Track Critique please

slinky

slinky

New member
Hi
I have put my new track `Mamba` up at http://paulholzherr.com/?page_id=55
Please give it a listen and post any comments. I am using cubase 5 with the sounds supplied with this software + acoustic guitar recorded with a jack lead into an edirol FA 66. I am basically looking for improvements in mastering.
I tried adding cubase`s maximiser to the audio mix which gave the whole mix a boost but ended up with the `shaker/cymbals` sounding washed out. I then used the highest quality mp3 settings which gave me a file size of about 9MB (for a 4 minute track) but could not upload this on to my site because it was too large.
What do I need to give it a kick and improve the dynamics?

thanks for any input.
 
Very cool upbeat little track. Nice guitar line- very detailed. I think the bassline could be brought up in the mix. Overall a very polished sound- nice!
 
Thanks for that industrialokie,
I have turned up the bass a bit and made a new mp3 with a little maximizer from cubase and kept the quality levels within the permitted parameters. Onwards and upwards - well, straight and level will do!:D
 
Crispy clear and spacious. A nice, clear mix. Definitely has a vaguely latin/caribbean sound to it, which is not something I hear much of, so...

No mastering tips here I'm afraid, but whatever you did certainly didn't wash out the shakers. They are clear as day - almost too much so. There is a sterility to the percussion tracks that doesn't compliment the guitar as well as it might, but I know nothing of cubase or how one goes about assembling these sounds.

The guitar is well played to be sure. I was happily surprised towards the end of the piece as it picked up in both volume and complexity. Very well done.

I did find that the guitar was a little uneven level-wise towards the beginning and would have liked it up some. Better towards the end though. I still think the bass could come up more.
 
I'm not a big fan of the DI guitar sound. If you recorded the acoustic with a couple of mics, or ran it through an amp and recorded that it would add another dimension to your sound
 
I clicked on the "Vortique" link by mistake and couldn't figure out why all the comments didn't match. The first 1 and a half minutes of that tune are amazing.

In Mamba, I found the percussion to be competing too much with the guitar part - its a little distracting. I'd drop the volume of the percussion when the guitar part comes in strongly. I preferred the mix around 1:50 when the percussion drops.
 
Thanks for the comments bagpipe.
I must say I tend to agree with all the comments so far and all this is very useful. Two or more sets of ears are always better than one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top