A couple songs recorded in Acid Pro 3.0

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ozraves

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Please listen:

http://www.piemusic.com/music.html

Comments on the music are welcome...

I'd really want some input from someone on making better mp3s from the wav file mixdown. I've been using Sound Forge. I'll either do nothing but the conversion. Or, I'll do some paragraphic EQ. Cut below 60 Hz and above 10 kHz. Add dynamics and then normalize. Anyone have an alternate suggestion. Oh yeah, and I remove DC offset first thing.
 
not bad, really reminds me of REM on the choruses. I'm listening to "Take it Away". I don;t know about rolling off all those frequencies, but I know that the high end on this is a little flat. I don't know what your drum capabilities are with Acid, but you may want to get some loops witha slightly more present snare drum, this one sounds like it's being hit with one of those sticks that 's a bundle of little rods. Not very crisp. I like the music though anyway, so it's hard for me to really tear into it.

Maybe (second listen now) that organ loop is a little annoying, the way it never plays through like a real organ would, there's a little gap after each note, this is probably because it's an Acid loop right? If you played it, you should play through the notes more.
 
"Take It Away", needs more punch in the chorus (the snare, for example, needs to be louder during this part IMHO). I also don't like the acoustic guitar, waay too twangy... no meat. The song structure /feel is right, vocals aren't bad either. (the vocals during the chorus are VERY Michael Stipe ;) ). Could probably trim it back a bit, kinda drags the 6 minutes...

"Fool for Love"... well, not much I can say, guitar is again flat. Groove is right, but there's still a lack of muscle. Don't be afraid of bass/low-end, it can be your friend.

Also, don't be afraid to get into the "odd" right away. I hear you getting stranger as "Fool for Love" went into 2 minutes and it actually started getting interesting, but normally I would have already shut off the song after hearing the beginning. If you're going to take the leap into being Not-So-Top-40 then go for it!!
 
charger said:
not bad, really reminds me of REM on the choruses. I'm listening to "Take it Away". I don;t know about rolling off all those frequencies, but I know that the high end on this is a little flat. I don't know what your drum capabilities are with Acid, but you may want to get some loops witha slightly more present snare drum, this one sounds like it's being hit with one of those sticks that 's a bundle of little rods. Not very crisp. I like the music though anyway, so it's hard for me to really tear into it.

Maybe (second listen now) that organ loop is a little annoying, the way it never plays through like a real organ would, there's a little gap after each note, this is probably because it's an Acid loop right? If you played it, you should play through the notes more.
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ROTFLMAO!! Made all my points!! :D
 
I appreciate the comments although most of the criticism seems to be talking about things that I'm wanting to address in improving the mp3 quality.

Does anyone have any suggestions for mp3 treatments? Or, do I just need to move away from Sound Forge?
 
ozraves said:
most of the criticism seems to be talking about things that I'm wanting to address in improving the mp3 quality.
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No. I use sound forge to master all my cakewalk/acid recordings. The thing we're hearing are not related in any way to mastering, they're issues with the samples, sampling, or recording of the instruments or levels you choose to mix these together.

I use audiograbber to create MP3s, mostly 'cause it's easy and what I know, but more importantly because I can create good VBR (variable bitrate) MP3s and can customize my ID3 info.

If it's mixing suggestions or guidance you seek there's a section here for that as well :).

I'm no master (by any stretch) but with similar software I achieved some success, feel free to give a few of them a listen (especially "Manufacture of Misery"):

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=1589/singles

and all of them off the site:

http://www.the-boogiemen.com
 
"Take it Away"

As a song its GOOD but it sounds like a bare-bones demo that songwriters pitch to publishers.Is that what you're going for?If it's gonna be a finished effort it needs some decent Drums and some real synth or organ parts.The tempo could also stand to speed up just a hair to give it sing along-ability.(is that a word?)
 
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On Take... I think you got a lot of good advice from the other posts. Nice basic song, but I'd follow the advice you got here. One thing I'd add is that a nice three part harmony on the chorus would add a nice effect.

On Fool... I love that lead guitar part that flows through the song. Maybe a bit harsh in the middle ranges. But still cool. I also liked how the tone of it changes at about the 1:00 mark. The verse that kicks in at that point could have 3 part harmonies and it would kill. Were the lead vocals heavily compressed? They seemed to be. I thought the synth parts didn't fit with this song real well.
 
Pinky said:


No. I use sound forge to master all my cakewalk/acid recordings. The thing we're hearing are not related in any way to mastering, they're issues with the samples, sampling, or recording of the instruments or levels you choose to mix these together.

I use audiograbber to create MP3s, mostly 'cause it's easy and what I know, but more importantly because I can create good VBR (variable bitrate) MP3s and can customize my ID3 info.

If it's mixing suggestions or guidance you seek there's a section here for that as well :).

I'm no master (by any stretch) but with similar software I achieved some success, feel free to give a few of them a listen (especially "Manufacture of Misery"):

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=1589/singles

and all of them off the site:

http://www.the-boogiemen.com
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I appreciate your feelings but still no one is giving me an alternative to Sound Forge. You may like it but I find that it is inadequate for mp3 conversions. You may not hear what it it's doing. I know Stephen Paul loves Sound Forge for conversions. I am hating it more and more everyday. I just know my songs are not sounding anything like the original mixes.

