Complete Acoustic Re-Do of "Do You Think"

Due to some advice on the forum, I decided to completely re-record this as an acoustic song. Thanks to all who listen. Comments and critiques welcome:
 
https://soundcloud.com/sean-peifer/do-you-think-acoustic
 

Teego - thanks for listening and for your comments and suggestions. You must have a great ear, to be able to hear a capoed guitar. I'll try to fix that. Is it just the one track, or are all of them out of tune? (I should have tuned up after capoing). I'll see what I can do with some reverb and delay as well.

I appreciate the suggestions because, as a noob, I have a vision, but no idea how to achieve it. Now I have some things I can experiment with.

This is better pastor. But I don't think you've hit the sweet spot just yet ;-) But hey? "everybody's a producer..."

This is very nice - just a couple of thoughts: Seems like way too much kick drum to me, and overall, the drums do sound fake (as mentioned elsewhere), and too dry for the style of playing. Thing is, the drums are the only part of the track that match the intensity of the vocal - there is an emotional disconnect between the rest of the (laid-back) band and the (high-powered) singer, so you need to bring everybody together, either in an intimate club or a giant arena. The harmonies are beautiful, though.

gtrpastor
Any ideas on how to make the drums match the intensity of the rest of the band? Maybe pulling back the drums in the mix? When you mention bringing everybody together, do you mean using reverb on the whole mix? Thanks again.

I listened to the earlier version on Soundcloud, and I think the band on that one fits better with the vocal style. The song wants to go in that direction, if you ask me. I would either polish up that old version or rethink the vocal style on the new one to be more intimate. If you decide the acoustic version is the keeper, see if you can find a more organic drum kit, use parts with a lighter touch and maybe avoid the big tom fills. There's probably something you can do with reverb to place everybody in the same space, but first you should figure out what kind of a record you're making.

I listened again this morning and it's amazing what I could hear with fresh ears--the out of tune guitars, the drums and vocals that don't fit, etc. So I'm going to do some revisions and post a new version soon. Thanks again to all who took the time to listen and for the helpful critiques. I truly think it will make the song and the recording better. 

gtrpastor,
 
Nice song, I think it has a lot of potential.    I like your singing.   Not crazy about the drums.   I would definitely keep developing this one.  

Regards

I too, have not heard the original. This sounds good. I hear the out of tune notes @ :43
 
The capo gives a distinct sound that an uncapo'd guitar doesn't have. I use them on occasion for effect, not to play in a different key.
 
I'm on the fence on the drums. They could be made to work.... but they need a country rock groove and a bass playing it too. Bass seemed to be a bit lacking with the drums.
 
The sound you have on the vox is "distant" as opposed to close and intimate.  Again, depends on what you're going for.

Bass and drums are super important. Together, they set the underlying groove and feel of the song more so than any other instrument does. If they are not right, and properly working together as a cohesive unit, no matter what you do with the remainder of the instruments, you will be struggling to get the song to sound right.
 
The "groove" I refer to is the way the part feels and moves in the song. When the drummer and the bass player get in the "groove" and are working together, the song really could be finished off with just a vocalist. The right groove "makes" the song. The wrong one or lack thereof, on the other hand leaves the sing feeling "not quite right".
 
A good example is a song I'm currently working on with another writer.  I think we have replaced the drum track several times and the bass has been replaced around 5 or 6 times..... I think the other writer just recorded a 6th bass track.  All in an attempt to find a workable groove for this song.
 
Same thing here. I don't have a bass guitar and I don't play drums or have a kit. So I too have to rely on midi and synths. With a drum synth package, you can get some pretty nice licks and fills to compliment the song. With a proper midi sample of a bass, and some minor keyboard skills, a bass part is fairly easy to play.
 
Just me.... but I tend to sing close in to the mic. With a pop filter, and singing 45 degrees off axis, (past the mic) and having the levels set properly, I sing pretty much like I did on stage in the day..."eating the mic" and back off only a few inches for the power stuff.  I think the "distance" sound is more related to the reverb being used and how much is in the signal path as opposed the the distance to the mic. Unless you are standing back 4 feet, that should not be the issue. It sounds like a strong level of small room reverb. Because, the distance is only on the vocals. The instruments don't have that sound.
 
Here's what I do. Not saying you should follow suit..... just food for thought. Vocals:  I run the track dry. No FX at all.  I set up a vocal bus. In it, I install a Cakewalk studioverb2 plug. I select the default dark plate. I only adjust the percentage to 15%. Done.  In the master bus, I will have Ozone4 with a custom preset for overall shine and polish, and again, I may drop another Cake Studioverb2 dark plate at 10% to gently blend all the instruments. At that level, the reverbs are very low and nothing really stands out. It's simply a gentle touch of verb.  Depending on the song and the feel I'm going for, sometimes there is no reverb in the master. However, the vocals almost always get 15% in the vox bus. Sometimes more than 15% sometimes less.
 
My 2 cents

Guitarhacker - thanks for the insight and advice, especially regarding the reverb. It gives me a direction as I play with the settings.

Lynn - thanks for taking the time to check it out, and for the comments. I think I pulled out too much of the bass trying to get rid of an annoying boomy sound. I'll try leaving the bass alone and see how that works.

TheBand19 - lol, thanks man! It all makes sense now.