1st time producing... Gimme some advice please

[Tall T]

I picked up a Tascam Digital 8-track PortaStudio, and a Global Audio GXL2200 condenser mic, and I just started recording from my house... I dont have a booth built because I cant afford it yet, and my closet is too full of clothes an sneakers to put the mic in there so for now its just in the corner of my bedroom about 3 feet away from the walls... Im gonna put some foam up soon but right now its just a mic in a regular non treated room.....

Anyways, I just recorded and mixed down my first track on this equipment for my boy Jabari... Peep it an gimme some good advice/critism to help me make the best of what I have. Thanks

http://www.zshare.net/audio/2316107811de32/

 

[50cal]

Its ounds like your vocals are distorted..i only listened for a few seconds...

 

[Tall T]

i dunno, they sound cool by themselves but that beat fucked shit up more than anything I think because it wasnt the best quality to begin with

 

[HERESY]

Everything is distorted.

I don't know if this is a problem in the mix, or if it was the way it was recorded, but this shit is loud as hell with frequencies all over the place. When I mix, everything is at "unity gain" and I bring things DOWN. If the tracks were recorded cool you should be able to remix the song, and I would start by bringing all the tracks down. Also, sounds to me as if everything is smack in the middle. Pan some of those instruments to make room for the vocals and give the song some depth.

Also, leave the delay and reverb off until you have the vocals sitting where you want. In addition, these are time based and should be set according to your tempo to get the desired effect. Moreover, the more NOTES you have in the song, the LESS effects you want to use because they will take up space in the mix.

Keep it crackin cuzzo.

 

[GHP]

spread the tracks out more, sounds like everything is sitting dead center of the mix pan things out a bit, and bring some of the instruments down in the beat. Not a bad track though

 

[Tall T]

fosho thanks everyone... yeah everything is smacked dead center... when I brought in all the vocal tracks it made them mono, and I wasnt sure how to change that... I think I may have figured it out on my Tascam now though... Also, Im using something called Multiband Compression to boost the vocals a lil bit and Im not sure how much distortion that adds to it... and it was mixed pretty hot so Im gonna bring everything down I guess... good lookin yall, Im gonna fuck with it somemore when I get off work tomarrow hopefully an see if I cant make it sound better!

 

[DAT NIGGA TAZZ]

it sounds pretty good to me, u just need to make some slight adjustments maybe and yea i can hear it disstorting a lil bit

 

[Mr. Samos]

There are a lot of problems with the levels. And yeah man, everything down the center? You need to pan out your instruments, think of a sound stage, every instrument is positioned a certain way for a reason, it's the same when you mix, you have to use your ear and pan the instruments until you hit the magic spot. Generally you can keep the kick, the bass, and the main part of the clap/snare and the vocals center, but everything else you want to pan a little bit, including the hi-hats, pan them just a bit to the right, etc. Pan everything to where you can hear it very clear, crisp, and where it adds more depth or warmth to your track, that's a magic spot IMO, panning it just right, you really got to have an ear and you really gotta listen as you pan it. You need to keep your levels down also, your entire track MIXED, should be well under 0/Clip. Check the FX you have on each track also, if they don't sound right just take them off, straight up, you may have too many FX on your tracks. Also keep in mind that adding FX may/will boost the levels, so it will throw your mixing off if you don't pay attention, keep the levels down man, don't mix so hard, you need to be soft and delicate with it. Keep practicing.

 

[HERESY]

fosho thanks everyone... yeah everything is smacked dead center... when I brought in all the vocal tracks it made them mono, and I wasnt sure how to change that... I think I may have figured it out on my Tascam now though... Also, Im using something called Multiband Compression to boost the vocals a lil bit and Im not sure how much distortion that adds to it... and it was mixed pretty hot so Im gonna bring everything down I guess... good lookin yall, Im gonna fuck with it somemore when I get off work tomarrow hopefully an see if I cant make it sound better!

Multiband compression is compression that is set according to the specified frequency bands. IMHO, that wouldn't be the type of compression I would use for vocal tracks unless I was going for a specific/unique sound or looking to compresss a specific frequency (I would also use it if I didn't want to use any type of eq.)

 

[Tall T]

^well thats the only kind of compression I can find in Cubase... an I choose the Vocal setting on it and raised up the DBs to like 3.0 I think... Im gonna fuck with it when I get back from the barber an by tonite I should have a better version for u guys to peep out an critic'

 

[HERESY]

I've never heard of cubase offering only multi band compression. You might want to check into that and search around a bit, but if you learn how to use it you should be ok.

When you remix it post up a dry version (without FX) and a wet version (with FX)

 

[Tall T]

^alright will do... Im fuckin with it right now... It already sounds a whole lot better

 

[HERESY]

One more thing, DON'T put ANYTHING on the master fader/master buss right now. Just get the mixes how you think they should sound and upload them.

 

[Tall T]

One more thing, DON'T put ANYTHING on the master fader/master buss right now. Just get the mixes how you think they should sound and upload them.

yeah, to tell you the truth I dont even know how to do that shit Lol... still learnin this program an everything... gimme like 30 more minutes, Im adjusting the Eq's an shit because the mids are soundin too high... this is starting to sound real dope... I'd post samples along the way but I think the whole transition from the first draft I uploaded, to the final after advice draft will be a pleasureable experiance for your ears LOL

 

[Tall T]

Alright I think I'm almost done fuckin with this track... Tell me it doesnt sound 5x's better! jay kay - summertime 07.mp3 - 4.63MB

 

[50cal]

are you using effects on the vocals? It almost sounds like you using reverb(Im on my computer speakers)..

 

[HERESY]

Yes he is using FX on his vocals.

Tall T, get the song to sound right/close to what you want it to sound like before you put fx on tracks. Some things are cleared up a bit, but the frequencies are still all over the place, and there is still distortion. Are you mixing in cubase or from your tascam?

 

[Tall T]

Yes he is using FX on his vocals.

Are you mixing in cubase or from your tascam?

Cubase... I was gonna post up a wet and a dry version but i got too tired last night... Yeah I have a reverb on the chorus because I thought it sounded kinda cool, but Im not sure about it... so should I take it off? Also, I have a chorus effect on both the hook and the verses... should that be gone too?

 

[Tall T]

Also, I just noticed what another one of the problems is....
When I bump it in Cubase it sounds good, crisp, clear, and not at all distorted; then I export it an play it in iTunes and I dont think it sounds as good. ???

 

[Home-E]

itunes has different equalizer settings that are automatically set. In general I notice the hi hats are louder, the snare/clap is lower, and things sound more panned then usual.