Quality Commentary - not an mp3

How has it affected you?

Just wondering... How has hanging out in the mixing clinic affected your own music making? Helped, hurt, motivated, inspired, insulted, educated, challenged, directed, coached...? What best describes how the interaction here had changed the way you work, the audio results you get, and maybe even the way you listen to music?

Tim
 
Timothy Lawler said:
Just wondering... How has hanging out in the mixing clinic affected your own music making? Helped, hurt, motivated, inspired, insulted, educated, challenged, directed, coached...? What best describes how the interaction here had changed the way you work, the audio results you get, and maybe even the way you listen to music?

Tim
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Only helped!!! I hate hearing negative remarks about my playing, or vocal abilities, but it just makes me try harder. Plus, most people, even if they don't care for the tune, give some good advice on how to make it better. Criticism with good advice is a sure fire way to get better. Most people here have been real cool about helping out.
Thanks.
Ed
 
Timothy Lawler said:
Have to say that the best music I've found in the last few years is here in the mixing clinic. It really surprises me because it was totally unexpected. In comparison, most commercial productions I hear now seem homogenized, over processed, artificial and over-marketed. The mp3 and wave files (copied from streaming audio) I've collected here have to a large extent replaced radio for me as well as much of my CD listening. And the personalization of the music by the forum discussion adds even more to its quality.

Just saying thanks to all who post.

Tim
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Not to be a fly in the oinment, but I have kinda drifted from here, because the music, in my opinion has really gone downhill from what it was a couple years back. Timothy, your technical chops are the exception around here, and they stand out like a red dress at a funeral. I have only heard a couple other people around here that had similar playing abilities, but their productions were fairly mediocre....they were musicians first...rightly so, and NOT producers/engineers. It also seems people record better than they can play around here too, as a trend.

I find that after sifting thru 15 posts or so at a time, I just seem to find very average stuff from people with the the typical poster having just a couple seasons of experience under their belt of recording AND playing and it only makes me want and find better material to listen to. It is the 1 in 100 posts in the clinic that I would give a VERY good too, and then the rest follow with just "good" to ..."hey..you need to learn how to tap your foot and edit mistakes!!"

I also seem to find a lot of courteous "back patting" on stuff that I find completely separated from typical commercial recordings. Not that this is a "pro MP3 clinic"...as I realize this IS home recording.com, but you have to have a standard to measure against.

btw... do you ever play an electric?
 
Timothy Lawler said:
Just wondering... How has hanging out in the mixing clinic affected your own music making? Helped, hurt, motivated, inspired, insulted, educated, challenged, directed, coached...? What best describes how the interaction here had changed the way you work, the audio results you get, and maybe even the way you listen to music?

Tim
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Confused would be accurate.
 
This site has helped me more than my 2 years at college definetly by far. I have learned soo much about recording and mixing and mastering from this site and also of course from practice. I feel i have gained enough experience to start to produce good sounding tracks from the year or so i have been on this site.
Cheers ALL.
 
Thanks mxmkr. Jeez, if you heard me play electric you'd be unimpressed! :D I limited my elec playing to the school music assembly sing-alongs I used to do... because little kids like everything and are easy to wow.

...seems people record better than they can play around here too, as a trend... It is the 1 in 100 posts in the clinic that I would give a VERY good too, and then the rest follow with just "good" to ..."hey..you need to learn how to tap your foot and edit mistakes!!"
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I know what you mean... I think it just hits me in a different way. The things that grab my ear when I click around in the clinic are usually more related to genuineness of expression than solidity of execution (sh*t, what pompous verbiage, huh?). I mean, on occasion it's ALL there... expression, confident performance, great writing and arranging, and skill with the gear that doesn't get in the way. But if I had to pick one thing that attracts me to a piece, it'd just be the expression. Maybe I’ve been desensitized by all the hours I've spent teaching beginners to play the guitar (HA!), dunno, but that's what does it for me.

