Waiting to fall (own song)

Really cool Arjen.

Catchy tune, the piano is great, sounds good. I really like the lyrics, well written, meaningful, I appreciate that in a song. Your vocals are very difficult to understand however. Maybe because of how you are singing them, but I think it more likely that the volume for the track could use a little raising, or a little less effects on it. I'm not sure.

Aside from that, I thought it was really good.

Its rather depressing to me.

The lyrics are very hard to understand. I'm listening to it on a laptop and I didnt even realize there were vocals until about the second verse.

Its a pretty good song, nice piano.

I cant hear a damn thing youre saying though.

God bless you man.

Thanks guys!

Taso: my voice is very bassy and deep, if I raise it it will drown out half the song. With the reverb lower and some EQ'ing I might get it better through, will try that, but my voice might end up real thin.

Iza: It ain't exactly supposed to be positive, I could tell you stories that are a lot more fun then this one. Do you use the internal laptop speakers?

Arjen

I liked this song. Very original sounding.

But you have got way too much distortion and low end on your voice. It comes across very distorted. I think I only understood one line in the whole song.

Keep the effect (but not as heavy) and take a little of the low out. Make the lyrics intelligible.

But I like the melody and feel of the song a lot.

Hey Wes, I know crap about recording vocals, so how do I get rid of this distortion? I got a level and 'trim' control that both seem to make the vocal channel louder, but how to get it loud without distortion? I can fiddle around with the EQ to get some of the low-droning-sound out of my voice.

Thanks!

Arjen

I am not sure how to get rid of that distortion. I thought you were using some type of effect deliberately.

I do very little recording and have no recording equipment, so maybe some of the folks who do a lot of recording can help you out there.

How are you recording this? What equipment (mics etc...) are you using?

Probably the biggest problem was way too much low end. Try going down on that and see if it cleans up.

Here are some links that might help you. They have helped me.

Computer Audio Recording
Magic Frequencies

I'm not great at giving advise because I'm still in the learning process. I can say, mess around with things. It also depends on how hard you are playing/singing as well. You should play/sing what you are going to do normally (performing level) and adjust your db cut off (trim) and your input level then your recording level.

If you are getting to much distortion chances are your trim and vocal input are to high. I say that because it seams your recording input is to low. Eq'ing it should help but, it won't help an "un-wanted" distorted signal.

Everything should be recorded "dry". Example: If you want reverb, you can add it later with more control. If you record with reverb, you will be hard pressed to get it out, or to the way you want it unless you have tested it in advance. It can be done but, in my very short experience, it takes to much time to master when it comes to vocals or anything else for that matter.

Chances are, you will have to re-record it to get the distortion out. Set your trim (db level) down and turn down your input level and raise your recording input. From there you should get a good idea of what you need to do. That is if you are using a mixer.

Don't be afraid to let your vocals out. If you want to write about something, sing it with the emotion that you intended it to be sung.

Enough of my helpless rambling. Read those links, they should help you out. :D

Thanks tracker, nice web sites :D Thats a big help for me too :D
Arjen, you might be able to go back and just remix ( lower the levels slightly) and make a new mp3/wav file. What are you recording with?--the dog

Recording: Behringer Xm1800 mics and Berhringer UB1202FX mixer. The weird thing is that when I plug my headphopne (behringer HPS3000) into the mixer the vocals sound clean (I even added some bass!) but when it is recorded on my pc (Soundblaster Live! 5.1, Audacity) it tends to get messed up. It's even worse with the girl who sings in our band, when I check the mxier it is perfect and the recording is clipped like hell. During recording both the mixer and audacity indicate proper input levels.

Tracker: So trim/line level are different from the big Main Mix level on the mixer? I had the first two pretty high up and the main mix pretty far down, so I'll try to reverse that.

As usual the Behringer manuls are very friendly and totally useless, so thanks for all the help folks! Will post an update when I get it redone.

I have had pretty much the same problem with the same mixer, soundcard and audacity. on my recording i had the problem with the guitar cliping . I did 3-4 guitar parts, recorded direct from amp to mixer using my GMX212 v-tone. I now have a new pc (real tech sound card) and i have been using my tascam 424 as a mixer with audacity and have had the same problems. I find that every thing sounds great, but when I export it to a mp3 or wav file it sounds like the recording is cliped.
BUT-If i go back and lower all the levals just 3db and re-export the file it seems to fix it. The real tech and soundblaster live 5.1 are about the same quality, i don't think the mixer was the problem, but i do think the tascam has a little more headroom than the eurotrack( but that might be that I'm used to the tascam mixer) . maybe the fix in the end is to upgrade our sound cards and software :cry: but for now if I'm very carfull I will get by ok with what i have :D Christmas is not to far away :lol: :lol: --the dog

Will try that -3dB trick, but I guess it is the soundcard, as you said. The signal coming from the mixer into the soundcard is perfect, so it must be either the software or the soundcard. And using other recording programs hasn't helped much, so that's not it.. Ah well, ain't going to buy a superduper soundcard, need some money for the beer in sunny Barcelona. :D

ps will go back to my hometown in a few hours, so I'll be showing something next monday or so, for those who care. :P

Arjen,

Pretty cool stuff

Its kewl that its not just the guitars... but can you plz tab the first part to ur song since its not played in chords... thnks!!!

You mean a tab of the piano riff?