[dorio]

I've been busy learning to mix since I really wanted to mix some songs I wrote and recorded before. I'd be very interested to hear some feedback on what's good or whats not from your perspective.

Songs:

-Tropical Dream #9
-Remembering (2009)
-Yes I remember
-You're Still Mine (New Mix)
-I'm Blind (Remix)

http://www.soundclick.com/dorio

Note that You're Still Mine was written by Brad and remember not to forget that I'm new to this game! Also the 46 seconds silence at the beginning of Tropical Dream #9 was not intended.

Cheers.

[pentatonicboy]

firstly, Tropical Dream is a great song. The strings clashing with those picked guitar notes is really unsettling and psychedelic... which kinda fits the lyrics. The busyness of the sound at first seemed to be a barrier but it works it a warped dreamlike way... then that last minute where it goes crazy is completely earned....

and oh! the 45 second silence was pretty cool as well actually ---> because i'd forgotten i'd downloaded it, then when this song started playing unexpectedly it was kinda spooky. can't really think of anything critical to say sorry, only maybe that the lyrics are hard to decipher - though that is another part of its charm so yeah... nice job.

[woggie]

i'm blind is easily your best song musically and for it's production value. unlike (you're still) mine the music is clear and shines nicely.

This post has been edited by woggie: 12 October 2009 - 03:39 PM

[Mantrasolo]

You're still mine - Heh, that sweet intro echoes of George Harrison's slides. The keys sound well played, but I can barely make out the vocals. There's a wobblyness of a heartbeat in the background every now and then, that's cool.
But the mix is really rough - as you know. Hard to comment. It sounds like it could be a great song.

Tropical Dream #9 - I too like the strings. The vocals are a bit hard to make out, kinda lo-fi. The acoustic guitar (?) drills on well in contrast to the strings. It sounds like a good song in just rough, rough recording outfit.

Remembering - More of that relaxed feeling, hinting a bit of Harrison. I'm very interested.
I like the groove, the bass and the drums. They are a bit far off in the mix. Again, I can't make out any vocals, but there's a hint of a melody. It sounds beautiful to be honest.

I realize you're just learning to mix. I, and I'm sure others here, will be around to help. It's a bit hard to comment on the songs with the rough mixes, but it definetly sounds like good songs. I would love to see these songs get a proper workover - no offense. We've all been there at the beginning. And I'm still learning myself.

What equipment do you use to record with, and what programs do you use to mix?

[dorio]

Glad you liked I'm Blind Woggie. It is my personal fave too but the challenge is I've got to do better than that so I am working on it.

Mantra some of the demos you heard were recorded some years ago with goldwav with a cheap mic (except for I'm Blind which I recorded with one tape recorder and was "cleaned" later by a sound engineer in a real studio) and I used them tracks for my mixing debuts with Mixcraft. I had a great time really. All I needed was to find a software I could understand.

You're Still Mine was the most time consuming for its made of many loops that had to be cut in the right places. I know its far from good because the vocals are not audible in the verses and the cuts are rough in some parts and the volume is blotted. The wurly keyboards are too damn loud. When they appear in the second section I've added some Chet Atkins arpeggios in the key of G and they may appear a bit off to the listener as for the long bass loop its here to mask the acoustic because it was off in some parts. I've tried a version without the pedal steel intro but the version with it is way better. It gives it the George Harrison's flavour I was looking for which is incredibly great.

Tropical Dream's 9 was my very first mix and I'm glad you liked it Pentatonicboy. Its just like you described Mantra: "good song in just rough rough recording outfit" since I mixed it with a five years old demo. The incredible thing is I was trying to mix it with the Night In White Satin's drums and bass backing track and to my surprise it worked mighty fine like if the song's melody was really meant to blend with the Moddy Blues stuff. Yes its my custom made acoustic you hear in there I know it sounds strange.

Had a great time mixing the two Remembering songs .I messed with keys tempo and pitch. I used backing tracks for drums and bass which included the mellow electric guitar and the rest is a mix of various sounds and my acoustic guitar. I think its better that the vocals are not heard very clearly which is why I decided to make a second part.

I've just bought one new mic which I used to re-record the updated Are You Experienced track. With the two Remembering its the only one I recorded now as opposed to the others that I recorded some years ago. Thanks for listening and to give me your opinion which is very valuable to me.

I dont think that there will be a proper workover regarding these mix. I may make some more experiments on You're Still Mine but I dont think I will re-record the vocals/guitar part since I have other projects like restoring more old demos recording new ones and doing abstract stuff.

[igorski]

Ooh! Dorio tracks! A quick listen in between jobs.

