Some outside recording input - compressor settings/EQ

[themagicmanmdt]

Hey guys - new to the board - I've been a reader for a while, and I thought it was time I jumped in on all the great topics here.

So, I decided to take on the endeavour of recording our album all to myself, and although it's allowing endless production creativity, something is still amiss, mostly with my compressor settings, I believe.

But, if you'd like, have a listen, and comment what you will, hopefully most on the recording and sound of everything.


http://www.lyndonband.com/songs/Lyndon% ... 20Lawn.mp3

http://www.lyndonband.com/songs/Lyndon% ... 20Song.mp3

Drums: 2x MXL 603S in Glyn Johns setup, with a 2003 on the kick and a 2001 as a room mic. (I recently got a Nady RSM-2 that I plan as using as the room mic, and a AKG D12E for the kick).

Guitars: 2003/2001 pair.

Bass: DI through a sans-amp bass driver.

Mastering was rough, and I don't plan on doing that myself.

Thanks in advance!

-mt

[syrupcore]

the links are broken.

http://www.lyndonband.com/songs/Lyndon% ... 20Lawn.mp3


I like the way this sounds. I dig the kick in the right. remember, I'm just some asshole on the interwebs... I would pull some of the low out of the guitar. the cymbals don't sound so good to me in that last loud bit before the horse gallup bit - I think it's just the ride dominating the rest of the kit. vocals could come out some more in general.

sorry, I didn't listen to:
http://www.lyndonband.com/songs/Lyndon% ... 20Song.mp3


will

[themagicmanmdt]

the links are broken.

http://www.lyndonband.com/songs/Lyndon% ... 20Lawn.mp3


I like the way this sounds. I dig the kick in the right. remember, I'm just some asshole on the interwebs... I would pull some of the low out of the guitar. the cymbals don't sound so good to me in that last loud bit before the horse gallup bit - I think it's just the ride dominating the rest of the kit. vocals could come out some more in general.


will

yep. i feel the same way. thanks for the listen!

[JeffOsborne]

This is a good song. Thanks. I enjoyed it.

You've asked for comments on compression/eq and I'm going to assume that you're interested in general feedback.

Disclaimer: sometimes I think nice is boring and I get paid to critique shit so that's what I do. No offense intended. Like dude said, interwebs...

I think the rides are too bright. I think the room or plugin you're using sounds amazing, especially at the finale. The guitar intro is pretty and kinda dull. You might have overcompressed the peaks a little in the intro in a few instances, or maybe you just have the levels too high to handle a few of the peaks. I notice a lot of Buckley in it and I think you've written a song that can stand apart from that type of obvious referencing. The very intro echo stuff is sort of not helping the composition.

The bass comes in and it sounds like a verby synth, mildly farty, and kinda cool, but then it completely disappears.

The brightness of the verse sounds good and maybe the ride is a bit high there too. I like the rhythm and melody more than most songs I've heard recently. Nice work. I want the vocal melody to be more present. The punchier moments made more sense to me. The washy stuff is nice and it doesn't seem to honor the line you've written. Perhaps double the vocal, and layer a dry track on top of the wet one. Use the wet version for padding, and give it some presence and definition up front. It's a good melody.

The verse washes into the chorus in a way that on first listen all I heard was a long verse until the conclusion. You could remix the chorus with a loud bassline up front. Not old motown or wannabe motown. Fuzzed out, but not flabby. Make the bass line straight, loud, simple, and mean.

If you do, you're gonna have a tough time with the dynamics of the second verse. Maybe bring up the levels on the second guitar. Or maybe that's when you drop in the clean vocal track and carry it through the 2nd chorus.

The looseness of the outro is borderline cool. Maybe it should be further out. In other parts of the song it seems like the drummer is having a hard time keeping up. In this part that vibe sounds good, probably because I'm also hearing a loose 2nd guitar, and the lead guitar has come slightly out of tune.

Finale sounds great. How much of that is room sound? I'm curious what kind of room you're working in.

Jeff

[themagicmanmdt]

I'm assuming you're talking about House Song, right? (and, honest feedback is the only feedback worth writing)

The song is really two completely different parts - the first 'half', and after the crescendo, the 'up' part of the song. The drums were recorded very dry in the first part, and verb is used on them. The second half of the song uses the Glyn Johns technique the way I learned it (see the thread), and adds absolutely no plugins other than a comp/EQ. In the intro, the guitars aren't really compressed at all - it's this pink floyd-esque transition from the previous song to the next - and I've been itching at the contrast that it presents. I'm not the only one.

I've tried to locate where the ride and hi hat are, and they've already been brought down quite a bit (a 20"-22" ride is a blessing and a curse), and I think the fix is to EQ it out of the room mic - since that's where the shrillness is probably coming from. This is why I'm wondering - is it my compressor (which is about 4:1, 1.5 attack, 20 release) or just the fact that more EQ is needed?

The room is a music room at the University of Florida - and (no joke) the ceilings and dimensions of it have to be the size of 'Studio B'. that The Beatles used. It's great. I got to use it for free. We recorded from 10pm to 6 am, on three seperate occasions. Pictures of the room are on the website: http://www.lyndonband.com

I've tried double tracking the vocal a little, but to no success sonically. It's just not the sound that I want. The latter half of the song is like waking up from a nightmare, and not knowing you're awake - so, sometimes the washiness and how wet everything is accomplishes the point - but the vocals do need more presence.

I like what you said about distinction between the verse and chorus - that's something that I haven't thought needs help, but it makes sense to me now. (I've listened to the mix so many times, I can't tell what I like anymore and what needs fixing). I'll tinker with it - especially the bass.

The drums were one complete take for the end section, and the feel of the slightly imperfect performance by the drummer and the slightly detuned guitar (by the intenseness of the song) I felt should be kept.