Will upgrading my AW16G give me clearer sound?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Byzantine fires
  • Start date Start date
B

Byzantine fires

New member
I am desperate to make my mixes sound less muddy and well demo-ish.
Cant afford much but constantly wonder if upgrading to a more modern recording workstation would give me instantly better recording sound thus improving the mix. The Yamaha AW16G is about 12 years old now and is fab but being a mid-level studio I guess Im not reaching the clarity I hear on other people's demos. If Im right can anyone suggest a more modern alternative hardware studio which will give brighter,sharper songs (pref with a an internal cd burner too as Im used to that )?
I know many will advise switching to a computer based software but Im old fashioned and dont like making music on a laptop.
 
Nope.

Mud is probably a situation of your room (your room is 80% of your sound - that's why pro studios spend million$ on their recording rooms) and mic'ing techniques.

Try cutting non-bass tracks at 350-450hz with your EQs.
Leave that region for the stuff that thumps.
 
TimOBrien said:
Nope.

Mud is probably a situation of your room (your room is 80% of your sound - that's why pro studios spend million$ on their recording rooms) and mic'ing techniques.

Try cutting non-bass tracks at 350-450hz with your EQs.
Leave that region for the stuff that thumps.
Click to expand...

Hi , many thanks for the advice. I dont think Im explaining myself properly. My music is made purely on a Korg M50 synth workstation which isnt affected by the room ambience. I dont record with real drums,guitars etc. Its recorded and mixed on my Yamaha AW16G and Im trying to find out what new gear I need to add to it to improve the clarity of the song mixes to a more professional sound. The demos are pretty good but Im just not sure if need external gear like Compressors or a mastering system or a completely new DAW to help the songs sound as close to pro without spending fortunes.
 
when you say its muddy ,you could try stripping it right back start with 2 tracks and start adding the others until it starts to sound muddy ,then look at the eq of all the tracks you have and remove some of the low end of some of the tracks to leave the sounds you want to hear.
 
yeah... you want to accentuate the character of each instrument so that it cuts through the mix and make sure it occupies its own space with the use of eq so that any two arent fighting each other within that same frequency range.
 
Mudd

You may try telling us how long you have been recording. This will give me a hint on where you're at as far as understanding the recording process. If you just went out and bought all this great equipment and think you can put out a great product; you may be in for a long learning curve that has very little short cuts. You can hand someone the greatest instrument, but he needs to know how to apply it.
One thing if you want to do it without the classes and hard work is that you may come up with some killer new process. The secret is to not give up, it's out there somewhere.
 
Another tact to take is to localize the real problem.
For instance the mud can be due to it is part of the character of your Korg.
After 5 or more tracks the buildup of some character of the keyboard may be unexcepable without some subtractive eq on each take.

Another may be the input circuitry of your recorder may be adding color since you are probably not going direct in digitally.

perhaps if it is the output conversion and attached analogue circuitry you are listening to that is murky you are making bad mix decisions.

If you can input a known well recorded song you wish to emulate first directly from a CD then also recorded thruogh the front end of the unit, then you can compare the difference.
Then listen over headphones as well as from the analog outs and see what the difference is.

If all that sounds like gold then it may just be the Korg has some character you don't like that builds up into mud the more tracks you layer.
 
The machine is not your problem. Something in your technique is...

How hot are you tracking?
 
Byzantine fires said:
Cant afford much but constantly wonder if upgrading to a more modern recording workstation would give me instantly better recording sound thus improving the mix.
Click to expand...

Not a chance.

Just a guess...Do you mix on headphones?
One way or another, the problem is probably in your monitoring system. If you use headphones, stop using headphones. If you use speakers and they are close to a wall or worse (in a corner), pull them out into the room. If you use speakers and they suck, get good speakers.
 
zazz said:
yeah... you want to accentuate the character of each instrument so that it cuts through the mix and make sure it occupies its own space with the use of eq so that any two arent fighting each other within that same frequency range.
Click to expand...
This myth needs to die... And it is so hard to kill because it is not so much a lie as it is a muddled way to phrase the truth.

When mixing, don't go cutting EQ all over the place with the intention of fitting instruments together. Yes, everything needs it's space. It just isn't that literal.

Instruments can have their own space based on arrangement, the groove they play, the tone of the instrument, the actual selection of the instrument itself (Maybe a Gibson steps all over one of your other tracks, but a Fender blends right in), use of rests/empty space in the song writing, amp settings, microphone selection, microphone placement, technique in playing the instrument, etc. Mix time EQ cutting is the last line of defense if all else failed to put the instruments in their places.

And it's not like a great mix can't have more than one instrument living in a frequency range anyway.

EQ cuts are a way to put instruments in their individual places.
EQ cuts are not THE way to put instruments in their individual places.

But more to the point: Mixing is not about putting everything where it belongs. Mixing is about feeling what the song wants to do and then taking it there. Listen with an ear for emotion and musical direction, not an ear for clean-up and organization.
 
Bump to Chibi.!! I am saving that post on my desktop so when I need a quick "reminder" I can grab it. Critical points. Mic placement, position in room/space, what fits with the groove, dynamics and point of the tune. Sorry to deviate from the OP but those points are emphasized in many a text and many a classroom. In real life many great recordings demonstrate the effectiveness of careful application of the above.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top