PLEASE: Need your critiques for this song.........

[sgs4u]

Southpaw, you may think you are helping, but disagreeing with another poster's opinion of what to do is wasting your time. Say your piece because you've got great suggestions/ideas. Then let it go brother. Making some kind of generality about something that bugs you that people do here, reveals a part of your impatience. And isn't going to win you any friends, or favors. You could help without making a statement like "Paying attention to detail." That's not very specific, and impossible to use. Do you think he HASN"T been paying attention to detail yet? Really? McCanty, the vox are too loud. When you turn down the vox, what you need to do with the drums & guitars will become more obvious. They both need work. I would hound RLD for answers. He's just posted a pretty great snippet. And if you want to learn, he's a very focused human being, very used to helping people.

[mcanty]

Thanks everyone who has posted comments thus far. We have some common themes now about where to go with this mix. Therefore, I've taken down the links to the old and new mixes for now while we re-hash this one. Hopefully we will be able to post some results that are improved thanks to your feedback.Again, thanks to all. There's some really good feedback in here.

[southpaw]

Quote:Southpaw,Listen man, I wasn't asking for anything specific for the drums. I didn't think we were too far off on the drum sound. Vince from Ideascapes asked me in a previous post how I recorded the drums and he seemed to imply that he might have some specific suggestions if he knew what my recording method was. So if he has specifics for me based on that information, great. If not, no problem. I'll leave the drums as is for now. I don't think I'm wasting everyone's time by replying to a user's previous post.As for your suggestions for guitar sound and tone... We are currently working up some new mixes of the song that attempt to create the "massive, engaging and wide" guitar sound and body that you speak of. As for the bass guitar, yes there is one in the track. And on that point, It would be helpful for me to know what you are listening to this mix with? It will help me to determine if my monitoring solutions are overstated with the bass response. The bass sounds quite full and large with my monitoring setup. So I'm a bit perplexed that you don't hear the bass at all?Mcanty, i reread the thread and realized some of my comments were brash and tactless, i wont make excuses... So my bad. Quote:Southpaw, you may think you are helping, but disagreeing with another poster's opinion of what to do is wasting your time. Say your piece because you've got great suggestions/ideas. Then let it go brother. Making some kind of generality about something that bugs you that people do here, reveals a part of your impatience. And isn't going to win you any friends, or favors. You could help without making a statement like "Paying attention to detail." That's not very specific, and impossible to use. Do you think he HASN"T been paying attention to detail yet? Really? McCanty, the vox are too loud. When you turn down the vox, what you need to do with the drums & guitars will become more obvious. They both need work. I would hound RLD for answers. He's just posted a pretty great snippet. And if you want to learn, he's a very focused human being, very used to helping people.Steve, I dont mean to sound abrasive. I do struggle with impatience at times. It is one of my character flaws. Those who know me, know i help people out and mean well, but i am direct and sometimes sound like an A**hole because of it. I value the friendliness around here, and have met/worked with many great people on these boards. In all honestly, my music, and the positive attitude on this forum, are two of the biggest influences for me on maintaining an optimistic attitude. (may sound sad, but true.) I do believe that if i always 'went with the flow' though, i would not be a songwriter, and would especially not have very interesting experiences to share. I did have a point to make behind my original post tho. My underlying point may have not been clear, and masked by the tone in which it was presented. So let me elaborate on my genuine intent. We all have different skillsets, knowledge, tools, opinions, ears, i mean the list goes on and on here... There are so many variables within everyones individual production environment that it would be very hard to casually asses and diagnose the problems with someones mixwithout a long detailed list which makes it impractical to tell someone that if they just do this , then their mix will sound better.. I often hear around here, (in the review section) ''dont hold back, give me your honest opinions of how to improve my mix", and that's all that is said... Now unless we could afford to spend hours understanding what the person has tried, what they have to work with, what their level of experience is, what their goals are, etc. etc. I see the best way that i can actually give you a helpful suggestion is if you state specific things. (For example, "why doesnt the snare sound pop out more, ive tried this, my desired effect is this, any suggs?", things like this)Saying, can you give me 'mix tips' is just impractical and not enough to really be helpful in the feedback we share, or help we receive in return. I wouldnt have spent the time to write my sugg's out if i didnt want to help someone out and share what i know, but when im spending more time trying to give quality/useful feedback, than the person spends at explaining what they want to improve, then it just doesnt work. This forum is very unique in my experiences . With an obvious 'were all in this together' attitude, i value that very much and would like to contribute the things i know, as those who are stronger in other areas give me insight in aspects i am less experienced with. I stick to principles, and have a different perspective than some people, but its never personal and i hope it is not taken as such. Life is learning, and god knows there is much i have to learn. Yet, am i alone in noticing the lack of detail mentioned in asking for feedback on specific areas at times around here? I think it benefits everyone to be more practical and detailed in this section. Personally i learn things best, one at a time. These are my thoughts and my original point, and if my intentions were something other than to improve this 'channel of helping each other out', i would definitely not take the time to write this out. Steve, i dont want burn any bridges man. I am hard headed sometimes, i guess that just apart of me, and while i think my point is, 'on target' there is much i have to learn. Jamie

[bigbluebarry]

hey McCanty... I had a chance to listen to the songs earlier before you pulled them off the page but didn't get a chance to reply until now. I'd echo some of the same comments you've already recieved re: the guitars and drums. From what I recall, the drums sounded as if they were all panned dead center, which is fine with your kick and snare. I'd suggest panning your high-hat offset to the right, and stagger your toms across the stereo spectrum as well. The only other comment I would have without listening to the song again is that the vocalist has a great voice. I really liked the melodies you had in the chorus. I can't remember all of the lyrics but I could sing the melody back to you right now.Hope that helps,- Big Blue

[southpaw]

"As for the bass guitar, yes there is one in the track. And on that point, It would be helpful for me to know what you are listening to this mix with? It will help me to determine if my monitoring solutions are overstated with the bass response. The bass sounds quite full and large with my monitoring setup. So I'm a bit perplexed that you don't hear the bass at all?"I am listening through bose desktop speakers, flat eq through itunes player. From what i remember the last time i heard the song, you may have a lack presence in the 'sub bass' niche.. I dont remember hearing any bass punch, ill listen again when you repost the link. What are your EQ and compressions settings on the bass?