new frustration

heatmiser

heatmiser

mr. green christmas
Howdy folks...been a while! Good to see at least a few familiar names still posting here.

I've been slowly getting back into recording over the last year in a new space. Here's something I wrapped up last week, and I am curious how it sounds on other systems. Sounds more or less as I wanted it to in my "studio" environment, but I haven't tested it elsewhere.

I will try to check out some other tracks here soon, but am currently on my work laptop which has pretty horrible audio.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you might have!

Original mix:
new frustration by matango | Free Listening on SoundCloud

04.06 Mix with buzz saw bass lowered by several dbs:
new frustration 04.06 mix by matango | Free Listening on SoundCloud

04.08 Mix with additional EQ and wider panning of synths & guitars:
new frustration 04.08 mix by matango | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
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0.58 the bass synth drowns everything. Then vocals are hard to hear. I think the vocals would be OK if the the synth was tamed. In other parts where it isn't so heavy, sounds pretty good.

My two cents.
 
Agree with DM60, the synth bass is way too upfront and makes it hard to really hear much else. But even so, sounds like a good song!!
 
Hey, another name from the past I remember ! ( I was Queepy/Variaxman back in the day) . Great to hear you....Love this, I've only listened to the final mix (4.06) , really cool ,love that synth bass growl ...seems to be in a good place now, that type of tone can easily overwhelm a mix but sounds like you tamed it . Great song, gives me a little New Order vibe ...but with more swing or bounce if that makes sense.
 
Queepy! I knew I knew a stratmonkee, but couldn't recall from where. Thanks for clearing that up!

I'm glad you enjoyed this one. I'm still getting some feedback that the buzz bass is taking up too much space in this mix, but I'm not sure I agree. Any lower and it would cease to be any kind of driving force, plus it was kind of the starting point for this whole track. Although I've certainly heard of New Order, I don't think I've ever listened to them? Maybe I should...thanks again.
 
Hey man. Nice to see ya back.

I listened to the first version yesterday and the new today. good improvement. I think some adjustments are needed. Maybe more with EQ than level. on my end, it's boomy. Vocals are buried, maybe due to boomy bass or maybe because it is a very dense mix; a lot going. Not sure.

Stick around.
 
Now there's another name I recognise. Happy pandemic to you! Cool jam. I think the hihats maybe slightly too forward and quite dry compared to the vocal. Have you got a phase effect on the drums? I like the way it comes back stripped down at 2.52. On headphones I'm not hearing the bass as too intrusive. Everything seems a good level other than the hats. Vocals are good too. The jam sets quite a melancholy mood. Nice job
 
Chili!!!

Good to see you man.
Although I'm still using the same gear as before, I'm in a relatively new space, so it sounds like I may have some translation issues. If anything, I'm hearing it as too bright...I started revisiting the mix last night with a goal of using EQ and panning to open it up a bit more. Not sure where I left off last night, but will keep at it. Thanks.

Bulls!!!

Happy pandemic to you as well! I'm not hearing the bass issue either, but quite a few other people have noted that...I think I agree on the cymbals...I'm now hearing some harshness overall in the upper mids where maybe the cymbals and vocals intersect. Another thing to work on.

You have no idea how much tweaking and processing I did to those drums...lots of chopping and panning, and yes, at some point I did apply a slight phaser. I also ran them through a cassette deck at hot levels for some cheap saturation. Kinda trashy, but overall nice I think. Thanks for checking in!
 
Ok. I tried to take the advice received here and elsewhere into account.

3rd (04.08) mix added below and to the OP. Lots of changes, but essentially I EQ'd the bass to be less buzz and more bass. I also panned the synths and guitars much wider and raised their levels. If anyone gets a chance, let me know if you hear an improvement. I understand this may get tiresome, so I may stop with this mix unless I'm horribly off...

04/08 Mix with additional EQ and wider panning:
new frustration 04.08 mix by matango | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
yeah, this works good. Still a big bottom end, but more focused. I can hear the buzz bass thing just fine and to me it stands as a prominent feature of the song, which I think you wanted. The song kinda ends abruptly, lol.

Cool
 
Interesting tune with some nice hooks and I really like your synth sounds in the background...its all quite flaming lipsy to my ears which is no bad thing. The updated version gives a bit more space for other melodies to come through. The vocal sounds a little outside the song and may be worth experimenting with some different reverbs.