An example that comes to mind is a song by the Handsome Nells called Rough Diamond. Good sounding ac gtrs first caught my attention but after a couple of phrases the vocal just had me by the throat... even though it had frequent intonation problems and a lack of finesse with mic technique. The sincerity was there and it came across in an unpolished way that actually heightened the effect.

From what I see around me, especially in my non-artistic friends, there’s a lack of creativity and self expression that’s, as a culture, sucking the life out of us. Sure, we’ve got endless great entertainment to see, but few of us actually DO it ourselves. To me that’s the bigger issue… and somebody who sits with their guitar and makes a song is breaking out of that.

So even though I’ve been paid to play on occasion, I consider myself an amateur in the true sense of the word – somebody who does what they do just because they love it – and I feel a connection with other amateurs who approach their music that way.

Tim
 
Dogman said:
Plus, most people, even if they don't care for the tune, give some good advice on how to make it better. Criticism with good advice is a sure fire way to get better. Most people here have been real cool about helping out.
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That's exactly right.
There are lot's of opinions and advice, but it's all here to be cherry-picked: take and use what applies to you and your situation, and discard the rest!

I am assuredly learning things here.

You are wise, Dogman.
 
mixmkr said:
Not to be a fly in the oinment, but I have kinda drifted from here, because the music, in my opinion has really gone downhill from what it was a couple years back. Timothy, your technical chops are the exception around here, and they stand out like a red dress at a funeral. I have only heard a couple other people around here that had similar playing abilities, but their productions were fairly mediocre....they were musicians first...rightly so, and NOT producers/engineers. It also seems people record better than they can play around here too, as a trend.

I find that after sifting thru 15 posts or so at a time, I just seem to find very average stuff from people with the the typical poster having just a couple seasons of experience under their belt of recording AND playing and it only makes me want and find better material to listen to. It is the 1 in 100 posts in the clinic that I would give a VERY good too, and then the rest follow with just "good" to ..."hey..you need to learn how to tap your foot and edit mistakes!!"

I also seem to find a lot of courteous "back patting" on stuff that I find completely separated from typical commercial recordings. Not that this is a "pro MP3 clinic"...as I realize this IS home recording.com, but you have to have a standard to measure against.

btw... do you ever play an electric?
Click to expand...
Music can be very subjective, something that sounds like ewe or me screwing a goat, can in turn be music to another's ears. For all the notes in the world, some will sound right to others, where as, that same frequency will drive you insane. Who is to say which note is right and what note is wrong!

Now, if your trying to gain your fame and fortune thru the use of notes, your abilities will need to match the audience. When it all comes down to it, the only thing that matters is how well you can sell your notes. Sell your notes, sell your notes, sell your notes, the bubble is about to burst. (Just kidding. :) )

Now give me a NOTE!

NOTE!

Drink it down, you Zulu warrior
Drink it down, you Zulu chief chief, chief, chief

I-Zulu-Zulu-Zulu
I-Zulu-Zulu-Zulu
 
Insightnsound said:
Music can be very subjective, something that sounds like ewe or me screwing a goat, can in turn be music to another's ears. For all the notes in the world, some will sound right to others, where as, that same frequency will drive you insane. Who is to say which note is right and what note is wrong!
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Good insight....( :eek: ) I agree with a lot of this. I don't listen to much rap, or new pop-punk stuff. Other people do, and make some good home recordings of it. Just because it's not my favorite style of music, doesn't mean I can't appreciate the work that went into it, and maybe learn something from these guys. I don't play anywhere near what Tim does, but him giving me advice only makes me get better, even if we don't play similar genres of music. And hopefully his interactions with people of different abilities, and styles helps him to enjoy what he does even more, and maybe takes him into some uncharted territory. I enter the PMC's because a guy like Finster gives us some tracks to mix that I normally would never get a chance to play with. I suck really bad at mixing them, but these guys tell you what you screwed up, and then you try again. You can only get better. And most of all, it's fun. That's what I'm here for. And the beer.
Ed
 
I agree....this place has the occasional gems that pop up in the mp3 clinic. I myself have added a folder to my audio drive "HomeRecording Artists". I think hearing other people with various levels of talent and with various abilities in performing and recording is very inspiring. Some times I'm working on a tune thats not going so well and I will post it up here for advice. Some times I hear some really awful tunes in here that make me think "damn, I'm not doing so bad after all". Occasionally though, I hear a couple of songs that make me go "fuck yea, that rocks!" and knowing that some person wrote, performed, and recorded those rockin tunes at home with modest equipment is very inspiring.

