leaves in the wind (piano ballad)

[Hovmod]

Wow. Cool tune!

[Altus_]

Beautiful track. I love music that's full of feeling like this.
Thanks for sharing.

[Barnadine]

Thanks for listening, all. Glad you like the song, and cheers for the feedback.

mystahr: re the odd harmony, when I write pop-based songs like this, I tend to work in the occasional dissonance to make it more interesting for me. I try to do this without disrupting the harmonic pop mood too much, but may not have succeeded here.

annode: Just listened to your mix, and you've cured the overshoots nicely. Also brought the vocal to the fore. Nice one. When I have time to work on the song, I think I'll follow your lead, though I might see if I can keep the flavour of some of the flaws of the original. For example, in the original mix when the vocal line dips down onto the bass line and they resonate together - I can hear that this isn't professional, but I find the effect quite interesting nevertheless. I think ideally I'd like to find a compromise between a standard well-compressed mix and the original with its waves of resonance. The tinkering will be good practice for me. I've been unfairly wary of compressors recently, having grown allergic to the current trend of over-compressed mixes with all dynamics squashed out, and need to overcome my prejudice. Thanks for encouraging me down this path.

I don't have the Marquis plug so can't make use of the preset, but cheers for the offer. Do you remember offhand what settings you were using, broadly speaking?

My normal tack would have been to try some subtle eqing or compression on the individual tracks, rather than the master mix. Is that ill-advised? I'm not too familiar with sidechain compression and am unsure what the benefits are over standard direct compression. Does it allow greater subtlety and control? I'll have to do some googling when I have some time.

These days I'm mostly using Tracktion which, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't support sidechaining. (I used to soldier on with Cubase VST 5 until it got too frustrating.) But I did recently buy eXT, which seems to allow all sorts of routing possibilities. I'm having persistent trouble getting the program to run stably, though, which has discouraged me from exploring too deeply; hopefully my machine won't be as allergic to eXT 2.

I can show you a few dynamic techniques I know you'll use and love...going by your style.
Just ask.

Definitely. I'm all ears.

[annode]

Hi Barnadine.

Here is my custom preset for Leaves;

Here is the mp3 with the comp mixed in; (for those who want to compare)
http://home.comcast.net/~newdabranck/mu ... ession.mp3
Here is the original;(no buss compressor)
http://artistcollaboration.com/~barnadi ... Leaves.mp3

You can get the "marquis" demo if you like.
These settings in another compressor may not sound the same...also considering the marquis has parameters unlike others.
---------------
Tracktion 2 does allow,and provide plugins for sidechained compression.
Here is a kvr thread speaking of sidechaining in traction;
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... in#1938935

For your style of music Barnadine,sidechain can come in handy.
The end product is the compressor...but...with a sidechain circuit,you have much more control over what freq range of the program/track is being compressed and when and how much and for how long it is being compressed.

For example,if in a vocal track you only wanted the compressor to compress a freq range between 250hz - 2khz when that level went beyond a set,specific threshold in the compressor,you can do that with sidechaining with EQ. The actual effect that you are doing is called "ducking".

Looking at the marquis pix above;
The marquis has the ability to accept sidechain signal imputs.(being keyed.See key button)
How this would work;
-Using a vocal track for example...make a duplicate vocal track.(voc2)
-Insert marquis comp into voc1 track plugin insert.
-Route audio from voc2 into marquis key imput.(need to learn how to do that in tracktion)
-In marquis,turn on "key"button which inserts voc2 as the modulation control signal.
-In marquis,turn on "monitor" button to hear voc2 signal as it is heard after being processed by EQ in marquis.(any key input goes through marquis EQ section.This is where you hear and determine what freq range,when it reaches the set compressor threshold,will start compression.)
-Turn off EQ "monitor" button.(voc2 is not meant to be heard,but to only be used as an input control signal to the comp.As to turn it on and off sorta.)
Hope that is clear.
----------------
You say you are weary about using compressors because of how you hear them used at kvr is no reason not to use them!
When compressors are used not as an effect,but as a corrective tool and a tool to "musically" enhance material,they are wonderful tools,and can be the difference between a so so mix and a pro sounding mix.
Actually,if a compressor is used properly,as they were designed and intended,you don't hear them.They should be transparent.
----------------

My normal tack would have been to try some subtle eqing or compression on the individual tracks, rather than the master mix. Is that ill-advised?

