Need help fixing some tracks...

I don't typically like this type of music. However this song sounds good. I prefer the @HumanPlanet fix ov the original mix. The super high end sizzle that was tamed makes it easier to listen to for my ears.
 
rob aylestone said:
Are the tape emulation, de-essers and stuff not effects? I figured that was what you'd used on the voice?
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I guess they are, but they don't really change the sound too much. I barely have them on. I was only using them to try and suppress the harsh highs. I thought you meant it was tuned.
 
purplepeople said:
I guess they are, but they don't really change the sound too much. I barely have them on. I was only using them to try and suppress the harsh highs. I thought you meant it was tuned.
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As far as I know, tape emulation plugs add distortion. Whatever that means. If you are feeling there is harshness with the vocal, then take those back or out and see what results.
Funny thing I have learned over the years, is that less is more....
 
jimmys69 said:
As far as I know, tape emulation plugs add distortion. Whatever that means. If you are feeling there is harshness with the vocal, then take those back or out and see what results.
Funny thing I have learned over the years, is that less is more....
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From what I've read it's supposed to reduce the top frequencies that cause harshness since tape gives more of an analog sound. I added it months ago when the problem was already present without it.
 
A little late to the party, but I gave this one a listen. For a genre that I don't typically listen to, it was actually pretty good.

One think that I would drop back is the snare. It seems to be much too "snappy". They sound too forward in the mix, and they sound mechanical. There's no variation in the attack or volume which you would get with a real drummer. I would roll off the highs on them and if needed, drop the level a dB or 2.

Overall, I liked HumanPlanet's adjustment for the rest of the mix. It gave it more body without getting boomy.
 
Best advice is remove plugins that don’t do anything you can hear. You get used to always having this and using templates with them in. Strip them out and add them back only when they need to do something. Tape simulations always add distortion, compression, hf roll off and a bit of fizz. That, apparently, is a thing we now want, when when we had it, we spent ages trying to get rid of it!
 
TalismanRich said:
A little late to the party, but I gave this one a listen. For a genre that I don't typically listen to, it was actually pretty good.

One think that I would drop back is the snare. It seems to be much too "snappy". They sound too forward in the mix, and they sound mechanical. There's no variation in the attack or volume which you would get with a real drummer. I would roll off the highs on them and if needed, drop the level a dB or 2.

Overall, I liked HumanPlanet's adjustment for the rest of the mix. It gave it more body without getting boomy.
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Thanks, but I can't make alterations to the beat due to the producer dying years ago. Is there a way to fix any of that with just the mixdown?
 
purplepeople said:
I made some tweaks like you suggested. Is this better? I think it is, but I might need to rest my ears a few days before I attempt to fix the rest of the tracks.
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This thread got busy with some good advice.


Okay I had a listen, better but still a bit off so I had a little play.

The way I could get this to close to where I'd be happy with it is this:

1. Dropped 2 dB off the vocals with master rebalance.
2. After playing in Pro-Q3, the only thing I liked was a high shelf in mid stereo placement from around 2.4K down around -2.7dB, a low cut at 35Hz and a -2dB bell at 58Hz to control the low end a bit
3. Pro-C2 preset M-S Parallel Glue bM around -6dB

View attachment M-S.mp3


4. Pro-R preset Vocal to Mix Glue space set to 0.56s and mix set to around 10%

View attachment Final.mp3


Without spending a load of time on this, that got the sound closer to where I would want it.

Better or worse depends on you, it's your project after all :-).
 
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Here's what it sounds like removing Tape Emulation and applying some of the plugins HumanPlanet recommended.
Is this better or worse than my original version I posted? If better, does it need further alterations?
 

Attachments

  • Almost Perfect EQ reduction no tape emulation.mp3
    6.4 MB
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It just sounds a bit bright to me. Nothing too crazy that couldn't be fixed with some EQ on individual tracks and maybe some massaging on the master bus. A quirky song, a pretty good song. Is it multi-tracked? You can't alter/change the beat?
 
TimOD said:
It just sounds a bit bright to me. Nothing too crazy that couldn't be fixed with some EQ on individual tracks and maybe some massaging on the master bus. A quirky song, a pretty good song. Is it multi-tracked? You can't alter/change the beat?
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Thanks for liking the song. I try and make things I don't see others doing. I also don't curse like normal rappers.
Sadly, I don't have the stems for the beat. The producer died years ago and I have no way to getting them. I'm sure having the master files would work wonders. It's overly compressed and there's wayyyyyy too much bass. I've considered maybe having someone remix it.
 
Sorry about this late reply--I've been busy this summer with music and work. Why don't you just re-do the song? From top to bottom, a complete re-do? My fellow band member (there's just two of us) recorded dozens of songs onto cassette recocrders in a very low-fi manner when he was younger, in his teens and early twenties. We are now revisiting those songs, re-recording them, doing them in some cases quite differently than the originals. We're using far better methods and equipment to record, and it sounds like it. He's thrilled with the way they are turning out. We're at around 40 songs in, and it's a lot of fun.
 
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