2 songs. Level check.

R

RAMI

Guest
Not worth starting a new thread for each tune. I've posted both of these before, but I changed a few things and just want to make sure I didn't screw up the levels before I put them to rest.

Take your pick, listen to both, or don't listen to either. It's up to you. :D

You don't even have to give an in-depth listen, really. Just enough to let me know if the vocals are too loud/not loud enough, same with the bass, drums, etc....

Thanx.

THAT MOMENT

NEVER MIND
 
That Moment: I'm loving the bass on this one. Really well defined, and chugging along like a chugging along thing. Magic. I missed this one before. Glad I heard it this time. The solo guitar at 2.19 could come up a taste if you wanted it to. It's okay as it is now, but I like solo guitar to show off a bit. You like your vocals ever so slightly ducked, so you probably view solo guitar the same way. S'okay.

Never Mind: I must be getting used to your stuff, cuz this stuff is sounding better than usual lol. Really delicious guitar sound. I love that big soft punch from left and right during the muted pattern. This is pro level, RAMI. You've outgrown this place. You know what, I would really, really like to hear what a pro mixer would do with this one that could make it sound better. You know about SOS magazine and the feature they have called Mix Rescue? Amateurs send their best mixes in and say 'I can't take it further. Can you?' and one of their engineers goes in and makes it sound better. They post the results on the site and write it up in the mag. I've never had the jam to do it, but I would love to hear what one of their guys would do with this one. I'm thinking: not much.
 
That Moment: levels are perfect ...

Never Mind: ever so slightly heavy handed on the low end and the vox are a little back (for MY tastes). I suspect there's a little masking going on and pulling back a little would bring the vox up in clarity to where I'd sit them. Still -- this is a nuance comment -- so take it FWIW.
 
I queued up both tracks and sort of toggled back and forth for comparison. Wasn't sure if you were concerned with continuity for an album or something.

I think the levels are all fine on both tracks really. The only discernible difference to me through Senn HD280 phones was that the bass, while quite prominent in both tracks, was maybe a little more pronounced on Never Mind, to the point where i wondered if it would be worth it for you to play around with the kick/bass region on that one to see if you could tighten things up just a bit? I dunno...a really fine point there as overall, I thought they both sounded fine.
 
dobro said:
That Moment: I'm loving the bass on this one. Really well defined, and chugging along like a chugging along thing. Magic. I missed this one before. Glad I heard it this time. The solo guitar at 2.19 could come up a taste if you wanted it to. It's okay as it is now, but I like solo guitar to show off a bit. You like your vocals ever so slightly ducked, so you probably view solo guitar the same way. S'okay.

Never Mind: I must be getting used to your stuff, cuz this stuff is sounding better than usual lol. Really delicious guitar sound. I love that big soft punch from left and right during the muted pattern. This is pro level, RAMI. You've outgrown this place. You know what, I would really, really like to hear what a pro mixer would do with this one that could make it sound better. You know about SOS magazine and the feature they have called Mix Rescue? Amateurs send their best mixes in and say 'I can't take it further. Can you?' and one of their engineers goes in and makes it sound better. They post the results on the site and write it up in the mag. I've never had the jam to do it, but I would love to hear what one of their guys would do with this one. I'm thinking: not much.
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K-dub said:
That Moment: levels are perfect ...

Never Mind: ever so slightly heavy handed on the low end and the vox are a little back (for MY tastes). I suspect there's a little masking going on and pulling back a little would bring the vox up in clarity to where I'd sit them. Still -- this is a nuance comment -- so take it FWIW.
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Man, I love you guys. Not because you said my songs sound ok, but because you're 1000 times more articulate than I could ever be. I really appreciate that.

On "Never Mind", I hear a bit of masking or warble in the low end, too. It's coming from the bass track, which was done about 2 or 3 year ago. I don't know what I did to get that, but I don't like it. I'm going to slightly bring down the bass and try to EQ it (again) to clean up the low end a bit.

Dobro, I'm going to look into SOS magazine. Just for the hell of it, I'd like to see how much better a "pro" can make my songs sound. :cool:
 
heatmiser said:
I queued up both tracks and sort of toggled back and forth for comparison. Wasn't sure if you were concerned with continuity for an album or something.

I think the levels are all fine on both tracks really. The only discernible difference to me through Senn HD280 phones was that the bass, while quite prominent in both tracks, was maybe a little more pronounced on Never Mind, to the point where i wondered if it would be worth it for you to play around with the kick/bass region on that one to see if you could tighten things up just a bit? I dunno...a really fine point there as overall, I thought they both sounded fine.
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Oops...we must have posted at the same time.

Thanx Heat. OK, so it seems that we all hear a little too much low end in "Never Mind". No problem. Funny, Right before I rendered it, I listened one more time and decided to bring up the bass in that tune. If I left it alone, it probably would have been perfect.
 
I agree with what K-dub said on both songs.

The vocal level on That Moment is a little hotter than on Never Mind and sounds great to me. Mix sounds good too.

Vocals on Never Mind are tucked in the mix but I can clearly hear all words. I like the stereo spread on those guitars. They may be a touch bottom heavy but that extra girth might just be right for this song.
 
paulisher said:
I agree with what K-dub said on both songs.

The vocal level on That Moment is a little hotter than on Never Mind and sounds great to me. Mix sounds good too.