Absolutely not.
If wanted or needed,individual track compression can be much more surgical to your specific desires.
A master buss compressor,when setup as such,can do things the track comps can not.
For example,like in the comp mix I did with "Leaves",you hear how the "mid" level" material mixes smoothly with the higher level material and peaks that have now been brought down to the mid level.
You can hear how you don't get a squashed sound,but a smooth mix where the vocal and the music move and sit together.
Track comp will not do this.(actually,if each track comp is set for this outcome,you can do it in the tracks)This buss compression technique is considered a mastering technique.
---------------
In tracktion you also have the plugs to experiment with "upward compression"(upcompression)
Considering the Nicky Ryan style that happens somewhat in "Leaves",you can use upcomp to achieve that effect effortlessly.
Too much to go into to explain upcomp here...but it the noticable expansion effect Enya uses much of the time.
Upward compression and expansion are terms used interchangably.
Expansion compression is more then just Enya...check into it...it's a great tool.

To finish,I believe whether to use or not to use a mastering compresson technique falls in a realm of it's own. Whether one hears it to be more pleasing and musical with or without compression rather depends on how well the mixing tech can tell what is musically appealing.

[annode]

Wow. Cool tune!

Haaaaaaaaaaaaa !

[core]

Beautiful track!! Thanks for sharing

[Musicisbest]

I found this tune both inspiring and very beautiful.
Thanks for sharing.

[Barnadine]

Thanks, folks.

Cheers for the details and advice, annode. I'm still on Tracktion 1, but I don't think the T2 upgrade affected the rack filters much, so sidechaining should be possible. Probably time I actually opened the manual. Have cut-and-pasted your advice for later.

You've had good experiences with the Marquis?

[Shane Sanders]

I love all your stuff. Very soulful.

[annode]

You've had good experiences with the Marquis?

Actually I haven't had alot.
Except for a few features,it's really not different from many compressors.It is a good comp.
One good aspect about it,it works well as a mastering/bus comp.Many others are not up to that.

For free vst I can't say enough about the "Slim Slow Slider" dynamics vst's.
http://www.geocities.jp/webmaster_of_ss ... l#autogate

[Caleb]

Barnadine. I've never got around to telling you this for some reason, but I'm a bit of a fan of your music.

This one is lovely.
I like the dissonance in this and I've always loved your melancholy.

Have you ever thought about putting together a CD?

Regards
Caleb

[Barnadine]

Shane and Caleb - thanks for the kind words. I have immense respect for people who can sit through more than one of my songs, let alone enjoy them.

Have you ever thought about putting together a CD?

I'm hoping to release an album under my own name at some point. Life tends to bung distractions in the way, but when I write a song that strikes me as better than my usual guff, I earmark it for the album and tuck it away. I have about half an album's worth of unheard demos on the pile now. If I ever get around to releasing anything, I'll probably make a little announcement, either here or on my webpage or in sky-writing above a deserted stretch of the Pacific.

Thanks again.

[Barnadine]

You've had good experiences with the Marquis?

Actually I haven't had alot.
Except for a few features,it's really not different from many compressors.It is a good comp.
One good aspect about it,it works well as a mastering/bus comp.Many others are not up to that.

For free vst I can't say enough about the "Slim Slow Slider" dynamics vst's.
http://www.geocities.jp/webmaster_of_ss ... l#autogate

Cheers for that, annode.

[diverdee]

nice track.

[Barnadine]

Cheers, diverdee.