covers for mix evaluation..please

R

rdozz

New member
I have been lurking and learning from this web site for a while now. This is a great site for information and entertainment, I can spend hours reading the many threads.

My small home studio started out with a mixer, sound card and an AKG C535 to record my wife singing to prerecorded sound tracks. Today I have 2 AW4416s linked together through a midi cable which gives me 32 tracks and a boat load of other equipment. This web site has been bad for my wallet.

The link I have posted is my Brother-in-law's band recorded in my studio. Any tips or suggestions would really be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.....
Rob

www.soundclick.com/bands/0/fosterphillipsmusic.htm
 
uh...... I don't know what to say - you've pretty much got all the standard novice "errors" captured in a single song.

I listened to Honky Tonk Man.... everything is floating in reverb, you've got each track overcompressed and squashed completely, and the drums are generally murky and muddy.

No definition to the bass - it's basically just adding some indistinct boom against the rest of the rhythm section.

I suggest doing some critical listening to commerical releases in the same style, comparing your mix to theirs.... you'll learn a lot from such an exercise.

Keep reading, learning and practicing!
 
Thanks For listening...Blue

Did you listen to Tin Man? I did not add soo.. much reverb to that mix.

I used cool edit to view and edit the final wave file. To get the loudness up on the final wave I thought I had to compress the peaks?

Thanks in Advance.....
Rob
 
Any opinions on TIN MAN mix?

I am remixing Honky Tonk man after listening to alot of comerical mixes on my monitors.

Thanks in Advance......
Rob
 
I can hear the compressor. That really ruins the mix man. I'm not saying don't use it, but LEARN how to use it. I personally would handle the peaks at mixdown by manually sliding faders on that track when I know it's coming. <old skool.
The balance between vocal, drums and electric gtr was good. The acoustic gtr sound awful. Hardly there and verrry tinny. The bass...well...the bass reminds me of the old gibson EBO bass. Verrry muddy instrument. I fear that it is not your mix but the bass rig that the bass player is using. You are gonna have to work hard at getting that bass to sound good. I'd make him go direct, and I would eq the hell out of it.
 
rdozz said:
Any opinions on TIN MAN mix?
Click to expand...
My comments from Honky Tonk Man also apply here..... plus, you've overcompressed the overall mix as well...

You've got sonic issues in terms of over-sibilant vocals (You're using EQ too much, I'm guessing), and harsh-sounding midrange (again I suspect overuse of EQ)....

I suggest checking out some of the articles I wrote, and also look into the recommended reading at the bottom of the page --> Blue Bear Articles page
 
Thanks again, this is great advice and Blue your articles are great reading. Now I need to practice, practice, practice and practice more. I am also listening to commercial stuff to calibrate my ears.

Again Thanks.......
Rob
 
I listened to both songs. This really peaked my interest because I record on an AW4416 also. But I don't have two tied together. I'd have a lot of questions about how that functions. A second one is pretty cheap to pick up these days.

But regarding the songs. First.... I think you sing really well, and I think you have the right idea and a good sound. Wish I sang as well. I played in a country band for a few years back in the 80's and they would never let me sing before midnight :)

But yeah.... you're destroying it during the mix down. I'm guessing you're using the mastering function on the stereo track during mix down? If you are..... there's a setting quite a way up in the list called .... I think... compander. It's a pretty nice little setting if you want to apply a finish to the deal. If you are interested I can give you settings for each of the components in the patch, that will compress it and expand it at the same time... but in a manner that isn't nearly as noticable.
 
On any given day, you can read Blue Bear and I'll just say "ditto" and today isn't much different.

However, I'd like to add that listening "through" the mix, the raw quality at the source seems pretty good - That's incredibly important, and something that is overlooked a lot. Obviously there are several processing and mix issues to be dealt with, but what you're doing at the input seems pretty solid.

That's a good thing... If you start out with something that sounds irritating, the best you can hope to achieve is to make it sound NON irritating. If you start out with clarity, you have several options on where to take it from there.

John Scrip - www.massivemastering.com
 
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