Phil O'Keefe: In The Studio Trenches

[Phil O'Keefe]

Well, here it is - the "official" share your music thread for The Studio Trenches.

A few guidelines:

1. Please restrict your submissions to this thread only.

2. Please specify what you want - if you're just showcasing your work, this is a good place to do that, but SPECIFY that or you're going to get critiques. If you're asking about the SONG, mention that or you're going to get comments about your mix. If it's production ideas you want, say so. If you're having problems with a specific part of the mix or instrumental timbre and you want to restrict comments to only that, tell us so! You get the idea...

3. When responding, please keep in mind what the poster was requesting and respond with that in mind. And PLEASE, let's keep it civil. Try to find something positive to say. No, don't feel like you have to kiss anyone's butt, but the tendency is to comment about what you'd do differently or what you didn't like - let's try to make an equal effort towards commenting on the things we DO like.

4. It might be wise to give us a general description of your level of professional involvement, experience level and gear you used. A person who is just getting started out on a 4 track and is doing it as a hobby shouldn't be held to the same sonic standards as someone who does it for a living and uses a Studer and a Neve. Please try to keep these things in mind when responding and be encouraging to those who are just starting out.

5. Do the right thing - if you want to submit, this is the place for it - but don't abuse it. If you want others to listen to YOUR submissions, you need to listen to - and comment on - their submissions. As a general guideline, I recommend you listen to / comment on three or four submissions from others for each submission of your own.

6. It might be a good idea to list the playback system / monitoring chain(s) you used for listening to a submission when you respond with your critiques and comments - that info could be helpful to the original poster.

7. Have fun!

[Caevan O'Sh!te]

Alright, I'm in!

I'm a TOTAL NOOB at recording, hard-disc/digital/PC-based or otherwise. I barely know how to do so with what I have. (I'll get around to that in threads with future questions, I'm certain.) I probably barely qualify to make sonic toast with the gear, hardware and software that I have.

That being said, "FWIW", here's my submission for critical and expert scrutiny, scrotiny, and suggestions afield:

"Soapbar Example"

Currently my sole postable/linkable mp3 (hosted by a good friend). Forty-odd seconds of two guitars (or rather, one guitar, twice), tuned to Open-D, originally done on-the-fly simply to give an example of P-90 "soapbar"-equipped guitars in action.

I won't bore you with any more mundane details unless they're requested.

I already have my own opinions about its artistic shortcomings, don't worry about sparing my feelings or anything! It's presented here both to start off kicking the ball around, and to get any and all actual useful information that anyone cares to throw my way. (READ AS: FREE EDUCATION) Be as critical as you want!

[Watershed]

Is that all there is? Sounds promising.... kinda reminded me of Mark Knopfler's Local Hero album.

Can't really comment too much without hearing more of it.

[alcohol]

Cavean,

I really liked it. I thought the sounds were well recorded.

I was wondering how you got that reverse guitar sound in the middle. Did you add the reverb later and then duck the primary sound? Was that studio manipulation?

[alcohol]

Here's a submission of something I did with my son's band, Moxie Fever. I'm going to remix this so any detailed comments or criticisms are welcome. The guitar effects at the end are a mistake, please ignore those.

Give Me The End

moxiefever.com

[Ivor The Engin…]

Here are three of mine

I'm most interested in what you think of the songs/performances, but in the context as if you think the mix (or lack therof) does them justice.

Note I'm using solely GarageBand 1 and only the pinhole mic of eMac to do the vocals... I DI'ed the bass and guitars; and the drums are samples/loops... The sparce keyboard/synth sounds are MIDI and weren't even played on a keyboard... they were played via mouseclick.

HOWEVER, I personally think despite all of these flaws and inadequate research, the product came out pretty good and "real."

Should add that vibe I was going for on these songs are more in the vein of underground New Wave rather than pristine/Grammy quality.

Thanks!!!

[rhythminmind]

well let me know what you guys think.. i'd like to hear some comments..

http://www.rhythminmind.net/temp/mp3/

[alcohol]

rhythminmind,

Ok, I'm ready to nitpick. I listened to several. I'm just going to pick on no. 5.

For this kind of music, I think the vocalist needs to be up front. Listening on headphones she sounds behind the guitars which seem to be getting the most attention. Also, the vocal sounds just a bit thin. With either EQ or a multiband compressor, I would bring up a bit of the lower mids jjust to take the edge off the sound of the voice.

The guitar solo was prominent to the right. So at that point the recording sounded lopsided.

The bass drum had the high end too overemphasized for my taste. It sounded like a snare except you heard it at all the usual BD spots.

The above comments were nitpicking, because I thought it really well recorded and I liked the music. Overall, I think the singer should have been up front in the mix instead of behind the instruments.

[rhythminmind]

thanks for the insight.. yeah we did some more mixing last night.. we brought the vocals up overall on a few tracks.. yeah my drum sound can seem kinda odd.. i'm using a strange kit setup and i'm playing with "hot rods" those sticks made out of dowels. allot of the MTV unplugged recordings had them.. I wanted something more organic.. funny i say that because i also used a 10" snare, not to natural sounding..

i'll post some new mixes after the next versions are finished..

[geek_usa]

Originally posted by alcohol
Here's a submission of something I did with my son's band, Moxie Fever. I'm going to remix this so any detailed comments or criticisms are welcome. The guitar effects at the end are a mistake, please ignore those.

Give Me The End

moxiefever.com

Great song!

Here's my notes as I'm listening...



Add some reverb to the snare, turn down that hi-hat just a tad.

Pan the guitars a little more...especially the solo...throw that in the right or left channel.

Around :27, where the vocals double, try using a drip of reverb to set them back in the mix and turn down the backup vocal just a little.


and oh man I love that auto-panned guitar around 1:30...that's so cool! Great job!

