Female fronted Progressive Metal - NO AUTOTUNE - my best mix ever.

[Glenn Fricker]

Hey all,

Had a band in recently doing some progressive stuff. I think the description of the experience would be "a good fit." The band came in very well prepared & we were able to concentrate on performances as opposed to floundering our way through the takes.


Not only did we get great performances, I believe I got some of my best tones ever, both with guitars & drums. Best of all, the vocals were performed by a classically-trained Soprano. No Autotune necessary!


Here's the track:
Perpetuate - Chrysalis

...and on the hi-res player:
http://www.spectresound.ca/recordings.shtml

As always, comments & questions are appreciated!

EDIT: Here's the version with the tweaked vox as per suggestion:
Chrysalis - tweaked vox

 

[grywolf627]

Glenn, I feel odd commenting on your stuff, because my own stuff doesn't come near the level of your usual work. But the vocals kind of bug me on this. I love this kind of music, and listen to a lot of After Forever and Within Temptation...so this is my kind of music. I love the instrument tracks...I think this is by far some of your best stuff. But the vocals to me sound like the DO need a little autotuning. She's a little off at times. And her singing just seems too soft a lot of times. That's largely because of the way she sang, but also sounds like it could do with heavier compression on the vocals and pull them just a little further back in the mix. Again though, the instrument tracks...are fantastic sounding to me. The vocals just bug me a little. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I was just gonna say ... overall it all sounds great but there is something about the vocals ... almost like she's got no power and so you just raised her overall volume or something ... it seems a little too on top of the mix.

If thats what you & they were going for, disregard my post

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Thanks guys!

Actually, there was a fair amount of compression going on... I mixed the vocals loud on purpose... I wanted them up front.

As for the instrumentation, I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Especially the snare & guitars... got to use a bunch of amps & have some fun there.

Anyway, I've got some session pix if you're interested...

 

[grywolf627]

Post 'em!

 

[Damphire]

Yep, vocals sound weird... too dry maybe and definitely out of tune sometimes. Everything else is killer. Given the style of the song, I'd put some nice delay on the vocals to mask the imperfections a little but then again... I'm no engineer.

 

[fuimjb]

The vocals just sound too dry to me. Sounds like they have a good tail but while she is singing they sound a little dry. Maybe thats just me.

 

[AudioPhile777]

The vocals sound like she is singing over an instrumental karaoke version... sounds like it isn't part of the track... they are sitting very much on their own.

 

[jeid]

The vocals sound like she is singing over an instrumental karaoke version... sounds like it isn't part of the track... they are sitting very much on their own.

I was just scrolling to the bottom to say something similar to this.

Instruments are great though. Her voice is good, but it seems like she's too up front. Very dry sounding.

Just now I don't think the music and the vocals were together, but I think if you got the vocals in a bit more, I'd be more convinced that they work as a band

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Ok, here's some pics of those sessions:

Trackin' drums: The drums were almost all real, with the only the kick being replaced. The acoustic kick almost made it into the mix, but the sample did wind up sounding better. I figured I'd put the song before my ego.
However, I'm especially proud of the snare sound. My best yet, IMO. ....much in part due to the Granelli 57. It's about freakin' time someone came up with one of these!

I went against my usual M.O. and let the guitarist use his Ibanez to track rhythm guitar! Normally, I can't stand these, but we got a fabulous tone with it, so hey, why not use what works? Rhythms were 5150/ENGL. Leads were a Carvin Legacy for the first one, and a Krank Chadwick for the second, both into my Mesa cab. I was very impressed with both those amps. That, and the guitarist pictured can shred like a mofo!

Bass was straight into a Sansamp. The dude had great technique. Nice & clean with plenty of attack.

Cuttin' keys.

...and vocals. We used my vintage 87 into a Great River Mp2NV/Distressor.

Group shot.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback guys, maybe I'll take another crack at the vox tonight.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Took another crack at making the vocals sit better. I think I got a much more "etheral" kind of thing going on now... certainly takes the edge off, that's for sure.. they're not quite as "in your face" as before.

Let me know what you guys think...

Chrysalis - Tweaked vox


Again: thanks to everyone for the feedback! A second set of ears is always appreciated!

 

[HandsOfDespair]

Those drums sound soooo good!

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Gotta thank Erkan for that one... his video turned me on to ORTF overheads.

That & whoever suggested 42 strand snares....

 

[CAlexanderParra]

Sounds great! I think the bass guitar could use a good bit of more low end but that may just be me.

 

[XnaySaturo]

I really like how there's space for everything, but at the same time it all gels together in the latest mix! Awesome job man! Love the guitar tone.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Thank you very much. The guitar tone was heavily influenced by Fredrik.

 

[Keregioz]

I must agree with everyone else on the vocals. In the second version they sound a lot better (some autotuning would help too) but I think the main problem is in the singer's performance.
Everything else sounds great though, drums and rhythm guitars especially.
And btw, I remember a while back your comment that you hate when guitarists solo over the verse...well after hearing this song I'll say that's exactly how I feel when the singer sings over the solo .

 

[lordtech]

music is great! Vocal still need more power IMO.

Great work Glenn \m/

 

[Mago]

Awesome mix and music! guitars amnd drums are just wow
normally I'm not that much into not powerfull vocals at times, especialy if they are opera-like, but somemhow it fits and sounds really cool

The vox have to be a pita to mix. I don't think that tuning is needed, the new vox are better for sure, but I wouldnt finish tweaking them tbh
oustanding work

 

[Nuno Filipe]

The second version it´s much better. There are sections that the vocal lines are quite weak, it seems she is dying!lol But of course this is not your fault.