Gnu Bee needs some professional ears to point me in right direction.

J

jonas5000

New member
What I Look For.mp3 - DivShare

I wrote and recorded the above song with Weezer's Pinkerton album in mind. I love the rawness and simplicity of their album. I'm aware that there are off notes here and there and leveling issues, but my main request is advice on how to add more volume to this mix. I like the mix of it, even though the overall quality is so-so, but I would like to know how I can get this louder while not throwing the dynamics out the window.

P.S. if someone would want, by chance, to master this bad boy, I can send you the .wav file.
 
btw, I record with an apogee duet using a oktavamod mk219 mic. drums and bass done in fl studio 9 (i know), and I use Logic 8 to "mix and master". I've been doing this for about 6 years and I still know oh so little about how to get a good sound. Anybody have any good links for mix/mastering articles that discuss every part of the process?
 
I really like the writing in this. The balance and levels seem good from a mix perspective. The fuzzy guitars are not my fav. It's really noticeable when they stop and they grate a little. The notes in the intro are a little rough sounding - I'd redo those if possible. But again the writing is great.
Mastering - Can't help you there, I have started getting mine mastered by finemastering.de and find the results are what I'm looking for. I know most like to try it themselves - maybe read up on some discussions in the mastering forum.
 
As ido1957 said, I think this is a really well written tune. I also agree about the intro notes. I think the biggest issue here is tuning. Did you tune your guitar and bass carefully before recording? Did you use the same guitar for lead and rhythm parts? Was it tuned with an electronic tuner before each take? The voice and distorted guitar seemed to be inline with each other, but the lead part sounded sharp to me. In terms of levels, I think this is good. Maybe the bass could come up a little. I definitely got the Weezer vibe loud and clear, so nice job on that.

Making the whole mix louder will always decrease your dynamic range, its just the nature of digital recording. Perceived loudness is a function of the average volume of the track. Say your average volume is -12db. Your loudest peak can only be 12db louder than the average volume. If you use a compressor or limiter to increase the volume of the track to say -8db, your loudest peak can now only be 8db louder than average, and thus you have decreased your dynamic range by 4 db.

The tricky part is finding a balance where your track is loud enough to keep pace with other songs, but still maintains enough dynamic range to sound interesting and clear. This is by no means easy, and I am in no way good at it. Check out the mastering forum for more info.
 
I see what you guys mean about the intro. A few sour notes in there. I tuned it before each take, but my horrible playing technique is prone to making the guitar sound less than pleasant. This was my first electric guitar song, so I've got a lot of learning to do. The fuzzy guitar is just the type of tone that I felt suited the song - and me. Always been a fan a Weezer and like to emulate them from time to time. Thanks for the feedback.
 
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