My First Recording: #41

[Roastbeef]

Hello all. Well, I'm totally new at recording myself playing but yesterday I was able to put together a few songs. I'd love to get some feedback. Please note this song was recorded with one take as one track (singing and playing together). I'm using a crappy $10 mic on my laptop but was able to get it to sound decent with Cool Edit Pro (what a cool-ass program - thanks Xoosh for the tutorial). Anyway, here it is:

#41

Specfically, I'd like some feedback on the following:

1 - Vocals. How do I sound? Again this was done in one take while playing, complete with missing some of the falsettos. I start off a little 'shy' but I think the vocals improve after the first chorus, until the falsettos...

2 - Guitar playing. Comments are appreciated here to. I whammied the tempo on the first chorus and flubbed on some of intro and outro chords, but overall I think it's okay.

3 - Recording quailty. Again, I'm using a chez mic with a built-in sound card on a laptop. Cool Edit Pro saved me on the one. I really overpowered the hardware on the second "here..." and was able to cut it down a bit. Anything I can do with the setup to improve things, i.e. mic positioning, different CEP filters, recording with separate vocal and guitar tracks? Advice is welcome.

Let me know what you guys think. Please be brutally honest. I enjoy browsing this forum and listening to others' work. Thanks!

[mbgreen]

Hey man, nice job...This is a tough one to sing, and I wont even attempt the high parts yet. The guitar work was pretty solid...the strumming was pretty good, and you kept the rythm the whole way through. The only area I could see that might need improvement here is the intro...try picking a few more individual notes in the beginning, and let them ring. The singing was good, but it sounds like you might have the same problem I do a lot - singing too much from your throat and not breathing. Good job with it though. Like I said, this is a tough one.

[Trippin Hillbilly]

Hey Beef

Good job man...I'll have to agree with Michael about the intro. It sounded like you were playing the same rhythm as you would the verse.
The vocals were good, my suggestion would be to try putting a bit more emotion into it. Imagine your singing it to someone. It helps alot..

Recording sounded good...

Good stuff all round..

[DustyDave]

Like the guys said above , a little variation in the beginning Besides that i liked both guitar work and vocals

[Roastbeef]

Hey Michael! Thanks for the response. Yeah - it certainly is a tough one to sing. Yeah, maybe I'm too guttural with my voice. My problem is that when I sing while playing, I tend to hold back a bit. Maybe I get too nervous that I'm gonna screw up the guitar part. It seems if I'm singing in the car to a CD or something I can let loose and really wail. Maybe it'll come in time.

Yeah - the intro chords are a little weak. I don't think I'm playing the hammer-ons correctly either. Is this tab (bold) right?

Intro
E:--------------------------------
B:---------------8---3--3----3----
G:---5-----7-----4---x--0h4--0h4--
D:---2-----4-----5---4--x----x----
A:---3-----5---7-7---5--5----5----
E:-5-5---7-7----------------------
(2) (2)

Trippin - It sounds like you're doing something different. Your version, by the way is really awesome. I'll try working on the intro chords a bit more and possibly re-record this as two tracks and try to put a little more feeling in the vocals.

Is this the best sound I can expect from my setup (read: cheezy computer mic and sound card)? Trippin's recording is sweet. Any recommendations for repositining the mic or something?

Thanks for the kind words. My version is actually a little embarassing after listening to Trippin's and firedancer86s...

[Trippin Hillbilly]

I play it slightly different...

Code: Select all

Intro
E:--------------------------------
B:---------------8---3--3----3----
G:---5-----7-----7--x--0h4--x- 
D:---2-----4-----5---4--x----0h4
A:---3-----5---7-7---5--5----5---- 
E:-5-5---7-7---------------------- 
                        (2)  (2)

Give that a try, I think it sounds very much like that on LC.
Thanks for the compliment by the way..

Don't be embarassed!! Promptly take your head out your ass...HAHA

The recording, for your setup sounds really good....if you really want some good recordings you would probably have to spend a bit of cash...
There's a few threads about it so check it if you wanna go down that road..

As for mic positioning, I think I read a while back that pointing it about the 12th fret gets a good sound...something like that..

Hope that helped..

[Roastbeef]

Imagine your singing it to someone. It helps alot..

