Monkeys in the Playground

YellowDwarf

YellowDwarf

Dismember
Hi guys,

I have a track to test out where I know there's sibilance on the vocal, but spitfish isn't catching it. Plus I've got some hiss at the beginning and end, and obviously throughout and I don't know how to get rid of that either.

This is a fun little political tune that resulted from weeks of listening to Bowie's Heathen, The Next Day and Blackstar. A little David-like, but mostly 80's snare-like.



Thanks for listening.

Timbo
 
Very Bowie-esque. Sibilance isn't too bad. That hiss and static is the major problem I'm hearing. It gives the mix a lofi sound. Are you having trouble tracking it down?
 
I'm not sure, I get this from time to time. Can it be that when I track, the volume is quite low and during the process of home mastering, I bring up low volume noise to where it's audible? Are you hearing it throughout, or is it masked while the song is playing?

Timbo
 
It's there through much of the song. Home mastering is a leading cause of death among otherwise healthy mixes here at the clinic.
 
Okay, thanks for that. Two hours later and I've reposted a mix, thanks to all who have the time and energy.

Timbo

 
My apologies ... didn't preview the dang link! Finally figured out how to use a gate on the master ... probably shouldn't have to, but I'm operating on a budget, too much cost incurred buying monkey food.

BTW, I shook Justin Trudeau's hand on Friday - only 3 more in this song to shake hands with and I've got a four-leader-fecta. Good luck shaking Vlad's hand!

 
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I think I like the first mix a little better than the second one. Both mixes are limited too hard and are distorting badly. It's just that mix #2 is doing it worse. Mix #2 has a low end that's too strong.

I'd back way off the limiting and repost.
 
I don't know how I missed that.

As the commercial says, "Those guys are good!" Very nice catch indeed, I have reposted:

Thanks for your patience, folks.

Timbo
 
Whatever bass pad you are using has a lot of distortion in it, then some of the other synths are very distorted too, so it contributes to the overall distortion feel, but if that's what you are going for - low-fi ...
 
So I'm only listening to the third mix.

It does sound very fizzy throughout. Some sort of high-frequency distortion
 
Wow great arrangement. Sounds like it might feel better with less compression and eq, I'd probably revisit those. Really cool production, sounds like something Bowie and Nick Cave would write together.
 
Interesting song. Very sassy.

Something in the high end sounds pretty harsh. There is static. For a few seconds at a time it's not all that bad but after a minute or two it kinds wears on me. It's like 10-12 kHz or above. This song would be much more enjoyable without it.

Arrangement-wise, the textures are super interesting, but I feel like there is a deficit of dynamics and range. The vocals don't have variations, they don't ever leave that comfy little zone of perhaps a half octave, and they just repeat the same themes. A few change-ups here and there would go a long way. There is a missed opportunity to funk out on some vocal fills.
 
A bit mid-range heavy. Agree with above posters re: over-limited on two-bus. Quick fix might be to dip 500-800 Hz a dB or two and lift threshold on limiter -- Fun Song
 
You guys are truly amazing - thanks for the help on this. You hear things that I don't, but when I'm made aware of the problems I can begin to pick them out on my own.

Mike picked out that all the synths have a buzz to them and if I was to do the song over, I'd get rid of all the buzz but one synth. And ibleedburgundy is definitely right about the vocals: I've liberally used the melodyne that comes with Sonar, and even put some buzz on my boring old baritone, which added to the overall complaint of distortion, harshness, buzz and fizziness.

The funny thing is that there have been complaints of over-compression, and the only compressor I used in the mix was on the vox then during "home mastering", I put a small amount (1.2) - maybe I don't know how to adjust attack (8.2 ms) and release (210) and that's what did it.

Anyway, last mix and I'll put this one to bed. I've laid off on the limiting too, and taken crazyluke's idea about the 1 db mid drop. Even I can hear the difference.



Thanks again,
Timbo
 
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This is the best mix yet, but now I'm hearing that the mix could have a better use of Left - Center - Right panning. On some of your synth elements, try panning them 80 to 100% left or right. Then for fullness, use the Haas effect by having that synth part "appear" on the opposite side as well at a slight delay and lower volume. I use this plug-in on my mixes for that purpose. FREE HAAS DELAY PLUGIN | vescoFx.com.
 
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