Mix My Song — Soliloquy

pandamonk said:
I know I'm a bit late, but i had a go at mixing this song too. My attempt does not compare with NL5s, but i enjoyed it. Good practice for me. Will post a link as soon as i get the email from lightningmp3
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Here's my attempt.

Thanks for sorting that NL5(you can delete the other one)
 
OK i'm gonna make this thing kick so much ass....just you wait and see, gimme like 2 or 3 days. i'm back with a vengeance.
 
jndietz said:
as far as timing goes, i think the biggest problem is that our drummer has a hard time playing with a click and staying in beat like that. we might have to try some other methods before getting this whole timing thing figured out. anyone have any suggestions?
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Try starting with the drum tracks and do it without a metronome. Then record all the other instruments to the drums instead of the metronome. Assuming that this will prevent having those sudden jumps in the rhythm, the other players should be better able to follow it.
The thing is that a constant tempo isn't that important, unless you are doing trance or something like that. It is far more important that all instruments stay in sync to each other.
For example, take a closer look at Cream's "White Room". The timing is amazingly imprecise, but the song works well nevertheless.
 
LogicDeLuxe said:
Try starting with the drum tracks and do it without a metronome. Then record all the other instruments to the drums instead of the metronome. Assuming that this will prevent having those sudden jumps in the rhythm, the other players should be better able to follow it.
The thing is that a constant tempo isn't that important, unless you are doing trance or something like that. It is far more important that all instruments stay in sync to each other.
For example, take a closer look at Cream's "White Room". The timing is amazingly imprecise, but the song works well nevertheless.
Click to expand...
Constant tempo is quite important. But just tell your drummer if he goes slightly off, to gradually get back in time and not to try and sort it straight away. Also, track the rest of the instruments to the drums, not the click. "It is far more important that all instruments stay in sync to each other."(thanks LDL)
 
NL5 said:
Update - not sure if it's better - some things I like better , some things still not right. There are a lot of technical issues with these tracks. Pops, clicks, weird hissing, etc.....

Anyway, and feedback is greatly appreciated......

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9907

:D
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Not sure how you do it, but amazing as usual.

Pops, clicks, hissing is probably due to us not really recording in a studio but rather a basement where people are walking upstairs, air conditioners and fans turning on, computers running in the background, etc. not to mention those tracks are in mp3 format.
 
So do you like my time corrected version?
Do you need a hot master as well this time?
I'm here for critics on my mix.
jndietz said:
Pops, clicks, hissing is probably due to us not really recording in a studio but rather a basement where people are walking upstairs, air conditioners and fans turning on, computers running in the background, etc.
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None of those backgound noises seem to be a problem, actually. There seems to be something wrong with your recording equipment, as those clicks do sound much like buffer errors. They are most apparent in the vocal tracks, but most of the other tracks suffer from that as well, resulting in random clicks.
You could try increasing the record buffer a bit. Also check if the harddisks are operating in DMA mode.

Although, least troublesome, your guitar amp (or a connected effect processor) is humming quite a bit. You might check the condition of the cables and of the power supplies.
not to mention those tracks are in mp3 format.
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I didn't notice mp3 artifacts on them, so I'd say, the quality is fine. Sure, if you're going to be serious, it should be something lossless. But for now, they serve their purpose very well.
 
LogicDeLuxe said:
None of those backgound noises seem to be a problem, actually. There seems to be something wrong with your recording equipment, as those clicks do sound much like buffer errors. They are most apparent in the vocal tracks, but most of the other tracks suffer from that as well, resulting in random clicks.
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Yep, that is what I was hearing as well. Listen to the bass track too. There is some weird AC noise or something in there. You can hear it in my mix when the vocal double goes out....
 
I think you are right about the equipment. I'm only running a gig of RAM with a firepod, so I think it would be beneficial to increase that buffer a nice amount. Thanks for the tips. I'm also going to go through and listen to it all again and post some reviews :]

I'm going to be posting some more stuff soon, and yes, I went back and listened to all the tracks and they have those weird little stutters and whatnot in them, sorry :( We'll end up re-recording it again someday, its hard to get my guys on a good schedule.
 
I noticed that you prefer a hot version on myspace.
Thus I made a hot myspace-quality mastered mp3 out of my timing corrected mix. A mixing credit on the myspace page would be very kind, btw. :)

Eventhough LAME is generally the better encoder, I found that the Fraunhofer codec seems to be competitively good at low-fi encoding. But decide for yourself:
Fraunhofer version: http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9949
LAME version: http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=9950

If you also need a hot hifi-version, don't hesitate to ask.
 
this thread is pretty neat.. cool to hear what everyone comes up with..


logic deluxe and NL5's versions open up and start sounding not bad at all.. it's neat to see the difference a little know how in mixing can do
 
jndietz said:
I think that might be the metronome coming through the headphones into the condenser.

I noticed it on the some of the drums, too. Shouldn't be much of an issue regarding the drums, especially since we're just putting together a three song demo disc for a press kit.
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Please sort out the timing issues before getting a demo CD made. Has the drummer had much practice with a click track before?

Eck
 
ecktronic said:
Not bad. A tad muddy and maybe a tad too much cymbals, but still good.
Pity about the performances! Pretty shocking!

Eck
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Yeah, i thought it was a bit muddy too, but it's the first mix i've done in a long time, and i can only really work with what was given to me. I much prefer NL5 and Logic DeLuxe's attempts

And, as a drummer, i hate not being able to hear the drums properly. So that's probably the reason for the loud cymbals.
 
I've actually got a newer version, which is slightly less muddy, has some reverb, and slightly better mixed. Although there isn't a huge change, so I'm not sure if i'll upload to lightningmp3, with the trouble i had with my emails last time. :o
 
You didn't like our performance? That's too bad :(

Our drummer never practices with a click, but we're working on that. Should I re-do all these songs we did before I make a demo?
 
jndietz said:
You didn't like our performance? That's too bad :(

Our drummer never practices with a click, but we're working on that. Should I re-do all these songs we did before I make a demo?
Click to expand...

Its not the song, its the timing issues. I'd day its probably the drummer not having enough practice with a click track. Didn't mean any disrespect by my post, just trying to help yous out.
Get the drummer to practice to a click track religiously as much as he can. This will make a big improvement.

Eck
 
pandamonk said:
Yeah, i thought it was a bit muddy too, but it's the first mix i've done in a long time, and i can only really work with what was given to me. I much prefer NL5 and Logic DeLuxe's attempts

And, as a drummer, i hate not being able to hear the drums properly. So that's probably the reason for the loud cymbals.
Click to expand...

Think it might be the low mids in the guitars that was making your mix a tad muddy. Maybe a slight cut around 300Hz could help.

I need to get back into mixing, not been doing much recently.

Eck
 
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