Our Name Is Servants - Mystic Life ... A song I recorded for my band.

Here are two different mixes (mono and stereo) of my sort of new song called Mystic Life.

I recorded all of this myself at home with a single Oktava analog mic using Logic Pro X.

Intruments:

Guitar
Bass
Percs.
Vocals

I think all that is left is for me to record the drums, throw out the percs and maybe add some wurlitzer keys.

I will re-record the vocals as I'm not completely satisfied with them.

Here's the link to the soundcloud playlist page:

soundcloud.com...

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Well, do you like it?

Edit to add: And, which do you personally prefer, the mono mix or the stereo mix?


Edit to add again: Thought I might add the lyrics with chords:

Ab
In this life of eternity, we’re all living outside of the dream
F# G Ab
Coming down, down, down

Ab
On our buildings and things we, might have wanted to stay
F# G Ab
It’s all right

(Chorus)

C#m Dm Ab
It sure makes me sad

C#m Dm Ab
It sure breaks my heart, heart, heart

C#m Dm Ab
Tearing my soul apart

C#m Dm Ab
My God help them all

(Chorus End)

Ab
On the top of all the people there lies a mystic force called God oh yeah
F# G Ab
Guiding us, guiding us through

Ab
All of all of all the people, coming through this life they have no real dream
F# G Ab
What a tragedy

Then I switch to B and E chords in the solo part.

I liked the rhythm guitar you can hear at the end.

with a single Oktava analog mic

Are there digital microphones now?

a reply to: Planet teleX

Uagh, I meant one with a lamp

Thanks for listening and dropping by.

Did you prefer the mono or stereo mix of the song?

a reply to: Sump3

Hey, it's a catchy tune. Thanks for the music, oh and I preferred the streo mix.

As far as a suggestion working on keeping a consistent volume on the next singing track would make it easier listening, kinda sounded like you were playing guitar while singing which is cool just not as clear and focused.

There is definitely a unique sound to your music which is catchy so who knows with the right band mates eh?

Cheers

a reply to: Treespeaker

Thanks so much! Yeah, certainly gonna re-record the vox with a better mic and gonna sing it with more determination and more fun in it. This is to me just a basic track and as you said, I would love for my band mates (present and/or future) to be on the actual recording.

Love to hear that it's catchy. Thank you for your kind comments and especially for listening!

Well in most cases a stereo mix is going to sound better, and that is true in this instance. It gives it a fuller sound. I think your recording would benefit a lot from EQing, as your instruments do not seem to sit right in the mix. Back when I recorded and was into audio engineering we would kind of "notch" out a place for the various instruments based on their frequencies. This can be done in your software I believe. When I first started I strictly used Acid Pro and Sound Forge but then switched to Pro Tools, although to be honest the software is not that important. It is more about the functionality considering your signal can be the same in any software.

Your mix sounds relatively muddy to me, and EQing will help this a lot. Generally you want to cut rather than boost in most situations. The vocals are much better compared to the other tracks in my opinion as far as presence and clarity are concerned. I don't know if you have a plugin that will analyze the frequency of a track, but that will be an immense help in EQing your mix, because it will be much easier to identify clashing frequencies. I don't know how in to recording you are, but this is a must for professional quality mixes. I generally tried to stay away from effects until the very end of the mixing process, attempting to get the best mix possible before doing anything else. Trying to mask a problem with a mix is always a bad thing, and should only be used as a last resort. Re-recording is usually the way I would go, although sometimes that option is not available.

I think you can get a much better sound out of your guitar. How are you recording it? Are you miking an amp or are you plugged in directly? The latter will give you a cleaner but drier signal in my experience, but with plugin emulators that is not a problem if you want a specific sound. If miking the guitar I would experiment with moving the mic around to various distances from the guitar if using an acoustic, or from the speaker if using an amp, as well as different locations around the speaker, soundhole, or neck.

If you don't have a lot to work with, then your quality will come from the mixes, but you have got to get the best possible recording first, as that makes things easier. What I think about the song itself does not really seem important to me. Just create the music you want to create. I would rather focus on what the recording itself sounds like, not the song itself, but that's just me. There are a ton of bad professional songs, but they still sound good, lol. That is the key.

a reply to: JiggyPotamus

Wow, did not expect such a good response.

Yes, this is only a home recording and I did use an amp and miked it up, and close at that. And when I come to think about it, yeah, I could've made the guitars sound more fuller by adjusting the amps volume and dirtiness to a more pristine sound for the song. I did add some plugins I admit, though as you said. Only after I had set the 'levels' when flat. I agree the instruments do clash. I need more practice!

I am not really a professional in producing as I'm just doodling around at home as this is just a basic track for me and my mates until we go with all our songs into a studio.

When flat everything sounds sweet and I guess I don't really have the equipment at home to produce by the ear. I believe I can do a lot better though.

I want my recordings to sound for what they are. Demos basically. And I want them gritty. Not into posh produced music personally, though it suits certain songs.

Thanks so much for the advices, made me think a lot.

Thanks for listening!