[tone]

So recently I did something I never thought I'd do, and I recorded a cover version. To begin with, it was just an exercise in practising my production chops, but now it's nearly finished, I think I might actually put it out there.

I think it's pretty good, but I could do with your ears and brutally honest opinions. I'm aiming for full commercial standard here, and although it's only a piano vocal, I want it to sound, y'know, great I've done a lot of EQing, compressing and lots of other things I barely understand, so if you can hear room for improvement in this mix, please let me know. Thanks!

https://soundcloud.com/anthony-lane/victory-lap-mix-5/s-MPfww

[jamesh]

Tone

I really enjoyed that as a lunch time interlude. Im not really qualified to comment, but I did have a quick listen, as a comparison with another piano / vocal only track to Birdy's Skinny Love. I was only listening from a mix point of view, but what I did hear apart from the actual pedal sounds and creeking of the piano stool, was a lot more presence in terms of reverb on both vocals and piano. I guess there's a choice as to how "dry" you want the mix to be.

 Just an observation however. I like your cover version as it is. Sorry I cant add a more informed view!

James

[Skub]

In my very limited experience the piano sounds lovely. I take it you were going for a very 'up close to the mic',intimate feel for the vocals,Tone? Maybe I imagined a certain 'boominess' here and there because of proximity,but as I say,I'm no expert,plus I only listened to it on headphones. Sometimes listening through speakers will give a better indication of any low down mischief.

It could easily be one of your songs Tone,you have certainly made it that way. A lovely piece.

Others who know schitt will be along shortly. 

[tone]

James & Skub, thanks very much for your ears and opinions. If it was a real piano I'd love to feature the pedal sounds and stool creaking, but for now I'm confined to imitation pianos, albeit this one being quite realistic in my opinion. Maybe adding a touch of room noise might add a certain something though. As for reverb, I deliberately wanted to keep it light for a more up close & personal feel.

You're probably right about boominess - I haven't got a great room or great speakers, and the speakers I do have are ones I'm not really used to yet. I'm not big on headphones, although I did use them for a very quick reference listen-through, I always use speakers for mixing, because that's how I hope people will listen. Maybe I should reconsider that...

Thanks again chaps. Onwards to mixes 6, 7 & 8!

[shadowfax]

sounds good, you can clean up your vocal a bit with a notch around 200HZ, your pronunciation of some of the words could be a bit better also Tone...
the Waves piano has a lot presets where you can hear the pedals and you can add these sounds to any sound that you use if required..

best, Kevin

[diademgrove]

Hi Tone,

it may be my headphones, but the balance between the piano and the vocal doesn't sound right. The piano is too bright and maybe a bit too loud. I would have liked the piano to be a little softer, more sympathetic to the lament in the words. Not sure how you could achieve that though. I'd just mess about with the piano EQ until I got it sounding like it does in my head.

Feel free to ignore me if you disagree.

Keith

[tone]

Thanks Kevin & Keith

I'll try both your suggestions - I did struggle with the balance between the piano and the voice, and mixing your own voice is sooooo hard, because I can't tell the difference between how it actually sounds and my emotional reaction to the performance itself. Notch at 200hz it is! EQ is the part I find most difficult, and the fewer instruments you have, the harder it seems to be. I'll keep soldiering on with it.

Thanks again for your feedback chaps - much obliged to you

[Skub]

Kevin is way ahead of me in all things mix,Tone,but quite often in most tracks there are nasty resonant things happening around 200hz. I nearly always do a search and destroy in that area.

[tone]

Interesting, that. I think I actually boosted 200hz on both vocal and piano. Something about my voice needs the lower frequencies to sound natural, and the piano sounded top heavy to me. Maybe my ears are broken... I'll duck it out though and see what develops. I'm also recording with a new mic for the first time, so lots of unknowns to deal with.

Thanks again Skub

[tone]

I did another mix. Having used headphones AND speakers this time, I realise what you mean about the piano being bright. Holy crap my speakers are dark. I'm gonna have to ditch them asap.

If you've got a couple of mins to spare to listen to this one, I'd be mighty grateful. https://soundcloud.com/anthony-lane/victory-lap-mix6/s-YApxx

Thanks again chaps

[pompeyjazz]

That sounds pretty perfect to me Tone 

[Neil C]

Tone,
I don't know about the technicalities of mixing but v6 is better in that the vocals just sit atop of the piano not in it. Like it a lot.
Good luck
  neil

[adamfarr]

Yeah, I like mix6 a lot. I had a feeling that in the first half where the vocal is really soft there were a few syllables that dropped into the piano and were lost. Did you already do any fader riding? Spots where I seemed to notice this more were e.g. around 0'38", 0'58", 1'40"... I wonder whether a subtle boost just to bring up those words could finish it off? Subtle stuff of course and just a thought...

[diademgrove]

Hi Tone,

not sure if its my headphones but the piano still sounds a little bright to me. Although it may be because I'm odd and want to hear something unnatural.

The other thing I noticed was the volume sounded very similar throughout the song. I think it may help if the beginning was noticeably softer than the end, the song would then build in intensity.

Keith

[tone]

Thanks Pomp, Neil, Adam & Keith

I'm not that bothered about an occasional lost syllable - in fact, if anything, the vocal is a little too consistent volume-wise after using the vocal rider without understanding any of the controls... :p But I think the benefit outweighs the compromises. I agree with Keith about there being room for more dynamic range in the track as a whole, and there was to begin with. A combination of the vocal rider and the (what I considered gentle) compression seems to have pretty much swallowed it though. Not really sure how to go back and undo it either as my version control has been erratic to say the least.

Thanks so much for your feedback and help chaps. There'll be a final mix of this at some point