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Good luck!
Put mics on drums, and DI'd everything else to a desk this week - rather than a mic in a room. I have balanced the tracks and added some reverb in my DAW (and some on the guitar as his amps reverb is broken - though hes getting a pedal for next week).
https://soundcloud.com/user-75335753/died-in-your-arms
https://soundcloud.com/user-75335753/planet-earth
https://soundcloud.com/user-75335753/to-cut-a-long-story-short-3
Vocals definitely the weak link but what you need to sort out are your band politics / organisation. Bands need leadership, as does any team, but that's not the same as one person being the boss. Unless the Bass Player is ‘employing’ the rest of the band then there needs to be consensus. Without being there, and having the full picture, I don’t know if it’s all ‘his fault’ so I would suggest that you try to get to the bottom of his reasons for not accepting that you need a new vocalist (you speculated in your original post that it might be because he’s been let down by singers in the past).
Knowing where he’s coming from is important in deciding upon the best way to approach him. Ultimately, if you can’t sort it out, then don’t waste your time – move on, or move him on.
However- i can't hear any bv's ? This would help the overall sound and take the pressure off the singing bass player.
The Cutting crew song i am very familiar with and as per the last demos I "warmed" to it and had a couple of listens - as a very nitpicky technical point (please feel free to ignore!) keyboards are resolving the chord around " i can't find another way to get out of here" in the verse which i don't think it does on the record.
No BV as we only had one spare channel for the mic, as we used 4 for the drums (wont be mic'ing the drums live with 4 mics - venue's will be too small initially, and well have a bigger desk when we do).
RE band politics. I did have a chat with the bassist on our own. Hes adamant he doest want a male vocalist - I think he doesnt JUST want to be the bass player. Hes also adamant he DOES want female vocalist - which is the first Ive heard.
However, firstly he doesnt want a female singing a male led song (dont see why personally) and wants to get the band gigging in pubs and see if the songs/sets actually work. He doesnt want to bring that vocalist in - ditch half (or more) of out current songs to learn new ones for her - and for the project not to work of for the songs we learn not to work.
Not quite sure how I feel about that. Positive he wants a female vocalist, but does mean if we keep out best (IMO) songs then hell still be singing (and murdering) plenty.
Echo Beach, and Brass in Pocket are already female led songs so thats OK, we do know Thorn in my side but it didnt work so far away from the original key - so that could come back. there are plenty I wouldnt mind ditching. Road to hell, White Wedding, Walk of Life, Feels like Heaven, Happy Hour (which I actually sing), Road to Nowhere, Possibly Addicted to Love.
Basically thats replacing 9 of the songs (either by swapping vocals or replacing songs). Just under half the set. If I can persuade him to let the female sing some of the male songs (the Duran Songs, Live it Up, Power of Love) then I could probably live with it. Correct Female BVs on Real Gone Kid and some of the others will lift those songs too.
BUT I think we need to just bring that vocalist in - and let her bed in with what we have (taking some leads) and learning new ones for her specifically over the next few moinths.
I think its just down to his kit and not knowing how to tune it to its best maybe. Its a Marshall Valvestate, which Ive never really liked personally.
I am going to his this week - firstly to work on Hungrys middle 8 - and also to play with his setup. (he does have a couple of drive pedals as well). Im hoping to be able to take the harshness out and fatten/smooth it a bit- but ??
Guitar needs a lot of work, sound is awful and feel definitely lacking
bass / drums need work but not a lots cause
keys are great
The drums are too compressed and boxy, and it affects the whole mix.
The vocals are terrible - if he can listen to himself on To Cut A Long Story Short and not realise that he's completely out of his depth, I don't know what will convince him.
(Disclaimer: I can't sing at all - but then again I don't try...)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Wont/cant sing the whole set, wont bring someone else in (yet).....
And the mix/compression is my fault. But it was only a quick level and punch mix.
Guitar selection is prs cu22, suhr modern ta cobra s or select strat, whatever suits.
I use a yam dsr for personal monitoring so could send the lot direct, and could go in ear quite easily.
Keys rig is big but its quick to out up/down and is no bigger than a single board (as it tiers vertically). I have an rd200 stage piano, fa07 workstation, peak analogue module and legend organ module. Wouldnt need them all, but the modules dont take much space and mount in seconds.
Vocally I can do bvox. I have a beta57 or beyer tgv70 ( suits my voice better but the beta57 is lighter/less full for bvs).
Maybe I should consider putting together a guitar/keys/vocal and monitor setup that I can load I'm the car and go that way.