Quote:
Originally posted by SemiLiveMusic:
Screw it, I give up.

I am using an Audix OM5 mic. It was mixed using headphones. Cheap ones.

I appreciate help. It is obvious I don't know enough to pull this off for decent recordings. They'll do for work demo's but this one needs to be better than a work demo but I'm running out of time. I could just haul my keyboard and guitar to a studio and do it in one session.

The style might be kinda screwball. I'd bet it's been tweaked.

The acoustic guitar, that's not mic'd, it's using the onboard electronics. Cheap Takamine.

I just imported the original tracks. Two keyboard tracks, one acoustic guitar. Then converted that to mp3 without touching the tracks. Nothing. I have wondered if I'm screwing up the mix worse by messing with e.q. and reverb, etc.

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bill,
1. dont use cans for mixing.
2. go to the mic web page, or get the manual for it and find out its maximum threshold eg it might be 100db, and ensure your tracking does not exceed this, and in fact stays at least 10%below this..say 35% for cheaper mics.
3.you don't have to "know" a great deal. use your ears objectively, and listen to your mix on different devices, even a portable MP3 player will give you a different perspective.
4.work out what you want your song to do and then mix it accordingly..for example this song tells a story, let the vocal lead, and use minimum instrumentation, imagine you have a band, drummer, bass, gtr and piano, and mix it like you would hear them playing it.
5.sometimes (mostly!!!) the simpler the better, constant tweaking takes you further and further from the original.
6. minimum use of reverb, it just muddies things up and lessens any definition and pushes instruments back in the mix, and can, in some case make the whole thing sound thin and lifeless (yes i know that seems a contradiction, but it can happen)
7. when you make a major change to the mix, walk away, go play golf, go for a walk, have a sleep, go outside whatever....just make sure you have break and then come back and re-listen.
theres more but i hope that helps you..
soz one more thing,8. its dificult, but mic the gtr,then you'll get more of the nice harmonics, and resonances of the gtr itself, plus the airspace around it, which wil make it a lot "warmer"..about 7-12 inches out and roughly pointed in the direction of the space between the sound hole and the end of the fret board...aim further up the fretboard for slightly thinner.
most important DONT GIVE UP!!!!!
cheers
dennis


[This message has been edited by manic2257 (edited 08-10-2005).]