Because SO many people listen through laptop speakers ...

i know exactly......... zero people who listen thru laptops.


i would actually exclude that demographic from my mix audience just on general principle!!

My wife will sometimes listen to music on her laptop.  I usually leave the room.

@

The only problem with doing 2 mixes is then you have 2 singles to promote. Which do you pick to upload to iTunes or to send to mastering?

I disagree on the laptop front. To the point that, if it sounds good everywhere else but doesn't sound good on the lappy, it's probably not good. 
And, when I say "good" I mean relative to something else that does sound "good".


edit:
to the OP. Might want to check and make sure that none of the fancy sound accentuators on your laptop aren't turned on.

IK Obi


The only problem with doing 2 mixes is then you have 2 singles to promote. Which do you pick to upload to iTunes or to send to mastering?

Hi Ik, How does one go about uploading to itunes?
Thanks

someone said (i'm paraphrasing): A/B on the laptop with a pro mix. i will add to that:

1. find a pro mix in the same genre as your music, and a song similar to yours. i.e., avoid that limited edition hannah montana movie soundtrack if your song is heavy metal.

2. give your ears a break before listening.

3. level match - if your mix is quieter than the pro mix then turn the pro mix down until they are the same apparent volume.

if the pro mix sounds good, and yours does not, then there is a problem with your mix. could be a million different things, but likely to be in the following broad categories:

level matching between instruments - very unlikely that your laptop speakers can be driven as loud as your headphones/monitors. turn down your mix in headphones/monitors/car and see if certain tracks pop up.

frequency issues - the laptop acts like a bandpass filter. try putting one on your mix and see if you get similar results. if a lot of your instruments are bass-heavy (guitars, bass, kick, etc.) this could be the problem.

stereo imaging - depending on the laptop, it may have pretty poor imaging which is causing some of your wider instruments (think fast delays, doubled tracks, anything in stereo, etc.) to thin out vs. centered/mono tracks. the quick way to find out is to put your mix in M/S (mid-side) mode or mono and see what happens. there are plugins for M/S and you can just mono the final output bus (A/B both with the stereo mix).

hopefully, the underlying cause is that your laptop has rubbish speakers but if you've never mixed at low levels i'd put that at the top of the list.

I do check my mixes on the laptop speakers. Not that I'd use them as a reference but I figure that if I'm aiming for a particular type of sound, it should sound close to my reference material even on the laptop speakers. I know a couple of engineers who do the same, in a variety of genres. 

Yes those speakers suck, but I don't see a reason to discard them - a lot of people do listen to music on their laptop - my wife does all the time, for convenience sake. And I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss her opinion - in fact that's one of the thing the sound guys often tell me - how easy it is to work w/ her because she can tell them exactly how she wants her balance - panning, frequencies and all. 


Actually, a few days ago asked me to check out a mix she had been sent on the studio monitors because it didn't sound quite right on her laptop. And she was right - the guy sent us a revised mix an hour later, apologizing for a "bad bounce". She does the same w/ commercial mixes. 

In fact I could tell you the same thing of many professional touring musicians I know. 

Personally, I can't stand listening to anything for an extended period of time on the laptop - but checking out a song? Sure.

 There are several listening programs out there that have simulated speakers and IMHO give you a good across the board view of your mix. Mono listening is also important. The biggest problem with the laptop speaker is the loss of bass and big differences in the mids.
 
  What I have done on my last several mixes is to add some bass EQ in the ranges that some of it can be heard on a lappy. Overdoing this will cause mud in other areas so you really have to be careful about where you place those freqs and that they don't interfere with the better mix.Close bumps in eq over narrow ranges while listening on a laptop. You really can have two mixes in one. Bass needs to actually show up in several places to be heard on all systems. Sometimes this may go against what some of the pros recommend. Strictly speaking the bass also has mid components in it that need bringing out. The very best overall mixes I have heard are written in such a way that if you loose a lot of the bass in the arrangement it still has the vibe. If you listen to it on a mono system or on a stereo system and you are closer to one speaker you still hear the important part of the mix ok. This is why mixing in mono is also important. 
 
  The best example I can give you was recently I was in the dentist office in the chair and they had music coming from speakers in the ceiling playing in mono at low volume. It was some old motown music and I thought to myself, you know I still get the jist of that tune and the assistant was even jigging to it. My most recent mix " Dirty Dog" http://soundcloud.com/starise/dirty-dog-2  still sounds way better on a flat monitor system. It looses some polish on a lappy but the tune still comes through.The best you can hope for on a lappy is passable.

timidi

IK Obi


The only problem with doing 2 mixes is then you have 2 singles to promote. Which do you pick to upload to iTunes or to send to mastering?

Hi Ik, How does one go about uploading to itunes?
Thanks

Hi Timidi, I upload to itunes+ other music sites inc amazon etc through a distribution site called tunecore. Ive got 5 songs up there now, its cheap and hassle free, had no problems whatsoever.


Cheers


Bibs

Thanks Bibs. 

Having Tunecore do it is a little different than doing it yourself. That's what I thought IK was inferring.
I'm on CD baby and they put my stuff on itunes and amazon etc.

So, How's Tunecore workin out for you. That annual subscription seems a little much.