Down To You And Me - rough mix

Patrick, you have the elements of a good song here, but I had a hard time understanding the lyrics.  The overall mix sounds unbalanced on my monitors with the drums drowning out the lead vocal.  I couldn't hear the bass very well either which made the song lack something to glue all the parts together.  There were some pitch issues, as well, with the lead vocal.  Yet, the song has plenty of potential, and with a little bit of tweaking here and there, this could really shine.  You're not out of the woods, yet, but you're very close.

Lynn, your comments are very helpful.  My problem is that I am a novice.  I know how to technically activate plug-ins to allow me to add reverb, compression, echo, etc.  But I don't have the sound engineer's knowledge about how to apply these filters.  I recently bought Home Recording for Dummies, but I'm several chapters away from those items.  Can you give a novice any rules of thumb or any guidance as to how to apply these filters to take a mediocre production and elevate it?

Patrick, the best way to improve a recording is to start with the performance.  If the vocal is off pitch, either redo it or apply a pitch correction program to correct the notes that are off.  As for the other elements in the song, listen to each part one by one and then all together to make sure each one has its own space.  Mixing and using f/x are something only experience will take care of, but you can help yourself by reading material on mixing and mastering.  Listen to other people's songs on this forum, and pay attention to the listener's comments.  Listen and compare commercial recordings that are similar to your own, and use them to tune your ears on the same monitors that you'll be using.  And, listen to your playback on as many different systems that you can; headphones, car, boomboxes, speakers, earbuds, etc.  Most importantly, be patient.  None of us learned this overnight; we all made our mistakes until we got the hang of it.  Remember, you're not so far off.  Good luck.

patmc007


Lynn, your comments are very helpful.  My problem is that I am a novice.  I know how to technically activate plug-ins to allow me to add reverb, compression, echo, etc.  But I don't have the sound engineer's knowledge about how to apply these filters.  I recently bought Home Recording for Dummies, but I'm several chapters away from those items.  Can you give a novice any rules of thumb or any guidance as to how to apply these filters to take a mediocre production and elevate it?

Patrick - yea, you have a lot of talent - and for a novice you did pretty good. I think the vocal need to be redone - it's that simple.

I'm not an expert, but I always start with drums and bass guitar - I try to integrate them so they are like one solid instrument. After you have that - start bringing the other instruments in. Someone once told me to pan them as you would see them on a stage - I've always used that rule.

When eq'ing - I was taught that it is best to record so that you have to cut - not increase levels.

To a large degree - it just takes trial and error. I think in a short while you are going to be putting out recordings that you are more confident in.

Keep going - you're starting out great.