Also, I tend to listen to a wider range of music in the mp3 clinic just to see how others approach the recording of different styles of music, different instruments, etc. Normally though, I tend to listen to indy artists and productions that are rough around the edges. I like to hear "people" in music not necessarily equipment and polished up productions. I could never go back to listening to the same old hits radios stations that plague the air waves after hearing so many cool indy artists.

This place is an excellent tool for musicians/homegrown engineers, imho.
 
mixmkr said:
Not to be a fly in the oinment, but I have kinda drifted from here, because the music, in my opinion has really gone downhill from what it was a couple years back.
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Youre romanticizing the past too much.
 
Timothy Lawler said:
What do you mean, 7?

Tim
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It goes back to the 'if it sounds good to you it is right' thing. When I first got here I posted a few things and had them ripped to shreds, but I THOUGH THEY SOUNDED GOOD! So apparently that doesn't apply. It should be 'if it sounds good to other people' or something. Anyway, I learned a few things and remixed and got them sounding good to other people. Not necessarily to me. One song I did was completely changed using suggestions from this board and to me it ruined the song and doesn't sound anything like the original intent that I had. But everybody else liked it!

It just can be confusing until you read enough and learn a little bit. But, I think, like anything you have to pick and choose what you want to listen to.
 
7string said:
It goes back to the 'if it sounds good to you it is right' thing. When I first got here I posted a few things and had them ripped to shreds, but I THOUGH THEY SOUNDED GOOD! So apparently that doesn't apply. It should be 'if it sounds good to other people' or something. Anyway, I learned a few things and remixed and got them sounding good to other people. Not necessarily to me. One song I did was completely changed using suggestions from this board and to me it ruined the song and doesn't sound anything like the original intent that I had. But everybody else liked it!

It just can be confusing until you read enough and learn a little bit. But, I think, like anything you have to pick and choose what you want to listen to.
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Something to remember, is it's your music, and you should be happy with it. Someone else's suggestion, and comment is just an opinion. And remember what they say about opinions....

But what I do is listen to what people say, and if it sounds helpful, I'll give it a try. It might improve upon my tune, and it might not. With so many ideas, and different styles, not everything can fit all music. Just gotta find what works for you. Then, when it does, you find you improved by giant steps, all with the help of some cyber-friends. Now that's cool.
Ed
 
It goes back to the 'if it sounds good to you it is right' thing. When I first got here I posted a few things and had them ripped to shreds, but I THOUGH THEY SOUNDED GOOD! So apparently that doesn't apply. It should be 'if it sounds good to other people' or something. Anyway, I learned a few things and remixed and got them sounding good to other people. Not necessarily to me. One song I did was completely changed using suggestions from this board and to me it ruined the song and doesn't sound anything like the original intent that I had.
Click to expand...

Excuse my censored French, but F**k'em all, 7string. Or maybe it's really f**k us all. Really. You've got more flexibility than I've ever had to consider opinions to change your music in ways that don't feel right at a gut level. I think music is personal first, anything else second, and always best to follow your instinct. I've heard your stuff and you're a musician with obviously good instincts. My own philosophy, FWIW, is to say "Thanks for the input, I'll work on that.", try the idea out, compare, decide, then just go with what feels right.

Tim
 
There are such things as "universally bad" in music, and I think most of it is in the realm of slackness, hack jobs, thoughtlessness, ripping off due to either lack of imagination/skill/being a newbie composer. When I say bad I mean genuinely bad. To tell someone this when they are asking for a critique is like a whole skill set to add along with your musician/composer skills and your recording skills and mixing skills too. It can be done, but it's tedious to do it in a good way.
 
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