Mun, the mix sounds better and you have more bass oomph in a good way now. Not totally sold on that snare sound, but it works. :) Contact that IK Obi guy on the forum here. He'll get you sorted with a tech support person faster than mailing them or trying to call. He's done a nice job handling IK issues for most of us here. Send him a pm...he'll sort you right out.

Can you tell me what's not working with it? I might be able to help you if it's not too complex.

offnote: The home-made smell usually sticks with us until we can move out of the bedroom/office and spread our wings a bit and get into a room where you can use mics and really experiment with stuff. For example, we can come up with a killer guitar tone using sims and stuff, but once you mic a real amp and put a few mics on it....the sound source grows. Same with drums....double mics on a kick and snare will just about always kill a single mic job or a drum sim program. Utilizing your room space as well as the different voices you get from different mic's is what can really make a difference.

You have to think of it this way. Most major labels record real instruments whenever they can budget permitting. Though we have incredible sims available to us that are truly realistic, when you have the right mics, room, gear and musicians, this is what takes that home smell away. No to mention, the right processing gear. It doesn't have to be incredibly expensive, as I'm sure you have heard numerous shoot-outs with inexpensive gear vs. pricey stuff. The differences in my opinion, aren't worth the price tag. Anything you have to listen to more than 3 times to form an opinion, isn't justifyable in my realm.

The other key is to know when to put a little time into an instrument and when to bag it and create another one. Often we spend too much time polishing a turd either because we don't know what to listen for, or we're stuck with what we have. With a big production, they are never really stuck with anything and have the resources to get whatever they need. They also have skilled technicians that excel in certain things. Like most times, in a huge production situation, they may record the drums at one studio, guitars at another and then do the rest of the instruments and the mixing at a 3rd studio. They record in the studio's for drums and guitars because the rooms they use are perfected for those instruments. So we have quite a bit going against us. Just do the best you can and try not to be too hard on yourself. That can be the death of you. :)

-Danny

Danny Danzi


Mun, the mix sounds better and you have more bass oomph in a good way now. Not totally sold on that snare sound, but it works. :) Contact that IK Obi guy on the forum here. He'll get you sorted with a tech support person faster than mailing them or trying to call. He's done a nice job handling IK issues for most of us here. Send him a pm...he'll sort you right out.

Can you tell me what's not working with it? I might be able to help you if it's not too complex.

offnote: The home-made smell usually sticks with us until we can move out of the bedroom/office and spread our wings a bit and get into a room where you can use mics and really experiment with stuff. For example, we can come up with a killer guitar tone using sims and stuff, but once you mic a real amp and put a few mics on it....the sound source grows. Same with drums....double mics on a kick and snare will just about always kill a single mic job or a drum sim program. Utilizing your room space as well as the different voices you get from different mic's is what can really make a difference.

You have to think of it this way. Most major labels record real instruments whenever they can budget permitting. Though we have incredible sims available to us that are truly realistic, when you have the right mics, room, gear and musicians, this is what takes that home smell away. No to mention, the right processing gear. It doesn't have to be incredibly expensive, as I'm sure you have heard numerous shoot-outs with inexpensive gear vs. pricey stuff. The differences in my opinion, aren't worth the price tag. Anything you have to listen to more than 3 times to form an opinion, isn't justifyable in my realm.

The other key is to know when to put a little time into an instrument and when to bag it and create another one. Often we spend too much time polishing a turd either because we don't know what to listen for, or we're stuck with what we have. With a big production, they are never really stuck with anything and have the resources to get whatever they need. They also have skilled technicians that excel in certain things. Like most times, in a huge production situation, they may record the drums at one studio, guitars at another and then do the rest of the instruments and the mixing at a 3rd studio. They record in the studio's for drums and guitars because the rooms they use are perfected for those instruments. So we have quite a bit going against us. Just do the best you can and try not to be too hard on yourself. That can be the death of you. :)

-Danny

Danny.  I agree about the snare so I gave it one more tweak.  Thanks to everyone.  This thread has been an awesome experience for me.  People in the songs forum are way too polite LOL!  But straightforward feedback is so important for all of us.  I have learnt a few things in this thread:


- I still do not listen well.  Detail has never been my strong point in any pursuit in life.  But it really matters when mixing.  And there is a lot of detail.
- I am sure that over time my mixes will get better even though I am doing this in my bedroom.  I refuse to believe that I have hit the limits within my environment,
- Although a home recording environment has limitations that will never get my music close to professionals, I can still focus on warmth and shimmer in the tones I use.  I believe that my guitars could have been less harsh.  Even with an amp sim.  Unfortunately I know longer have the raw files.  These processed files were bounced a long time ago before I knew of this stuff.
- The other area that can compensate for crappy environment in my music is arrangement.  I think that my bass playing was rather stacatto and could have been played to fill the mix out more.  Also next time, I will be thinking about the arrangement making sure that it is supporting the frequency balance.
- Finally I must find a girlfriend who plays the violin.  Would love to ditch my strings patches LOL!

Cheers everyone.  This forum is amazing!