Eyes On Hold (redone)

urbnite

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Description

this is my second attempt at recording this song.

and my first attempt at trying to get a good recording!

i've avoided doing so in the past because i was slightly overwhelmed. but this is better than the demo of this.

i'm hoping to get some feedback on the recording/mixing stuff... any suggestions? things i should/could do to make it sound better?

i have one guitar track with a little reverb and compression (i think).
two vocal tracks - panned left and right about +/-20... one with more reverb than the other.

compression on the master track.

some rough mixing and some EQ.

so that's that. thanks in advance for any input!

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Lyrics

See: Eyes on Hold (demo)

Song Stats

Hits: 1379
Comments: 23
Fans: 1
Plays: 140
Downloads: 67
Votes: 6
Uploaded: Dec 07, 2005 - 02:10:08 PM
Last Updated: Dec 08, 2005 - 11:35:22 AM Last Played: Jun 30, 2009 - 02:32:07 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Keywords:

urbnite (11), dark (363), acoustic (589), multi-track (1), eyes (24), hold (9), things (12), pretty (26), little (12), lovely (9), rights (6), darren (11), guitar (1074), voice (40)

Hardware:

M-Audio Firewire 410
M-Audio Luna mic

Seagull acoustic guitar

me

Software:

GarageBand

Comments

Sofian	Sofian said 1447 days ago (December 7th, 2005)
	Okay good guitar composing, you should maybe rework the voice volume, it�s a too much in the front. Give the guitar more space. Probably radiohead fan. Check out my latest song called Nozee

urbnite	urbnite said 1447 days ago (December 7th, 2005)
	Okay thanks Sofian! funny.. the guitar sounded too loud to me - after listening too much i can't tell anymore! Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

jiguma

jiguma said 1447 days ago (December 7th, 2005)

This is more like it!
Hi Darren,
This is more like it! Much cleaner sound than you've had previously. I see you've bought a seagull - smart move - and it sounds rather nice too.
You've panned the vox l/r - a good thing - but can I suggest you also try putting a slight delay in the rh channel (delay in rh channel sounds somehow more natural than lh to me for some reasoon)? You can do it with the AUDelay, but a much simpler thing to do is select the rh track, turn off "snap to markers" (or whatever it is called) and then drag it a tiny bit to the right. Once you try it you'll figure out how much sounds good. I find this adds a real depth to vocals. You can do similar things with guitars to add depth (try the same guitar track doubled with different sounds in each channel too). With more than one guitar track you can fill the field more by panning and delaying them also.
Darren, I get the feeling that you have a lot of potential - this song certainly shows that. Well done!
Neil

Check out my latest song called Lost In Translation (w Mike Watkins)

urbnite	urbnite said 1447 days ago (December 7th, 2005)
	This is more like it! i'll do that! add another guitar track... i was thinking of doing that, but thought i'd see what people had to say before i did too much... thanks so much for the comment neil - i hope you're right! lol Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

cjorgensen

cjorgensen said 1447 days ago (December 7th, 2005)

Well Done
Lyrically seems to pick up more than what's actually there. I like songs
that do that. I think there is some clipping going on.

I think you should play the guitar, then lay the vocals over. But have to
admit, I don't know what I am saying here. Maybe not as possible as I
imagine. But this would allow you to concentrate on one part of the
mix.

And you could get the level exactly right. I agree with Sofian, the vocals
seem a bit upfront, but I have to add the guitar is rougher than the
lyrics.

A damn well written song. You should sell it!

Check out my latest song called Gardens

urbnite	urbnite said 1447 days ago (December 7th, 2005)
	Well Done yeah - the mic's very sensitive... lots of breathing and stuff... did lay the guitar down first... need to do some work on the mix... maybe i was trying to hide the sloppy guitar part! lol thanks for the ideas, though... but i'm not gonna sell it. it's for me! Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

futurefaithmusic	futurefaithmusic said 1447 days ago (December 7th, 2005)
	I like the song, but... It's pretty good, but I think it would be better with backing musicians.

urbnite	urbnite said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)
	I like the song, but... thanks! i'd love some backing musicians... is that an offer? ;) Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

said 1447 days ago (December 8th, 2005)

Heartfelt
Pretty artistic session. Your guitar and voice are nicely in sync, playing
off each other. Technically, your vox track needs de-essing. There is a
free SpitFish plug-in from digitalfishphones you can download. Or just
go into the multiband equalizer and pull down the 6000 and/or 7000
kHz frequencies. I think you could add more reverb to your voice to
help draw it closer to the ambience of the guitar.

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1447 days ago (December 8th, 2005)

Heartfelt
Songs like this one are what I like about this site. An excellent piece,
well-rendered (although not in a meat-packing kind of way). I want to copy
rschletty's suggestion (above) here, just so I can read it again:

"There is a
free SpitFish plug-in from digitalfishphones you can download. Or just
go into the multiband equalizer and pull down the 6000 and/or 7000
kHz frequencies."

Instead, I would just take two aspirin and call Rich in the morning.

---
<a href="http://thelostrecords.com/atwood-artist.html">american plain cd</a>
<a href="http://thelostrecords.com/noel-project-artist.html">splendor bright cd</

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

	said 1447 days ago (December 8th, 2005)
	Heartfelt Tom, you said "aspirin" with a spraying "s" sound. You'd better take the cure, too!

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1447 days ago (December 8th, 2005)

Heartfelt
I believe it may be a deficiency of some type, Rich.Perhaps I am low on
Omega-3 fatty acids. In which case, perhaps some cod liver oil might help?
But you and I digress. Back to urbnite and this terrific song...

