Off Topic Band's New CD...

[Butch Snyder]

My band is working on a new CD and I would like y'all to give a listen and a critique, if ya would, to one of the tunes. The mix is almost final; just a few more tweaks maybe (maybe not).

I appreciate any feedback....

Watchin' Over Me

 

[Butch Snyder]

I just got the mix today. I, myself, am not happy with it. From my perspective - Bass is too much. Electric guitar is too little. Drums could come up in the mix too...

 

[GHWelles]

My favorite part is the vocals on the Chorus.

Overall, the guitars sound thin. Except for the vocals and the bass, the whole thing sounds a little thin and dry. The vocals could use some compression.

For this kind of song, I would listen to some country rock songs on the radio and try and emulate that production style. Not really my thing but the sound quality and musicianship on those records is absolutely top notch.

 

[Butch Snyder]

My favorite part is the vocals on the Chorus.

Overall, the guitars sound thin. Except for the vocals and the bass, the whole thing sounds a little thin and dry. The vocals could use some compression.

For this kind of song, I would listen to some country rock songs on the radio and try and emulate that production style. Not really my thing but the sound quality and musicianship on those records is absolutely top notch.

I totally agree with you. It was recorded wiith my Morse guitar and the quality doesn't sound like my Morse at all.

Here's what I'm thinking....

The mixer - make all the eq flat to start get a good balance of all the tracks (listen at low volume to hear the balance) then try this.

Low cut filter on all the guitars at about 100Hz to 120Hz and a high cut filter at 11,000 khz.
Low cut filter on the bass 60Hz to 80Hz.
Low cut filter on the kick drum 40Hz.
Low cut filter on the rest of the drums 120Hz to 140Hz.
Vocals Low cut filter 120Hz to 150Hz.

Any keyboards a Low cut up to about 360Hz.

Then what ever we want to have pop out more weu can give a little eq boost.

What do you think?

 

[GHWelles]

Sounds good. I'd like a stronger midrange sound on the guitars

 

[Butch Snyder]

Sounds good. I'd like a stronger midrange sound on the guitars

And not as much buzzy distortion....

 

[lenny]

Just my opinion ...the intro is too repetitive ..24 seconds of the same thing ....i got bored before it started.....secondly the guitar is too chainsaw dirty....doesnt have enough girth to pop it out ...its not about volume ,it just doesnt seem to be beefy and its very harsh sounding ...Bass was very boomy no definition.....could you maybe change the key of the song for the singer?....he sounds a little weak, not in his ability..... but it seems to low for him to remain constant and not get pitchy... ...it seems he could sing it higher and be prettier ...its a VERY nice song ...and again just my opinion ....not being rude....thanx for the listen.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Just my opinion ...the intro is too repetitive ..24 seconds of the same thing ....i got bored before it started.....secondly the guitar is too chainsaw dirty....doesnt have enough girth to pop it out ...its not about volume ,it just doesnt seem to be beefy and its very harsh sounding ...Bass was very boomy no definition.....could you maybe change the key of the song for the singer?....he sounds a little weak, not in his ability..... but it seems to low for him to remain constant and not get pitchy... ...it seems he could sing it higher and be prettier ...its a VERY nice song ...and again just my opinion ....not being rude....thanx for the listen.

I hate my tone on that recording... Rude? Not at all - I asked for opinions and that's what I expect from this group. I consider myself an above-average player; but when the recording/production doesn't fair well, it's hard to see any talent; much less focus on it. Had I been involved in the production, things might have sounded differnent.

 

[beej]

Nice tune and good playing Butch! Yeah, I'd say the mix is a little thin as well. Mixing is not my forte, but sounds like you'll make it sound great with a little tweaking.

 

[agt]

Great song!

My observations:

The panning appears pretty hard: L, R or center. I would use the places between L and center and R and center more for some of the parts. It sounds kind of spaced out. No offense, but I liked it better listening in mono. Was a stereo expander used? If so, I would back it off a bit (just my personal preference).

As has been mentioned, the bass could be tighter. Less low lows and more upper lows.

I would have liked to hear background vocal harmonies during the chorus and elsewhere as the song progesses.

I would have liked to hear a synth pad in the background filling in some of the space.

The keyboard riff stands out. Maybe a different patch or lower in the mix?

Overall a great track. Just a few tweaks I would make.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Well, we are going to rerecord the song. The suggestions were to powerful to be considered as mere opinions. I am going to really hone the tone on this one. We will change the key as well. Thanks all for your feedback...