New track. I can't decide if its crap or not.

  • Thread starter Thread starter bendbones
  • Start date Start date
Better.

But I'm wondering if there's not a lot of boost way up high. My hearing's not exactly teenaged but I'm getting the sense that you may have achieved some of this brightening by raising at 10K or above. And when you do that you have to be careful about the kind and extent of your EQ. If one boosts a shelving filter that brightens things at the most-folks-can-hear-it 10kHz range, there's a good chance one really ends up jacking even higher frequencies. It might not be readily apparent to beat up old ears like mine -- but it can make itself known as listening fatigue. So, I will tend to try to look for the specific range where a given instrument needs more definition and, if I can't increase that definition through cutting at a different spot in its spectrum, then I'll try to focus my boost in the most effective range.

Now... brightness aside, I'm hearing a bit of muddiness, almost a little woofiness in the upper bass/low mid area. (These terms are so relative and idiosyncratic, of course, which is why I use particularly broad ones.)

A lot of times that can come from making mix decisions and EQing while monitoring in a compromised mix environment (speakers/room). Even if one can't affort the best monitors or one can't do a full job of tuning the monitoring environment (minimizing room modes/standing waves as well as softening early (side) reflections), one can often help oneself learn the room a little more by carefully listening to reference mixes under precisely the same conditions as one's actual mixing. Of course, that's not exactly a novel idea and I'm sure you're familiar with it, but it's a big assistance.

And, of course, as long as we're on well-trod turf, if one can't afford a couple of pair of mix room monitors in order to get different perspectives, listening at different volumes -- particularly quite low, where your ears' response curves will minimize bass and treble -- can be a very effective way of getting another view of your mix. And, of course, don't neglect the option of helping yourself achieve a 'portable mix' (that sounds good on a range of playback systems) by literally taking the mix out of the studio (on a CD or even on an MP3 player -- but make sure the Mp3, WMA, AAC, or Ogg file is rendered at a good, high bitrate, something at least 256kbps or better, I should say).


Mmm... one last thing... now that I mentioned mixing at different volumes -- one thing some folks -- including some pretty heavy dudes, as they say at the mall -- is to use a cheap sound level meter (you can pick them up at Radio Shack, I'm told) to keep a consistent monitor room level (or be able to return to it after listening at an ear-teasing low level or a client-pleasing loud level. Because your ear's response curve is, itself, highly nonlinear and dynamic (the ears are incredibly complex mechanical, fluid, and neural appartus that are always in flux -- leading some to say that one never hears with the same ears two days in a row), being able to use such a meter to set your control room level can be a very helpful way of keeping some kind of continuity in your work flow and helping yourself keep your bearings as you try different approaches.
 
Ok, I will have another go...like your stuff btw, just been listening to it

cheers
ben.
 
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