Remembering
I love this one. That organ, the wonderfully lazy drums, Hawaiian-esque slides. I don't think the voices were meant to be understood here, but are a touch of ambiance. Fits in my mind! I also enjoy the unsettling opening of what sounds like people in a windy open beach bar and then washes of water give way to the slide guitar and that gloriously chilled backing. There's some nice arpeggios breaking through here and there, yum!

You're still mine
Like Andy said, it sounds like it could be a good song (the Wurlitzer plays a chord scheme I'd happily associate with the song's title) but it's distorting all over your lyric (might be because at the moment I'm limited to thin laptop speakers), is it possible you'd revise this song on the vocal parts, even tough you mentioned you want to focus on other projects ? Pleeeeease ;-)

I'm blind
This one I love. The opening spoken word accompanied by the acoustic, the occurance of bird chirping. I don't know if you'd be offended by me saying this, but it somehow reminds me of a Syd Barrett recording, there's something in there that gives me the illusion of 'outer space psychedelia' hinted by nothing other than sounds of nature and pure, acoustic instruments. From a production point of view, it maybe annoying, but I love it when you open a verse singing those longer held notes to be followed by those loud bird chirps.

[dorio]

Cheers. That was cool Igor. Yes mixing is my new hobby now. Took me years to figure out how its done so you can imagine I'm thrilled. Got so much to learn it takes all my free time. I've got tons of lyrics that I meant to record but always lacked the motivation since I didnt know how to mix. And I really feel like writing new ones now.

I'm pleased that you and Mantra like the Remembering track its been the funniest one to do so far. I think you got the feeling of what I wanted to put in the intro with the sea the wind the rain and a beach. I've just mixed an abridged version for a website where the upload limit is of 4 MB.

About You're Still Mine the dilemma is I find it hard to sing it as convincingly as I did in the demo. I'm not into love songs much. I have mixed a new track with drums on top of the Wurlitzer and think it could be the one to sing on it whenever I have the inspiration.

Perhaps singing it in French would help (I dont know I've not tried yet.) I will also try to redo it from the demo reducing Wurlitzer volume as best as I can. Anyway rest assured I'd like to finish this so I'm working on it. I'm currently working on another oldie of mine mixing organ and tambourines.

I'm Blind sends a message of universal peace with the little birds that I borrowed from the Beatles Across the Universe intro (alt version you can hear in the rarities album) and the voice is a well known philosopher that came to say goodbye. Thanks for the kind words Igor.

Syd Barrett was one guy who had his own psychedelic vision of music. Even though I prefer Pink Floyd circa when Waters was boss I think that the albums circa Barrett were extremely delicate and I appreciate them much more now than I did then but I reckon the comparison you made was based on his solo work and I think that in itself could be the best compliment I ever had regarding that song. Really.

PS: Its a pity the embed SoundClick music players widget do not work here since it works in other forums.

[Mantrasolo]

Hey Dorio,
I've compiled some links that I've found useful at one point or another in my ventures. I still utilize these at times, and come back and brush up on some things when I've been out of it for too long. Maybe you'll find some of this helpful or a good read.


Recording electric guitar

Recording acoustic guitar

Bass guitar recording tips

20 tips on recording guitars

Mixing 101

Audiomelody articles - good reads!

Guide to compression

The project studio handbook

[dorio]

Thanks! There are gems. Would you mind to make one "recording and mixing guidelines" topic in the technical sound forum and I'll pin it.

[Mantrasolo]

Sure thing, Dorio. It's done.

[woggie]

20 tips on recording guitars

"If you have enough spare tracks, compile a 'best of' solo from multiple whole takes recorded on separate tracks. Hard disk recording is good for this as you simply cut and paste the sections you want to use. However, you can also compile on tape by bouncing the chosen sections to a new track. Compiling before adding delay or extra reverb will help conceal any edits."

i've done this a couple times and felt like i was cheating. now i don't feel so bad about it.

[Mantrasolo]

^ Yeah, I've done that too and felt guilty of "cheating", not just on solos either. But when you realize that the product you're gonna release needs to be the best you can offer, there's no same in it. After all, studios have been doing it for years; looping, cutting n' pasting, etc. etc.

[thehundredthone]

I think as long as you don't use it to make music that's actually beyond your ability it's okay to want to have a perfect recording, and use multiple takes to achieve the same.

