1st recording in my new place. need honest critique

[nag hammadi]

http://soundcloud.com/sitori-sonics/callooh-callay-10

the band is from tuscaloosa.

recorded to fostex e-16. dumped into protools just to automate levels. no plug-ins. mixed back through my soundcraft series two, into alesis masterlink.

just a mix, not mastered yet.

would love some honest critique / comments.

[nag hammadi]

crickets

[SoulOfJonas]

Overall sounds pretty good to me. It's well-balanced. I like the drum sounds and effects.

My only critique - and I only listened on some Skull Candy ear buds so I could be off - is there seems to be some sort of distortion in the low end. It sounds like it was on the bass to me but maybe it could've been the low end of one of the guitars or maybe the kick. If the distortion is intentional, I think it's a little over the top. If I had to describe it I'd say it sounds like a torn speaker or a mic that's touching a speaker grill or drumhead.

Hope that helps.

-JV

[nag hammadi]

thanks for your response. we did put the distressor on the bass with some distortion. i wonder if thats it?

thanks for the critique!

if you get a chance to listen on some other headphones/speakers, let me know if it is still over the top.

that was a band call, but i'll fully own up to it!

[nag hammadi]

listening back to it through my laptop speakers, i remembered the keyboardist was driving his nord really hard too. i lost that argument.

[jhharvest]

Here's my comments:

strange snapping sound
kick pedal, kick clipping or what? is it a bloody clap track?
easiest heard 0:30 - 0:40
if it is a clap track, you'll probably only want to bring that in once or twice in the whole song and I think it'd need to be a lot fuller then

stereo balance is off to the right
check the drums
spreading out the cymbals would also help point like 1:40-2:00

kick and bass are a bit fighting for space, ex 1:20-1:40

personally I'd extend the tail of the snare a tiny bit in the loud parts, ex 1:50-2:05
maybe bring the cymbals down or carve more out to accommodate the snare - at the moment it sort of gets lost in the wash

+nice work on the vocal delays
+nice dynamics and build ups

[nag hammadi]

ha!!!

those are claps. that was another argument i lost!

i felt the same way about the bass tone vs bass drum. she was a pretty self conscious bassist, and wouldnt let me put much definition in her tone.

i probably should have just done it anyway...

thanks for the critique!!!

[nag hammadi]

oh- and thanks for the compliment on the delay. that is oneof the reel repeat pedals we make. i like it on vocals.

[1grex]

Agree with most of the problems being with drum sound/performance. The overheads do need to come down, esp. during the washy cymbal sections, hopefully not too much is getting in the snare mic.. The kick drum does jump out oddly in places, that is partly performance, but maybe there is a bit more you can do to tame that. I was going to pick on the bass performance/sound a little too. It sounds heavy on the DI? (IMO) I would strive for more of the amp sound, or maybe re-amping. If i was a heavy handed dictator producer I would have her re-play it better.. Maybe be more active during the mix to make some (not all) of the guitar special effects jump out? Vocals could use more mids?? Overall a very good natural sound, though.