Let me know what you guys think regarding any part of it (mix, singing, lyrics, technical skill, creativity, etc.).
http://soundcloud.com/traviskohlbeck/parts-of-a-whole
Edit: Made it an .mp3 link.
Edit: Made it a SoundCloud link.
My first song, please critique! (rock, pop)
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- KVRAF
- 2628 posts since 30 Mar, 2007 from In and Out Burger
ok, getting the negatives out of the way first: listening through headphones, i'd say that you may want to ease up on the bass just a bit. also, the vocals are very difficult to hear and for the most part i couldn't make out any of the lyrics.
with the negatives out of the way, on to the positives: the melody was great, the drums were great, had a nice Sunday-morning laid-back feel to it. i absolutely LOVED the plucky steelish guitar solo parts throughout the song and the piano near the end. beautiful beautiful stuff and i found myself wanting it to not end!
fantastic track! with a bit of tweaking, this is one i would like to d/l and listen to quite often when i'm in that chilled out, whimsical, day-dreamy mood
~Brendan
with the negatives out of the way, on to the positives: the melody was great, the drums were great, had a nice Sunday-morning laid-back feel to it. i absolutely LOVED the plucky steelish guitar solo parts throughout the song and the piano near the end. beautiful beautiful stuff and i found myself wanting it to not end!
fantastic track! with a bit of tweaking, this is one i would like to d/l and listen to quite often when i'm in that chilled out, whimsical, day-dreamy mood
~Brendan
[Insert Signature Here]
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 6 posts since 16 Feb, 2012 from Atlanta
Thank you! The vocals track level seems to be the #1 complaint, but I have not heard anything about the bass. I'll be sure to keep that in mind for the next go-round. 
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- KVRist
- 125 posts since 26 Nov, 2011 from Minneapolis, MN
I'm listening with a pair of Sennheiser HD-280 headphones and the bass sounds fine to me, but there is something missing from the vocals, at least in the sense of recognizing the words. The tonal quality of the vocals sounded good though. Maybe they were not load enough or "up front" enough? Not sure, I don't work enough with vocals to have the lingo to describe it proper. Overall the melody, vibe, drums, and other mixing sounded good to me. I enjoyed the listen. 
Overall the melody, vibe, drums, and other mixing sounded good to me. I enjoyed the listen. -
- KVRAF
- 4176 posts since 2 Feb, 2003 from lost in music
the sondg is quite nice,
but as the others already said
the mix ruins it
the guitars and the vocals don't seem to be in the same room,
the seem to have different reverbs
and the vocals sound too muddy
the drums are sometimes a bit too upfront imho
I would like to try a mix on it,
if you'd like me to do it,
you can contact me via pm
or maybe you could upload small pieces of each track,
so that everyone whowant's could try to do a mix,
and you can compare different approaches
but as the others already said
the mix ruins it
the guitars and the vocals don't seem to be in the same room,
the seem to have different reverbs
and the vocals sound too muddy
the drums are sometimes a bit too upfront imho
I would like to try a mix on it,
if you'd like me to do it,
you can contact me via pm
or maybe you could upload small pieces of each track,
so that everyone whowant's could try to do a mix,
and you can compare different approaches
sound is vibration, vibration is life
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- KVRAF
- 1596 posts since 19 May, 2011 from North Carolina
In agreement with the previous posts - nice chill vibe, but could use a better mix. Sounds like everything's fighting for the center - maybe start by panning the guitars wider. A little surgical EQ might help (for ex. boosting to the vocals in the 1-6K range with a corresponding slight cut to the guitar would be enough to help them play well together without changing the tone) - but it all depends - there're some good guidelines but every mix is different (which is why even good channel-strip/mastering presets always need tweaking!)
Vocals are tough - there's tons out there written about it, but it all depends on your recording equipment, vocal tone, etc., and you always learn something new, then tastes change and everyone starts doing things differently. I always low-cut my vocals, and only learned recently that a little boost around 150hz can help bring them up front - haven't tried it yet!
