Hi Tony,
Really like your songs. I been through this record 1.0 1.1 1.2 ect... for the last 4 months. I did as you, recorded everything in one pop. Now I use cool edit pro 2.1. I record the song on track one. Then do vocals on track 2 and 3. I do one verse on track 2 then the next on track 3. Then go back and forth till I get what I like. I use a delta 44 sound card (highly recommended) my keyboard goes to my mixer then to the sound card. Vocals go from the mixer, which, by the way is a Behringer. I like goldwave recording software but as it does not use multi-tracks I don't use it. I also have an Athlon processor and a 120gig hard drive. I really can't give advice on what you should do. However, wanted to give you the specs on what's working for me.


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I don't steer the ship, I bail out the water.
DJ
http://www.chipos.com/beachbum/

Tony, I listened to both Pretty Dresses and Wonderful Day and I don't hear the "muddiness" that you say you hear. Your vocals are very clear and pronounced and the volume range is good.

When listening to Pretty Dresses I noticed the instrument's, notably the Piano (not the accompaniment Piano) but your Piano, could have been slightly louder in the Mix. The bass came through loud and clear. The Drums sounded fine to me. The accompaniment instrumentation lacked some sparkle but nothing substantial. All in all it sounded very good.

I think what will improve your sound or anybody's sound for that matter will be a better Sound Card, better Mixer, possibly better cabling if you are not using high end cables, and better recording software. Pro Tools is the industry standard but then again it is one of the most expensive. But the way it is I think your recordings are very good vocal and sound wise.

If we were all millionaires none of us would think twice about getting the best gear money could buy. At least I wouldn't any way. For now I try to get the best bang for the buck gear, and I sometimes have to do it incrementally. Unlike Andrea

Best regards,
Mike

tony,

I just downloaded the files again, burned them onto a CD and listened to them on the hi-fi system. They're clean as a whistle. The quality is better than most of the songs I've heard during the past year. Orriginally I thought the bottom end was a bit distorted, but it was my computer speaker connection going south. Once I replaced the cable, everything sounded just fine.

Keep up the good work,

Gary

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all your replies and the efforts you have gone to to help with my problem. I am just back from my break in Brighton / London and so apologise for the delay in getting back to you. (I did cart my laptop all the way down with me only to find I had left the power cord at home!!! Typical).

I do find it a little strange that some of you hear the 'mud' as do I and yet others don't. I guess this is where Terry's advice with regard to good mixing and monitoring comes in to get that 'equal' sound regardless of what eqipment the song is played on.

I am also surprised that Gary got excellent quality through his hi-fi whilst my own hi-fi sounded terrible! Maybe Gary has a much better hi-fi than I do

I think that maybe I need to at least take on board some of Terry's excellent advice in his tutorial (link above) and also invest in some decent monitor speakers.

I know that I will never get anywhere as a singer but I do want to make my ditties as presentable as possible so that my limited vocal ability does not detract from what otherwise could be a half decent song.

Thanks again everyone for your help and when I have 'mastered' (no pun intended!) at least the basics I will re-record the above two songs to see if I have made at least a little progress.

Best to you all
Tony