• Songs
  • New Remix with X3 - "Do You Think" (p.2)
2014/06/07 23:58:15
gtrpastor
The Band19 - Thanks for your suggestions. I'll have a listen to your song and revisit the bass and the EQ. I've tried using the analyzer, but I'm not really sure I know what I'm doing. It seems like when I EQ the analyzer signal doesn't really change. Also, I think I should chase down the boominess on individual tracks instead of the entire mix. 
2014/06/08 00:12:52
The Band19
All individual tracks you should roll off the low end, except the bass and kick. Then play with those two to get them to sit right. Stop me when I start bearing false witness... "Boominess" should then be easily controlled. However, that's not the only concern? This is why I spoke of an analyzer. You don't want things to build up anywhere in the spectrum because it will create the same problems. This can be controlled with 1) production, 2) EQ, 3) Pan/stereo field adjustment, 4) compression and ducking. I'm not "the man" trust me... I've worked with "the man" (several) on many occasions. Excellent mix/master skills are sought after.. It's not easy? But we can all learn as we go. That lead guitar is a little high and thin too, but I would focus on the bass and kick for now. 
 
If you listen as I said to Soft Truths, or many other songs here, "you can hear the bass own its own space?" You can hear the notes, and you can here it in contrast against the kick (which you can also hear) This is VERY important, and has to do again with rolling everything else off, and then treating the kick and bass and making them "sit" together in the mix. They should both come "down the pipe." So they have to play well together. The other drums should be panned. Along with most everything else, except lead vocals which share the pipe (in a different spectrum) with the bass and kick. This puts the fun in fundamentals ;-)
 
And I don't want to call your baby ugly? But I would rather someone give me an honest critique any day than have them blow smoke you know where. It's better? Doesn't mean it can't get any better ;-)
 
It would also help to have an understanding of your signal chain/i.e., what plugs are used on the mains? Any Multi-band? Any Ozone? How are the tracks mixed and bused? And sent to the master? There are people here who can REALLY give you insight on that. I can give "some" But again, I am not the man? However, "I know the man..." He lives here, in the form of "many engineers..." I am just a lowly musician. But if you listen to my music? "You'll hear that bass buddy..." And the drums. It builds the foundation on which the rest of the music can stand? X1, X2, X-blah, doesn't matter (I use good old Sonar 8.3) Peter, "you are my rock..." Gotta have a good foundation Pastor. Listen to my music, listen to the bass, then listen again to this tune. It should jump out at you like a man in a raincoat. I didn't engineer all of them? But the people who did know their shiz. That would be me (learning) Markno999 (very good) and JamesYoYo (my goal is to get this good...)
 
You must control the bottom end sir. It's a pre-requisite. 
2014/06/08 01:24:15
The Band19
I don't mean to hold you up against the cage and hit you with knees and elbows? 
2014/06/08 06:02:25
Wookiee
Sean try using this http://www.voxengo.com/product/span/ it may help with you low end mix if your mix environment is untreated.  Also have a read about surgical EQ for sculpturing space for Bass and Kick as they tend to occupy similar frequency ranges.
2014/06/08 12:46:55
theguitarplayer
Very nice start to a much bigger picture ahead.
 
Peace and Blessings, John
2014/06/09 08:14:03
Guitarhacker
I don't recall the earlier versions.
 
Good song. Excellent job on the vocals.  Hitting and holding that high note was perfect.
 
The nits to me: in my opinion.
 
Guitar: lose the chorus unless you're going for a Def Lepard sound.
Bass: I had a hard time figuring out if there was one in the song.
Drums: sound like slapping cardbord boxes. Not even close to sounding right IMHO
 
You said you're using Dim Pro for the bass. I'm not sure, although I do have Dim Pro, what the samples or patches sound like. I found that Cakewalk Sound Center has what I consider to be a really nice full sounding bass in a sample called Ricko Bass. It's my go-to bass when I'm needing a midi bass part.
 
What are you using for drums?  Most drum synths and samplers I have seen and heard have really nice sounding drums straight out of the box. I, like others, then apply some EQ and compression to tweeze the sound a bit. It's possible to start with a really nice drum sound and with EQ and compression totally destroy the dynamics and the tone if you're not careful. It's also possible to take a good sounding drum and make it better with the same compression and EQ.
 
Roll off most everything below 40hz if you have low end noise. If you don't....then don't roll it off.
 
