[LAU] LAM - Smiths-esque indie.

James Stone jamesmstone at gmail.com
Wed Oct 9 22:17:13 UTC 2013


Hi Julien,

Thanks for taking the time to listen to this. The version you heard
had already had a massive amount of EQ applied to get rid of masses of
mid-range stuff, and after that I could hardly hear the difference
between anything. Fresh ears are definitely apprecitated!

I have had a go at doing what you suggested, but I am not sure you
will think it is any better. I brought the vocals forward much more
with compression etc. Also increased the volume on the drums - but to
my ears they seem a bit overpowering - but maybe that's me. Bass I am
still struggling with. I can't really hear the unpleasant mid-rangey
ness to it. But also, I feel if I emphasise the low end too much it
gets mixed in with the kick. Would apprecitate some more hints here -
I have added some EQ to the bass but not sure it really helps.

I uploaded the new version over the top of the old one - so you should
be able to download it using the same link.

James

On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 7:23 PM, Julien Claassen <julien at mail.upb.de> wrote:
> Hello James!
>   There seems to be everything to make a nice, sturdy song. But indeed the
> mix could be improved, if you don't mind me saying so. :-)
>   The most obvious cause for improvement I can hear in EQ'ing. The bass is
> very much in the mid-range. You could lower the treble frequencies.
> Experiment. If you have some MIDI-equipment or anything else hooked up, that
> you oculd activate one band of an EQ, set gain to something like 12Db and
> sweep it, until you come to the really disturbing parts. My guestimate would
> be between 300-440Hz and probably in other areas as well. You can also use
> the EQ to sculpt your bass sound. So you could try raising higher bands to
> coax out certain characteristics.
>   The guitar too sounds a bit to mid-range. I mean the distorted guitar. You
> might also give it a try in either panning it to the right, away from the
> clean electric guitar or use a short delay and lower the original signal, so
> you push the main portion of its sound to the sides. that way you have more
> space in the middle for the voice. I don't know, what you did to the voice
> so far, but it sounds very feable.
>   Typical approaches: good EQ'ing and filtering. Cut off the complete lower
> end up to perhaps 120-200Hz, experiemtn, listen to it in the whole mix, so
> you will hear, when it gets noticeable. Stop shortly before that point. Then
> you might again sweep it with an EQ, to see, which bands could use lowering
> or even a little boost. Next apply some good compression. You could even try
> to push it rather hard. that should help to steady the vocals very much and
> push them. From that point onwards, you might try a short delay, leaving the
> dry signal at 0Db, so you get some width to the voice. At last a touch of
> reverb wouldn't go amiss. If you can use LADSPA plugins, I'd suggest trying
> the CAPS 2x2 Plate (unique ID 1795). Be subtle with that. Don't use it as an
> effect, use it as a tool of production and arrangement.
>   The drum kit too sounds very low. Especially with that type of music.
> Lower the other tracks a bit and raise the drums some. You might also wish
> to do more to them to give them a little more bite and kick.
>   It sounds, like snubbing you, if I go over that mail in my mind, but be
> assured: it certainly isn't. It's just what I would do to it from the top of
> my mind. But as it is very often the case: I have an auditory image of a
> production sound in my mind. Not necessarily a good one and those tips
> aren't necessarily good ones. But they'd certainly go a step or two in the
> right direction for clarifying the elements and setting them apart.
>   I hope, that something of all that dribble can be of help and might point
> in a direction, that you can hear in your mind for this song.
>   Good luck and thanks a lot for sharing!
>   Warm regards
>          Julien
>
> ----------------------------------------
> http://juliencoder.de/nama/music.html


More information about the Linux-audio-user mailing list