Rain (Improv song to improve my recording skills)

TheAquired

New member
Hi everyone,
I was hoping somebody might like to take a listen and tell me what they think about my new track. I just wanted to practice using synthetic orchestral instruments and mixing them in and so on, for when I record my band later. I just kinda came up with it as I recorded each track.

I take all feedback seriously and without the help of this brilliant forum, I know I'd be much. much. worse.

So take a listen :) All you have to do is click the little button below:listeningmusic::thumbs up:

 
i see legions roaring across the land like black ants on a verdant forest, armed with shiny, chrome edged broad axes, when at every down beat a head is severed or a skull is cracked open. blood runs across dirt and finds low spots in hoof prints, hell hounds lap the blood and howl at the sky made black by the smoke from burning huts. a baby feeds from the breast of its fresh kill mother, then disappears down the gullet of a chimera who licks the last drop of breast milk.
the legions disappears over the hill thru the silhouettes of bare limb trees.
 
i see legions roaring across the land like black ants on a verdant forest, armed with shiny, chrome edged broad axes, when at every down beat a head is severed or a skull is cracked open. blood runs across dirt and finds low spots in hoof prints, hell hounds lap the blood and howl at the sky made black by the smoke from burning huts. a baby feeds from the breast of its fresh kill mother, then disappears down the gullet of a chimera who licks the last drop of breast milk.
the legions disappears over the hill thru the silhouettes of bare limb trees.

It's interesting to see what other people feel my music represents :thumbs up: I'm gonna hope that your awesome descriptive tale (which was kinda disturbing) was simultaneously a way of telling me the mix was ok :p
 
Hi :) thanks for that feedback!
yes, the bass drum is just basic MIDI programming, but the bass was in fact real. What didnt you like about it?
 
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The low end needs allot of work as it's a bit muddy, particularly the "kick" drum is too thick and tires the ears quickly, (I'm an authority on this subject sadly as I have rather severe tinnitus from ignorantly blasting music and drumming without hearing protection for so many years). The mix needs some tweaking but it's not bad overall. The bass issue sticks out to me more than anything and that was the biggest thing I struggled with early on. As I read and learn I see time and time again where guys starting out struggle with muddy issues and too much bass in a mix. I'm hardly an authority but it sounds to me like some high pass filtering and careful EQing could clear this right up. There's some great reading on the subjects here and many other fine places on the web.
 
The low end needs allot of work as it's a bit muddy, particularly the "kick" drum is too thick and tires the ears quickly, (I'm an authority on this subject sadly as I have rather severe tinnitus from ignorantly blasting music and drumming without hearing protection for so many years). The mix needs some tweaking but it's not bad overall. The bass issue sticks out to me more than anything and that was the biggest thing I struggled with early on. As I read and learn I see time and time again where guys starting out struggle with muddy issues and too much bass in a mix. I'm hardly an authority but it sounds to me like some high pass filtering and careful EQing could clear this right up. There's some great reading on the subjects here and many other fine places on the web.

Thanks for that, i really appreciate the feedback. I'll go take a more careful look at the EQ'ing. I know its probably a compbinatin of my monitors being a little bass light and also, I do enjoy the thick bassy textures. I really dont like the drum sound in this at all, however I can't record a real kit, so I dont have much choice there.

So removing bass from the mix should make it less muddy. What else contributes to the "muddiness" of a mix? Thanks :)
 
So removing bass from the mix should make it less muddy. What else contributes to the "muddiness" of a mix? Thanks :)

I meanm that's really a huge part of it right there - frequencies fighting for space in the bass and midrange. I can't give you much feedback because I'm not listening on my monitors, but even on my imac's built in speakers the drums are fighting for space. Thinning them out a bit, and thinning the guitars out a lot, will help a lot here.
 
Listening to the opening and skim reading the comments, I'd say the kick drum sounds like it's distorting even at the lower volumes.

This is totally the kind of 'cinema' music where even a quiet bass drum should create that kind of deep sub-bass epic rumble...Like trouble's a-foot.

At 1:10 it's confirmed. Everything kinda distorts a little. It really takes away from the mood you created so well.

Hard to say, but I guess it's a case of cutting away some unnecessary frequencies in bass/rhythm instruments, and watching your track levels.
I'm gona guess that you're overloading your master track throughout the mix, because the kick sounds fine at the last few beats when there's no other music playing.
 
I hear: lots of things mushing together, especially in the low end. Get to work on each of the tracks with EQ: highpasses and lowmid cuts. Do something to define the kick better. The structure's fine; the problem is the sound.
 
Hi everyone, its been a while because of school work, but here is my updated mix. Thank you for all the replies, I have tried to incorporate all the great advice I was given!


EDIT: I tried to update the OP with the latest version, but I can no longer edit it. If anyone knows how I can, please let me know, thanks! :)
 
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