Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Thanks for listening guys. I understand that the song needs work. The vocals need to be squashed some. Talking to Mr. Cavell he gave me a few pointers that I will try. Thanks for listening. I will post the other songs when I get them done. They are a lot different than this one.

As for the UGA thing. I lived in Riverbend club. Used to sit in at times with a band called "Day by the River." My roommate was good friends with a band from S. Carolina called "UNCLE MINGO" great band! Great funk!

Loved A-town a lot and wish I could head back there.

When I go visit my folks up in Franklin, NC, maybe we can get a S.East DUC get-together...

Sweet!

Thanks again for listening.... So far I like the guitars, but do need to cut some lows....

- Doc

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Kev. Cool. We still need to get together; and I haven't heard from Ron. Doc let us know when you are coming down- it would be great to get some folks together.
Mike

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Alright, tweeked it a bit. Lowered a lot of the lows and I think that I got the BOOMINESS out of it for the most part. Headphones are your friend I guess. I also added Autotune to her voice in the key they played and set the thing so that it worked but was not always throwing it out. I think that it helped it some. There is one part that I may bypass it in the beginning, but I am not sure. Also, took RVox and squashed the hell out of it. Set it to 20 and -10. Gate was somewhere in between the settings.... Seemed to really level it out and take away the unwanted dynamics of the vocals. Took some lows out of the guitars and lowered the bass a tad too. Also notched back the kick and snare some too.... Eq'd the toms a little better and lowered them in the overall mix too.

Inputs are welcome please. Still trying to work this vocal issue. Onto the next song until then.

HOOKSTAR TAKE 2

Thanks as always,
-Doc

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Sounds 200% better.

Good job!

"you gots mad skilz!"

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Doc - What kick mic is that on the kit?

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Hi Doc,

bbj's right, it sounds wwaayy better, alot tighter. Just a couple thoughts...that's a pretty busy bassline, anyway you could bring it out a bit more. I don't think it suits the song IMO, I'm just thinking the song lacks some foundation, again IMO. Also at the end there's a distorted/fuzzy guitar that doesn't seem to sit right...you guessed it...IMO.

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

BubbaJ
Funny you should ask that on the mic. It was a AKG D112, but it was the first time I was mic'n the Gretsch that I just bought and the front head was not right. Should have taken it off, but I did not. Had a real lousy flab sound, so what did I do you ask....? I took Strip Silence (control-U)and isolated the kick tracks to just the hits and the tails. Then I consolidated the track and used SOUND REPLACER on the kick and replaced it with a sample of a DW Kick that I have. Also slapped RBass on it and worked it at about 69hz. Thickened it up a bit... Worked a lot better. Did the same for the snare, but lef the overall MEAT of the original in the overheads. worked better and gave it more of a rock attack like feel.

ScottDog - I can bring that basslline out a bit more yes. Actually reduced it due to being too busy. These guys are pretty young and again, this was their first recording experience so it was a shock to them with all the work involved. The distorted fuzzy guitar is actually there the entire time. That is their other guitar player. Pretty sloppy, and they really wanted him to be way back in the mix.... so he is there. I may cut him off quicker at the end. thanks for that...

Also, I added 10 samples on my Studio site below. Look under the sounds page. There is a band that I finished up a 10 song album with . Ole' school rock, but it turned out great and was a killer time to work on.

thanks again,
- Doc

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Doc/Chris,
Listened to both mixes...'song2b' is definitely a big improvement...good job, as usual.



I'm heading for Destin in the morning for a week...talk to you guys when I get back...

-Roy

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Ok,. I just finished my new Album. It call all be streamed at http://www.seanmmormelo.com/Homepage.html It was all done on an MBox, Digi001, and an AMIII on Both PC and mac.

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Sean-

Sounds GREAT! You have a wonderful voice.

Did you do the mastering yourself or send it out?

Is that all you playing, or is there a band?

Kudos!

-bigbubbaj

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Doc, second one sounds way better. Great work in such a short space of time, man!

Sean, that sounds incredible. Fantastic.

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My friend at work has been bugging me to record a blues for him, so Here it is.

bp

Listening to some stuff right now.

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some great stuff.

Roy, very nice work as always, I really love that "sweeping" guitar sound, one day I'll figure out how you do it.

Doc, nice work, the drums sound very good, maybe a little too much low for my taste, but very pro sounding. Between your new gear and all the experience your getting, your work sounds good. Have you quit your job? Your work certainly merits it.

Nightshade, I liked your song a lot, nice production.

I forget who did "virtual jam", but it's very cool groove.

thanks.

bp

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I never knew that that feature existed. LOL. I once did a tom track by hand! Classic.


RTFM...eh?

bigbubbaj

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Sean,

Troubadour...WOW! Other players? Just you? You deserve to be proud of that.

