New tune over compressed or not?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Telefunken
  • Start date Start date
T

Telefunken

GUITARDAZE
Hey guys, I have beed trying to figure out this mastering software, and have been trying to make my tunes as loud as possible with out making them sound over commpressed, but I really don't have an ear for what over compressed sounds like. Would just like feed back on if the song sounds to compressed or not. This song is a little differnt for me, it starts out with just and acacpella part and then the song starts. The song is called
"Be Somebody" it is kinda a "roll with the punches" song.

Here is the link.
http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Rich_Bischoff/

Thanks,
Rich
 
Back off a little on the level. If you have the option to remix, you might be able to get the loudness you're looking for there by adjusting individual levels instead of at the mastering stage with a compressor. After the acapella intro, I think the guitar needs a little more volume. You would probably have to back it off again when the rest of the instruments come in to retain the balance you already have there (which seems to be working well. Great voice BTW.

Here's 2 little tips that might help in general.

1. If you want to get a better idea of what a particular control (knob, slider, etc...) your turning does (like ratio or threshold), play your mix back at normal volume and turn that knob all the way one way and listen for a minute. Then turn the opposite way and listen again. Once your ears hear the large difference in sounds, you'll have a better idea what you are listening for. You can use this for just about any effect/control. Sometimes the change is so subtle that what your hearing and what you think your hearing doesn't coincide. You need to 'tune' your ears to the change your about to make.

2. Find a commercially recorded song that is similar to your song. Something that is of the same genre, tempo and style (as close as you can find). Even without using your ears at all, play the commercial recording on something that has a spectrum anylizer. You could use something like Wavelab if you have access to it (I was just using the cheesy one in winamp). what you are looking for is the overall level. Obviously, all of the bands in the spectrum are bouncing all over the place. You're just trying to find the average level. Now play your recording. If there is a big difference ('Be Somebody' was maxing out almost all of them almost all the time) between the two, adjust the levels, or back off on the compression to get them a little closer to what you saw on the commercial recording.

Because music is so subjective, and everyone has there individual tastes, this is only a very rough starting point. You'll of course tweak to suit your own tastes. The Spectrum anylizer trick takes your ears out of the equasion, and gets you in the ballpark of the commercial recording's signal levels. Bear in mind that the people engineering and mastering albums for major label(or even minor labels) usually have much experience behind them. You can use their recordings, mixes, and masters as a guidline for your own.
 
Hawking, When I am mixing down, should I not run the levels so hot to the device I am mixing down to. What is the best way to do this. Latley I have been running them at -03 db's.
 
Of course you can run the signal at -03dB while you're mixing down. However, you need to make sure that this is the maximum signal throughout the whole song. if you get even 1 peak over 0dB when you're workking with digital, you're going to have problems.

While listening to your song, I felt that it could have had a bit more dynamic range. The vocal level was fine at the beggining, but the guitar that followed was a bit to low. The body of the song seemed a little squashed. Try leaving the compressor settings just as they are and simply lower the level of the signal going into the compressor during the body of the song.

You're very close to a very good sound. Try a few different versions, with and without compression and compare them all to other similar songs to get a better idea of which direction you need to go. A lot of this tweaking is going to depend on your personal preferences so if there is a sound that you like that doesnt fit into the 'standard' don't hesitate to try it. As a matter of fact, try everything you can think of. You might stumble onto something wonderful.
 
Seasons change

Great recording, mixing, voice and guitar sounds. Two
guitars playing two different parts at the same time and
at the same volume is kinda confusing for me (I've listened
using my headphones). Maybe lowering one guitar?
Both were playing strong parts, seems like both are
"fighting" each other... just my opinion man.

Great tune.
 
Back
Top