"Here Am I" - My latest song, opinions wanted

[mhoffman]

Hello All!I finished writing/recording/and mixing my latest song. All opinions wanted and welcome. And thank you for taking the time to listen! "Direct hi-fi song link"http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplaye ... &q=hi"Song List Page"http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemus ... dID=670878

[dgolding]

Howdy, my input is concerned with the production aspects of the song, it sounds like the arrangement is pretty much nailed.If it we're me, I would:Change the snare drum. In a couple of places the snare sounds fine, like right at the end, for example. Most of the time tho, it's just too dull.Some nice guitar playing, but it sounds like DI'd guitar, no punch or dynamics to the sound.Try moving the instruments around in the stereo field, it may help give them more definition.I'd like to hear the vocals a little more prominently in the mix. Its often hard to understand the words.Have you run it through something like T-racks? Maybe that would bring out some definition.There's a timing issue around 0:17- 0:24, probably due to the slow attack on the low strings.Did I mention that i'm a control freak? I'm really not trying to be negative, but I think with a few tweaks the song could sound a whole lot better. At the moment, it just doesn't leap out at the listener.Nice work, and best of luck with it.

[jeffe]

I agree that the vocals need to come forward a bit, and also they need to be harder and more emotive. The music's a bit choppy at the beginning but apart from that, I like the guitar. Not a bad song overall. It's difficult for me to judge any religious type songs because I don't tend to write anything like that, or listen to it much either. So I looked at it as a song minus religious aspects.

[paulallen]

mhoffman,hi! my comments will have two components:1) my opinion of the song, and1) the recording!!Song: I like the song! Having said that, I gotta say that...The Recording... doesn't seem to bring out all the potential of the song!To my (hypersensitive) ears, it's true that it sounds that I'm listening to a band that has the vocalist placed IN THE BACK behind the entire band... as if you were standing behind the drummer and his drumkit!I dunno if it has to do with the fact that it may be an mp3 file I'm listening to, but to me:-the high frequencies sound awfully muzzled, as if there's not much in the 10,000 and upwards range...-it seems the middle frequencies are kinda overboosted, but by contrast...-I'm not hearing anywhere near enough bass! It's almost as if there's NOTHING in the 50Hz-100Hz range! Well, that's what it sounds like to me......but definitely nothing that some tweaking can't fix!!Good luck to you!!

[mhoffman]

Thank you for responding everyone. At this point my studio setup is exceedingly simple and low-budget. Here's some details of what I use for recording (at this point, that is)"Studio" - Guitars > Boss GT-8 processor > Presonus firebox > PC > Sonar 6 PE"Vocals" - I use an MXL microphone connected to the firebox for vocals (and now acoustic)"Drums" - I use drum loops and single hits from Smartloops.comDGOLDING: The drum track is a mix of purchased and free drum loop tracks of differing recording sessions and most all transitions are constructed of single instrument hits pasted into a precussion track. I'd like to have more control over the segments of the drum track, but at this point I don't have a way to break-out each piece. You have good ears, yes, the guitar is direct-input into the presonus via the Boss GT-8. The boss has a selection of digital pre-amps in it, but it just doesn't sound like a mic'ed amp. I will look into more stereo fine tuning as you suggest.-Vocals- This is an interesting matter. "Here Am I" is the first song I've ever included a vocal part. I've never sang in a recorded song before, and so my technique is certainly lacking. My main goal was to "get the concept down" so perhaps one day my vocals will actually improve, or a professional will sing the song. Again, your ears are sharp. I do, indeed, have a timing issue at 0:17. I originally tried correcting this by snapping the midi events to specific beats, but I'll probably just re-record the low string and cello parts. Thanks for noticing that!I appreciate you flexing your "control freak" muscle. It reveals details I just wasn't aware of. Great advice thanks!JEFFE: Thanks for the feedback. I like your recommendation about 'harder' 'emotive' vocals. I will need to learn more techniques of singing (I quite enjoy being behind the microphone. Quite a change from being a guitar player only).Don't worry about not having input about the religious aspects of the song. I try to keep away from religiousness myself and tend (hope) that my music comes across as authentic and spiritual. Simple message, simple faith. Again, thanks for the response and suggestions!PAULALLEN: Some of you folks on the forum have a great deal of experience. Honestly, I don't have much experience with the technical side of audio engineering. I'm certainly learning a lot as I go and appreciate the "Hz" recommendations. Now I just have to find out what that means in my DAW. Also, some of your comments can be addressed by the brief list of recording equipment I put at the top of this post. At this point, I can't get the song much better (production wise) than it is. In time with experience and improved recording equipment, I know production will improve. Thank you for your response!

[mhoffman]

Well, I finally finished a total remix of, "Here Am I". Changes are based on Taxi.com posts as well as a cakewalk.com forum thread of the same song. Listed below are the modifications I have made: Removed FxChorus from bass. Adjusted level. Drum-loop1:FxEq modification raised 40hz a bit to accentuate kick, raised 20kHz to accentuate snare, removed unneeded fill loops. Vocals: Removed compressor and EQ from vocal stereo bus, added Vintage_channel "M-S Air Exchange", adjusted L/R lead/harmony tracks. Master: Removed compressor from Master Bus. Kick Drum: Modified seperate kick drum track FxEq - Raised 40hHz and 80Hz, raised volume 1dB, panned 25% left. Cymbals: Volume up 1dB, Eq up 8k-16k, pan individual cymbal hits 20-75% L/R. Toms: Pan 15-60% L/R, volume up 2dB Snare: Added FxEq with preset, "Snare Drum - Bottom/Top boost", volume up 1dB Intro lead guitars: Added vintage_channel VST to each, removed FxEq, adjusted L/R pans. Acoustic Rhythm: pan 3% left, Removed FxEq, added Vintage_channel "Master Mix", adjusted volume Lead Guitar(s): Panned L/R more, added (again) Vintage_channel...... Midi strings: Corrected a timing issue at 0:17 ....... And many MANY little tweaks and adjustments between....... Please give it another listen and let me know how it sounds now. I ALSO added another song to my page with the previous version for comparison. THANK YOU! Matt

[stickinsound]

all in all ,the song is pretty cool. having come from using sonar i can relate to what your dealing with as far as mixing and production tools. which is where i feel this tune is lacking. it could realy be a kickin tune if done right. where r u from ? maybe i could lend some assistance with the production and atleast show you what i'm hearing as far as a mix. not that what im hearing is or will be any better then what youve done , just as a different approach. if your not interested thats ok as well just thought it would be cool to work on thats all.

[mhoffman]

Thanks Stickinsound. It truly is in the production category where this song needs the improvement. Otherwise it is an awesome song in it's structure and concept. I'm a songwriter/performer first and the production stuff is more of a necessity rather than a passion for me.I'm hoping that if I get my song ideas recorded to the best of my ability, that one day they can be re-produced in a studio setting with professional engineers and producers. I've got so many ideas in my head that spending too much time on the production side steals time and inspiration from the music. Nonetheless, all of the comments and suggestions have been invaluable since I'm doing all aspects of song recording myself. Thanks for your offer to help in the production side. I'm on the west coast and it looks like you're on the east. Quite a distance. I'll keep posting my new songs and any suggestions you have will be very welcome. I'm also VERY active in the www.cakewalk.com "Song" forum. My name there is Asherlongley, if you ever get a chance to check out the threads there. Best wishes, Matt