Original tune: Fair is Fair (Sludgy melodic alternative ambient rock)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Flyguitarfish
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Flyguitarfish

Flyguitarfish

Active member
I was messing around with a couple different fuzz pedals yesterday and put this tune to “tape”. A little hard to understand the lyrics at parts (delay and verbed out). I usually mix the vocals a lot drier, but it kinda fits the feel of the song in my opinion (big guitars and slower tempo). Drums maybe a little sloppy? Other thoughts? Thanks for listening!

Lyrics below. It’s about justice and getting what we deserve, dealing with it, and the chance at finding a way out.

Fair is Fair

Feels like
Hammer came down
Gavel
Deafening sound

CHORUS
Breath left our lungs
Escaped through the air
Sentence upon
What’s fair is fair is fair is fair

Feels like
Hammer came down
Gavel
Deafening sound

If you
Should find your way home
Waiting
We’ll right all of the wrongs

CHORUS



Remix with vocal volumes increased in parts, and removed delay feedback to clear up the vocals a bit. I also took some of the boominess out of the toms.

 
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Vocals seem buried. Maybe a bit more volume, but I think you could probably fair better by carving out some room with EQ'ing around the vocals.

Good effort.
 
DM60 said:
Vocals seem buried. Maybe a bit more volume, but I think you could probably fair better by carving out some room with EQ'ing around the vocals.

Good effort.
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Thanks for the advice! It was a good effort, lol!

Listening back there are parts the vocals seem plenty loud, and other where they are buried. I’ll play with the volumes. Maybe I’ll dry them up a bit…maybe even throw on a leveler which I don’t normally do.

thanks!
 
Odi said:
Love that opening... Nice tone!
Recommend some high harmonies 8-)
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Thanks…it’s a Stomp Under Foot Pumpkin Pi in one ear and a Recovery Effects Mighty Grizzled in the other. It’s crazy how different these fuzz pedals sound and how great they sound together.

I like the idea of some high harmonies. Maybe I’ll add a subtle octave up effect on the background vocals. Might sound cool!
 
DM60 said:
Vocals seem buried. Maybe a bit more volume, but I think you could probably fair better by carving out some room with EQ'ing around the vocals.

Good effort.
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Ok, here’s a remix with the vocals more up front, and with the delay feedback removed to clear things up a bit. I also took the boominess out of the toms:

 
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Oh yea, those are sitting very nice in the mix. I am not listening on the best speakers, so I can't say there are no other issues, but on my speakers, very solid.

I think this makes the tune stand out very well. Very nice.
 
DM60 said:
Oh yea, those are sitting very nice in the mix. I am not listening on the best speakers, so I can't say there are no other issues, but on my speakers, very solid.

I think this makes the tune stand out very well. Very nice.
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Cool, I’m happier with it too. I really appreciate the feedback.
 
Flygui I seem to like everything you post. I find myself just cranking it up and enjoying. Like the dynamics on this one. Nice job
 
BTStudio said:
Flygui I seem to like everything you post. I find myself just cranking it up and enjoying. Like the dynamics on this one. Nice job
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Thanks, I really appreciate that. I second guess myself every step of the way so that’s a welcomed compliment.
 
Good, catchy song. You captured the 90's rock vibe, at least what I remember of it, very well!

I listened to your last revision of the mix, and don't notice anything too out of place. Maybe, a small touch of mid
range to the electrics would brighten them up a little. But maybe not, that is kind of a part of that 'sound'.

EL
 
Thekesslerboy said:
I can hear a bit of Bob Mould in the guitars. Can't give higher praise.
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Awesome, thank you for the compliment!

I had to look up Bob Mould. I have heard of Husker Du but never dove in. I love discovering new (to me) music. Any recommendations of where to start?
 
I thought it sounded good - especially the "vox up" mix.

Guitars and bass sound nice. Vox too.

The cymbals are a bit high in the mix.

The overall mix seems limited pretty hard.

The toms, and to an extent the snare, are a little muddy.

Minor things. Good job.
 
TripleM said:
I thought it sounded good - especially the "vox up" mix.

Guitars and bass sound nice. Vox too.

The cymbals are a bit high in the mix.

The overall mix seems limited pretty hard.

The toms, and to an extent the snare, are a little muddy.

Minor things. Good job.
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Thanks for the feedback!

Definitely agree on the toms and snare.

I limited to knock off 2-3 dB (Waves L2 limiter). I have no idea the best approach. Any advice on limiting?
 
For some reason, this one reminds me of Oasis. Except I like this one better than Oasis - really. Here's some mix feedback, but I'm not sure what you'll do with it, because it's so global: Last night I listened to it through my monitors. Tonight I listened again (because I like the tune and the way it moves) on my iPad. I thought the iPad playback worked really well compared to the monitor listen, which was darker. It would be interesting to me if you shipped it to a mastering engineer to see if they made it brighter.
 
dobro said:
For some reason, this one reminds me of Oasis. Except I like this one better than Oasis - really. Here's some mix feedback, but I'm not sure what you'll do with it, because it's so global: Last night I listened to it through my monitors. Tonight I listened again (because I like the tune and the way it moves) on my iPad. I thought the iPad playback worked really well compared to the monitor listen, which was darker. It would be interesting to me if you shipped it to a mastering engineer to see if they made it brighter.
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First of all, I’m glad you liked the tune enough to give it a second listen!

Your comments help a lot. From what you’re saying (and synthesizing the other comments), it seems like the “iPad” frequencies are pretty balanced, but the low/mid mud (the other stuff that comes through bigger speakers and headphones) could be cut back a bit. I’m getting the same feedback on my different speakers. My AirPods are just a bit muddy in the low mids, my truck is ok, my 6” monitors sit pretty well (Neumann KH120), my Sennheiser HD650’s are probably a tad low/mid mud as well.

I don’t usually do this (but since you brought up a mastering engineer) maybe I’ll try an EQ on the master bus to find a region to pull back a little to clean it up globally.

Also, I’m still interested in what everyone does on their master bus, including any limiting. I just use that Brainworx masterdesk, then a waves L2 limiter to shave 2-3 db max off the loudest section. Then normalize to - 0.6. I’m definitely no pro. I just read articles, watch YouTube videos, and play around until something sounds good to me!

Again, this really helps. Thank you!
 
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On the last tune I did, I mixed to where I couldn't get it better. Then I put Ozone on the master out, and it made it sound better. Then I muted Ozone and sent it to an ME and he made it better than Ozone ever could. I want to be able to get to the point where Ozone doesn't make my mixes sound better. 8-)

But to answer your question better: an EQ and a console emulator.
 
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On my master bus I usually have a final EQ and a Limiter to bring up (master level) the levels. I try and make the final Limiter just touch the peaks, very slight. On the EQ it is for the overall mix, but once again it is just for tweaking. If I have to make too much of an adjustment on the final, I go search which track is the problem. Many times it isn't just one track that is causing the problem, but "tracks".

I suppose at this point, one would go and figure out which tracks aren't playing nice with each other. But I have to say, by the time I get to this point, I don't have much energy to do that, so I just EQ the total mix.
 
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