Tech: Home Recording Again: comments welcome

Subject: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Nick
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 08:13 PM

Been playing with home recording again and found people's comments very useful last time I posted something.

So if any of you have about three minutes I'd appreciate any comments whether about overall sound, quality, playing, balance, things you like, things you hate about it, whatever. There is a little guitar break at about 2:00 which I'm not sure about now I've listened to it a couple of times.

It's not a folk tune so I probably should post elsewhere but what the heck it is at least acoustic. It's a Counting Crows song called Omaha and it's an mp3 at 192kbps so it will have lost some quality.

It's for a demo that I'm putting together (slowly!) with a view to getting some more gigs - hopefully the quality is ok for that but if you think not do say.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Nick
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:21 PM

Or not...

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Maryrrf
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:34 PM

I think it sounds fine! The vocals might be a little loud in relation to the guitar, but it comes through very clear with a nice, natural sound.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: olddude
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 06:48 PM

I think it is great, wish my home stuff sounded that clear

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 07:18 PM

Sounds v good on computer speakers.
Make sure you listen to it on as many cd players as you can find when you mix it to cd.
I think a lot of demo's get listened to in cars.
Is it a Zoom 4?

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Nick
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 08:05 PM

Thanks for the comments - I've remixed it after some comments that the vocals were too loud and the instruments too quiet so there's a hopefully better version here - Version Two

Maryrff - thanks for listening and see commment above!
olddude - I have an incredibly basic set up. Thank you for your comment
Tim - hope you are well and we'll no doubt see you again sometime. It was recorded on home computer. I listen to it in a variety of formats usually - mono via earpiece (!), headphones, two small stereo systems, a better stereo donwstairs and in the car.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: johnross
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:09 PM

That clip is entirely acceptable as a demo. It provides a good idea of your skill as a singer and guitar player.

But I'm hearing two technical problems: first, the vocal has more "boomy" room noise than it should. I'm guessing that you used an omni-directional (non directional) microphone that picked up some echoes from walls and ceilings, along with the direct sound from your mouth. You can solve that by using a directional (cardioid) microphone pointed at your mouth from about a foot away, and by eliminating the resonance in the room with a rug on the floor and some kind of sound-absorbing material between you and the walls.

And second, there's some sibillance on some of your "ess" sounds, especially on "ssssomewhere in the middle of America..." Again, it's probably a microphone problem -- some are more sensitive to sibilant sounds than others -- that a different microphone could solve. Try keeping the mic away from your mouth and sing across it rather than straight into it. If you have a choice, you might try using a ribbon or dynamic mike on your vocal instead of the condensor that I'm guessing you used on this demo.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Jim Lad
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 03:06 AM

Great stuff, Nick.
I'm listening to the earlier version and really enjoying it.
The guitar could probably go up for just the first few bars and then right back down to where you've got it.
I'd add a little reverb to your vocals and then just a touch more to the harmony. Helps create the illusion of "Distance".
I've been collaborating a bit over at http://www.twotrackmusic.com/
(don't know if that link is working) You may want to go there for an opinion.
It's a fairly new site, dedicated to home recording buffs like yourself.
Safe & Friendly.
In the meantime, I'm glad that you're taking your time with this.
Your demo should be nothing short of your very best.

I have repaired your link, Jim. You forgot to put the "http://" in front of the .com addy. best, Muderator

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 03:12 AM

Would you mind saying which software you chose.
I have an old Adobe 1.5 on me comp but just gast acopy of audacity
but not had time to try that yet.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Big Mick
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 09:55 AM

If these are early attempts, I would say that you are going to do very well. I enjoyed the song, found the guitar playing to be clean and effective, and I really enjoyed listening to your voice, as well as your phrasing. On the techical side, I heard the things that johnross points out as well, but I have to tell you, you did a great job. For the future, I hope you understand that it is the desire to correct these small things that make the difference between a nice recording and a recording that sounds like it was done by a pro.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Nick
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 11:16 AM

Thanks for the comments. I should point out that it is NOT my singing it's a guy I play with called Mark Kane who played in the States for years and sings and plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bouzouki. I play guitar and bass and sing sometimes. I'm going to have a look at the twotrack site and thanks for that.

As I've said before the set up I have is very basic and is unlikely to get much better over time. I can get recordings of about this quality which is probably ok for my purposes so things probably won't get much better than this! I could probably pay a bit of attention to the room I record in and damp reflections down etc and try and get rid of more of the background noise and a few other things but I think I am approaching the limits of my knowledge and technical set up!

I enjoy being to get this far though but am not sure I'll go hugely further on it.

Tim - I use Reaper which I think is wonderful for my purposes. It is uncrippled shareware (that I subsequently bought for £25 - $50 at the time) and is downloadable from Reaper site - there are better things I'm sure but it works for me and is hugely better than Audacity. Huge manual and quite a learning curve, and I only use a bit of what it can do, but good.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 03:02 PM

You need software that thinks the way you do.
A comment I read on Two Track Music.
Reaper happens to be one of the discussions at the moment.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Jim Lad
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 07:25 PM

Sorry: That was me. Was installing some studio software and buggered my settings up for a bit.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 10:29 AM

Downloaded it but think will need a few hours after my kip for reading the bumf.
Looks good and similar to others I have seen so hopeful.
Thanks NIck

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: GUEST,pattyClink
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 03:43 PM

The TwoTrack site link didn't work for me today. Is it just me?

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Nick
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 04:10 PM

Two Track will work - it was how the blue clicky thing was created

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Jim Lad
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 07:12 PM

I did it the way I always do but for some reason I just couldn't make it go.
Found a guy o Two Track Music to do all of the bass for my next album.
Not really what the site was intended for (more for fun) but wow! We've come a long way.

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Nick
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 08:19 PM

I'd have offered to play bass... :)

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Jim Lad
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 09:09 PM

Now you tell me!!
A guy in Ohio, goes by the name "Smurf" asked for first crack at it.
Just amazes me though.
No set up to do.
No time constraints.
I sent him a nice gift in the mail.
Nobody has to leave the house and if it isn't working, you can call it to a halt before feelings get hurt.
Commercial studios have been doing this for years too.

Jim, I repaired the link to Two Track in your post above. You simply forgot to put the "http://" in the front of the dot com addy in the link. Best, Muderator

Subject: RE: Home Recording Again: comments welcome
From: Cluin
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 09:21 PM

Sounds pretty good overall to me. I've always liked that song (and that album). Good version.

I'm not bothered by the vocals being so forward in the mix, but I'd like to hear those mandolin fills brought up a bit more, with more highs. A few tiny timing gliches with the background vox too.

But overall a good demo. Don't sweat the guitar solo. It sounds well thought-out and executed.