Please give a listen and critque recording

[mattmclean024@y]

Hi-

I finally finished a couple of tracks. All recorded and mixed in my small studio apartment. I used Logic,minimal mics and a few basic plug-ins (urs, abbeyroad limiter Wave Arts Final Plug).
Please give a listen and point out the most noticable flaws. I tried to do some type of mastering myself and I'm worried that I squashed it too much. Any comments would be very, very helpful.

Thanks!
Matt

It's too big to upload here. Please visit: http://www.myspace.com/electricneighborland

[poncival]

reminds me of Walt Mink. Sounds pretty good, sounds better than most myspace stuff anyway! Nice job

It might be a little too squashed, maybe try to make your limiter release time quicker and raise the threshold a bit, this kind of music seems like it could use a little more breathing room, it rocks on its own, and especially on myspace it seems to me like it's better not to hit the limits of the medium so hard, maybe upload a less limited version where the peaks are loud but the average is a little lower, it should sound less "crammed" into the myspace player

Love the distorted rhodes by the way, "One Year" is definitely more my speed

[PistolP]

like the track! it's cool. what is this rhodes (the real thing???). I love that sound.

Originally Posted by poncival

It might be a little too squashed, maybe try to make your limiter release time quicker and raise the threshold a bit, this kind of music seems like it could use a little more breathing room,
Love the distorted rhodes by the way, "One Year" is definitely more my speed

first thing I wanted to say as well. little less limiting.
onether one would be to play around with stereo. less in verses more in choruses.
don't know if it is a great example for you but listen to Pink. Her stuff is very cool in this mono/stereo regard.

[mattmclean024@y]

thanks for the comments!

I like Walt Mink a great deal - a band that never got its due. Have you heard about the documentary soon to be released about them? http://waltminkthemovie.com


thanks again, i will incorporate some of those ideas.

(oh ya, it's a real rhodes)

matt

[DeeDrive]

cool songs, are the drums programmed? if so, what did you use?

I wish I could give advice on the recording, but I'm listening on some cheesy earphones. Sounds very decent on ear buds though.

[mattmclean024@y]

the drums are real. I'm bangin' away on an old Ludwig set.

[DeeDrive]

Originally Posted by mattmclean024@y

the drums are real. I'm bangin' away on an old Ludwig set.

Ok, listening on big speakers, they do sound real on second thought.

Really cool songs, I wish more people were trying to do something so creative with their music. Very nice key and vocal arrangements.

[Axiomhead]

Nice stuff.... Sounds good on these laptop speakers


I dig it.

[rwhitney]

Like the songs and vocals a lot (nice double-tracking skills). I esp. like Forget Me. Deserves better production, real instruments, etc.

[mattmclean024@y]

Ross-

Everything on Forget Me is real except for the strings. Do they sound ridiculously fake to you? it's just a GPO Solo String patch. What else sounds not real?

[mattmclean024@y]

oops. the piano also. NI Akousitc. It leaves a lot to be desired I know

[rwhitney]

Originally Posted by mattmclean024@y

Ross-

Everything on Forget Me is real except for the strings. Do they sound ridiculously fake to you? it's just a GPO Solo String patch. What else sounds not real?

Yes, the strings are the main thing. I don't know what to recommend since I haven't found synth strings I liked, though I haven't tried the big names like Garriton and Vienna. I will. But those sound terrible to me.

The piano is far less aggregious, but it does sound pretty fake. The main piano sounds better than the little overdubs, to me. Have you tried the Ivory collection? I just got it and am not completely sure, but I do think it's pretty good. (I used it on the post "Look Ma, I'm Elton John" on this forum) I didn't like the demos of Akoustik, or whatever the NI thing is, when I tried it out.

Your drums sound Perfect! I love that drum sound. Don't sell that set, it's great. Is that a glockenspiel in there, as well? I don't know if I like the myspace compression, but I do like the compressed sound on this in general (and I'm very anti-over-compression). Very Beatlesy, which I like.

[mattmclean024@y]

thanks for the comments Ross. Ya, I'm thinking about sucking it up and buying the Vienna Strings. I'm a woodwind player so I'd like to start adding some strings to flute and bass clarinet. I don't think sampled strings will every meet my standards though. I'm ultimately going for something like Sufjan Stevens. Still trying to figure it all out.

BTW - the piano overdubs is actually a real Wurlitzer. i worry that it might not have the right vibe for the song.

matt

[rwhitney]

No, the wurlitzer sounds great. There was a spot early on that I thought was supposed to also be acoustic piano, but that's not the case. I love the wurlitzer sound, and I think it's absolutely perfect for this song. I think it's mixed a little too up-front and thick in relation to your voice, for my taste, though.

[DeeDrive]

Originally Posted by dim light

Man please can't u upload mp3 here - it's impossible to listen to the damn myspace compression.

agreed. It's hard to give advice on mixing listening to a compressed version of a compressed mp3.

[mattmclean024@y]

Originally Posted by DeeDrive

agreed. It's hard to give advice on mixing listening to a compressed version of a compressed mp3.

Ok, I've made some changes and bounced smaller version of Forget Me.
Here it is:

[mattmclean024@y]