There's something not quite right about this track -- it sounds to me somehow a bit metallic/tinny, muffled, dull ... its just not sounding the way it sounded to me on the original WAV file, something not quite right that i can't put my finger on.

Even if this music isn't your cup of tea, any suggestions on where I might be going wrong and can improve this, appreciated.  

http://soundcloud.com/mos...ductions/indigo-part-1

Beautiful piece. The mix is pretty good. It is a little "cold" but not so much that I would be bothered if I was listening casually. Are familiar with the album "Songs from the Distant Earth", by Mike Oldfield? Using that as a reference point, what this song lacks to make it perfect is the very deep, nearly subsonic bass tone that is very high energy. One that is felt more than heard, such as is present in Oldfields recording. It would then make it much more dynamic musically. Just my opinion. This still sounds pretty good. As for being disappointed by the transcoding done by the distribution sites... that is something you just have to get used to. (Its even worse for vids - almost so bad I do not want to upload them). - Shad

 If this is a test, I think I failed. I could find nothing wrong. Very nice work.

Sounds pretty good to me.

There are one or two "peaky, midrange" sounds that would benefit from some EQ to soften them a little, but they don't sound like major problems to my ears.

The mix sounds good.

This is a nice piece that would fit well into a documentry type situation to create a reflective mood.

Nice work.

Looking forward to Part 2.

I listened on laptop speakers, but it inspired me to listen to it on monitors!

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the feedback - I really thought something bad had happened on the way into Soundcloud (or before) - I suppose we always judge our own music most harshly, and nothing ever sounds as good as the track in our own studio environment.   

Foxwolfen: I don't know that album "Songs from the Distant Earth", but I'm listening now as I type... I can see what you mean about the bass, I'll see what I can I learn and improve.


Blipp:   I noticed playing it back on my laptop a few of those midrange peaks - I'll see what I can do to soften those.

Sounds good to me....on cheap computer speakers.

I hate what some of the players and the MP3 conversion does to my music.

So if the wave sounds good, don't worry. 

I could find nothing to nit pick on what I heard. 

Sometimes though, the smallest EQ change does make the difference. If you are hearing something..... but can;t quite put your finger on it.... do what I do.

Stop listening to it ..... don't play it or listen for a week.... yup 7 days..... then, after 7 days, listen again. Now..... usually, your ears will be listening "new" again.... and perhaps you can pick out the nit you are hearing but can't quite nail. 

this works for me. While tracking and mixing I will listen dozens if not hundreds of times to a song after I fix all the big and obvious issues....including after the mixing is done..... to listen for the nits... "almost" wrong notes, pitch not exact, timing issues, Eq, the stuff that is so close to being right but not quite, things a casual listen would miss but a professional would not miss.........I make mental notes where things are. Then I stop listening for a specific number of days. Now...when I return, I can hear clearly what the issues are and work on them.

I often spend as much time at this stage as I do on the other stages of tracking and mixing.

Nope, nothing greatly wrong with this, at least nothing that's spoiling my enjoyment of it. Lovely track, right up my street.

I like this advice because that's how I do it.  It's too easy to overexpose oneself to a piece of music and lose perspective.  Take a break and come back to it.  I'm sure you will notice that this tune is very close to professional quality already.

Guitarhacker


Sounds good to me....on cheap computer speakers.

I hate what some of the players and the MP3 conversion does to my music.

So if the wave sounds good, don't worry. 

I could find nothing to nit pick on what I heard. 

Sometimes though, the smallest EQ change does make the difference. If you are hearing something..... but can;t quite put your finger on it.... do what I do.

Stop listening to it ..... don't play it or listen for a week.... yup 7 days..... then, after 7 days, listen again. Now..... usually, your ears will be listening "new" again.... and perhaps you can pick out the nit you are hearing but can't quite nail. 

this works for me. While tracking and mixing I will listen dozens if not hundreds of times to a song after I fix all the big and obvious issues....including after the mixing is done..... to listen for the nits... "almost" wrong notes, pitch not exact, timing issues, Eq, the stuff that is so close to being right but not quite, things a casual listen would miss but a professional would not miss.........I make mental notes where things are. Then I stop listening for a specific number of days. Now...when I return, I can hear clearly what the issues are and work on them.

I often spend as much time at this stage as I do on the other stages of tracking and mixing.

The thing with those tones by Oldfield in particular are how clean they are. They're nearly flawless. I have yet to get anything that clean and deep with what I have.