[linux-audio-dev] Tastes like chicken!

[Dave Phillips]

Hey John:

  I'll chime in with some kudos for the tune, but I agree with your own 
assessment re: the vocal, it does need to come forward. No point in 
singing words if they can't be heard or understood, yes ?

  Vocals are often a problem for people who don't particularly think of 
themselves as "good" singers (whatever that means: is Bob Dylan a "good" 
singer ?), and there's a resulting tendency to put the vocals too far 
back in the mix. The thought is often to truly "mix" the vocals in with 
the instruments, but I suggest taking it the other way on, i.e., mixing 
the instruments against the voice. The song is the thing, its melody and 
lyrics must be clearly heard (or at least clearly sensed: I can't 
usually understand the lyrics to Mudvayne but at least their man is out 
front). One of my favorite local musicians made a wonderful album years 
ago, but the one mistake he made on it was to mix his voice too deeply 
into the instrumental sounds. He told me he wished he hadn't done so, 
and that his decision was based on his poor opinion of his own singing. 
Sometimes it's best to get another opinion, I guess that's part of the 
function of a good producer.

  No tubby sound here, probably because my monitoring system is fairly 
decent. The instrumental mix has a nice loose sound to it that 
complements the song.  I agree with Florian re: the character of the 
tune, the sounds really match the intent of the lyrics. Good stuff, 
let's hear some more !

  Btw, perhaps this thread is more on-topic on the users list ?

Best,

dp




Florian Schmidt wrote:

>On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 14:36:10 -0500
>John Check <j4strngs at bitless.net> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Anyhoo, I had a spark of inspiration and banged out a little sort of folk tune
>>tracked with ardour. Audacity as a front end for LAME. Still getting my ears 
>>calibrated to a subpar monitoring system so forgive the buried vox and any 
>>tubbyness.
>>    
>>
>
>Great tune! I really enjyed it! And yes, the mix is a bit odd, but i
>like it. Gives the tune even more character :)
>
>Flo
>
>  
>