Advice on improving sound

Veance

Member
(edit) Hi, I followed as much advice as I could and made some changes. For the time being it's on youtube. But i'll remove it in a while. If someone cares to listen and has something to say about it here it is :



(original post) Any advice on improving whatever on this song would be appreciated.
So, go nuts on it... :)

Thanks for listening
 
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I'm hearing a lot of low-mid rumble, like the bass and guitar are in the tank fighting it out. It's booming. I ran the song through a Soundcraft mixer and cut a considerable amount at around 400Hz or so and that seemed to help a lot with the low-mid muddiness. That's a common problem, and it could be your recording space adding some unwanted "color." I also cut at around 800Hz, though very little. It helped. I thought the reverb was a little much, but after a 3rd listen, I don't think so. That kind of effect is very subjective! Your vocal sounds a little low in the mix. Also, a wider and more interesting stereo field would add some movement. You could likely solve a lot of problems with some judicious EQ on the various tracks, by rolling off some of the booming lower mids there. All in all, it's not that bad. You can certainly sing, and the guitar playing and keys and everything else are good. You're pretty close, but those last few steps can be trying.
 
I'm hearing a lot of low-mid rumble, like the bass and guitar are in the tank fighting it out. It's booming. I ran the song through a Soundcraft mixer and cut a considerable amount at around 400Hz or so and that seemed to help a lot with the low-mid muddiness. That's a common problem, and it could be your recording space adding some unwanted "color."
Great, Thanks.
Never thought about it this way. I use a HDD for recording space. Could this be solved if I use a SSD?

I always found it strange that ableton does not provide a function to record in mp3 rather then wav. Now I have to use audacity for converting to mp3.
Is the whole proces of converting also adding up to create the muddiness in sound?

I also had someone telling me that my voice sounded a bit bathroomy?
 
I use a HDD for recording space. Could this be solved if I use a SSD?

I always found it strange that ableton does not provide a function to record in mp3 rather then wav. Now I have to use audacity for converting to mp3.
Is the whole proces of converting also adding up to create the muddiness in sound?

I also had someone telling me that my voice sounded a bit bathroomy?
By recording space, TimOD meant the room you were recording in and its characteristics

Converting WAV to MP3 shold not of itself cause muddiness. If you convert to a low quality MP3 you just get a generally bad sound.

Listening through headphones I don't get the same sense rumble, but I daresay the 400hz cut suggested would be of benefit.

The effect on your voice is what may suggest a bathroom. Try maybe for a bigger reverb but used sparingly.

The keyboard is very dry, and doesn't sit comfortably in the mix. It needs some reverb to make it bed down better.
 
Oh I get it, badly translated sorry, I'm not english by heart. However I recorded guitars trough an audio interface right into ableton. I would think that my room would only have influence on mic recordings? I convert to Mp3 with 170kbs. Thanks for both your advice.
 
Oh I get it, badly translated sorry, I'm not english by heart. However I recorded guitars trough an audio interface right into ableton. I would think that my room would only have influence on mic recordings? I convert to Mp3 with 170kbs. Thanks for both your advice.
If you’re converting to mp3, I would at least convert to 320 kbps. 170 is kinda low.
 
There needs to be some space for that vocal, both in frequency and stereo imaging, for my ear. I find the guitar, which I like, a little harsh (there seems to be little bit of drive/distortion that is not pleasing?), and bass indistinct/muddy, so maybe a different bass amp sim or just EQ. Is there a kick in there? (edit, Ok, I hear it when listening more closely....) If so, I'd rather hear more of that and less of the bass, so figure out where they're competing and notch the bass a bit for that, too.
 
Ok; thank you for that. Interesting...less bass more kick. Might it also be that sometimes a certain tresshold in volume has been reached? I just muted all other tracks except bass, and it seems bass isn't even that loud. Maybe to much bass in the guitartrack then. I have an equilizer on it highering bass frequencies. Also, in that recording I had two guitartracks, and one panned left, the other right, but I moved the track up a bit to create a slight delay on the two :p
But I changed that already two one track with a delay on it. Left to 1ms and right to 27ms.
 
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On headphones. The mix is good. Well recorded and well played. My only observation is the drums are too canned and plastic compared to the organic vocals and guitar. I would try and get them more real sounding. Good jam though and polished mix
 
"I also had someone telling me that my voice sounded a bit bathroomy?" What Gecko mentioned is likely--the reverb on your voice. As he suggested, try a "bigger" reverb, like say a Cathedral or church reverb, and keep it down in the mix. Use a send/return for it. You might also want to put a delay on it. Something subtle, matched to the tempo. I routinely do this on vocals. One send to the reverb, another to the delay. Both effects get their own AUX return. I use a ping-pong delay, mixed way down so you can just hear it, no more than two or three "pings" back and forth. That is a subjective thing, just like any reverb or delay. I've heard mixes by other people where the ping-pong is too pronounced, too much left-right-left-right that is too loud. It also doesn't have to ping; try different delays set to different lengths too. It's something worth experimenting on. The biggest thing though to me still is the stereo spread. Widen the field by placing the guitars more in a left-right position. By using delays and reverb this can be enhanced, not just with the panned guitars, but with the vocals and keyboards. In other words, delay and reverb are working with the panning assignments. It's impossible to explain exactly, but I think you'll begin to figure it out.
I would always record with WAVs, at at least 48kHz and of course 24 bits. I suppose 44.1 sample rate is okay too, and of course on up to 96kHz. And what CrowsofFritz mentioned about 320kbps. There is no reason not to bounce down to the highest resolution Mp3. Also, I was assuming you mixed the song in a room, hence my belief that you couldn't hear properly what was going on--the room in which you listen to the tracks whilst mixing is very important. That's what I meant by saying your room added some "color." You couldn't hear it, but the room ultimately had an affect on the mix. Even if you record your guitars and bass directly in through the interface, the room in which you're listening back to those mixed instruments in will have you making bad decisions with EQ and effects, panning, levels of individual tracks, etc. You could and should check the mix on headphones, or even mix on 'phones, assuming you have some good ones.
 
By recording space, TimOD meant the room you were recording in and its characteristics

Converting WAV to MP3 shold not of itself cause muddiness. If you convert to a low quality MP3 you just get a generally bad sound.

Listening through headphones I don't get the same sense rumble, but I daresay the 400hz cut suggested would be of benefit.

The effect on your voice is what may suggest a bathroom. Try maybe for a bigger reverb but used sparingly.

The keyboard is very dry, and doesn't sit comfortably in the mix. It needs some reverb to make it bed down better.
You know, "rumble" was probably not the right word there. Maybe "boxiness." Rumble implies a much deeper sound.
 
I think the song and performances are great. Like has been said already, it is a little muddy sounding. Trimming a little flab in the 250k to 500k range on vocals and guitar would help. Wouldn't hurt to maybe add a little in the 2000 htz range too.
Nice work!
 
@TimOD : thanks, I understand better now. I have Bose headphones with noicecancelling...
@jimistone : Thanks for your ideas. Can I do that trimming in ableton somehow? With adding I presume you mean adding a instrument that provides in that area.
 
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Thanks everyone, I followed as much advice as I could and made some changes. For the time being it's on youtube. But i'll remove it in a while. If someone cares to listen and has something to say about it here it is :

 
Veance, I really liked that. Had a nice vibe. Kinda promising lyrics of something good to come.

There is nothing I could help YOU with. Great job.
 
Thankx everyone,

Strange question maybe but I don't want to perform with this song myself so... are there still possibilities for 'songwriters' in the musicindustry?
 
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