Original song and greetings!

[Cullenszoo]

I've been poking around the forum a bit and this is my first post.
First, I'm a musician, composer, engineer, mixer, and a few other hats. Basically I started recording songs that I write a several years back. I used Cakewalk Home Studio 9 back then and had NO idea about the art of mixing. Fast forward, I've spent the past couple of years tweaking older songs and applying tricks to the new songs I write.
I'm completely in the box except for a usb interface.

I would appreciate feedback on levels, little things that stand out, etc.

https://soundcloud.com/cullen-humphrey/what-about-love

 

[andrushkiwt]

Just looking at the waveform, it appears to be smashed to smithereens, no? I'm not sure if it's the limiting or what, but there is a white noise behind the entire mix. It might just be the guitars' high end, not sure without having the tracks to solo. There's a clarity that's lacking to the whole thing with that high pitched fuzz/noise.

Behind THAT, there seems to be a really good mix. But that noise is really holding it back.

 

[Bruthish]

It sounds to me as if its a low quality MP3 like it was not mixed down at 44100 but maybe half that? All the highs are swirly and inconsistent. If you can get that issue fix, it sounds like you would have a good song!

 

[jimistone]

I agree with what Andy and brutish said. The mix sounds like the level of everything is slammed as hot as possible and that causes a lack of dynamics and clarity.
I think the song is great. It has a cool 80s vibe going on and a good lyric.

 

[TripleM]

The first thing that struck me was, as Andrus said, it's pretty squashed. The next thing that struck me was that it seemed like everything was trying to be the center of attention. The vocal, guitar, keys, drums, bass, everyone. On a song like this, I think it should be the vocal.

The bass is pretty rumbly. I'd put in a low shelf, or roll off the low-lows.

You then need to clear space for the vocal. The guitars and keys are in the way. I might just mute the keys when the vocal is present. Then notch out the guitar in the 5K-6K range. See if that helps.

The vocal had kind of a weird sound. But I thought it worked well in a mix/song like this.

Drums/programming need work. But I'd take care of the other stuff first.

Backing vocals sounded nice. Kind of a Raspberries sound.

 

[timvracer]

What they all said... the thing that really sticks out for me is the piled on frequencies at the low end.. very rumbled - thought there was an earthquake! It does sound like it was mixed in mono, everything seems in the middle. However, it sounds like you have some great takes to mix. Levels in general sound good vs. each other, but having it all smashed/squised to smithereens makes none of them shine very well.

It is a great song though, love the song, really cool 80's pop vibe. Great potential with this. Love those background vox as well.

 

[Cullenszoo]

I appreciate all the feedback. I went back and took a look at what was going on and I think my mastering preset was causing some of the harsh stuff. I've corrected some of that.
As for some lows, etc. I'm also in the process of finding a "sound" that is different than what's out there. There are plenty of cookie cutter songs out there, but I'm looking for a unique sound.
https://soundcloud.com/cullen-humphrey/what-about-love-mast-1-1

 

[Cullenszoo]

Thanks, as a kid from the 80s it has been a big influence on me. Part of me thinks music went down hill after that, except for a few bright spots here and there. I have plenty of other songs at Cullen | ReverbNation that I eventually plan to remix and master as I keep learning the process

 

[Crazy Luke]

Sounds like your trying to get sonic elements of this song to pop out using compression and limiting on the 2 bus, when you probably needed to make that happen earlier in the chain. There is a bit of warble on the crash cymbal, and that is usually a sign of over-squashing the mix (and that crash cymbal draws too much attention with it's over-presence)
I would like to hear more definition on the kick, so plz bring it up, as well as the lead vocals. If you work on getting your low frequency elements to provide a better foundation for this song, tweak the midrange down a bit, and add the right presence to the highs (the "disco smile" on your car stereo graphic eq analogy), then this good song will be sonically better represented.

 

[Cullenszoo]

I took everyones comments to heart and started thinking that I may have put so much compression on things that I didn't let the song breathe. So, I did some remixing and loosened up my mastering software.
How does this version sound?
https://soundcloud.com/cullen-humphrey/what-about-love-mastered-1

 

[andrushkiwt]

I can't really hear the kick, it's more of a thuddy noise underneath the bass somewhere. I'm listening on headphones though, so my low end is unreliable in this environment. I still hear a crackling white noise. It might be the high end of the guitars or the synth. I'd need to mute the guitars to see what it could be.

The vocal melody is pretty low in your register and it would help the tune to rework the melody. The "what about" sections seem more natural for your timbre and range, although the final "love" tangents could use some vocal touchups. The verses struggle to convince. My personal opinion.