vocal harmonies

[airborne50caliber]

alright, today I recorded my friend's band playing a cover.

there was no lead guitarist who is coming some other time, and the rhythm guitarist was stoned, so in terms of guitar work i found myself polishing a turd to some extent. but clearly the thing that will capture attention is not the rhythm guitar, but the female vocalist and her wonderful ability to harmonise. We did three layers, and she got them all in one take.

I haven't finished mixing everyhting down, here is the first half, which is about finished.

http://s23.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=17MG9655M4GHL1YLJWN2LT5HOT

I know the guitarist is crap and so is the guitar tone to some extent, but I would like some constructive opinions on the impressions this made (specially the vocals), thoughts on this, and possibly how to improve things.


I did lots of work with panning so I strongly recommend listening with some headphones..

if moaner, aes, the k or anyone else would care to listen to this I woulkd be grateful.

[KKKKKocaine]

The drum programming is rather dubious, the kick pattern doesn't fit entirely with the song.
Guitar definately needs lifting in the mix alot, as for the vocal harmonies, they are good but because of the low down backing for the song she's left hanging, everyone has their imperfections, you could do with more guitar (alot more :) ) to hide her little flaws and give the harmonies that boost.
But recording wise on the vocals the harmonies are well recording with some interesting effects and are well done.

One thing I noticed, at 1:55 when it goes into the chorus, something happens, there's a noise and the volume drops.

But overal on the vocals it's a good job, you just need more guitars to support it :)

[aurallyfixated]

I agree that the drums don't fit with the song. The beginning of the song is very segmented, but that's pretty easily fixed; as are the timing conflictions.

Vocals are grand. The harmonies were a bit off here and there, but I think a second take would clean them up.

The chorus parts are very nicely done. Again, a few notes here and there stick out, but the parts blended well.

My main complaint is the intro to the song - guitar and drums just don't match up.

The tune's rough around the edges, but it's very good. It can be fixed with a second take on guitar lines, a different drum line, and maybe a bit of better blending.

[airborne50caliber]

thanks a lot for bothering to listen to this. The drum were played in on an electronic kit by a mediocre drummer who was having a bad day, so I agree that the kickas don't really match. I still need to add lead guitar so I'll remix things a bit when that's added. She just did one take for each vocal harmony so your probably right, more takes would probably mix things up a bit. (She made up the harmonies as she went) Thanks a lot for the feedback and anymore is welcome.