Wanna help with a mix?

[SoundStruggler]

I'm finished with the writing of the song but it needs mixing improvements. It sounds like it's been stuffed in a can right now. It could use more balance and clarity. I'll figure it out myself eventually, but that may take until next month.

This song is called "Pianism" and was inspired by the "prepared piano" concept. All sounds except kick, hihats and snare layers are samples from YouTube videos so the quality isn't optimal, but good enough for a hobby project I think.

You can listen to it here:



Let me know if you have the time and inclination to mix a song with the new beat style.

[GRIFTY]

filter off that kick a bit, push the gain on the lows.

some tasteful distortion on your snare couldn't hurt. maybe some on the kick

push the low end up on that piano

throw an eq on the whole mix and push the highs up

you could compress that piano for some oomph... some punch.

cut low-mids. find problem tones by using a narrow Q, and boost way up. scan through the frequencies and find where it sounds woody, or hollow, and then promptly cut a tasteful amount

[Benedict]

Hi

If you are after the 80's New Beat sound then I think you have done a pretty great job. The sonics definitely have the right feel of those obscure brutal Play It Again Sam 12" 45s I used to have. If you mix like it is a current track with lots of bass then it won't have the same feel. Of course that is all a modern audience is trained/willing to hear.

My greatest criticism is that it could often use another little element to move it along. But that was common to most of those non-242 records that aimed to be too underground.

[zeebot]

It is really hard to give any sound mixing advice from samples from youtube along with other sounds that are then smashed to bits through soundcloud's notoriously crappy 44/128 mp3 encoder I'm afraid.

[cr1st0]

Watch this,

[SoundStruggler]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Much appreciated!

I should mention a little how I like to mix. I use Selig's Mix-master template; the inserts on the master and the master compressor settings, as a starting point. I begin by having the master compressor turned off and insert in bypass mode. Then I begin by making sure kick and bass are exactly at -12 db peak. Often that means the bass will sound louder. In that case I look at the VU meters on the channel strips for kick and bass and adjust the bass to find the best bass level compared to the kick. After I have the bass and major drum sounds where I want them I turn on the master compressor and disable bypass on the master insert and continue to mix the rest of the song by ear, never touching any level sliders for kick and bass. What do you think about this approach? Is this rule too restrictive?

I will experiment a little with the suggestions mentioned here and see how it goes.

[SoundStruggler]

I can also mention I've just begun trialing the Mace Professional Compressor, Black Knight 5 Band Equalizer and the ReQ131 31 Band EQ in case someone might have some tips on how I can use those. They're pretty intimidating to look at with all those controls, but I will try using the ReQ131 on the master since Grifty suggested I do some EQing on the whole mix.

[normen]

Watch this,

Totally cringeworthy 80s (I mean... DAT MUSTACHE!) but also totally great content. I definitely suggest watching this and working on whats mentioned here before applying ANY "mastering" or fancy plugins.

[cr1st0]

For more in depth you can watch this...

[ravisoni]

Haven't heard your sample, but for good quality free hits, you could also check out freesound.org

[GRIFTY]

I would actually recommend a parametric, like mclass or SSL for the mix eq

[SoundStruggler]

Alright, I'll skip the RE's for now until the final stage. I will also watch that video when I have time.

[SoundStruggler]

How does it sound now?

[jappe]

Watch this,

Ah, I have that nice book:-)

[SoundStruggler]

It's finished!

I made a music video. Unfortunately all my hard work to sync video and audio got fucked up on YouTube. In the original file audio and video is perfectly synced, but on YouTube some parts of the video is out of sync with the audio. At least you get an idea what inspired me to make this song. :-] Got to work with what I have as a simple bedroom musician. :-p

[SoundStruggler]

Hi again! I'm wondering if someone could check something out for me real quick. I've uploaded my music video to both Vimeo and YouTube, but on YouTube the video is slightly out of sync with the music. The blinking colors in the beginning are supposed to be synced with the drum sounds. I'm wondering if it's my computer that has a problem with YouTube video playback or if it's the same for everyone. I'm thinking about fixing that by offsetting the video with the sound for YouTube. Also I've done some more tweaks since the last time I posted here so the mix should sound a little better and louder now. I'll upload that soon.

Here are the links:

vimeo.com/160327515

youtube.com/watch?v=cfLPppOm5NQ

[SoundStruggler]

So it appears that if one wants to make a music video with stuff flashing to the beat one must shift the video 9 frames to the right next to the audio file to compensate for YouTube's stupid player that plays out of sync. >:-|

[SoundStruggler]

It was not that simple!! Of course it wasn't! The YouTube player Fucks up peoples computers differently! Like no other players! Isn't that right? I'm going to try to shift the video only 7 frames to the right. Then I'm done with this and nobody will have a frigging clue what the hell I'm talking about here because nobody who's reading this does music videos. Anyway... I'll add the links to my final mixes when I'm done with them. I'll be back. :-]

[SoundStruggler]

I'm sorry. I'm a bit cranky tonight. Technical problems gets on my nerves sometimes. There seems to be an issue with how audio and video syncs to some computers when watching YouTube videos. Vimeo doesn't seem to have the same problem.

[SoundStruggler]

OK, here is the finished result:

[moneykube]

that sounds like an interesting song !
best version yet.... could be a little shorter IMO but great work