Need Your Opinion (First Mix)

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idoteech

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"He Made a Change"

(The other song "Picture of Grace" was recorded at a "pro" studio. It is on my first album.)

This is the first song I have recorded and mixed myself. I did bass, and some friends did the other instruments. I need opinions on the "sound."

I know this is all over this forum, but I when I compare my mix to other cd's, it is just not loud enough. I have to crank the volume up. I can't seem to find a clear answer. :confused:

Please be gentle. :rolleyes:

He Made A Change

Thanks!!!
Eva
 
Sounds pretty good. What all did you use to do the recording?
 
I have a MXL 990 that I use for vocals & saxophone. (Just ordered another one.)

Recorded on a MBox 2 (Pro Tools LE V.7.0)

Drums were actually off of a Casio WK-3700 Keyboard. (Just ordered EZDrummer)

Keyboard (Casio WK-3700)

Acoustic Guitar (built in amp) but also ran through a pre-amp (ART Tube MP Project Series)

Washburn 5-string bass (also ran through pre-amp)

Electric Guitar (Jody - our guitar player - runs through some type of pod - we stereo'd out into both channels on the MBox 2)

Monitors: 2 KRK Rokit 5's

Dell PC: 1.5 GB Ram; 160 GB HD

Vocals: Lead Vocal (duplicated and panned 60/60)
3-Part Harmony (Stacked 3x each & panned)
Bass & Drums (panned center)
Sax (panned right)
Keyboard (panned left)
Electric Guitar (stereo track)
Acoustic Guitar (2 tracks - panned 60/60)

Reverb on vocals through Bus
Compression on bass & drums

Still too low in volume on final mix...
No idea what to do about it. :confused:

Thanks for the reply.
Eva
 
MySpace player isn't working for me, I'll try later.

To make it louder (and this is a very basic explanation), you need to compress the dynamics or peaks. If you look at the waveform of the final mix you'll see the peaks. Your song can only get as loud as your biggest peak (naturally).

So you need to compress the peaks down which will give you more room and everything else can come up in volume.

You normally do this with a compressor. Limiters are 'faster' compressors and are better at taming really short spikes.

A combination of a compressor and limiter is the most basic way to make your mix louder. Too much will make it sound like crap. It will only get so loud before it sounds shitty.

There are a lot of post about using a compressor on the forum and other places on the net to learn how to use one.
 
Thanks for the advice. I will probably need to get it mastered by a "pro" when I'm finished with it. I hate to spend the money, but if I can get the volume to a reasonable level then it will be worth it.

I am reading a lot on compression and some ways to help with this. Maybe I can do it myself. We'll see!

Any other opinions appreciated.

Thanks!!!
Eva

www.myspace.com/evaglasscock
www.evaglasscock.com (new song not posted on this site yet)
 
Hi

I like the mix a lot, it's clean and focus on what is important. The mastering will give you more than just volume, it will enhance the sound. If it's only an increase of volume that you are looking for, a simple program like Gold Wave (60$) and basic compression/limitation will do the trick.

/Jack Real
 
I use Tracktion as my software and use either Ozone or Final Mix (from Mackie) to bring my overal volumes up and to add overal eq or compression to the final mix. I would asume ProTools offers such a plug in.
 
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