Harsh sound

L

Lomas

New member
I've got a song with two acoustig guitars, bass, drums, a rhodes and electric guitar (not all at the same time!) and I'm trying to mix it as good as I can (homerecording, you know...). I'm getting pretty good results as far as making it sound clearer and more separated, all relative of course to how it was before mixing.

What I can't figure out though, is how to make it sound less harsh...you know, after listening to it for a while it get's kind of tough on the ears. I'm aware that this is a very general question, I just have no idea where to start.

It's recorded with an sm57 (drums are software), bass is DI.

Any tips on what end to start with?
 
is the entire mix sounding harsh, or just certain instruments? if this is the case, you can always use a parametric to find the offending frequencies in each instrument, and cut them a little bit. although i would avoid at all costs, you could also do the same to the entire mix itself.

also...does it only sound harsh after listening for a long time, or all the time? depending on your room/monitor situation, it could be that you're just experiencing ear fatigue, which then makes things sound all screwy. the best thing to do in this case is to walk away from the mix until the next day, then come back to it and get to work.
 
Well I'm too inexperienced to tell really. I guess it might be that I'm listening too long. I certainly hope so! :)

I guess it would be the acoustic guitars that could sound harsh.

I think putting a clip in the mixing clinic would be a good idea. I'll try to do that as soon as possible. Thanks for the answers so far.
 
Lomas said:
Well I'm too inexperienced to tell really. I guess it might be that I'm listening too long. I certainly hope so! :)

I guess it would be the acoustic guitars that could sound harsh.

I think putting a clip in the mixing clinic would be a good idea. I'll try to do that as soon as possible. Thanks for the answers so far.
Click to expand...

Can you post here when you get it up in the mp3 clinic.

F.S.
 
You'd be surprised at what listening fatigue does to you..... It's crazy. I'm thinking you have some conflicting frequencies that your ear is straining itself trying to hear. Very subtle, but after a long time it really starts to wear on you. You'll now notice as you get better with mixing and EQing, your "listening time" without fatigue will go up immensely... I've gone from 2minutes to 3!!! j/k Post here when you get the mp3 up. later,

-Joel
 
yea...honestly, there's been times where i've been sitting and mixing stuff for hours, and thought it sounded all good and such

then i came back the next day, listened back, and thought "wtf was i thinking?"
 
Lol, I know all too well about the fatigue-induced delusions and next day realization....

"WTF? Is this the same mix from last night!?":eek::eek::eek:
 
Well if I go hunting for harshness/ouch etc. I find 3khz is the usually the culprit, not always though. On keys & electric guitar solos you stand a good chance of it, vocals too with some voices.

Who knows what issues you may have in your mix, but I thought I'd throw it out there. Someone may get some use out of it someday.

F.S.
 
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