My recordings sound muffled!!

[GeorgetheParrot]

Hi all!!

This is the way Im recording!!

I mostly make electronic music!! I input the sound (Usually a synth) to my echo Layla card into the PC and use logic Audio V5!!

When the song is ready I transfer the tracks digitally to a Roland VS-2480, mix it , bounce to 2 tracks, and transfer digitally to the PC and master with Soundforge!!

My recordings arent bad, but its as if something is missing!!They sound a bit muffled!Is there some kind of 'Trick' Im missing??

The thing is, I really need to get my music on the radio (I have the contacts for all the top Radio Stations on the island)!

Dont get me wrong, the recordings arent as bad that they wont play them, but still theres something missing!!

Any help will be greatly appreciated??


G

 

[Oysterman]

Too much compression? Not enough stereo separation? Have you tried EQ'ing out the "muffle" with some properly placed cuts in the bass and midrange on the separate instruments?

If all else fails and you're looking for a quick fix, try the BBE Sonic Maximizer. It's available both in hardware and plug-in formats. It can give you a more airy treble, making your mixes "shine", in a kind of artificial way. Of course, electronic music sounds artificial anyway so... well, grab a demo and try it!

May I also ask you why you don't mix your songs directly in Logic?

 

[GeorgetheParrot]

Thakx Oysterman!!

Ill check it out!!

I dont mix in Logic coz I prefer the hands on approach!!


Cheers
G

 

[TexRoadkill]

I don't understand why you are doing all that bouncing. Are you doing that digitally? Try skipping the computer and track directly to the VS. See if that makes any difference. What rate are you recording at? Do you have the levels high enough? What kind of processing are you doing?

What synths are you using? Do they only sound muffled when recorded or do they sound that way live?

And why are you yelling at us!!!! ?

 

[chessrock]

The thing is, I really need to get my music on the radio (I have the contacts for all the top Radio Stations on the island)!

In that case, my recommendation would be to send the individual tracks to a professional mixing / mastering house. Send your mixdowns along with them so they get an idea of what you're after.

Why not do it yourself? Because it will take you a few years or more of intense practice, reading and studying to move forward that extra few inches necessary to get your mixes to sound radio-friendly. It isn't a matter of a magical "de-muffle" plugin or outboard box. And you may find temporary happiness in a sonic maximizer, but a year from now, you will listen back to it in horror.

If you're interested in mixing and mastering, then learn the trade first. If you aren't, then let someone else handle it and focus on the music.

I would consider calling or emailing Blue Bear, Ed (Sonusman), Little Dog or Shailat and see if they have extra time on their hands and find out if it's within your budget.

You could also get in touch with me, but keep in mind I am less proven and experienced than these guys, but I do work for dirt cheap and guarantee my results. I guess it's okay for me to advertise and pass it off as being "informative." At least that's the message I've been getting from a lot of people on this board. So here I go: www.geocities.com/moonunitsl

 

[ScienceOne]

BBE ALL THE WAY! i have the plug-in and a rackmount hardware version, its great for ALL music. They advertise that its just like "taking a blanket off of yoru speakers" and it is!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

BBE ALL THE WAY!...its great for ALL music...

If used sparingly, it's another tool... it is easily abused though - and if you find yourself using it all the time, then there's something fundmentally wrong with either your recording technique, your gear, or both...

 

[Neil Ogilvie]

Can someone explain bbe to me and where I might get it from in plug-in format. Don't think I need it at the moment, but it would be good to have as an option in the future.

 

[mwarkentin]

Chessrock, this is a bit off topic.. I took a look at your website. It looks great, except for the giant bright yellow links at the bottom. I'd look into changing that, and maybe getting a domain registered and hosting somewhere besides Geocities. It is sort of hard to take someone seriously when their website is hosted on Geocities.

Not a flame, just my thoughts. Good luck with the studio.

 

[GeorgetheParrot]

Dear Texas,

I am staying in the digital domain always! The synths are the Triton, Z1, 303 and Novation A Station!They sound fine live!

I am recording at 16bit 44100!!

Maybe the levels could go higher!!

Was I yelling???

Cheers G

 

[TexRoadkill]

You might want to try recording in 24bit. It can definately give your tracks a bit more clarity due to a greater signal to noise ratio.

Are your tracks dull from the very beginning or does it begin to happen later in the mixdown?