[w00dy]

even if you create music thats way beyond your ability to play live, in studio - so what, big whoopie poo arse. as long as your not pretending your some kind of uber genius; phil collins says the tracks his last album would be imposible to play for a human even though they sound 'like' a rock band - britney spears happily admits she'll only preform a couple of live songs on her tours and syncs the rest - the beatles set the bench mark when they stopped touring because they couldnt recreate the studio sounds live (even though the audience couldnt hear them anyways cos of all thier screaming. integrity 1 blatant commercialism 0! yay). everyone knows/expects a studio album to sound different to a live gig, if a couple of copy & paste edits create in me, as a listener, a before unknown high - then melodyne away. if i went to a gig and felt as though i were trying to be decieved with audio plastic, i would however be less than happy. ohw thats turned into a bit of a rant, soz dorio

tropical dream #9 - i like this kinda groovey laid back vibe mixed with k.i.w.s. it could really work well capturing the mash up vibe (thats too easy to dismiss as computer mangled tosh) and re-working it for folks like me (who were really annoyed that werewolves of london never got a mention but everyone was like 'ohw sweet home alabama, i love that riff'). your vocals really got lost though, and they didnt really stand out much just against your acoustic so when the flutey sounds start youve got no chance. you should be compressing moodys track lots more (to hint and suggest the m.blues rather than to overpower) but the vox will still want bringing/eq'ing forward imo. btw is pepperland in france by any chance?

remembering - sounds lovely, i really like the albertrosesque guitar (makes me want to send a drawing in to tony hart) but really sadly the vox is bearly audiable. personally i ditch the seashore breaking wave intro (coz im crazy man) but keep the rest of the environmental sounds and use a loop of the original vox to segway the music from silence. and i'd want (but sadly not get, coz hey im as amature as any one else here) a louder female main vocal alongside yours (which i'd keep as a bed, but a touch louder, coz it sounds so abiguously nice). but to be frankly honest, this is a nice listen without any vox

im blind - youve obviously seen theres loads of mileage in this song from the number of versions youve got - it really is lovely, and a shame the produced edits got such an alien feel (in comparison to the lace-like delicacy of the guitar) to the percusion track. of the couple of songs of yours ive listend too this is well my favourite. in the remix version i would lower the vol on the birdcall and intro it with the babys' gurgling (as so not to make it so startling - it really makes you jump when it first happens) the vocals still sound too far away (ive bought an se reflexion screen, coz i thought it would help me with that problem. which it has a little but eq and reveb use helped more) but despite that, this is the best version of the song if not the best mix (imo of course).

ive really enjoyed this wee trip into dorioland

This post has been edited by w00dy: 24 October 2009 - 06:35 AM

[dorio]

I put myself in the place of the listeners when I mix cauz they're the ones who will listen. I want them to have a good time and above all make it all catchy enough to make them want to listen again. And again. But its not easy at all. Yeah I know I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one. Speaking of copy/paste cut/paste I start to do that a lot but its all in the experimental stage.

As I said the demos you heard were recorded with one cheap monitor mic and I mixed them with good quality backing tracks so no wonder my voice isnt loud. You gave me ideas about Tropical Dream. I will do as you say I'll do it again with a sound reduction where needed. Wont be easy either.

And I agree Remembering could do with a female vocal part. It could be arranged but I rarely meet women who can sing. About the live thing I guess I dont have to worry about it. If I ever play live its gonna be my songs I do on acoustic and as no one knows them its ok.

I have a couple of new mix where my voice is more audible and they're very short as opposed to Tropical Dream #9 and Remembering which are long: they're called Are You Experienced (again) and Helpless Man. Well its going slowly but surely. My only regret is I should have started sooner.

PS: If Pepperland was in France thats where I'd be right now, mate.

Cheers!

Oooh I didnt see your comment on I'm Blind. Thanks again for the input w00dy. I really appreciate it.

[marryfoxgirl]

no weather station or webcam. It has been raining steadily during the past 2-3 hours, but not a down pour. Quite typical for tropical depression conditions, really. The winds are picking up a bit as well. Id guess 15 mph or so at this point.
_______________________________________
Website I developed for pay day loan company.

[w00dy]

hello? posts like that on a frenchmans website could make an englishman very suspicous indeed.

haha

[Mantrasolo]

He's out of touch, advertising in a not so crowded part of the forum. *rolls eyes*

[waz416]

im gonna listen to "tropical dream".......recording quality is a bit lo-fi....yikes teh drum sounds out of time there.....this is pretty much un-listenable man.......I can hear some cool ideas tehre....but teh execution is just really a big letdown.....i like when the whole orchestra/choirs come in....much better........i would totally work on ur recordign techniques........heck Ive posted worse I know...hahaha.......good ideas...just need to polish it......PEAC EOUT

[dorio]

And what did you expect??? As noted its my very first mix. I've learned a couple of tricks since then.