Retrosaurus Rex

The Coral Sitar. Never played one, want one...

Sounds like an E-bow...

The "dry" track is the original track, no FX. The effected track is "wet". Probably because too much reverb makes it sound like it's underwater... but the terms apply to all types of FX.

That could probably be done with a chorus plugin. Delay, phase or flange might also help in small doses. This starts to get a little spacier, and I was under the impression the OP was going for a more natural sound, so I didn't mention it, but it is worth mentioning that delay can be used in place of reverb, and might be preferable in this case. I hope we're not going to far afield of the OP's request...

Yes. Reverb by any other name... Having reverb on only one of the guitars would probably sound odd, but if you can put an instance of reverb on each guitar, and pan the reverb to the opposite side as the dry track, sometimes that works really well. Stereo field placement is really a matter of taste, but generally I think your full range instruments (piano, guitar, organ [huh-huh, he said "organ"]), should be at least 15-20% to one side, to give space to the vocals. Obviously, that would change if there's an instrumental solo. So sure, your method is perfectly valid, but I would encourage you to continue to experiment and not treat it as a formula. BTW, it's not a "false" stereo effect that we're talking about, it's about how to utilize the stereo field. There are some plug-ins that purport to do "stereo widening", but I would advise avoiding those until you understand using real stereo. Like we're doing.

I think this is the single most important concept to grasp when talking about panning, and I might add EQ, is creating room in the mix for each individual element. Panning gives a sense of physical space, EQ gives sonic space. I'll diverge on EQ for a moment because it's way important, and even if the OP does understand it after all, others reading may not... The guitar and vocal have a wide range where their frequencies overlap, which tends to cause each to become indistinct, and can contribute to the disappearing/reappearing act the vocals seem to be playing. Volume corrections may not satisfactorily address this. Since you want to get the vocal to stand out, careful listening should reveal the frequencies of overlap, and you can use EQ to cut those frequencies from the guitar. You don't have to be an axe-murderer, relatively small adjustments can yield big benefits. Back to panning... This is essentially correct. Nikolai gives a pretty in depth technical explanation of the stereo phenomena, but if you couldn't get thru that, it boils down to there has to be a slight difference between the L & R stereo fields, or the listener will still perceive it as being in the middle, or slightly to one side, as in the 50/25 panning scenario described in the OP. One way of achieving that difference that Nikolai didn't mention is... EQ. In addition to creating space in the guitar tracks for the vocal, try a bass cut on one guitar, and a high cut on the other. Same doubled track, but a much wider stereo field. I keep mentioning EQ cuts... yes, you can boost freqs as well, but this should usually be avoided, as the sonic results are usually less desirable, and it sometimes makes the EQ interact with compression in unpredictable ways. I hope this helps.

No worries, you'll know better next time. I hope we can help you improve so you can get the attention you deserve.

Wow, every question could be a thread unto itself... I don't have much time, so I hope others will jump in as well. Your track really doesn't sound bad, but I'm guessing from your post that you spent a lot of time and it doesn't sound any better than the raw tracks... that's the learning curve... the first suggestion would be to forget normalizing, and don't worry about comp & EQ for the moment. Don't worry that: you can't expect to deal with that during mixing. That way lies madness. Also, the double- & triple-tracking the way you're doing it is probably not helping a lot, tho it's not necessarily harmful. With the vocals tracked the way you describe, the best approach is to set the volume individually per clip. See if Audacity supports volume automation, in which case it's a snap. Otherwise, you'd have to use individual tracks per volume level, in which case I imagine further mixing would be a nightmare...

Re-reading my post I fail to see anything impolite, but I apologize if you took it that way. Realizing you're a noob I just wanted to point out something you might have missed. Cheers!

That's not really a request for critique, Connie, it sounds more like self-promotion. Not in the spirit of this board. You can promote yourself in the Musician's Lounge, but please post appropriately in the critque boards, and give as well as receive. Thanks.

I should think there would have to be some sort of documentation establishing that the signer is, in fact, the authorized agent. If not, you could become embroiled in any claims by family members who were "left out" of their internal discussions. Mind you, IANAL, but at a minimum I would think the signer would have to additionally furnish an affidavit that she is the legal representative of the family. Preferably, the agreement should be signed by whatever person is dealing with other legal matters surrounding the late performer's estate.

Why not tap with your middle finger?

BTW, I'm already a fan... thanks for turning me on to these artists which I'd never heard of...

I ain't madatcha, but this seems like the more appropriate place for this topic.... Anyway, I think it's a really interesting post... I wonder how many of us are so reflective, especially so deeply reflective, about what we do and how specifically we were influenced by others.

Raspier: http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/downloads.php/id/3833/software/Raspier/

Busted! :lol:

Karaoke. Seriously. Learn a song you have on CD, or from Youtube (you get the idea), then record yourself, preferably with the instrumental, and compare. Besides the obvious benefits of taking lessons, an experienced teacher will show you how to take care of your voice. You may have a tendency to over-practice, or push things too far trying to get a particular sound without properly learning the technique for it. Food for thought. SongStuff contributor Cheryl Hodge has some good articles... http://vocals.songstuff.com/article/good_vocal_technique for example, and also some good info on her site: http://www.cherylhodge.com

Sorry... try here: http://forums.songstuff.com/forum/20-song-and-recording-critique/

If you're looking for feedback you'll get more action in the appropriate section...

... and the specifics of the circumstances that led to the situation.

I don't know that product, but I think there are probably a number of good ones in that price range.

It's sounds like your meters are comparing peak volume, but your ears are hearing a difference in average volume...

If you have a specific place you record your songs in, you might first look at how to make that more friendly for recording, audio treatment, that sort of thing. Gear-wise I think replacing the PA with a dedicated audio interface would get you the most bang for your buck. Don't believe the hype about expensive cables... as long as the connectors don't crackle you'll never tell the difference...

+1 to what Tracy says... Additional observations... I thought you're voice was fine in this recording, but it was buried too far in the beat, and it didn't seem like any attention was given to the mix except the relative volume of those 2 main elements. Maybe you're concerned that your voice doesn't sound aggressive or present enough? Male rappers usually record vox extremely dry, some people I know who record at home do their vox in a closet, so there's absolutely no sense of space around the voice. Your mileage may vary... You also need to pay attention to mic technique. I'm hearing a lot of handling noise, for one thing, but that could be largely addressed by using a mic stand... also, a lot of pop & rumble on "b" & "p". This is especially problematic, because a lot of rappers like to eat the mic to get that aggressive sound, but if you do that, you can't spit the "bs'" & "p's", because it sounds amateurish and there's no way to fix it in the mix. So you have to learn to control those sounds and/or rap over the top of the mic, so the main force avoids the sweet spot. Or you could do what most singers do (when they're taught...), and back way of the mic, 12 inches or more, and/or use a pop filter. This results in a smoother sound with less bass. To repeat Tracy, experiment and see what works best...

Boooo...