Steenamaroo - 2nd start to finish thread

Hey Steen, this is sounding good. I think it's a little bright in the mids (maybe somewhere around the 3kHz range??) which makes the vocals and overheads a bit harsh/fatiguing. I think the piano sound is a touch bright and overly poppy too.

I agree with Jessica about the social media line sounding a bit cliche - the royal weddings line is cool though.

Lots of cool layers throughout, and I like that morse-code organ line at about 0.14.
 
Hey Rob,
Thanks for the listen.
Yeah, I'd say you're bang right. The vocal is hitting me as a little harsh at the minute and I think I need to take a look at the things you listed.

I actually compared this mix to the final mix of the previous song last night and found either that either this is very bright, or the other one's dull. Now I know. :)

I'm about to upload a slightly tweaked mix. It might be enough. If not, I'll spending some time on it soon.
I really want this to sound slick and smooth, you know?


The morse code effort was meant to be a dial tone for the "broken telephone". :facepalm:
It's cool that you liked it anyway, even if that didn't come across. :p

Here is the current link
May as well stick this on each page.
 
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Sounds really good to me mate. Slightly lacking in the low end overall maybe, there's a lot of bright instruments going on in there. I can't quite put my finger on it but it still sounds really good. Definitely sounds slick and polished.

Love the lyrics.

Cracking tune :thumbs up:
 
Hey Clean.
Thanks for stopping by!
You're not the first person to say that. I've had a few people offline saying it needs beefed up a bit too.

I've rounded the vocal off a little bit and made them slightly less harsh, but I have a feeling I'm going to be redoing the guitars at some point....maybe.
If not, I definitely need to get a bit more out of them.

Thanks again, man!
 
Yeah, I agree with Mr. C. It actually sounds bright in a nice way to me...it's crystal clear with great separation and everything is really tight, but I too felt it was lacking some overall low end oomph.

I listened to the link on post 22 last night and again just now to be sure I was hearing it the same. Your mixes always sound pretty good to me. To some extent, I think I always find them a bit bright , but not to the point of being problematic or anything, just an aesthetic thing. It may just be that the style of music you guys are producing lends itself to that sound more. Really nice job so far.

:thumbs up:
 
Pete hit a point mentioning the brightness ... my cilia is being seriously tickled in the wince range.

The song, itself, is simply great. LOVE the lyrics.
 
Thanks Pete and Kdub.
The forum has spoken. Needs more balls and less sizzle! :)

Pete, I think you're right. My mixes do usually tend towards the bright side of things. Maybe that's the something to do with my setup, or ears! :p
I never have a problem with everything being crisp and detailed, but I definitely don't want to wonder into harsh.
Sounds like you think that's where it's at, Kdub? I guess you're talking about the vocals, mostly?
I noticed by layered harmonies are actually very bright, having soloed.

Cheers guys!

EDIT: Here's a bounce out with a lot of the high end stuff pulled back. I've also beefed up the kick, bass guitar and guitars too, although I still wonder if the latter needs redone.
I dont know if it'll be enough but it's worth a shot. :)
 
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Steenamaroo said:
Hey all,
The full song is finally written so I've been building up the mix.
Click to expand...

I like it better than the first mix, but for jollies I switched out my main monitors and listened on the Avantone Mixcube. It covers midrange only. That fizzy guitar is a bit too prominent and the mix is a touch bass-light. I wonder if a slight broad scoop of mid range would sound okay? I wonder if a bit of bass boost somewhere over 1K would get the bass more present in the mids.
 
Thank you, gentlemen.
Ray, the bass is from a stock ProTools synth!

I've used it before a few times. It sounds really cheap and tacky on its own, but I think it carries OK in a pop mix like this.
Thanks. :)
 
Listening to the latest version. I love the vocals. Very well performed and they sound great. Love the harmonies.

I think things overall sound great.

My only comment would be that the bass is too loud. It's a bit sterile too - needs a little woof added back.
 
Hey Trip.
Thanks for the comments.
Funny Mr.Clean came up with bassline and sent me a .wav of it!
I'm gonna have a chat with Pete and maybe change the bass melody a bit as the song progresses, taking into account Ant's ideas.

Thanks for listening and commenting. :)
 
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I think the bass is fine. The part is good. It's just a bit loud. My "woof" comment is entirely a personal preference thing.
 
I appreciate you pointing it out.
It's a recurring theme in my threads. I really struggle to gauge bass at this setup.

I wish I had room for my big wharfedale speakers. They were pretty good for a final check.
 
Steenamaroo said:
I appreciate you pointing it out.
It's a recurring theme in my threads. I really struggle to gauge bass at this setup.

I wish I had room for my big wharfedale speakers. They were pretty good for a final check.
Click to expand...

Best substitute I've found... Listen on a variety of playback options - including heaphones and earbuds. This one's important - compare the low end against a pro mix you're trying to emulate. You might be surprised how non-bass-heavy some of them are. And in your room, listen/compare in a variety of spots within the room. Get your low end to match in as many spots of the room as possible. </Poor man's substitute>
 
Thanks Trip.
Yeah, that's all great advice. In honesty it's pretty much what I do but it's good info. :)

I think we're finished up.
Clean was kind enough to record and send me a bassline! I couldn't believe that.
I spent a few hours mixing with Pete earlier in the week and we've decided on the original bass sound, but I want to thank Clean for taking the time to do that. Gentleman!

Anyway, I've set up a new page where I'll keep current/final recordings.
It's here and the two singles are at the top.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in through this thread, and the other one.
 
Ah, that's a shame. That was a good little bass riff but I'll probably use a version of it for myself somewhere along the way. It was great fun jammin' along to the tune anyway. I was having fun more than anything. ;)

Both tunes sounding great. Nice to have an online player for all of Pete's songs as well. Nice one. I got that bookmarked.

:thumbs up:
 
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