woop American tune.. good never the less yet a little to perfect and Karaoke like. If i was you i'll do need something drastic, like distort the bass or the kick and the vocals? add TONS of a good plate reverb, pan the drums to one side the bass the other? experiment dude!

[BarefootStudios]

its kind of hard to critique this... the song does not do much for me.. feels lifeless

[stoneagejim]

Originally Posted by BarefootStudios

its kind of hard to critique this... the song does not do much for me.. feels lifeless

well thanks for that. really helps.

jim

[stoneagejim]

Originally Posted by Toro

Abbey Road 60's drums? or some kind of drum emulation? i'm listening tru my mac book laptop speakers so i dun know. I would turn the drums down, sounds like a Sting version of a 50's Doo Woop American tune.. good never the less yet a little to perfect and Karaoke like. If i was you i'll do need something drastic, like distort the bass or the kick and the vocals? add TONS of a good plate reverb, pan the drums to one side the bass the other? experiment dude!

real drums, real player, no click, mostly live, another 2 mixes since the orig one i posted above.. very happy with it as is mastering engineer, band, etc...