Check this mix

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patlang12

patlang12

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I just mixed a song and right now I am forced to mix it on computer speakers and headphones. Can someone please listen to this with better speakers or moniters and tell me if sounds ok. Also tell me what you think of the song. It is called the "piano song" http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/patlang12music.htm


Thanks a lot!
 
first of all, i'd suggest posting this in the MP3 forum to get more suggestions, that's what that place is for.
second, really none of it is blended well at all...and i'm listening through computer speakers too. a lot of the tracks are clipping it sounds like, so watch that when mixing or recording. the piano sounds fine when it comes in, but as you add other instruments everything gets way too muddy and overpowering...especially guitar and bass wise
 
Ok thanks. I think I will post it in the mp3 forum. I was having trouble with clipping. Does this have something to do with recording on to an mr8 fostex recorder?
 
not at all. it has to do with not watching how hot the levels are when you are recording or mixing. i'm not familiar with the device you are using, but there should be some indicator on each channel that tells you how loud the source is when going to your recorder. all you need to do is turn down the mic gain so that it isn't going into the red. you usually want it as hot as possible without clipping
 
bennychico11 said:
you usually want it as hot as possible without clipping
Click to expand...

I disagree 100%!

By doing that you are just asking for mixdown summing problems in the end, defeating all that hard work. You aren't leaving yourself any headroom at all... which means you'll have to turn everything down--defeating the purpose AND increasing noise floor.

My rule is no more than a -6db peak, RMS around -12 to 15dbfs. Keep in mind that for every doubling of track count you should reduce your inputs by 3db to get a clean mixdown.

If I'm doing 32 tracks I aim for a -9db peak, RMS around -15dbfs... if I *were* to go to 64 tracks I'd be looking at -12dbfs peak, RMS around -18dbfs and so forth.

Recording as 'hot as possible' just doesn't make sense. You gotta capture those fast transients that may not measure on your meter/peak lights. Otherwise you're going to be playing digital doctor on the waveforms... which is double plus unfun.
 
First off... a mixing mess. Nothing has its own space. Everything is tripping on itself. Drums are the definition of weak, plus a really trashy sound, plus really bad stereo panning that annoys me.

ARGH, watch that tempo.... it is all over the place.

Hrm... next time you want us to critique something spend some time on it. This was obviously just thrown together from a jam and tweaked.

Big fat Ebert THUMBS DOWN.
 
Clone..

Some harsh words there :confused:

But i agree with you.
With some tweaking you could get it to mediocre.
And the tempo is really bad.


I like your ideas on the headroom.
 
What can I do about the clipping. I was checking to see if it was clipping and it wasn't during the recording. When I was trying to mix it I could not get the guitar loud enough without clipping. What should I do?
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
I disagree 100%!

By doing that you are just asking for mixdown summing problems in the end, defeating all that hard work. You aren't leaving yourself any headroom at all... which means you'll have to turn everything down--defeating the purpose AND increasing noise floor.

My rule is no more than a -6db peak, RMS around -12 to 15dbfs. Keep in mind that for every doubling of track count you should reduce your inputs by 3db to get a clean mixdown.

If I'm doing 32 tracks I aim for a -9db peak, RMS around -15dbfs... if I *were* to go to 64 tracks I'd be looking at -12dbfs peak, RMS around -18dbfs and so forth.

Recording as 'hot as possible' just doesn't make sense. You gotta capture those fast transients that may not measure on your meter/peak lights. Otherwise you're going to be playing digital doctor on the waveforms... which is double plus unfun.
Click to expand...

notice I said usually. yes there are the people that like to save themselves headroom...i do it too. and there are the people that are more interested in using every single bit depth value...especially if they bother to record at 24, why end up utilizing only 16 of those bits?

but then, aren't you adding to the noise floor no matter which way you record? having to push the faders above 0 increases noise...reducing the faders also adds more noise. so which way gives less noise? and then you got analog recording with tape compression...and you gotta get hot enough to get that to happen. so i don't think there is just ONE way of getting levels.
 
I am new to recording and I want to get better at it. I know it isn't great and I want to make it better. Where should I start?
 
patlang12 said:
I am new to recording and I want to get better at it. I know it isn't great and I want to make it better. Where should I start?
Click to expand...

No offense, but writing GOOD SONGS is first.
 
I didn't write this song actually my friend did. It is funny because some people really like the song (not recording wise, but just as a song) and some people, like you, really don't. I have some other songs on my soundclick site that I like. In a recording sense what do you think I should do next though to get better?
 
listen. get some CDs of the genre you plan on recording and listen to how the pros do it. pay attention to how each instrument sits in the mix and what frequency content is prominent in each instrument or frequencies that sound bad. as a musician you might find yourself prejudice to one instrument when mixing and you'll find that it stands out over every other instrument. i think a lot of musicians that also record do this right when they start out. a drummer likes to hear himself over the rest of the band, so he'll turn his track up louder. it's just natural. so think of the song as a whole and not just as individual tracks.
 
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