Critique of a Recording Appreciated

D. Churchland · #1 02-18-2010, 02:17 PM

I recently sat down and did a quick recording session with one of my playing buddies Ryan and he said he wanted to do some short recordings to see what he sounds like on a CD. He said he doesn't really have any real big preferences for sound but that he likes a "modern" sound with a little more splashy reverb etc..

So we did these 2 tracks in about 2 hours. I didn't really do that much mixing but spent alot more time setting up the mics rather than EQing in Ableton Live. There is some background noise because I left the heater vent closed and the reverb did a bit to it.

Any thoughts on how to improve them would be appreciated, he wants to do a full fledged CD but I'm not sure if I want an entire CD to sound like these 2 tracks but any helpful criticisms would be appreciated

Both tracks are improvised

http://www.box.net/shared/gjfqj0zpf3

http://www.box.net/shared/efv1mxtquc

Fran Guidry · #2 02-18-2010, 06:40 PM

I think I would find this sound very wearing. An exciter? High mid EQ bump? or a bright reverb?

Lovely playing but I'd vote for something more subtle in the way of presentation.

Fran

D. Churchland · #3 02-18-2010, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fran Guidry

I think I would find this sound very wearing. An exciter? High mid EQ bump? or a bright reverb?

Lovely playing but I'd vote for something more subtle in the way of presentation.

Fran

Well I only did it in 2 hours total lol

by more subtle do you mean more natural?

ljguitar · #4 02-18-2010, 07:44 PM

Hi Will…
I'd like to hear him play just plain old guitar - wow what a great touch he has!

The effects were over the top and made me uncomfortable as in squirmed a little and hit ''Stop'' before the files were done (despite the good playing).

D. Churchland · #5 02-18-2010, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Will…
I'd like to hear him play just plain old guitar - wow what a great touch he has!

The effects were over the top and made me uncomfortable as in squirmed a little and hit ''Stop'' before the files were done (despite the good playing).

Thanks Larry, so just less effects overall?

ljguitar · #6 02-18-2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Thanks Larry, so just less effects overall?

Hi Will…
Yes - it was edgy to me. Less compression or whatever was used, and more natural tone.

Did you record dry and add the effects later?

D. Churchland · #7 02-18-2010, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Will…
Yes - it was edgy to me. Less compression or whatever was used, and more natural tone.

Did you record dry and add the effects later?

yes, it was recorded dry, is it better to add effects or eq while it's being recorded?

ljguitar · #8 02-18-2010, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

yes, it was recorded dry, is it better to add effects or eq while it's being recorded?

Hi Will…
No, I think you made the wise choice. Effects can be added but not taken away if recorded live (if you record with effects you are stuck with em).

Fran Guidry · #9 02-19-2010, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will Kirk

Well I only did it in 2 hours total lol

by more subtle do you mean more natural?

By more subtle I mean less of whatever you did. Doesn't it sound clangy and edgy to you? I'm not home so I don't have my monitors but I'm listening to a lot of stuff on these headphones so I think I'm hearing things right. Your mix has a lot of metallic brightness to my ears.

My usual inclination is to avoid negative comments, even when they're invited, but I thought just this once ...

Fran

D. Churchland · #10 02-19-2010, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fran Guidry

By more subtle I mean less of whatever you did. Doesn't it sound clangy and edgy to you? I'm not home so I don't have my monitors but I'm listening to a lot of stuff on these headphones so I think I'm hearing things right. Your mix has a lot of metallic brightness to my ears.

My usual inclination is to avoid negative comments, even when they're invited, but I thought just this once ...

Fran

Oh no don't hold back, this is how I learn

and yes now that you mention it, it does sound quite bright. I guess I just needed someone to point it out to me. Thanks though, I do appreciate it

ScottAllyn · #11 02-19-2010, 06:52 AM

Your buddy's playing is fantastic, Will. The tone is interesting but it definitely has an abrasive edge to it. Can you post the raw recordings?

D. Churchland · #12 02-19-2010, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottAllyn

Your buddy's playing is fantastic, Will. The tone is interesting but it definitely has an abrasive edge to it. Can you post the raw recordings?

Sure can, here they are

http://www.box.net/shared/e5363ldrxq

http://www.box.net/shared/0ta34usg3b

Doug Young · #13 02-19-2010, 04:17 PM

Wow, great playing. That was so cool, I had to download the tracks and mess with them. I agree that the mix doesn't really flatter the piece. The raw tracks are better without any processing at all, and in fact perfectly fine as-is.

What mic setup did you use? The tracks aren't quite mono, but they're very close to it. Too close to be XY. Maybe you panned the mics inward in the mix?

A wider stereo image would be helpful, I think, tho this sounds quite good as-is. With playing this good, most everything else doesn't matter.

I hear a slight bit of brittleness on the highs. What mics are you using? it's not really unpleasant, and may be the way it sounded live, but it reinforces that you don't want to brighten up the mix any further.

There's something odd at 1:36 in Ryan1, a sudden shift in the image. An edit? Did he move while playing? The stereo image is different before this point, and then abruptly changes and the change continues to the end

Your levels are a tad hot, and you have some clipping in a few places. With digital, at least if you have 24 bits, there's no need to record that hot.

There's a boom at about 100Hz on some of the bass notes. Did you record this in a small room? 100 Hz is a mode point in many typical bedrooms.

Here's what I would do with these tracks (which is really very little):

http://www.dougyoungguitar.com/mp3/Ryan1_dy.mp3

What did I do?

Applied a clipping repair process
A little multi-band compression just to tame the 100Hz peaks
roll off everything below about 30Hz
A little reverb
faded the tail out so it doesn't end so abruptly

But all in all, a really nice recording, no EQ needed on the guitar other than the 100 Hz problem. I'd probably do a little more if I was really diving into this, clean up some stray noises, and listen more closely for some wolfy notes, but this is what I'd go for, I think. I might even skip the reverb.

For a more extreme example, this mix adds some stereo widening. This would sound better if it was done naturally with the mic placement, but maybe it gives an idea:

http://www.dougyoungguitar.com/mp3/R...stereoized.mp3

ScottAllyn · #14 02-19-2010, 04:45 PM

I was hoping that somebody would take the ball and run with it if you posted the raw clips! I like the natural sound much more - it's just Ryan, the guitar, and the listener with no distractions. That's some fine playin'!

scottzimm · #15 02-19-2010, 05:40 PM

here's a thought... you could record all of your buddy's songs for his album then send the raw tracks to doug for mixing

...just a thought.

your recording, his playing, and doug's editing all sounded beautiful together.