Just Out of Curiosity

[Grape]

http://www.myspace.com/drivingeast

See anything you could improve about the first song?
Here I am on the forum and the 'general sound' of the tracks produced by people on here are a lot different from the commercial tracks that most people my age, 15-20, are familiar with.

I would like my productions to sound like those on this band's myspace.
But I feel like the forum's members in general want a sound that sounds a bit more 'live' and 'dynamic'.

I'm just curious as to how you'd judge the song's quality in terms of mixing/mastering.

<33

 

[Rokket]

What people your age are familar with are songs that are recorded mostly digiital, have brickwall limiting all over them, and a product of the music industry trying to get every mix as loud as possible. So the music has no dynamics, doesn't breath, and basically with very few acceptions, all sounds the same.
I can't listen to myspace at work, it's blocked. But I am not sure I want to. Post one of your songs for us to listen to.

 

[jeffmaher]

I find not a thing to criticize about anything on that tune. It does lack that raw and dynamic saw in the overall sound. Compressed and brickwalled. But , for the intended purpose and genre and character of the work, I'd say it's perfect. The simple way to try out a more dymanic thing is to do another master and keep the hard limiter working only occasionally on some way big transients.....or groom the individual tracks with volume envelopes to tame the mixdown, and compress the mix ever so slightly...or not at all....and raise the level in the limiter to just beneath where peaks will plunge over 0db when you master. That'll give you an extreme example of 'dynamic'. See if there are qualities that are preserved that you and the lads want to keep in future projects. [all this, provided that the individual tracks are not squished prior to mixdown...ar that the raw recorded tracks are in storage, on or off platform, and available] I like to split differences, and let my ears and adrenaline determine the right squish for a particular work. You follow a pre-conceived recipe...but the test is in the tasting at the end of the project. Recording is organic..sometimes the whole becomes something different than what you had in mind when you cobbled it together. The work 'asks' for a particular mastering treatment. You have to detach yourself, and allow it to call its own shots, sometimes, I think.

I'd rank that tune and recording as among the best half-dozen I've ever heard here. The composition is everything good...a showcase for 'how to': texture, dynamics, themes, hook, organization, swing, and solid performance. Gold star stuff. The recording is alt pop industry standard. And the band has talent and taste and chops.

They're a good model..not just in the recording, but in the tune-smithing as well.