Noob needing help(mixing, mastering a rap song)

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Disain

New member
So, basically, i'm an amatuer rapper that raps in 2 languages - English and Estonian(www.youtube.com/user/TheDisAin)

So, besides the obvious lack of a good flow and broken lyrics, i put a lot of heart in it at the same time. I want to produce good quality music, but there are certain issues, which i will now try to explain.
I record in Cool Edit Pro 2.1, just mentioning, probably will go long for some issues.
1. After mixing my song, the vocal becomes unlistenable on telephones and single speaker systems(like laptop speakers). The sound breaks up and you can only hear tiny parts, most of it just cluttered up. It feels like something forces the sound to many speakers. At the same time it's great in headphones.
2. My mixing is messed up. I have tried to use my own mixes, but they become extremely bassy all the time(mic: Samson C01U). When i use the settings of other people who use CEP, my vocals becomes the thing explained above. As such, i'm looking for new programs and hopefully new settings that could please me as a sound.
3. While using CEP, the MP3 file i produce often becomes corrupt when written on a phone or other such device(like MP3 players). Is that my fault or the program's?

If anybody knows how to help me, please post. This is not even a try to put myself out, i just want to know how to properly mix and master my sound and put it out to receive more criticism. Thank you for reading.

EDIT: Please, somebody move this to hte 'noob' section, oversaw it when i entered the forums. Sorry!
 
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The only way you're going to be able to get those mixes to sound good on whatever you play them on is to learn how to use the mixing tools at your disposal and practice. There are no magic settings that are going to make your stuff sound good. Read this and you will learn a lot: http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
 
can u do a screen shot of what your settings are when u record and mix?
off top it sounds like the vocals are just waaaay too low . . but i know thats way too simplistic of an analysis to get you where you need to be but . . its hard to hear the vocals. ur recording your vocals via what? mic? phone? is mic hooked up straight to computer or thru a mixer of any kind?
 
gullyjewelz said:
can u do a screen shot of what your settings are when u record and mix?
off top it sounds like the vocals are just waaaay too low . . but i know thats way too simplistic of an analysis to get you where you need to be but . . its hard to hear the vocals. ur recording your vocals via what? mic? phone? is mic hooked up straight to computer or thru a mixer of any kind?
Click to expand...

Condenser mic straight to PC. Samson C01U. It's naturally low, so i've had to level it up.

The FX rack would make me do a lot of pictures. As such, i shall do that mission tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEK69t36xMUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEK69t36xMU example(okay, sorry, self-advertisement, c&c welcome)
You can try and DL, push it to your phone and see that it's kind of broken. On another tone, it's best on earphones. But i want it to be listenable every way. Halp!
 
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Your problem is that it's a USB mic. It's using the stock sound card in your computer to record. These sound cards are not made for high quality recording purposes and so you get problems like the distortion you're having. What you need is an interface and another mic. When you say it is better on earphones or speakers or whatever, the problem is probably still there no matter what you play it on, just maybe more or less noticeable depending on the speaker.
 
Disain said:
So, basically, i'm an amatuer rapper that raps in 2 languages - English and Estonian(www.youtube.com/user/TheDisAin)

So, besides the obvious lack of a good flow and broken lyrics, i put a lot of heart in it at the same time. I want to produce good quality music, but there are certain issues, which i will now try to explain.
I record in Cool Edit Pro 2.1, just mentioning, probably will go long for some issues.
1. After mixing my song, the vocal becomes unlistenable on telephones and single speaker systems(like laptop speakers). The sound breaks up and you can only hear tiny parts, most of it just cluttered up. It feels like something forces the sound to many speakers. At the same time it's great in headphones.
2. My mixing is messed up. I have tried to use my own mixes, but they become extremely bassy all the time(mic: Samson C01U). When i use the settings of other people who use CEP, my vocals becomes the thing explained above. As such, i'm looking for new programs and hopefully new settings that could please me as a sound.
3. While using CEP, the MP3 file i produce often becomes corrupt when written on a phone or other such device(like MP3 players). Is that my fault or the program's?

If anybody knows how to help me, please post. This is not even a try to put myself out, i just want to know how to properly mix and master my sound and put it out to receive more criticism. Thank you for reading.

EDIT: Please, somebody move this to hte 'noob' section, oversaw it when i entered the forums. Sorry!
Click to expand...

1. This is largely due to mono systems vs stereo systems. What your describing in 1. is stereo signal through mono. Stuff like panning and depth doesn't work as well so you'll hear bits and pieces of what you worked on. Try hard panning some items or keep them centered. Also effects like reverb, delay, etc sounds like crap in mono systems or non-true surround systems IE playing a song that has a LOT of reverb in a surround system where every speaker is sending out reverb so depth isn't really controlled as well. Another problem may lie in the general mix itself. When mixing, it sounds like the sound placement isn't where it needs to be (of course or you wouldn't have problems lol). IE Clutterness tends to come from overlapping frequencies that can cause muddiness, ghost sounds, or instruments fighting each other. Like Pianos, which tend to sit in all ranges of frequencies or a kick that's boxy (400hz range). This also happens when mixing single sounds by themselves and neglecting the overall track's sounds. Also, when your describing some things are audible and some things are not, can also be a phase issue.

2. Because your mixing through headphones, you are definitely not getting the bass response needed to mix down properly. Which is one reason why we never mix in headphones, only monitor through phones. Cut your low end more, give it a roll off and that should fix the bassy problem. That'll be around 200hz and lower.

3. This sounds like program/computer error. Try lowering the birate of the mp3 or save as wave and try another converter to mp3.

All in all, you need to use your parametric equalizer more lol
 
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Mindset said:
1. This is largely due to mono systems vs stereo systems. What your describing in 1. is stereo signal through mono. Stuff like panning and depth doesn't work as well so you'll hear bits and pieces of what you worked on. Try hard panning some items or keep them centered. Also effects like reverb, delay, etc sounds like crap in mono systems or non-true surround systems IE playing a song that has a LOT of reverb in a surround system where every speaker is sending out reverb so depth isn't really controlled as well. Another problem may lie in the general mix itself. When mixing, it sounds like the sound placement isn't where it needs to be (of course or you wouldn't have problems lol). IE Clutterness tends to come from overlapping frequencies that can cause muddiness, ghost sounds, or instruments fighting each other. Like Pianos, which tend to sit in all ranges of frequencies or a kick that's boxy (400hz range). This also happens when mixing single sounds by themselves and neglecting the overall track's sounds. Also, when your describing some things are audible and some things are not, can also be a phase issue.

2. Because your mixing through headphones, you are definitely not getting the bass response needed to mix down properly. Which is one reason why we never mix in headphones, only monitor through phones. Cut your low end more, give it a roll off and that should fix the bassy problem. That'll be around 200hz and lower.

3. This sounds like program/computer error. Try lowering the birate of the mp3 or save as wave and try another converter to mp3.

All in all, you need to use your parametric equalizer more lol
Click to expand...

Thank you. I will definitely try working on these issues now that i've gotten some advice. :)

BTW, thanks for the parametric eq suggestion, i def. should use it more.
 
cool. thats whats up!?
now dont forget to let me know some feedback on my video
TIRED OF LIVIN
ITS IN THE SIG JUST BELOW
 
Sorry for double post and rewaking the topic.

So, i've looked a bit into EQ's and shit and this is what i''ve managed to do.

 
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