Hi all! Just wanted to get your opinions on this mix I'm working on, and to ask a favor from all who have time to participate:
Part of the production team is saying there's trouble understanding the lyrics in the chorus, but everyone else can hear it just fine. Again, we've heard it quite a bit, so we may be biased, which is why I'm here. If you could type out what you think the lyrics in the chorus are, that would be wonderful.
Also, any general comments about the mix would be appreciated as well. Thanks!
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Really appealing sound and sensibility, on the whole. I give those features an A-. Vocal intelligibility, meaning intelligibility of lyrical content - gets a D+.This is not only the BGV, but more than occasional for the lead vocal. Only you can decide if this matters, of course. Think of the hits we've had over the years with lyrics that were not understandable, or those hits whose lyrics were clearly articulated but it would have been better if we couldn't have heard them so clearly. You may not be old enough to recall "Sad preacher nailed upon the color door of thyme" like I do, but the principal holds.
It's actually quite important for the placement of this song commercially. Could you be more specific with the issues you had with the vocals? I'm anxious to see what I can do to tweak it and such. I've lowered the lower chorus BGVs to make the chorus clearer, and would love to do some more tweaks before rendering the premaster again. Thanks!
Were the chorus singer tracked individually? If so, consider vocalign. Also pull some low mids out will of the BGV will help. Bottom line: I could understand 1 of 3 words.
Yes. I took out some low mids already, but took it even further this time. I also aligned the vocals so it's less washy. Lemme know what you think of this one... Thanks!
I only really messed with the first chorus, as if that doesn't work, we're going to have to retrack/rewrite. Lemme know what you think. Thanks again!
This is considerably better. Can you post a high quality mp3 or mp4 file here on GS, directly? The Soundcloud playback exhibits what I suspect are telephone-line compression artifacts, as a property of Soundcloud file handing, that are very apparent during the ac gtrs intro. Let's be sure it's a Soundcloud problem we're hearing, and not a problem in your content.
But your edit makes the vocal content quite a bit better.
This file sounds fine wrt compression artifacts. I now hear that garble compression artifact was most pronounced on the most stereo aspects of your Soundcloud file. Since your acoustics at the intro seem nearly hard panned, they garbled, but your lead vocal (panned center) was much less affected. I had not before noticed this relationship, although I often hear dreadful results coming from the Soundcloud server.
In any instance, your file sounds quite good, with a natural space, good timbres, and good dynamics. I hope you'll be able to preserve those things come mastering time. And again, while this struck is never going be to be required reading for an Annunciation Seminar, I think you've cleaned it up a good bit. I probably understand most of the words now.
Thanks a bunch John, I appreciate your input! I wish somebody else would chime in with their thoughts hahaha. The unfortunate part of this setup, is that I (definitely NOT an ME) have to get the tracks to commercial level, while having no real mastering equipment/plugs etc. I have a couple, but I definitely haven't honed those skills... Do you have any tips for getting more 'polish' and 'finish' without having to send it in to master? We have ridiculous time constraints, and the way this is set up doesn't welcome outsourcing to master... Doesn't have to be platinum-quality; Just good enough to be on TV/radio/etc. and heard. If that makes sense.
The mix sounds good to me as well however I feel you could slightly automate the lead vocals and maybe back of the backings just a bit. It seems as to much of an impact to me when everything suddenly widens. It might be personal taste but I said I'm gonna give you a different opinion.
Otherwise I like the sound and the dynamics very much.
You could alternatively try a tad more compression on the lead vocal to bring it up front but my guess is a a couple dB's of volume boost will do it. Or just try a parallel compression technique for the vocal line.
It has a parallel track. The vocals were a bit inconsistent. We thought we weren't gonna be able to get the vocalist to come back to do some retracking. It seems as though she's available tonight, so we're gonna try a little less head voice, and a little more timbre, and see how that works out. Thanks for your input!
Hi all! Just wanted to get your opinions on this mix I'm working on, and to ask a favor from all who have time to participate:
Part of the production team is saying there's trouble understanding the lyrics in the chorus, but everyone else can hear it just fine. Again, we've heard it quite a bit, so we may be biased, which is why I'm here. If you could type out what you think the lyrics in the chorus are, that would be wonderful.
Also, any general comments about the mix would be appreciated as well. Thanks!
jrhager84,
Very good mix. sounds warm clear all around. Yes the vox is very hard to understand. Most of it is due to performance. I think a little low mid boost might be okay, but just a little. Bring the highs down just a touch with a gently curve on the eq. Then compress a little and use a vocal rider or fader automations. Spread the two tracks at about 20 or 30% on each side and float the vocals just above the mix. This should give the listener a sense of being right next to the singer. Just my two cents.
Thank you very much Sold Soul! We had the vocalist retrack the verses, and did a rewrite for the chorus. I'm not a huge fan of the new lyrics, but I'll have a side by side in here, and see who prefers which. Thanks again for all the feedback!
Working on it right now. The vocals sound weird. I'm thinking her voice was feeding back the mic at certain frequencies. It's weird. Almost sounds like a megaphone at times, and it's nowhere *near* peaking.... *scratches head*
This track is going to be the death of me... hahahahahaha
I'd stick with the original performance. If the track were mine, I'd go from you "old version with tweaks" and ride the group fader of the BGV of the chant parts, with the goal of bringing them up. I refer here to the BGV excluding the 'dog barks, part surfacing at about 2:05 and panned right. Honestly I think you've probably made this nearly as good as it will get, and I don't think the retracing did anything but trade one problem for another, as it so often does.
I agree with John. The original tracks have a uniqueness that is missing in the retakes. The flow of the chorus felt so natural in the original. I don't think you've gained anything from the new chorus. There is more clarity in the new track, but that airy whimsical feel is lacking. Of coarse if you hadn't A/B'd it we might not have noticed but I do like the first one better.
Agreed. We actually liked the last part of the phrase "Life and Love" in the second take, so we made a hybrid. I'm still working on it, but we decided to go with the original in this sense. Thanks for the feedback guys! I was hoping I could get more ears in on this, but you guys are certainly a great help anyways!
Yes, a good hybrid it is. May I request again a direct file posting, rather than the Soundcloud processing? I'm tempted to point out a few sibilants in the verse lead vocal, but they may not be so present outside the Soundcloud artifact (or they might be more evident). They need attention as I hear it now.
Lots of good stuff here - got sync written all over it!
I've only listened to the latest version:
The vocal was a little buried at times and listening on earbuds, the bass was appearing for some notes and disappearing which causes the whole think to lose momentum. Suspect the piano and the bass guitar aren't playing together too well... I'd be carving out a fair bit low-mid piano once everything's up and running - this song has got to bounce along and both the piano and the bass can contribute to this is they're put into their own spaces.
I think some judicious eq all round would improve the clarity issues.
Also the opening guitar sounded like it was using di (?) at least in part. Or maybe some eq fixes required. Also it didnt sounds particularly well played which wouldn't matter elsewhere but since it's the first thing you hear it doesn't set things up exactly how you want!
Hope some of that help - it's got heaps of commercial potential IMHO so will be worth any efforts to improve.
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By the way, I've had this song stuck in my head for several days now. I write and perform progressive hardcore metal, but this song makes me want to skip through a field of flowers!!! Great job!
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