Don't get discouraged - it's a fine first effort - you have the creative chops, and the mixing/technical aspect can be learned
Vocals are tough - there's tons out there written about it, but it all depends on your recording equipment, vocal tone, etc., and you always learn something new, then tastes change and everyone starts doing things differently. I always low-cut my vocals, and only learned recently that a little boost around 150hz can help bring them up front - haven't tried it yet!
Don't get discouraged - it's a fine first effort - you have the creative chops, and the mixing/technical aspect can be learned
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- KVRAF
- 5713 posts since 5 Aug, 2006 from UK - The Mudway Towns
Good song overall. Recording mostly clean.
Maybe slightly reduce the bass. Definitely pan the instruments further apart.
How exactly was the vocal recorded? There seems to be a short return echo on it, and that is probably what is making it hard to hear the words. Favourite advice for recording, especially in a small room is to have a duvet hanging behind you to kill any echos.
Also, some cut in the bass (mics tend to boost it) would help and possibly a little lift at around 3kHz would improve the clarity.
The piano sound towards the end needs to be pushed further back in the mix. This is the only choice of instrument that I didn't like much. A better sounding piano would make all the difference.
With that all said, keep going this is a very good first effort
Maybe slightly reduce the bass. Definitely pan the instruments further apart.
How exactly was the vocal recorded? There seems to be a short return echo on it, and that is probably what is making it hard to hear the words. Favourite advice for recording, especially in a small room is to have a duvet hanging behind you to kill any echos.
Also, some cut in the bass (mics tend to boost it) would help and possibly a little lift at around 3kHz would improve the clarity.
The piano sound towards the end needs to be pushed further back in the mix. This is the only choice of instrument that I didn't like much. A better sounding piano would make all the difference.
With that all said, keep going this is a very good first effort
It wasn't me! (well, actually, it probably was) - apparently no longer an 'elderly', now a 'senior'! Is that promotion?
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- KVRist
- 116 posts since 1 Apr, 2007
Man you sound like David Bowie. Excellent.
Nice recording if you ask me, sounds very crisp and clear. Some more excitement in the drum came to my mind.
Nice recording if you ask me, sounds very crisp and clear. Some more excitement in the drum came to my mind.
The more you learn - the less you understand
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 6 posts since 16 Feb, 2012 from Atlanta
Wow, there are a lot more replies now! Thanks everyone. Is there an easy way to gather all the files an Ableton Live file references? There are a good number of them and they're mixed in with all the files of my other songs.
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- KVRAF
- 1596 posts since 19 May, 2011 from North Carolina
In the File menu in Ableton, click "Collect All and Save" - that will copy all the audio files to the project directoryintjk wrote:Wow, there are a lot more replies now! Thanks everyone. Is there an easy way to gather all the files an Ableton Live file references? There are a good number of them and they're mixed in with all the files of my other songs.
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- KVRist
- 84 posts since 6 Feb, 2012 from Oslo, Norway
widen your image, take out the tail on the guitar reverb, then place everything, and then put in the guitar, will fix the centered bass. its like your instruments are all in the middle, narrow, place them as a band. sounds a little like david bowie lol.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 6 posts since 16 Feb, 2012 from Atlanta
Here is the Live project--it's kinda big. Let me know if there are any problems with it.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2254492/Parts%2 ... roject.zip
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2254492/Parts%2 ... roject.zip
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- KVRAF
- 4176 posts since 2 Feb, 2003 from lost in music
I just had a few minutes to try a remix,
I'm not sure if it is better, but it's different at least
for proper editing I would need more time
I only used Live8 onboard FX, so that you can see what I've done,
I sent you a pm with a dl-link for the project file
listen here:
rsmus7 remix
I'm not sure if it is better, but it's different at least
for proper editing I would need more time
I only used Live8 onboard FX, so that you can see what I've done,
I sent you a pm with a dl-link for the project file
listen here:
rsmus7 remix
sound is vibration, vibration is life