FWIW, I am a mix engineer for a number of indie bands who send me problematic mixes to be fixed. I'm not doing work for any "name" artists yet but I've got no work shortage. I've got some very good mentors with some very nice credentials giving me mix advice. Unfortunately, they do not touch mp3s.

So, if anyone has a positive suggestion about alternatives to Sound Forge for mp3 conversions, then please share. I'll be here groveling for an answer. ;)
 
It seems like you really don't want advice on the mix or the song. That's too bad, because it could be killer if you were willing to listen to anyone else's advice. I can tell you honestly that I don't hear a lot of MP3 artifacts in this song, I just listened to it 3 times in a row trying to hear what you are talking about. The high frequencies are fine on the vocals, guitars, etc. It is technically impossible for it to ruin the high frequencies on the snare drum and leave them fine on the high hats, vocals, acoustic guitars, organ... I really feel like it's the snare sample you are using that is all wrong for this song, it sounds like an 808 or 909 snare, and that just doesn't work with this genre. But you can try using different MP3 converters and see if that makes you happier.

But anyway, since you already have the mix dialed as much as you want it, and the song is perfect for you, I would suggest you go get something that uses the LAME encoder. It's free, fast, and sounds great. I use it with the Variable Bit Rate option, quality setting of 4 or 5, maximum bit rate of 224, minimum of whatever the lowest amount is, and it sounds kiler, I can rarely hear any sort of MP3 artifacts. I use it with a frontend called CDEx, http://cdex.n3.net
 
I think mp3 conversions problems are the least of your problems with these tunes.
 
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Kramer said:
I think mp3 conversions problems are the least of your problems with these tunes.
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I'd love to hear some of your work so you can school me on how it should be done. I don't mind being schooled. I've been schooled by some of the best in the biz...

http://www.piemusic.com/kitchen.html
 
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Im not gonna get into a flamefest, but the 2 songs you posted on your site are amateurish at best.The mixing is horrible.I dont claim to know anything but I do have a friggin ear and these mixes are terrible.The songs are good but the mixing/engineering is way below Bedroom demo quality.
 
Kramer said:
Im not gonna get into a flamefest, but the 2 songs you posted on your site are amateurish at best.The mixing is horrible.I dont claim to know anything but I do have a friggin ear and these mixes are terrible.The songs are good but the mixing/engineering is way below Bedroom demo quality.
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I appreciate the kind words about the songs.
 
There have been monstrously valuable suggestions made here. If you want someone else to do the actual remixing for you, that seems to defeat the purpose of you posting here. If you're here to exchange ideas, then share some of your ideas. If you're here just to name-say everything being offered, then you're wasting our time.

What's being said here, plain and simple, work on the recording first, then worry about the MP3 conversion.

BTW--Thanks for the advice on lame, I'm going to download it now ;) (been meaning to since an article last month in Maximum PC :p ).
 
ozraves said:
schooled by some of the best in the biz...
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By the way, what "biz" are you referring to??? (No, I don't care about name-dropping, but really, you need to get real with us for at least 10 minutes... cummon... ;) ).
 
charger said:
It seems like you really don't want advice on the mix or the song. That's too bad, because it could be killer if you were willing to listen to anyone else's advice. I can tell you honestly that I don't hear a lot of MP3 artifacts in this song, I just listened to it 3 times in a row trying to hear what you are talking about. The high frequencies are fine on the vocals, guitars, etc. It is technically impossible for it to ruin the high frequencies on the snare drum and leave them fine on the high hats, vocals, acoustic guitars, organ... I really feel like it's the snare sample you are using that is all wrong for this song, it sounds like an 808 or 909 snare, and that just doesn't work with this genre. But you can try using different MP3 converters and see if that makes you happier.

But anyway, since you already have the mix dialed as much as you want it, and the song is perfect for you, I would suggest you go get something that uses the LAME encoder. It's free, fast, and sounds great. I use it with the Variable Bit Rate option, quality setting of 4 or 5, maximum bit rate of 224, minimum of whatever the lowest amount is, and it sounds kiler, I can rarely hear any sort of MP3 artifacts. I use it with a frontend called CDEx, http://cdex.n3.net
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Thanks for the link. No, I really don't want advice on the mix. I do get paid to mix engineer other people's work. I'm not as objective on my own songs but I don't mind. You're right about the 808. It's what I wanted. Sorry, you don't like.

I am getting a very large amount of traffic and downloads at the website. I think I had 150 downloads of songs yesterday. Only nine of those came from here BTW. I just want to provide the best mp3s I can for them. They are taking the time to come back again and again to the site. It's the least I can do.

I'll try the lame sometime next week after I get back in town.
 
Pinky said:


By the way, what "biz" are you referring to??? (No, I don't care about name-dropping, but really, you need to get real with us for at least 10 minutes... cummon... ;) ).
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Just forget about it. OK, peace?
 
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I said peace. OK? You gave me some good info and I thanked you for it. Again, peace...
 
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