A bass doesn't need (IMHO)  ..."it's own space" in a mix. I think it needs to be a part of the mix and it needs to work closely with the drums, especially the kick.
 
When the mix is not going as planned.....the only choice you have to salvage it and get it right is to go back to square one. If you keep trying to save a mix that is so far off course, there's a good chance you won't get it back on course with more tweeks.
 
 From every channel and track and bus, remove the plugs, the EQ, the compression, and start from square one. Raw tracks.  Now, if you use Ozone.... use a rock preset or something similar and drop it into the master.  It will put some EQ in place to give a decent starting point for the overall mix. Also throw in a very light reverb.... 10% or so..... nothing really noticeable.  I start every mix in a similar way. Set up the overall sound.
 
Start by muting everything except the drums.... drop a single cake or other track EQ in and push the highs and the lows a bit by a few db simply to accentuate them. Let the kick be felt.
 
Now add the bass. Solo as needed and if you need..... some EQ... just a tad, but... the bass sound should be working with the kick drum and together they should be a single cohesive sound unit. Done right, you should be able to add vocals and call it done. But we're still going to add the other instruments.  Simply making a point as to how well they should be fitting together at this point.
 
The rest of the mix at this point is simply a matter of putting the icing on the proverbial cake. The bass and drums are the foundation upon which you build that house. Without that foundation, it's like the guy in that song that built his house upon the sand......
 
I called it putting the icing on the cake but we all know it's not that simple..... lots of hard work goes into that part but  you seem to have a decent grasp on the vox guitar parts. The low end is where I hear most of the problems..... mainly from a lack thereof as other here have mentioned as well.
 
I said to go back to square one, and I mean that.....however...... you could probably salvage the low end by soloing the drums and then the bass and following the procedures I mentioned for the specific tracks in question.
 
Remove the chorus from the guitar and solo it and listen carefully to the tone.....I'm with Beagle, I thought it wasn't a steel string as well. Work the EQ to bring out the natural sound of the wood and strings. Make it sound like an acoustic guitar. Chorus on a guitar has to be done carefully to avoid sounding dated, and more so on acoustic. I'd personally delete the chorus and simply record the acoustic rhythm guitar on 2 tracks, a unique recording each time, trying to be as close as possible to the exact same performance....and pan them fairly hard opposite each other to give width to the mix without the chorus effect.
 
You have a good song.... just a few problems in the mix as I see it.
 
OK that's my advice.... I'm shutting up now....
 
 
2014/06/09 13:25:24
Starise
Besides this being a well written song with a good message I also think the acoustics and vocals here sound great. I won't repeat the others comments...if you want to build it into something bigger and busier then you'll need to do some work on it, but I also like it as is. 
2014/06/09 18:34:32
teego
Your mixes are improving! You have gotten some really good advice above ,so, my advice is do not get discouraged,keep after it. I have found it is just like playing guitar or whatever, the more you do it the more you learn,and the better you get at doing it.
2014/06/10 00:59:06
gtrpastor
The Band19 - Thanks for your wealth of advice. Don't worry about holding me up against the cage. It's all good. I've been really busy. When I get a break I'll sort out all the advice, do some research and try to figure this stuff out. I appreciate your taking the time to help. 
 
Wookie - I'll take a look at the Voxengo thing. Looks like a more comprehensive version of the Analyzer. For free, it's worth a shot. Thanks for the tip. 
 
Guitarhacker - Thanks for the comments and the wealth of advice. I wondered about the chorus effect. Originally I used it to try to thicken the sound of the guitar. I'll try to remove it and see how it sounds. I agree about the drums. I'm using SessionDrummer 3. I just can't seem to find a good sounding drum sound. I'm thinking I might try Addictive Drums, which I just got with the X3 upgrade. I'll have to re-sequence the drums though. And I'll probably take your advice and go back to square one. 
 
Starise - Thanks for the kind words. It's good to hear because I'm primarily a guitarist and singer (mostly background singer, actually). So I appreciate knowing that those things sound okay at this point. 
 
Teego - Yeah, I got a bit discouraged and I had to walk away from it for a few days--partially out of necessity due to my schedule. But I plan on sorting it all out and keeping at it. I'm learning a lot by just reading the advice here on the forum. Thanks for the encouragement. 
2014/06/10 00:59:13
gtrpastor
Accidental duplicate post
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