I think the whole mix could benefit from a little more ambience.


And as far as the effects at the end go, that would be an excellent opener for the next song in line (i.e. have this song end, and the song right after it start with those effects).


This is a superbly written song. Kudos to you and your son (and his band)!


I will probably critique more later. I've got a client here I've got to record so, I might be on a little later!



~Jared

[geek_usa]

Originally posted by rhythminmind
well let me know what you guys think.. i'd like to hear some comments..

http://www.rhythminmind.net/temp/mp3/

I'll do one more...


the only problem I see here, is the highs are way too overemphasized. My monitors are a bit on the bright side, but I think I've learned them now (which makes me sad; I JUST bought a new set of monitors too, so I'm going to have to start the process over again with those).

So even with my monitors being a bit bright, these mixes are still very bright.

I would back off the highs on all of the instruments (except maybe the vocals, but please do boost a little low end to make it sound more full).

Otherwise I think it sounds okay, and the snare has an excuse to sound that way, being a 10".

[fretless]

Originally posted by Caevan O'Sh!te
Alright, I'm in!

I'm a TOTAL NOOB at recording, hard-disc/digital/PC-based or otherwise. I barely know how to do so with what I have. (I'll get around to that in threads with future questions, I'm certain.) I probably barely qualify to make sonic toast with the gear, hardware and software that I have.

That being said, "FWIW", here's my submission for critical and expert scrutiny, scrotiny, and suggestions afield:

"Soapbar Example"

Currently my sole postable/linkable mp3 (hosted by a good friend). Forty-odd seconds of two guitars (or rather, one guitar, twice), tuned to Open-D, originally done on-the-fly simply to give an example of P-90 "soapbar"-equipped guitars in action.

I won't bore you with any more mundane details unless they're requested.

I already have my own opinions about its artistic shortcomings, don't worry about sparing my feelings or anything! It's presented here both to start off kicking the ball around, and to get any and all actual useful information that anyone cares to throw my way. (READ AS: FREE EDUCATION) Be as critical as you want!

this has a lot of promise I dig it

[younggunmn]

>>Caevan O'Sh!te
I really like it, partially because it reminds me of a song I wrote a while back Seriously, it's very well played, great articulation n the lead part, and I really like the volume swells. The only thing that really disappointed me was it was so short -- I wanted to hear more

Not sure if you recorded it direct in or through an amp, but next time you record it, you might want to mess with the EQ on the amp, and arrangements of cables, etc. to cut down on the buzz (in fact, if you have a CRT monitor and you're playing an electric guitar, you might notice increase buzz depending on how you're oriented relative to the screen). It's tough in a recording this 'quiet' because the noise can leap out more, but i think if you can cut down on it, it would really improve the 'mood' of your mix.

Nice job!

[younggunmn]

Originally posted by fretless
ok, warning 10 min. long :rolleyes:


I would love to know some pro vocal tips

Thanks
http://home.comcast.net/~scottjhayes/_drums3.mp3

I'm not really the best vocalist myself, so I can't help you much there. I think it sounds good though

I might add a little compression to the vocals, turn the overall level on them up just a little, and maybe turn the relative volume of the delay effect down a tad.

I like the song a lot

Matt

[fretless]

Originally posted by younggunmn


I'm not really the best vocalist myself, so I can't help you much there. I think it sounds good though

I might add a little compression to the vocals, turn the overall level on them up just a little, and maybe turn the relative volume of the delay effect down a tad.

I like the song a lot

Matt

Hey Thank you younggunmn , your opinion is most appreciated I will kick it around a bit .

[Ivor The Engin…]

thanks for all of the helpful insight.

[Brand0n1]

How's this for my SILENT recording studio.

http://blyons.homeip.net/newmix.mp3

Just a test demo to help me practice mixing in syth sounds cause they are so dry alot of the time and dont need lots of volume to be heard well.

Drums and synth are - Reason

Guitar and bass are direct into a - Line6 Guitar Port.

Recorded into a - m-audio 24/96

Tracked and mixed in - Sonar 4P

Mixed in cheap - AIWA headphones
(ganna get some $100 upgrades soon)

I'm just looking to see how it translates to quality monitors i know lots of guys around here have, and if they hear any red flags. Any input on how i might make things sound better would be helpfull..


Thanks in advance!

PS.
I understand the idea to get a central sample thread, but once it becomes 15 pages long no one will look at it anymore imo...

We shall see.

[Brand0n1]

Originally posted by Ivor The Engine Driver
thanks for all of the helpful insight.

I would say that when i was listening i just kept thinking that i'd start with the Kick drum, and maybe turn the guitar's down a bit.

The kick needs smoe help,, it has no punch at all.
I would do some EQ work to it.

Good stuff though!

[kaden]

Originally posted by Ivor The Engine Driver
Here are three of mine

I'm most interested in what you think of the songs/performances, but in the context as if you think the mix (or lack therof) does them justice.

Note I'm using solely GarageBand 1 and only the pinhole mic of eMac to do the vocals... I DI'ed the bass and guitars; and the drums are samples/loops... The sparce keyboard/synth sounds are MIDI and weren't even played on a keyboard... they were played via mouseclick.

HOWEVER, I personally think despite all of these flaws and inadequate research, the product came out pretty good and "real."

Should add that vibe I was going for on these songs are more in the vein of underground New Wave rather than pristine/Grammy quality.

Thanks!!!

Love the tunes! Let Me In sounds great! I wouldn't change anything about it. As always, your guitar tone is superb. Also dig the Love Experts material. Huge McGuinn fan!

[WFTurner]

A mellow new age influenced piece I just finished.

The Peace Of Reflection