---
<a href="http://thelostrecords.com/atwood-artist.html">american plain cd</a>
<a href="http://thelostrecords.com/noel-project-artist.html">splendor bright cd</

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

urbnite	urbnite said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)
	Heartfelt you guys are HIlarious! thanks for the comments and suggestions.. i tried those plug-ins.. think it might've helped. that compressor is really easy to understand, too! i have also taken a few aspirins and some other assorted pills and drugs lying around... maybe it'll help! Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

_nderscore	_nderscore said 1447 days ago (December 8th, 2005)
	nice tune enjoyable straightforward purity. keep em coming Check out my latest song called glyd

urbnite	urbnite said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)
	nice tune thanks _ i'm gonna try and keep em coming! Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

alley-oop

alley-oop said 1447 days ago (December 8th, 2005)

Certain unique sound
You really have it Mr. U. The way you play guitar and sing, gell together very nicely. You sing with lots of emotion. That's great. Your unique sound sets you apart, That's good too.
I see lot of people are giving you post production tips, so I'll avoid that.
But what I will give you to chew on is this, The closer you get to recording the parts just right, the less post production you have to do. Getting things loud enough to have good ambience, but not you loud that you peak the sound being recorded. Always watch your levels. Sing a few phrases and watch the levels before you record. Play a few loud chords, check your levels. Get your mic 2 inches or so from the sound hole on the guitar and keep those levels down. You sing and play very dynamically. Your intensity changes quite a bit from measure to measure. You may want to ease your head back 4 inches when you are going to sing a phrase real strongly or move in when soft.
Of course, the type of guitar, type and quality of your mic. Fresh strings all make a difference. Also the room where you record.
I too, record voice and guitar often. I always record without any effects but will often add 'live perfromance' vocal filter to guitar and vocals. You need to monkey around untill you find what sounds good to you.
I avoid compression. I think it takes the breath out of the acoustic guitar.
You r stuffs great man

Check out my latest song called anymore

musicdreamer

musicdreamer said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)

Great songwriting/suggestions
I agree mostly with everyone on else on this one. I suggest that you lower the
vocals a bit and maybe put a smidgen of reverb on them. As far as composing I
think you do a beautiful job of it and this such a great piece. I really like it a lot!
One suggestion to you that I could really bring more life into it and keep it
exciting through the whole thing is to maybe add some harmonies using organs
and strings. Insturments like cello, violin, and organ seem like they would really
add to the soul of this song. Great job!

Check out my latest song called This Life I Choose

urbnite	urbnite said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)
	Great songwriting/suggestions hey - thanks dreamer! actually, i hadn't thought of it, but organ is a great idea for this track... i used this old organ i have on another song up here in the bridge, just like you said and it came out nice... i may add that to the new mix i'm working on! Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

urbnite

urbnite said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)

Certain unique sound
Mr. Oop - you're so sweet... thanks for the lovely comments.

you're right about getting a good source to work with... i might've rushed this
out of frustration.

i also listened to your tip about compression... i think it helped a lot with the
guitars. i've actually duplicated the guitar track and EQed one for the higher
frequencies, one lower. i put some compression on the low one and took it
off the high one and off the master track. i think i got the guitar to sound
MUCH better because of this!

so thank you!

Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

musicdreamer	musicdreamer said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)
	pop filter Aslo have you considered buying a pop filter if you aren't already using one. It seems like it would do you some good for those popping vocals and breaths. Check out my latest song called This Life I Choose

urbnite	urbnite said 1446 days ago (December 9th, 2005)
	pop filter YES! a pop filter would help me enormously, you're right. waiting until i spend all the money i need to on these holidays before i invest in myself! Check out my latest song called Everything's Perfect

musicdreamer	musicdreamer said 1445 days ago (December 9th, 2005)
	pop filter ah the glorious thing is that you can buy a pop filter cheap though, some run for only about 20 bucks. Not too bad. Check out my latest song called This Life I Choose

The Composer

The Composer said 1441 days ago (December 14th, 2005)

Adding to the comments already given.
First of all, pop filter alternatives: a stocking streched across a
coathanger... or simply not singing directly into the mic (like just over
it).

This is a nice song, good singing, guitar playing etc and an interesting
song overall... so I'll just quickly add my 2 cents for the mixing side of
things.

For starters, I can't really hear the two vocal tracks. Jiguma's right, if
its just reverb that is different between the two tracks it going to be
hard to tell. I wouldn't suggest delaying the signals though, because
then its going to sound like you're singing in both ears and the guitar
is in the center... it would be my personal preference to do that to the
guitar... but at the same time, if this is going to remain an acoustic
song, I'd try to stay away from such effects and focus on reverb,
panning, EQ and the like.

The guitar to me sounds like you've recorded it with the mic you were
using to sign into, because it sounds far away and has no real warmth
to it... just the high end percussive sound. Whether its your micing
technique (I don't know about guitars so I can't make many
suggestions) or just in the post production, I want there to be more
bottom end and less high end. The middle to high end of the
frequency spectrum is already being covered quite competantly by your
voice, so you want less of that high end percussive attack in your
guitar (it will compete with your voice) and more of the middle to low
sounds that come from the strings and the resonance of the guitar.

This should give the song more depth, the guitar will be able to be
louder without competiting with the voice and you'll be able to hear the
chords more clearly.

Very nice song though, can't wait to hear what comes next.

Check out my latest song called 25 Minutes in a Japanese Restaurant (Readers Digest Version) (MJRF)

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Tom Atwood

Artist Info

Name: Darren

i'm not good at talking about myself! i will say that you may be in for some varying qualities of recording. some bad, some not so bad. i'm getting better at the 'engineering' side of things, so it should be continuously improving. also - if ... [see more]

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