Sweet Sue Sebastian

[keks]

Hey (presumably) guys,
just finishing up a few songs that have been on halt for too long.
This is Sweet Sue Sebastian with her Sibyllinean Smile.
I already learned that "Sibyllinisches Lächeln" does not easily translate into English (at least not this way), but I really loved that hook too much to let it go.
(Sibyllinisches Lächeln refers to the Sibylla, a certain old Greek seer, and is a mysterious smile that is hard to understand or interpret. Think Mona Lisa.)

I'd really like some feedback if you think there is something inherently wrong with the recording or mix.
I tried to catch a kinda live vibe.

Drums are programmed in SD2 everything else is recorded with an M88 for the instruments and an M69 for the vocals.


Thanks in Advance,
all the best,
the keks

[unitymusic]

Sounds really good to me, cool song and harmonies too.

If anything maybe the lead vocals could sound just a tiny bit fuller, but I don't know if that's really necessary. Nice work, I enjoyed it.

[upstairs]

I dig it, but perhaps a bit less stereo? I think it'd sound a bit more live. I'm getting more of a studio vibe.

"Sibyllinean Smile" is a good lyrical hook

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

Really cool! :)

I think the over-stereoness is the drums. Maybe narrow the overheads or use more of the room mics?

Voice does sound a bit thin at the beginning, but fits fine once the whole band is playing, so maybe add a bit of girth to it at the start?

Bass was poking out a bit in places, a bit too dynamic, again more noticeable at when it first comes in.

Really nice tone and balance overall though, very appropriate to the material.

[upstairs]

Bass was poking out a bit in places, a bit too dynamic, again more noticeable at when it first comes in.

I'm noticing that too. I take the side of dynamics as opposed to squashed most of the time, but it was a little distracting. Curious as to what your bass chain was, keks (on the pre-mic side)

[keks]

Wow, guys and gals, thanks for all the nice feedback!


My voice is what it is, atm.
I had whooping cough some years back (though I had it as a child, but there seem to be two stems. The more you know... ) and had to teach and talk over a tickle in the throat for weeks.
It took me months to recover and got me kicked out of bands nastily for singing like shit.
I'm just getting back to open my mouth to sing in the open, but there is still some way to go...
Boosting lower midrange sounded totally fake to me. The M69 helps a bit over the M88, but I'll have to see how I progress.
Do you have any tips on mics?
I'm strictly on dynamics here.
My room is so live and the walls are so thin that I'd get just room and a swarm of lawn mowers with a bit of voice hidden below with a LDC.
Even with the M69 I have to hang bedspreads behind me to keep the room down.

The stereo thing; I actually never listened to this on phones or earbuds.
Yeah, I see what you mean. I've got everything hard panned that is not vox, lead guitar, bass or kick and snare...

I'm noticing that too. I take the side of dynamics as opposed to squashed most of the time, but it was a little distracting. Curious as to what your bass chain was, keks (on the pre-mic side)

This would actually my Guild Pilot with nylon tape wounds, the EMG P-pick up, tone pot all the way down into my Sansamp PSA 1.1 and my Behringer Composer MDX2000 to shave 2-3 db off.
DI all the way
I don't think I did any further ITB processing with it; my room is far from perfect, so I tend to be very conservative with bold processing moves. I try to track as mixed as possible to spare me heavy handed corrections that might be ill informed by my monitoring environment. But then again my mixes seem to translate quite OK, so I'm not willing to open that can of auralex...

Thanks again and all the best,
the keks

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

I quite liked the hard panned stringed instruments. It was the drums that were a bit much, with the hats and cymbals were a bit distractingly stereo.

[unitymusic]

Do you have any tips on mics?
I'm strictly on dynamics here.
My room is so live and the walls are so thin that I'd get just room and a swarm of lawn mowers with a bit of voice hidden below with a LDC.
Even with the M69 I have to hang bedspreads behind me to keep the room down.

Do you have any ribbon mics? I wouldn't worry about re-recording vocals for this song or anything, but going forward that might be something to try.

[nobby]

I'm not an expert but it sounds like a pretty good mix to me.

I would have changed one word in the lyrics, though, changing 'I' to 'she'.


She took my courage in both hands

[keks]

I'm not an expert but it sounds like a pretty good mix to me.

Thanks

I would have changed one word in the lyrics, though, changing 'I' to 'she'.


She took my courage in both hands

You would.
If you had any.



Or did you mean to say "wouldn't"?
I mean, there are many people out there.
You merkins, one gotta ask...



All the best,
the keks

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

I'm not an expert...

I'm an expert when it comes to other people's mixes, and a rank amateur when it comes to my own.

[nobby]

Or did you mean to say "wouldn't"?

I misspoke. I said "wood" but I meant to say "wooden".

[keks]

Y'all!
Thanks for your feedback!

I brought the drums in a bit and lifted the room reverb on the main vocals about half a db.
I I noticed that I considerably run into airwindows ClipOnly that I keep on my mixbuss,
so I shaved off a few db in the end to not clip the mix at all.

I think, I'm getting there, whaddayathink?

[Rev. Juda$ Sleaze]

It sounds good!

The vocal comes through much better now, and makes the vocal on mix1 sound buried. The bass also sounds more full, which I guess is the result of less limiting.

Thumbs up!

[unitymusic]

Agree the vocal sits better with the music now, sounds good!