Looking for feedback on these songs/mixes

ZV Yoda

Howdy folks... this was originally posted in the “Let’s hear your music” sticky last week (thanks for your feedback Rockshamrover), but I thought it might get a few more comments if I set up a new thread. I did seek permission from Mr Brewer beforehand, so here goes…

I’d really like to get your feedback on these songs:

http://www.thebrouhahamusic.com/

We’re a 3 piece. 2 of us (who set up our home studios in the past 18 months or so) have gigged/played together in various college/pub bands on & off for years, but only hooked up with a singer in the past 18 months.

We're used to playing/writing, but newbies at recording/mixing (as you may have spotted from my posts here )

All tracked/mixed by us. Drums & percussion tracked in my home studio (which doubles as a garden shed). The remainder was tracked & mixed in the guitarist’s home studio.

All done on mid range consumer gear (if that’s the right term for Pro Tools LE / Digidesign M Box / 003 rack with various bits & pieces by M-Audio / Behringer mics by Shure, Senneheiser AKG etc.

Would love to get feedback (good, bad or indifferent) on:

1. The songs
2. The tracking/mixing/production

I know I’m leaving myself open to criticism here, but I’ve a thick skin. I would genuinely like to her from people who can help us to improve the sound.

Thanks...

fitz

Just realised I've no earphones with me, but I'll give them a listen later.
You're in Celbridge aren't you? Could meet up for a chat if you like, share my experience of going the DIY route...
Anyway, I'll come back with some comments over the next day or two...

dav nagle

Hey ZV,

The lead singer has a fantasically beautiful voice. The male backing vocals and harmonies work really well. The backing music is nice and detailed and well suited, one could say Jsuited. The laid back drums are cool, the guitar solos are pretty nice and I have to say I have enjoyed the listening experience. I am listening via lap top becasue thats all I have with me at the moment. Very good work, very taughtful, not overproduced in any way. The vocals are very well recorded, there is no popping or sibilance and what not, they are nice and loud and clear. Good work. Overall you have a good band and a nice sound but the lyrics could be better. Best of luck ZV I am well impressed, it will be interesting to hear how things progress, keep us all updated, peace out, D.

old gregg

crikey man this is really cool, currently on the 2nd listen through, like the way everything hangs together. The 2nd/backup vocal on Once hits my ears a little stridently but that could easily be more a case of me normally listening to instrumental music and not being ready for it. cool stuff.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

always liked this stuff you guys do,

i do think they lack low end and a bit of low mids though

sounds a little bit scooped in the mids a bit and the lows .

i think the tunes would work better with a more drivier beefier middier drums and bass but being careful not to smother the vocal which works well.

i just seem to hear alot of attack and not enough body ?

that make sense ?



good stuff though

ZV Yoda

Wow - thanks for all the replies... much appreciated!

fitz wrote: »

Just realised I've no earphones with me, but I'll give them a listen later.
You're in Celbridge aren't you? Could meet up for a chat if you like, share my experience of going the DIY route...
Anyway, I'll come back with some comments over the next day or two...

Thanks Fitz…yip, that’s me… I’d be glad to meet up. I’ll drop you a PM & you can give me a shout back when you’ve had a listen

dav nagle wrote: »

Hey ZV,

The lead singer has a fantastically beautiful voice. The male backing vocals and harmonies work really well. The backing music is nice and detailed and well suited, one could say Jsuited. The laid back drums are cool, the guitar solos are pretty nice and I have to say I have enjoyed the listening experience. I am listening via lap top becasue thats all I have with me at the moment. Very good work, very taughtful, not overproduced in any way. The vocals are very well recorded, there is no popping or sibilance and what not, they are nice and loud and clear. Good work. Overall you have a good band and a nice sound but the lyrics could be better. Best of luck ZV I am well impressed, it will be interesting to hear how things progress, keep us all updated, peace out, D.

Cheers Dav. Yeah, she’s a great singer & has a powerful voice. The hardest part in recording the vox is striking the dynamic balance between full on chorus vs. soft subtle verses. Overall, we’ve been finding our way, learning/tweaking the sound as we go along.
Lyrics are very subjective really. I didn't write the lyrics on these tracks, but I suppose mine would be in a similar vein. Having said that, Morrissey is proabably my fave lyricist, so he's always going to be a hard act to follow!

old gregg wrote: »

crikey man this is really cool, currently on the 2nd listen through, like the way everything hangs together. The 2nd/backup vocal on Once hits my ears a little stridently but that could easily be more a case of me normally listening to instrumental music and not being ready for it. cool stuff.

Thanks for that old gregg!... much appreciated! Yeah, there’s still a few peaks that jump for me when I listen... a kind of harshness. I think some of that is courtesy of the player on the site too. We'll have to tone down the highs I think

DaDumTish wrote: »

always liked this stuff you guys do,
i do think they lack low end and a bit of low mids though
sounds a little bit scooped in the mids a bit and the lows .
i think the tunes would work better with a more drivier beefier middier drums and bass but being careful not to smother the vocal which works well.
i just seem to hear alot of attack and not enough body ?
that make sense ?
good stuff though

Thanks Tish…

That's a good point on the lack of low end... thinking about it, I have a lot of bass trapping in my room (it’s not totally dead, but dead enough to eliminate too much room noise when tracking drums). This means I don't get that boomy sound through my monitors (I also invested in a set of MoPads to sit my monitors on - they made a big difference). My mate's room is a bit bigger, but he doesn't have any trapping, so the bass frequencies are magnified in his room. I think that means his final mix tends to lack mid/bottom when played back on a normal system. We’ll have to look into that – hadn’t really thought about the room differences like that before.

Yeah, agree within you 100% on the drums… I know you’ve been there too trying to get a good sound from a small room. I think the rest of instruments sound pretty good given our limited experience / facilities, but I think the drums are still the weak link in terms of recorded sound... they’re OK on the 1st track (which is played with brushes) but overall I think the kit just sounds lame/boxy when it needs to have real punch. I’d love to be able to beef them up. Would love to hear any suggestion on how I could this!