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Badperson,
Thanks for listening.... I think that the kick may be too low actually, so I will tweek that guy. Again, this is a demo for them, but I do not want to deliver crap so I will work it until it is good. Also, thanks for the compliment. Unfortunantely "NO" I have not quit my job. Living in Washington D.C. one could only wish that I could do this for a living and live the way I do. Remember I am a Defense Contractor by day. That allows for this hobby/now business to keep going. That and the customers that do show up One day! That is the plan. I would love to do it for real and actually ENJOY what I do for a change. But thanks so much for the kind words.... I am trying to soak up all and every tip and idea and pass it on to whomever I can.

Of to the next song!

- Doc

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sean,
incredible acoustic guitar sounds you captured. real up front and cool sounding.
great job,
ev

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Round 2 witht he new band "Hookstar." This one for soem reason sounds pretty good. I kept the original snare, but replaced the kick drum. Tried to keep the exact same settings for her vocals and squashed them a lot. The guitars sound pretty good, but may need to go up a db or maybe down? Not sure yet. Vocals still have autotune set on the track. Slower retune this time around. May have too much effect with the delay on it too? Probably going to drop that down a bit too... Opened it up though...

Anyways, I like it so far. Does not seem to be too BOOMY either. I am learning to undercompensate for bass.

HOOKSTAR NEW SONG 1

- Doc

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New one.... Faith, Hope and Charity

Not finished yet, vocals need tightening up & I'd like to add a higher harmony (time to get out the vise grips! ). Bouncing to mp3 sure squashes it. Tell me what you'd like to see changed......besides the singer.


Doc,

Sounds good. I think the bass player needs some Ritalin. Maybe a bit too much kick & her voice sounds middy to me. What mic did you use? 435? Otherwise, very good.

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Man between Faith hope and charity and socs stuff, there is some serious level differences. Just surprises my cat who lays on my desk. LOL.

Faith hope and charity is a great song! My only comment is that I think the snare could come up a bit. That's it...

Doc...Song 1 is really good. The mix sounds GREAT except for a little boomy still. What compressor are you using on the vocals? Is it in the box or out of the box. I agree about the bass player...doesnt help the song much in terms of anchoring.

Anyhow!

bigbubbaj

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Got one more.

It's an arrangement I worked out, and like, but need to practice more. I was disappointed with the overall session, but managed to edit together a tolerable take. I'm loving my national resonator, though.

Just Friends

thanks.

bp

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

That is an enjoyable take. Great sounds captured!

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Ok... So all this talk and no music.

This is the first song that I have written with lyrics in about 6 years...so needless this was a fun weekend project. Everything is me and is really an instrument. No samples, no midi.

Let Me Down

I am not the best singer, but this is not a bad performance.

And yes, the 435's are used for drum overheads and vocals.

Check out my 5198 Studios web page to see where this was done.

Thanks! Let me know what you think.

Justin
bigbubbaj

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Compressor was RVOX slammed to about 20..... Mic was the TLM-103... EQ was Focusrite D2 4 band.
Trueverb witha really long tail... Eventide on the VOX just a smidge and the 2 tap delay set way in the back.

Bass player is all over the place... Never really noticed until mixing too.. Interesting.. Will take some more of the bass out to see if I can get the boominess out of it some...Mixed this in about an hour....

Thanks for listening...

Scottdog.. I think that you are clipping a little? HOw did you master it out? Any clipping on the master fader??? volume is PUMPED! I had my mix pretty loud and the L2 was at about 4. I do not like to go above 5 really. 4 is pushing it. What are you at? Or what are you doing to get the mix so damn loud? It sounded like is was clipping on parts...

Also, nice to see that bubbaJ bought the 435's. Great aren't they!

- Doc

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theres a song off of our band cd at this site but the site is cheezy so its hard to get sometimes
if anyone wants to critique it feel free.......chas
http://www.geocities.com/pickit_54143/

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Doc,

I put it thru a preset on the L2-it was at 10! Oooops
Anyway I put Inspector on it & there was some clipping. Took a while to figure out how to back off the levels & maintain the automation. The L2 is at 4 now. Thanks.

bigbubbaj,

Thanks for the compliment. I bumped the drums up a bit (unfortunately I'm stuck with loops for now)...002r soon!
Oh, and sorry about scaring your cat.

I'll have to get back to you with the updated version, having trouble uploading to my server.

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Right on, Thanks very much to all who checked my stuff out. Let me see if I can answer all the questions:

I have a Bassist and Drummer that I work with and there are a 3 songs where Another keyboardist laid tracks, and I had another guitarist do the Lead on Had Enough, and Troubadour. The rest of the Acoustic and electrics guitars, the keyboards, All vocals, bass on Say It again, and all percussion on Say it Again, are all me. I recorded, Mixed, and Mastered it myself...Didn't want to squash it to death and over-compress it in mastering so i used moderation.

Anyway, thanks for all the kind words and keep rockin!

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Sean,
Finally got to listen some here at work. Sounds great! Very fun vibe going on with the tunes and the guitars sound great. Very full! can you tell us how you tracked them? vocals too!

Good job man. Very interesting sounds.. cannot quite pinpoint the sound... that is a good thing!

- Doc

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OK, here's the updated version.... Faith, Hope and Charity

bbj-Let Me Down sounds good, your vocals are a bit buried in the verse, compression & eq?

badperson-jazz on a resonator...nice!