Vocals on Never Mind are tucked in the mix but I can clearly hear all words. I like the stereo spread on those guitars. They may be a touch bottom heavy but that extra girth might just be right for this song.
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Awesome, thanx Paul. I'll bring the bass down a teenage cnut hair, and maybe notch the vocals slightly up. Maybe just taming the bass will allow the vocals to come through without turning them up. Thanx man.
 
RAMI said:
Awesome, thanx Paul. I'll bring the bass down a teenage cnut hair, and maybe notch the vocals slightly up. Maybe just taming the bass will allow the vocals to come through without turning them up. Thanx man.
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You have been here longer than I have but it seems to me that you can waste a lot of time here with whimsical posts. Might be fixing mixes that don't really need repair. You have some of the best mixes on this forum and at some point you need to go with your gut.
 
paulisher said:
it seems to me that you can waste a lot of time here with whimsical posts. Might be fixing mixes that don't really need repair. You have some of the best mixes on this forum and at some point you need to go with your gut.
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You're probably right.

But you know what happened? A few weeks ago, I was about to put a tune to rest. But then, I decided to post it, just to see if I wasn't missing something obvious. Sure enough, I ended up making some adjustments and got some great ideas from people commenting, and I remember saying to myself "Man, good thing I posted this. It ended up so much better than it would have had I not posted it".

So now, every time I'm about to move on from one song to another, I can't help but remind myself about that, and I end up saying "I better post this, just in case it can be that much better". Sometimes it just takes that one post from someone for me to say "Thanx goodness I posted this after all".
 
paulisher said:
You have been here longer than I have but it seems to me that you can waste a lot of time here with whimsical posts. Might be fixing mixes that don't really need repair. You have some of the best mixes on this forum and at some point you need to go with your gut.
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I get that and I often have the same reaction to his mixes:'It's ready, dude. Put it on the shelf.'

However, attention to detail is one of the reasons his mixes shine. Sure, sometimes that attention's obsessive. 'The price you pay' etc.

Even pros ask each other what they think of a mix in progress. Even pros hear things other pros have missed.

Okay, having climbed up onto the soapbox, I'll just climb right back down again now and say: Put it on the shelf. lol
 
I found no problems with the first tunes levels. I found definite things to consider in the second's.

How anyone would know the difference by not checking is beyond me.
 
I'm inclined to want the vocal more out front on both of them...but I always say that. :) On "That Moment" the level is good but the thin tone puts it back in the mix. If the drums came back slightly the vocal would come out more. The snare is most of that.

The vocal is more behind in "Never Mind". A couple db's would help it. Both mixes are great otherwise.
 
I think that your performances are great but I don't like the snare sound on "That Moment". It could be beefier.
I thought that the raggae touch on the chorus was interesting. Total Bob Marley moment there. :listeningmusic:
 
Thanx a lot, guys.

I'm most probably not going to turn up my vocals. But I might push the drums, or at least the snare, back a bit.

The Schwarzz.... said:
I don't like the snare sound on "That Moment". It could be beefier.
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Yeah, you like those really low tuned snares I noticed.

Thanx dudes.
 
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Only commenting on levels. That's all that really needs commenting. Tones are goods.

That Moment. I'd nudge the bass down a db or two. Ditto for the snare.

Never Mind. Bass down a db or two in the intro - it's sitting fine elsewhere. Harmonies up a db.

My thoughts anyway.
 
OK I lied.

I bit the bullet and turned up my vocals. Maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it, but it's the most common comment I get, so there has to be something to it.
I just want my mixes to be as good as they can be. If I can't get used to my vocals louder, I'll turn them back down. But for now, I'll see if I can get used to hearing them so up front.

Thanx guys.
 
RAMI said:
OK I lied.

I bit the bullet and turned up my vocals. Maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it, but it's the most common comment I get, so there has to be something to it.
I just want my mixes to be as good as they can be. If I can't get used to my vocals louder, I'll turn them back down. But for now, I'll see if I can get used to hearing them so up front.

Thanx guys.
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I get that a lot too. Sometimes I just dont want the vocal way out front. :shrugs:
 
dobro said:
sometimes that attention's obsessive.
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It's really a bit of that. I'm realistic enough to know that this is the extent of my music "career". It's now a hobby and I'd be lucky if the amount of listeners for these songs even reaches the double digits. The music industry has changed hugely in the last 10 years, and even pretty drastically in the last 5. It's over, and anyone who thinks otherwise is either dreaming or living in the past. It really is over.

But rather than just talk about doing something out of passion, without having money as a motivating factor, I actually live that. So many people SAY that's how it should be, and say all the right things and cliche phrases, but they live their lives the complete opposite of those empty words. Even if I was stranded on a desert island with no chance of contact with any other human for the rest of my life, I'd be recording, re-recording, re-mixing, and obsessing over whether my tunes are as good as they can be.

I also have this thing about, until I can put my tunes right beside an album like Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Blood Sugar Sex magic" (just an example) and say it sounds just as good, then my songs aren't as good as they can sound. That's why I'm a little weary (wary?) of people that tell me they never comment on my tunes because there's nothing to improve. I appreciate the compliment, but I think it's a little full of shit. I have no problem with someone not commenting on my songs, I don't comment on many people's tunes either, it's all good. But don't bullshit me. :D
 
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