Don't Give up the Dream !

[Mountaineer]

Hey Guys,
I just finished mixing this last night in Guitar Studio 2. Hope it inspires you to keep on recording . . .not the music, but maybe the lyrics.

The MP3 came out a little more distorted than the wav file. I guess it's a mix of 16bit and the encoder i use ?

Anyway, the song is at Xdrive.com in the public directory: Don'tGiveUpTheDream.mp3
username :PAPicker
password :lespaul
The keyboard MIDI in a couple of parts also sounds out of tune. I think there was some pitch shift problem when I changed MIDI to wave. I'd like some input on the basics though. Is this song worth reproducing in PA9 and 24bit . . . ? I'll soon be able to . . . where's that UPS guy ? Thanks !

PAPicker

[This message has been edited by PAPicker (edited 03-23-2000).]

[MrLip]

The beginning of this sounds real good. What mic/ how did you mic the acoustic guitar?

I couldn't download more than 20 seconds of the song.

[Mountaineer]

> MrLip > Thanks for listening . . . at least to 20 secs. For mics on the Acoustic, I used a MXL 2003 large condenser at about the 20th fret and a CAD95 small condenser at the 6th fret. I was also plugged into POD tube preamp set with slight delay. The three signals were mixed until it sounded decent to me.

[CMiller]

Sorry it took me a while to post a review. I have a habit of downloading stuff and forgetting to listen to it. Anyway, it sounds pretty good. I particularly like the background vox. It's a real spacey kind of feel. I like your voice. There aren't a whole lot of changes in the song, so you might want to mix up the drums a little more, but then again, you might want to tell me to go to hell! I didn't notice any of the pitch problems you talked about...I'll have to listen to it a couple more times and a little more closely. Did the UPS guy come yet? I think that any song you feel good about is worth reproducing in 24bit!

[gibs]

I too can only get a few seconds of the song.........wanted more....gibs

[drstawl]

At 0:28.122 the wave appeared to be highly truncated. What sort of compression/limiting did you use? It sounds normal here, but the wave shape looks like a serious loss of data has taken place. The wave detail looks like you had some decent mics.

[Mountaineer]

What's the deal with the shorted downloads ? I s it an Xdrive bottleneck or something ?
I guess I shouldn't complain . . it's free !

Gibs > Thanks for trying anyway !

Cmiller > Yeah, the song pretty much has a repetitive beat . . . downright monotonous if you've been mixing for several hours. Tell you to go to Hell ? Never ! I wouldn't have posted if I didn't want honest criticism and I appreciate it. The UPS guy showed up on Monday. I got PA9 loaded up and responding nicely. I'm now waiting on some cables to get my Gadget Labs 824 up and running. Not so sure how to handle MIDI synth yet . . . still working on that.

drstawl > Not sure about a 'Loss of Data' at 0:28.122. At this point in the song, Both rhythm & lead guitars kick in during a verse . . . I really don't analyze my wavs that closely. Used a dbx 266 compressor on lead vocals and acoustic guitars. Used POD compression for bass.

Some basic questions for those who listened . . . did the bass sound good ? I tried hard with EQ and double tracking to get some kick to it. Was the mix too muddy . . . not enough separation between the various instruments ? This is a mixing problem I'm trying to overcome by switching between headphones, monitors and a cheap boombox during mixdown. Thanks again !

PAPicker