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Thanks, I will see what I can do to bring them out a bit.Are there any tricks you all can recommend to bring out vocals a bit without raising levels?

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Scott,
Much better levels. Going to listen tonight when I get home though too... Not as crazy loud though! Sounds smoother on the ears....

Maybe the cat will survive too....

- Doc

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sorry to anyone that tried to listen to the song i posted ....my freebeee website aint makin it happen so disregard....thanks chas

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thanks man..I keep asking everyone who/what I sound like and no one can really pinpoint so yea, it's a good thing...Anyway as far as tracking I actually tracked all the guitars through my PODxt direct. Next album, i'm going to be using primarily Mic'd amps and some POD for filler at most but overall I think the PODxt tracks came out OK. The entire album was tracked through either my or my drummers Digi001 system or my MBox. All drums and bass were done on a 001 through a Mackie board using it's Pre's. All vocals were done on my Mbox using it's Pre's. The Mic for all acoustic guitars and vocals was my trusty Rode NT1000. Great mic for the price I think. I used a lot of Waves plugs as well as Bombfactory. Also, I picked up the fXpansion VST-RTAS converter and used verious cool VST Plugs like the Liquid bundle, vxenego stuff, grm tools etc etc...It was all in the box which had to do for this one. I know i was limited by converters, Good pre's and some cool outboard stuff...In the next year I want a Neve 1073, looking at Benchmark converters, maybe a Fatso, 1176, distressor or something else to warm up the tracks a bit. Plus I want to get a 002. Anyway, thanks for listening and if anyone else has any questions please do not hesitate to ask. Peace.

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Listening to the streaming version of your album right now and I must say that I dig what you did here . Good songs, good performances, good mixes, just good stuff in general. (Is that our very own Mr. Roy on Troubadour?)

However...

....It's way overcompressed and has been squashed to death.

We've been having a discussion on nikki-k's forums about a song a fellow duc member posted over there asking for advice on. It's hard to say without looking at your mixes but it sounds like you used the L2 on the mastering phase and pushed it way too hard. Very easy to do that if your overall mix is already pretty loud to begin with.

I REALLY like the stuff on this album....lots of beautiful backing vox and harmonies....good melodies.... just ...that overcompression is killing me.

*tosses his $0.02 in da bucket* =)

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bigbubbaj,

Try cutting some frequencies in the guitars that are clashing with the vocals, carving eq holes as it were. Also compress the vocal, not sure what you have for compression but just start with a preset & play with it. Maybe 3 or 4:1 & bring the threshold down til you can hear it working then you can bring the level up a bit.

Cat ok now?

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Cat recovers quickly.

I remixed it last night, and am going to play with it again soon.

The the new one on my site might sound a little better...

Let Me Down

Depends on which one you downloaded though, this one I posted last night about 10pm MST.

Thanks for the tips!

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

I can't see how it's overcompressed if I barely put any compression on in the Mastering process..I used very light 1.5-1 ration at some points and just the L1 for limiting..That's it...All the other dynamics control was done in the mix itself on the tracks and works to control peaks etc....To my ears it's not overcompressed but it's really a Tomato Tomahhto thing I guess....Thanks for listening though..Been a crazy week here but I plan on a huge listening session and commenting after the weekend...Take it light!

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Sean,

I really dig the performances and the mixes. I can hear where Jeff is coming from though...but I don't think it sounds like an L2 overly squashed...instead it sounds to me like an L1 just barely over squashed just a dB or two. (The L1 has a tendency to, dare I say it, make things a bit, as so many have said before, sound a bit "digital". The L2 imo, with the introduction of an extremely transparent ARC, makes all the difference in the world here.)

Overall though, I think it sounds great...the comment on the L1 is just a bit of nit-pickyness preference on my part. The volume in my opinion works well for this style and the overall sound of the recording. I do think I hear just a tad bit of pumping going on with the acoustic on "Listen".

I wish you the best,
Chris

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All,
So the band Hookstar that I have been working with decided to come back in tonight and retrack the vocals. This time I think that they turned out a lot better. She still has that growl, but I did not need to apply Autitune to the track this time around. Probably still can in sections, but she wants it to be a little more raw. After talking to my pal Mr. Cavell, he gave me a lot of good EQ and Compression talks tonight that really helped the levels. Actually compressed them some
Anyways, always learning new tricks and I think that this really helped out the song.

Tracked with the RODE NTK through BLUE KIWI cables into the Vintech 1272.
Plugins on VOX are REQ4, then LA-2A. The other compressors are RComp (love it) and then Trueverb, slight 2 tap delay and the outboard Lexicon PCM-90 for some created room verb.

Put it through Linear MB Eq, and Compressor then into the L2. (-4.0 and .2)

I like it a lot better than the first mix a few pages back.

COLD - HOOKSTAR

Thanks for listening,

- Doc

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Speaking of Cavell... Chris tell me what ya think.. Your compression talk really helped....

Thanks,
- Doc