Looking for help with mixing problems

[notstewart]

I have a song up (a real mushy one) and looking for some tips/help on what is causing the boxy sound. This song only has 5 tracks and I’ve rolled off the low end on all tracks (some quite a bit more than others) and tried cutting several frequency ranges but can’t locate the problem. The song has double vocals and double finger picking (recorded separately). The second vocal and picking tracks have been rolled off right up into the 200 Hz range and cut in other areas as well as lowered to about -10 or -12 on the fader and panned away from the “Lead” vocal/picking tracks. This problem appears on other songs as well. I record in a non-treated bedroom using a condenser mic (Shure 4043) for vocals and the acoustic guitar (Taylor 314) is recorded direct (no mics). My preamp is a 500 series API and I have a 500 series API EQ only using the high pass at 60 Hz for recording (so it’s not a preamp quality issue). Interface is an Echo Audiofire 8. Compression used in song is gentle (-2 to -3 db gain reduction) and the same with EQ. Automation is on both Vocal tracks mainly for siblence and harsh consonance sounds. I know my playing and singing is average at best, so what other reason could be causing this? I don’t think its phase issues since I never use more than one mic at a time. It’s not only a boxy sound; I sometimes also get a kind of pressure in my ears like when you first start descending in an airplane (now there’s a compliment). Can perhaps some electrical interference be at play here, or is this just the result of poor playing, recording and mixing of doubled tracks? The song is called “Never be Alone again” and I forgot to mention that the sound is there before reverb is added. thanks for any tips or suggestion and don’t pull any punches if I’m completely at fault here. Here’s the link: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=52404

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

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[BigJguitar]

Ok so I listened to this with my monitor headphones, and honestly I dont get a box sound at all. IMHO, I think cutting your low end up to 200hz is a mistake as I think you have taken some body out of the vocals and guitars, but then again it IS only vocals and guitar. Try adding a bus track of the vocals(Panned centered) and take the 2 vocal tracks and start to pan them left and right and see how the separation might add some depth. Then slowly start filling the center with the bussed vocal track, with maybe some reverb. As for the guitars, bring back some of that low end, just a tad and maybe gently add some low-mids for color around 400hz on up. This pressure you speak of, how loud are you listening to this, and what are you listeing to this with, I felt no such thing even when playing this track loud on my ATH-D40s. Like I said, I think you have a very good clean sound that can use just a little body. A great reference track for acoustic guitar is anything by Andy Mckee, IMHO for a good start!

http://www.reverbnation.com/jasonhanerfeld

[notstewart]

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment BigJguitar!! I really like the idea of the bus track for the vocals and panning them L/R while leaving the Stereo panned Centre. Up till now I always had the lead vocal centre and the doubled vocal track panned off to one side and pulled back. I guess the reason for that was to try to “hide” the second vocal track and make it sound as one, but I’m definitely going to give that a go. I’ll also play around with the EQ around the 400 hz area (and thanks for the Andy Mcgee tip). As far as cutting up to 200hz, I only do that with the second vocal and second acoustic track, but you may be right about cutting too much. I put a Pre mix analyzer on the stereo bus and it showed way too much going on in the low end (between about 150-250 hz) and that made me think it was causing the problem. I’m presently at work and I don’t get the box like sound on these speakers, perhaps its time I tossed out my old home computer speakers, on those it sounds as if I recorded too close to the mic (that is what I called perhaps wrongly a box sound). At work I’m not getting that ear pressure sensation, but I do get it on my home computer speakers and sometimes when mixing on my recording monitors (older Yorkville YP-1). It mainly appears on tracks that were recorded with the mic (usually vocals). I’m going to try to find a piece of funiture to throw a blanket over and put it behind the mic. I have wood panel in the bedroom and it’s probably feeding back into the mic. Thanks again for the help, really appreciate it!! One other thing that may help is that I’m trying to learn to use finger picks, it’s going slow, but so far I’m making progress with a thumb and middle finger pick. It feels too awkward for me with three picks. If I keep at this I won’t have to add a second ficking picking track anymore.

Samplitude Pro X3 Suite, SD 3, Tascam UH7000

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