just looking for a second opinion

[Pyro Z]

I'm working on an artist's acoustic project right now and I was looking for second opinions about the style of the mix for a particular song. It is MEANT to be simple. Organic. Fluid. Natural. ...etc. Nothing too fancy. This isn't a busy mainstream mix heavily slammed with compression. This is like the antithesis of that.

Specifically, what I'm looking for is not an opinion of quality, though that's always welcome. Rather, stylistically, what do you think of the work? Is it too boring? By going for this rich, but acoustic sound, a few things are easy to notice.

1. There isn't a ton going on. Simplicity doesn't necessarily have to mean uninteresting. So I want make sure I'm hitting the right "chord" with the listener. All it takes is that perfect reverb on Dark Side of the Moon to make even the least complex passages beauty. You get the idea.

2. The stereo field isn't terribly wide. This is fine for some songs, but others really do benefit from double-tracking, panning, chorus, true stereo miking, etc. I was thinking about doing an X-Y on the guitar at the very least. But I'm not really sure yet, it's still a work in progress.

3. She doesn't have perfect pitch (who does?). But the off notes are semi-consistent and I almost like the tone it adds to the darker side of the sound. Plus it's supposed to be acoustic and natural, right? How do you feel about pitch correction on an acoustic record? On one hand, it means the trouble parts stick out more (the main reason I'm even considering it). But on the other hand, well....everything else I already said.

4. The record is pretty dynamic. I'm curious how people feel about the variance in volume. I like it, but certain speakers don't seem to handle it quite as "smoothly" as I would like. Obviously I can only test so many systems, though. It's also a matter of taste. You want a comfortable average volume, which is part of the point of compression....if it isn't abused. But again, I'd like to leave it pretty natural unless it really needs it. So it's a careful balance I have to strike. Other people's opinions over their own speakers can help me with that.

Thanks for any input in advance.

http://soundcloud.com/pyromaniac-record ... emp-tattoo



~Seth

[cacti]

if it were me id put at least a bit of compression on it as well as to get the singer to do another take (no offense) it just sounds like shes mumbling through the whole thing, get her to enunciate. Also, pitch correction might be in order.

[Pyro Z]

We'll likely re-record everything. It was a rough take, which is something I always do to get a feel for what I want the track to be before I tell an artist to give it their all. Hopefully I don't need to explain the logic behind that. Again, basically what I'm looking for is ideas for how to make an interesting recording out of something that is naturally simplistic. I felt kind of restrained with my options even though I like the material. There's a reason you don't hear many songs on the radio without drums, you know? In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins originally had none at all...and look what that turned into. In this kind of work, the guitar really needs to assume the role of dictating the rhythm. The artist is awesome live. I'm much less worried about being able to capture good source material as I am about keeping the listener engaged sonically, which is something I don't have much experience with when dealing with so few instruments.

[Pasha]

Less is more. I believe in this. I like the genre. Pitch needs to be corrected in the final take.
Record as much vocal tracks as you can and then mix/cut/assemble them to perfection to avoid using
autotune like fx which I dislike. Sonically the song 'triggers' emotions, at least for me good vibes.
Don't get worried about having less tracks. IMHO when they sound good who cares how many tracks they were?
Acoustic Guitars in my experience are less likely to be in perfect pitch 100% of the time (maybe I've used
cheap guitars only) but that slight detune gives the magic. So I would record Guitar in stereo if that
will be the cornerstone of the song. You can add some percussions later but be aware not quantize too much
better if you record them in real time with real percussions (I think the Shaker egg is right).
Just my 2 cents. Good Luck!

- Best
- Pasha

[JoshR]

I think there's a bit too much reverb on the vox, but that's totally a matter of taste.
The intro could be shorter. It's not like that riff doesn't get played a lot - there's no chance of the listener missing it.

[anybody human]

Check out the new Sound On Sound podcast, they respond to a reader question about how to get pitch correction to sound more natural. This is an excellent magazine and podcast btw. One thing they emphasize is to set the pitch time/attack slider to atleast halfway so that the pitch correction doesn't happen too fast. That way the bend up into to note that singers always have is preserved and the pitch correction just gently nudges the main body of the long held note into place.

http://www.soundonsound.com/podcast/sos_podcast.rss

It would be a touchy thing to apply correction to that vocal, but maybe that's what it's for. If you do end up using it either only have it on the chorus or have different settings for verse & chorus (so that's it's barely happening on the verse). Doesn't hurt to try it out, it does kinda need a nudge but if it doesn't sound natural don't use it. I assume retracking it isn't going to affect the vocal that much, it sounds like that's just the way she sings, but the closer the performance the easier to pitch correct. The track sounds pretty darn good. If you want to widen the mix maybe try reverb or delay with %100 width with the effect low enough in the mix that it can't really be heard. Gotta go to work, good luck on the mix.

Edit: I almost never ever use pitch correction but this might be a (tricky) case for it.

[yearlongyeti]

As the song revolves so much around the guitar I think it needs to be sounding better. I would experiment with mic placement (especially if you have access to two mics) I'd also try different rooms to get a more natural reverb (who knows maybe the bathroom) the reverb and mic placement you have at the moment are setting off the fret noise, cool to have add roughness but I think it needs to be alot less.

[Pyro Z]

Less is more. I believe in this. I like the genre. Pitch needs to be corrected in the final take.
Record as much vocal tracks as you can and then mix/cut/assemble them to perfection to avoid using
autotune like fx which I dislike. Sonically the song 'triggers' emotions, at least for me good vibes.
Don't get worried about having less tracks. IMHO when they sound good who cares how many tracks they were?
Acoustic Guitars in my experience are less likely to be in perfect pitch 100% of the time (maybe I've used
cheap guitars only) but that slight detune gives the magic. So I would record Guitar in stereo if that
will be the cornerstone of the song. You can add some percussions later but be aware not quantize too much
better if you record them in real time with real percussions (I think the Shaker egg is right).
Just my 2 cents. Good Luck!

- Best
- Pasha

You noticed the detuning of the guitar? Very nice. I don't think people realize how much pitch is relative. If every note were to be sung "out of tune" by exactly 20 hz, there would be nothing wrong with it, it just wouldn't be in standard tuning. This track hasn't achieved consistency yet. But it will get better when we re-record it. I think I'm going to go with an M/S technique to get what I'm looking for.

[Pyro Z]

Btw, am I the only one who hates how you have to be careful to copy your text before you post? I wrote a really lengthy response and when I posted, it asked me to log in again. It sent me back to the writing window, I clicked post and it acted like everything was cool. Except somehow all of the text got deleted. Would've been fine except "back" doesn't exactly work on here.

Very frustrating.