Probably not in my case. I've never really sung in front of anyone other than my baby daughter (who seems to dig it). I've only recently made the connection of singing while playing, although I've been plinking on the guitar for years. Anytime I've tried to sing for people in the past (at family gatherings or on camping trips, etc...) I clam up at the first sound of my own voice. Need to build some confidence I guess...

[Roastbeef]

Thanks Trippin Hillbilly. Yeah the L@LC feel is definitely what I'm after. I'll try that. Maybe multiple tracks will work better. With this recording I aimed the little mic (it's on a little plastic 12 inch "boom") at my mouth and had the 12th fret under it. Perhaps that's why the guitar has so much bass. Maybe playing directly into the mic on a dedicated guitar track would lead to a crisper sound?

Oh by the way, here are a few more songs I did last night. Same quick approach, one take, etc:

Tripping Billies
Grey Street

GS was modified in Cool Edit Pro complete with obnoxious chorus and reverb effects. Provides an ultra-cheesy feel... That software is fun to play around with.

Let me know what you all think about these too. Thanks for all the helpful feedback!

[Roastbeef]

Tripping Billies
Grey Street

GS was modified in Cool Edit Pro complete with obnoxious chorus and reverb effects. Provides an ultra-cheesy feel... That software is fun to play around with.

Let me know what you all think about these too. Thanks for all the helpful feedback!

Any thoughts on these?

[mbgreen]

Tripping Billies
Grey Street

GS was modified in Cool Edit Pro complete with obnoxious chorus and reverb effects. Provides an ultra-cheesy feel... That software is fun to play around with.

Let me know what you all think about these too. Thanks for all the helpful feedback!

Any thoughts on these?

I havent listened to them yet cause I'm in the middle of moving, (I HATE moving...) but you'll usually get better feedback if you make one thread per song every couple of days or so.

[Roastbeef]

Hey all - well, I re-recorded this one taking some of the advice given here. I used Trippin's tab (which I like much better), tried to project my voice a bit more, and let the intro ring out a little bit. I did an okay job with the falsettos and I think it's better overall. It kind of drags out at the end as I was playing around with the Outro chords. Lemme know what ya'll think:

#41_new

Thanks for all the helpful advice and criticism. Keep it coming!

[DaveKenneysBand]

For a first recording, there is a significant improvement the second time you did it. Definately like the way you played the intro better the second time around with the hammer on and the different rythym. A few words left out, but those weren't so much important to the message of the song as they were to emphasize a note. Or something like that. Also, when your are singing in the beginning, it sounds like you are trying to read the words as you play and match them right where they belong. I would definately try to mix them up a little bit, and not emphasize them more than any other word in the song. Finally, there was a little mess up in the end jam. Overall, a good first cover, but there is still room for improvement. A great song to cover the first time around. I'd like to hear you do watchtower, and not worry to much about the jam. I think that would be a good idea. Keep it up.

[Roastbeef]

Thanks DaveKenneysBand! Yeah, I'm relatively happy with the intro - still need a little more practice but it's definitely getting better. I wasn't reading the first verse but perhaps I was trying too hard and maybe it sounded forced. I'm learning pretty quickly that I need to relax and try to sing within my own style and not try to hit every note exactly as the song's recorded. Yeah I was just tooling with these outro chords:

Code: Select all

E:-10----7---8-7---5----5--
B:-8-----8---8-8---8----7--
G:-7-----7---7-7---7----7--
D:-------------------------
A:-------------------------
E:-------------------------

I've just started playing them and was still referring to the tab while recording this so you can hear me fumble around a lot until I kinda get the rhythm.

Thanks again. The feedback here really helps! Anyone else?

[Trippin Hillbilly]

Hey Roast...very impressive 2nd attempt, I especially liked the way you built up those outro chords, very nice job..
The vocals were pretty cool too, hell of an improvement...keep singin and posting.

My only suggestion would be to try singing in the vocal range you're most comfortable with. So dont try to sound exactly like dave, that will come with time.. Hope that helps.

Great stuff man!

[firedancer86]

I like it much better dude...*thumbs up*

try to get a natural rasp out of your voice...don't fake it, be natural, but find a little more burly sound...confident...you got up there for the "yeaaaahh" part, sounded great...just work on getting more intentional or deliberately strong with the verses...just some pointers...the intro is mucho bien tambien amigo...keep up the great work