Mark
 
Thank you chili and mcmac.

Yeah chili...that ending is rough! lol Guess I thought I'd sort it out later but never really did. I wanted it to return to the C at the end, but could have been more graceful about it.

mcmac - thank you for the listen and comments. I was going for an over-the-top delayed, reverby vocal here, but I agree the reverb isn't the best. In addition to the Flaming Lips (big influence for me lately - always loved how they combined incongruous organic and mechanical elements ), I've been listening to a lot of neo-psychedelic indie bands lately, and many of them have these weird vocals just drenched in verb to the point that you can't make out one word...I love that. Beautiful. lol

Thanks again everyone. I suppose the bass on this track is still a bit overbearing, but I think you've helped me to at least steer this in a slightly more listenable direction.
 
Hey I had resigned myself to never hearing from you again, so this is very cool. Can't wait to check it out. Will let you know.
 
My impression with the new mix is that the vocal is slightly buried during the busy sections. I think if you pulled everything else back by 0.5-1db it would sit about right on these headphones
 
heatmiser said:
Thank you chili and mcmac.

Yeah chili...that ending is rough! lol Guess I thought I'd sort it out later but never really did. I wanted it to return to the C at the end, but could have been more graceful about it.

mcmac - thank you for the listen and comments. I was going for an over-the-top delayed, reverby vocal here, but I agree the reverb isn't the best. In addition to the Flaming Lips (big influence for me lately - always loved how they combined incongruous organic and mechanical elements ), I've been listening to a lot of neo-psychedelic indie bands lately, and many of them have these weird vocals just drenched in verb to the point that you can't make out one word...I love that. Beautiful. lol

Thanks again everyone. I suppose the bass on this track is still a bit overbearing, but I think you've helped me to at least steer this in a slightly more listenable direction.
Click to expand...

Listened a couple times so far. It's really hard to be objective because I miss your normal fantastic/amazing/kick ass bass tone too much. fwiw, buzz is almost impossible to get right in the mix, at least for me. It feels really overwhelming here, and no corresponding bottom end whallop that I love in your stuff.
 
Bulls Hit said:
My impression with the new mix is that the vocal is slightly buried during the busy sections. I think if you pulled everything else back by 0.5-1db it would sit about right on these headphones
Click to expand...

Thanks for checking back...

You might be right...so hard for me to tell with all of that verb and delay on the vocals, but I’ll give it a try. Thank you!

chuckduffy said:
Listened a couple times so far. It's really hard to be objective because I miss your normal fantastic/amazing/kick ass bass tone too much. fwiw, buzz is almost impossible to get right in the mix, at least for me. It feels really overwhelming here, and no corresponding bottom end whallop that I love in your stuff.
Click to expand...

Chuck!!!
Great to see on here again!
I hope you are well and still making music?

I’m sorry you’re not digging the buzz bass so much on this. I really like it. Not like, I’m going to use this from now on kind of like, but I’d use it again.
Just haven’t been too into bass guitar lately. No good sounds coming out of that thing for a while.

I felt like the kick took up enough of the low end to compensate. It’s kind of a weird track, but I think I’m pretty good with where it’s at now, although it’s probably a bit too long for what it is.

Thanks for checking it out!
 
heatmiser said:
Thanks for checking back...

You might be right...so hard for me to tell with all of that verb and delay on the vocals, but I’ll give it a try. Thank you!



Chuck!!!
Great to see on here again!
I hope you are well and still making music?

I’m sorry you’re not digging the buzz bass so much on this. I really like it. Not like, I’m going to use this from now on kind of like, but I’d use it again.
Just haven’t been too into bass guitar lately. No good sounds coming out of that thing for a while.

I felt like the kick took up enough of the low end to compensate. It’s kind of a weird track, but I think I’m pretty good with where it’s at now, although it’s probably a bit too long for what it is.

Thanks for checking it out!
Click to expand...

I don't dislike the buzz bass, just feel like it needs some assist from real bass, and it's hard to come to terms with no bass on one of your tracks :-)

I have been trying to get back into writing and recording but it is really slow going. I am so out of practice it is really painful to do the simplest stuff and everything sounds trash so I get frustrated and abandon most stuf.
 
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