One from a CD mastered in my home studio

aidan_m said:
sounds a bit thin in my humble opinion.. needs a bit of meat. just my too bits. :D
Click to expand...

That's it? 56 listens to this song and one guy says, "It's thin."

The vocal, the guitar, the bass, the drums? What is thin, except the above review?
 
Xeries said:
That's it? 56 listens to this song and one guy says, "It's thin."

The vocal, the guitar, the bass, the drums? What is thin, except the above review?
Click to expand...

Everything seems heavily effected - probably the sound you were going for - but it makes everything sound kinda synthesized if you get me? Maybe thats what was meant by "thin". Suits the style.
 
I know what you mean about the lack of comments. But hey, it's not like we are spending any money. I feel your pain.

About this tune. Here's my take for what it's worth:

It sounds like the overall eq may be a compensation for a monitoring system that has a very heavy low end with and overly bright high end. Could be yours or the artist's.

There doesn't seem to be much going on below about 200hz and a very pronounced response from maybe 300 to 1000hz. After that the highs are quite subdued til maybe 8k or so where the are some cymbals popping out.

The elderly such as myself tend to make overly bright mixes cause of our toasty ears. But this is almost the opposite.

I can't stress enough the importance of a fairly flat (especially in the bass) mixing room and of course reasonably good monitors.

Tell us about your monitoring setup and maybe a picture too (not of you silly).

I have no idea of your professional expertise (or mine now that I think of it) so please don't feel that I'm talking down by stating the basics.

It would be useful to hear the un-mastered mix. Maybe the original had messed up eq.

I liked the tune, kind of a retro, crimson, bruford ish.

ac
 
OK, I went to your homepage and the music there does not have any of the eq issues that the posted tune does. Soooo, my humble apologies for implicating your setup.

I think it must just be that you didn't have much to work with on this tune. (tone wise)

ac
 
I can't hear much low end at all. I'm listening at pretty low volume on PC speakers so I could be mistaken.
I can hear all the parts really clearly and everything seems pretty crisp but none of the elements seem to have any meat to them.
Too aggressive with the low cut perhaps?
Again I'm listening on small PC speakers so take these comments with a grain of salt.
I'll try and give it a proper listen on monitors later.

I really like the song though I especially enjoyed the harmonies at the end.



I know what you mean about the comments. I posted a track last week and I was pleased that I got 3 comments and 100 views before it fell off the front page.
 
I like the song, kinda prog. The mix sounds pretty good to me. The drums could maybe come out a bit, the rolls seem to be nice and present. I like what you've done with the tune.
 
I like the blend of guitars/keys/vocals but at times they almost seem to be competing for the same sonic space... Nothing major, still listenable so if that's what you were shooting for, then you nailed it :)

Snare drum sounds like he's cross-sticking through the entire song and the toms sounded subdued and thin... But I like my drums to sound meaty and upfront so take that with a lick of salt and tequila ;)
 
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Thanks for the responses, guys.

Here's a few thoughts:

I'm pretty green at mastering anything and rely mostly on my ears and some pretty shitty monitors.

I do have some AKG 271s that I use to mix my music and this mix sounded ok in them because they have a really meaty bass response.

That being said, the thin sound is probably due to an aggressive low cut. The drums were getting lost in the mix and he's pretty good, so I tried to bring him up and not step on the vocals.

I was given a stereo mix and didn't have the eight original tracks to tweak.

That was unfortunate, but I did the best I could. Thanks for your help.
 
Cool - it sounds like old Black Sabbath at times, but with way more modern edge. Sort of a 70's vibe....The vocal treatment is very cool - kind of an echo/reverb/tremelo sound to it. No nits - I love this mix! Send my compliments to the players too...:D
 
ido1957 said:
Cool - it sounds like old Black Sabbath at times, but with way more modern edge. Sort of a 70's vibe....The vocal treatment is very cool - kind of an echo/reverb/tremelo sound to it. No nits - I love this mix! Send my compliments to the players too...:D
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Thanks, ido1957, I'm sure you will make their day. Really glad you liked it.

There's 10 tracks. I'll keep posting them in Songramp. Can't do it in Soundclick, because I don't have the copyright. But the players are interested in the feedback.
 
Not that you want to hear it...

I'd agree with the thinness.

That being said.

Bass drum I feel needs to come up a little. and maybe the toms as well. Just lacking some oomf. Yeah I know that might not help. But that's all I have.

Good luck. Otherwise it sounds pretty great.

Elliot
 
acattoir said:
I know what you mean about the lack of comments. But hey, it's not like we are spending any money. I feel your pain.

About this tune. Here's my take for what it's worth:

It sounds like the overall eq may be a compensation for a monitoring system that has a very heavy low end with and overly bright high end. Could be yours or the artist's.

There doesn't seem to be much going on below about 200hz and a very pronounced response from maybe 300 to 1000hz. After that the highs are quite subdued til maybe 8k or so where the are some cymbals popping out.

The elderly such as myself tend to make overly bright mixes cause of our toasty ears. But this is almost the opposite.

I can't stress enough the importance of a fairly flat (especially in the bass) mixing room and of course reasonably good monitors.

Tell us about your monitoring setup and maybe a picture too (not of you silly).

I have no idea of your professional expertise (or mine now that I think of it) so please don't feel that I'm talking down by stating the basics.

It would be useful to hear the un-mastered mix. Maybe the original had messed up eq.

I liked the tune, kind of a retro, crimson, bruford ish.

ac
Click to expand...

Like I said!! Thin!! :D

Hows about providing a sample of the unmastered version too for a comparison?
I just tried my first bit of mastering last night! It's tough to get it right, I haven't yet anyway.. Gimme mixing anyday!
 
aidan_m said:
Like I said!! Thin!! :D

Hows about providing a sample of the unmastered version too for a comparison?
I just tried my first bit of mastering last night! It's tough to get it right, I haven't yet anyway.. Gimme mixing anyday!
Click to expand...

I totally agree. Mixing is way easier. Here's another one for comparison. Not the same song, but the same artist and CD. See if this is too thin also.

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewprivtrack.php?trackid=53400
 
Xeries said:
I totally agree. Mixing is way easier. Here's another one for comparison. Not the same song, but the same artist and CD. See if this is too thin also.

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewprivtrack.php?trackid=53400
Click to expand...

Not as "thin" but still yeah pretty thin.. What I was getting at when I said that first (should have been clearer obviously!) Was it sounds like its missing a load of lo end, no matter what speakers its through, they sound like small speakers.. maybe a lo shelf might help if theres any lows there to begin with.. Just lacking warmth (can I say that? :D )
 
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