'Lemonade' song now complete with a lead

[deeaa*]

Here,

http://deeaa.pp.fi/lzm/Lemonade/lemon_27_5_10.mp3

Comments on sounds/basic levels welcome, I mixed in the 2nd guitar quite quickly for now, but I don't think it's far off? Are the guitars now too loud when there's two distinct guitars? Do the two guitars sound too similar or should I pan them more to each side?

[thearabianmage]

Hey dude, sweet tune - I hear many inspirations in there from late 70's-early 80's punk so some good ol' rock'n'roll

What did you use to record it?

I wouldn't say off-the-bat that the guitars are too loud, because they are just about level with the drums and bass (sometimes the bass kicks up in the mix quite a bit, did you use any compression?)

What I would say however is that the vocals are too quiet, which is shame because they are quite good. A good tip is turn the vocals up until you think they are too loud, then up just a little bit more.

I only listened to the track once and through a Logitech 2.1 system (which is naturally bass-heavy and has some sort of low-pass filter on it, I swear) but if you wanted a bit more critique, I'd be happy to pull out the headphones

[deeaa*]

Thanks! We're trying just that, kind of pop-rock but showing our roots in the late 70's-80's and up to grunge, and also indeed trying to preserve some punk attitude & not polish everything up too perfect.

This is recorded 100% digital, i.e. no actual amps or even drums were harmed in the process...evrything is recorded 'dry up' into the PC, either just a lead from guitar/bass or MIDI drumkit, and everything concerning the sounds have been made after-the fact in the mixing phase.

The drums are DFH Superior, guitars Amplitube 3 and Guitar Rig 2. And yeah, there's a lof of compressors and stuff going on; it's about 20 tracks only, but there must be something like 40 instances of compressors etc. in the mix. Everything is mixed to an 8-track submix bus and then master FX applied ranging from compressors to stereo enhancers etc. The full studio treatment, so to speak :-)

[thearabianmage]

Thanks! We're trying just that, kind of pop-rock but showing our roots in the late 70's-80's and up to grunge, and also indeed trying to preserve some punk attitude & not polish everything up too perfect.

Good times, I'd say you all did pretty well

This is recorded 100% digital, i.e. no actual amps or even drums were harmed in the process...evrything is recorded 'dry up' into the PC, either just a lead from guitar/bass or MIDI drumkit, and everything concerning the sounds have been made after-the fact in the mixing phase.

This is exactly how I record. . . Except I sequence drums in one program and export them to another to record the instruments/vocals. A nice cheap method of recording

The drums are DFH Superior, guitars Amplitube 3 and Guitar Rig 2. And yeah, there's a lof of compressors and stuff going on; it's about 20 tracks only, but there must be something like 40 instances of compressors etc. in the mix. Everything is mixed to an 8-track submix bus and then master FX applied ranging from compressors to stereo enhancers etc. The full studio treatment, so to speak :-)

That's a pretty good process, there! It sure seems to achieve the decent results. . . And, to be fair, there's nothing wrong with a 20-track recording, in my opinion. Heck, Trent Reznor uses 20 tracks for a single guitar. As much as I'd like to do that, I haven't got the CPU processing power - gotta work with what ya got!

[FrankenFretter***]

I'm listening to it right now, and even through these piss-poor laptop speakers it sounds quite good. Very catchy! I do agree that the vocals need to be just a little bit louder. Other than that, it's really good!

[deeaa*]

Alright! As per suggested, I upped the vox - not by adding volume but tweaking their mid EQ so they punch thru better. Also panned the guitars much wider and now they actually can be told apart as two guitars :-) I guess they are a tad quieter as well now.

It'll take a while mixing this now, but the basics are getting there. Next I'll have to start tweaking in some volume envelopes to for instance push up those tom fills better, etc. etc. I have a long list of to-dos :-)

p.s. the new mix is the same name so new listeners will get the latest one OK. Just refresh if you want to hear the changes :-)