 

[crosstudio]

georgetheparrot:
whats your recording signal chain? is there a pre-amp in front of the layla?

mwarkentin:
i wouldn't wage credibility based on where you host because unless i'm a tech geek, i wouldn't know about the particulars of geocities.

since geocities is owned by yahoo does that mean that anyone who lists their web site on yahoo is also not to be taken seriously?

chessrock:
it would be better if you had a dedicated URL for your web presence.

 

[mwarkentin]

Crosstudio I agree, he could have an amazing studio, and be an amazing engineer. BUT you have to think about the impression people will get when they visit your site.

Say there are two studio web sites:

Site A: Well designed web page, hosted on Geocities. Nice studio, great engineer.

Site B: Well designed web page, has it's own domain name (www.bigstudio.com). Nice studio, good engineer.

Now someone who's looking for a studio to record goes to both sites. They go to site A, and notice that there's a giant geocities banner on the right hand side which eventually disappears. They go to Site B, and it's purely information, no ad's to get in the way. And it has it's own domain name. Which do you think they would choose?

I see it like dressing up for an interview. You might be the brightest guy in the world, but you show up wearing some torn jeans and a ratty tshirt, and I guarantee you that they'll hire the not-quite-so bright guy wearing a decent suit.

I'm just suggesting that he invest a bit of money into some hosting, it could very well pay itself back.

 

[GeorgetheParrot]

Pre-amp

I am currently not using a pre-amp!What Im gonna try is first go through th Roland 2480, using its pre-amps (which I heard are not to bad) and then into the Layla!

Also the acoustics of the room are horrible!Got to arrange that also!

What do ya think??

Cheers G

 

[chessrock]

Chessrock, this is a bit off topic.. I took a look at your website. It looks great, except for the giant bright yellow links at the bottom. I'd look into changing that, and maybe getting a domain registered and hosting somewhere besides Geocities. It is sort of hard to take someone seriously when their website is hosted on Geocities.

That's some very helpful stuff. Thanks. Just a quick question, though - Forgive me my ignorance on this issue, okay. I use Geocities mostly because it's an easy interface to make changes to the site on a fly if necessary. I suppose I can just register a domain name and have it forwarded automatically to the geocities site? I told you I was green on this stuff.

What kind of buttons would you recommend besides the big yellow ones? I was thinking maybe electric green, leopard-skin, pink or plaid. What do you say? How about some gigantic, glowing tubes dancing around the screen to Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy With it?" Alrigh, now I'm getting silly.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[riffing]

GeorgetheParrot,

I agree with chessrock. Having your stuff mastered by someone else cannot be underestimated - fresh ears and all that.

If you have to do it yourself, I heard good things about Distressors. They work better than exciters.

 

[riffing]

Can someone explain bbe to me and where I might get it from in plug-in format. Don't think I need it at the moment, but it would be good to have as an option in the future.

Neil,

BBE is only a manufacturer's model name. What we're really talking about is a harmonic exciter or exciter, for short. An exciter adds harmonics to a signal that wasn't there in a way that makes it sound "better". Better usually means more clarity and more presence. There are many plugins that have exciters and if you search for "harmonic exciter" you'll find them.

As Blue Bear Sound posted, it has its uses but it can easily be abused. It's easy to keep cranking up its effect. The best thing to do when working with it is frequently bypass it to check the original signal as you go along.

 

[mwarkentin]

That's some very helpful stuff. Thanks. Just a quick question, though - Forgive me my ignorance on this issue, okay. I use Geocities mostly because it's an easy interface to make changes to the site on a fly if necessary. I suppose I can just register a domain name and have it forwarded automatically to the geocities site? I told you I was green on this stuff.

What kind of buttons would you recommend besides the big yellow ones? I was thinking maybe electric green, leopard-skin, pink or plaid. What do you say? How about some gigantic, glowing tubes dancing around the screen to Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy With it?" Alrigh, now I'm getting silly.

Thanks again for the input.

Now that I look at it again, I think I had my text sizes turned up before.. the links were massive. They look fine now .

I'm not sure about the details with a domain name pointing to a geocities site.. never done that.

 

[chessrock]

No, they weren't. I went and changed them, as per your suggestion.

 

[mwarkentin]

Haha man.. I can be dumb sometimes.

Looks much better man.

Maybe go to godaddy.com and email them about if you could use that with a geocities page.. it'd definitely be worth $10/year!