I've been listening to a few songs others have done, and I've been really impressed (I just listened to "Twilight Rain" by BatsBrew--great song...sounds great! My recordings don't sound anywhere near that good). I'm a little intimidated. But I'm also interested in feedback to find out what's working and how to improve my songs and recordings. 
 
Here's the link: https://soundcloud.com/sean-peifer
 
Thanks

Sounds like you've got good recording techniques, and decent mixing as well.  Your vocals and instruments are also good (sometimes quite good actually), but I think you're not quite hitting the rhythms right on some of your performances.  I think you just need a bit more practice playing along with a click track.  It's not in sync.  You are "jumping the beat" a bit, rushing ahead of the rhythm.  Not so much now on the 2nd track ("I Fall Short"), but the first one ("Someday") there were some definitely some rhythmic issues.

Thanks for the input. I know exactly what you're talking about with things being out of sync. That's something I need improve with future recordings. I think that "You Lift Me Up" is the most in sync of these. 
 
It seems that my vocals are too out front or something...either too loud or midrangy. It almost sounds to me like they're not part of the mix. Any advice on that? 

As for bringing the vocals back into the mix a bit more, maybe try some of these ideas:

1. use EQ (on the vocals as well as the rhythm tracks) to give the vocals their own unique space, then drop the vocal track volume a bit - if you do it right they will still be heard
2. reduce the amount of compression on your backing tracks (especially the drums & bass) to let them come forward when they have something to contribute, but fall back at other times - this will give them more presence so they can compete with the vocals in the mix
3. use reverb when you master, over the whole mix - this can help glue things together

Thanks for the ideas! I can't wait to try them in my next mix. 

What you have sounds good. Nice and clean.
 
I also heard sync issues. There is no need to rush with home recording. Take your time and record as many takes as is needed to nail it. (or edit it)
 
I'm listening on some cheap speakers and don't hear much on the bottom end but the bottom sounds a bit lite.
 
Some nice chops on the guitar.
 

Guitarhacker: Thanks for the comments.
 
You hit the nail on the head. It's a combination of rushing and laziness, I think. I also think I should record and set it aside for awhile. Often, I don't hear problems unless I listen with fresh ears. But I usually try to get it done too quickly. 
 
One of my problems is that I'm using cheap speakers as well. I can't afford a good set of monitors. I have a subwoofer. So I pull some out of the low end so it won't sound so "boomy"-- I probably pull out too much. 
 

Using a sub woofer that is not set up properly will tend to make your mixes exactly like they are.... light on the bass end since you hear massive bass in your room, you turn it down until it sounds right to you and as a result, the mix is not balanced.
 
Check the mix on some fairly decent headphones that give good response.
 
You don't need high dollar speakers to mix right, you just need to learn the ones you have and know what they are capable of....strengths and weaknesses.  I have some small 5" speakers and a sub, however, I took great pains to get the levels of both balanced so what I hear is what the reality is on the DAW mix.
 
Don't shut off the sub, but do turn it down several DB and try another mix.  Both my speakers and sub are down. Speakers at 50% and sub is set to be properly balanced at that level. Once set, I don't touch the levels again.

Well, Walt and Herb have pretty much covered any thing I was going to add, so I will let you run with that. There is some nice guitar and vocals going on in your songs, so I would encourage you to stick with it and even re-record those that are out of sync and try to keep them in sync and then work on mastering skills a little at a time. Remember this though, everything in a song needs to have it own personal space and there is plenty of space for doing this, 0-100 Left and 0-100 right, and you get to decide what and where in the mix you want to place them. It is panning each part in or out, left or right. Just go slow and it all comes together with time. Just like the sound sometimes need to go up or down. A lot of this can be done prior to recording, depending on the equipment you are using and working together with your DAW settings and presets. Good Luck. Looking forward to your new mixes.
 
Peace and Blessings, John

Double post, sorry about that. Keep them coming.
 
Peace and Blessings, John