Guitar/Indie'ish sort of tune

[chrisby]

I like the guitar sounds quite a lot. The effect as a whole is kind of 'raw rehearsal tape', here. Very much in your face for a rhythm guitar bit.

Well, thanks, and thanks for all your input... honestly how it came out is a lot (a whole lot) different then it started. The initial riff was very much more a heave/distorted sound with the chimey Jag sound envisioned as the sort of much less dominant sound. I just couldn't get that sounding right so it became what it did. On top of everything I saved and then lost what at the time sounded like the sound I wanted for the heavy guitar. I don't know crap about getting a good guitar sound (pretty obviously). Guess that's what I get for years of noodling and never actually paying attention to figuring out actual good guitar sounds. Oh well...

[seismic1]

I just played this on the main system here - LOUD. It may be that you just need to cut the EQ a little on the Jag, or maybe a simple volume cut would do the trick.

Hmmm, so, if it's not painfully obvious (and I suspect it is) I really don't know a lot about mixing/mastering. I've read a bunch, watched tutorial vids, and try to hear it all (which may be part of the problem, I have some hearing loss from a life of surfing in cold water) but it seems the more I change sometimes the worse things get.

For it being too loud, first it was really quiet, then I used IK T-Racks and a preset and it got super loud with all the dynamics squashed to nothing (wav file just basically filled the screen when viewed). The limiter at the end of the chain was at -.2db (which is where I left it) but the gain coming out of the other components in the chain were set pretty high. I dialed them back until the wav file looked normal and that's where it ended up. So...

Would your suggestion then be to dial back the limiter from -.2db or to work more with the gain from the other components (or just dial back the Jag)? It all feels like a house of cards!

And thanks for the input...

When I said "LOUD", I meant that I had the volume turned way up on my system, and was not referring to your mix or dynamic range.

I use T-Racks myself and have found the Linear Phase EQ to be very useful for performing tweaks to the overall frequency spectrum of a track. I don't use it for drastic changes (usually for no more than a 1dB cut at a particular frequency range. Having said that, If I wanted to change the sonic characteristics of a particular instrument, I would seek to do that in the mix (on the individual instrument channel) before mastering.

In T-Racks I use the Master #1 preset as the basis for my tracks (electronic stuff), and try to ensure that the peak level on my master bus when mixing/rendering is between -5dB and -9dB. That gives me enough headroom to ensure that I don't have to spend too long tweaking the mastering parameters later. I can usually complete the mastering of a track within 1 hour and often within 30 minutes.

I hope this info helps.

[chrisby]

Liked your track! funny, I just clicked on it because I just posted an indie-flavor song myself with the disclaimer of recognizing that the kvr cafe' seems to get utilized, predominately, by artists in the 'electronic hemisphere' (whatever the flavor - IDM, EDM, industrial, dubstep, etc)...i'd hoped my inclusion would be tolerated;-)

So after reading your post, I, particularly, would be remiss not to investigate further

But on to your song - So the guitar line is great, I love the chime, ringing and the color of the chords in the verse. The effects in the bridge are good too. I don't at all mind the amount of space the guitars take up, in this genre, they well should! I like the vocals too - the treatment, the occasional squawk of distortion. I'd like to hear the main vox supported with more prevalent back-up's - maybe falsetto mults (like during the 'do-do-do-do-do').

The drums seem a little back to my ears, or the guitars and vox a touch too forward. I'd like to hear a more present snare and a little bit of a low end thump on the kik drum, that said those toms may be a little too forward, or maybe if you haven't yet, try carving a little out of them at around 330 hz, maybe try hpass them at 30-40 hz too. only suggestions

Bass is pretty good. You could add a little more low end if you wanted, fill up that space. actually, maybe the cumulative low end can be added in your mastering session to give both the bass and kik more ooomph. ...which then begs the question - during mastering, did you put a highpass filter on your entire mix to carve a away the low end so you could achieve a 'louder' finished master? I am listening to the mix and its perceived loudness is above and beyond most, so I had to ask.

A well placed tambourine hit layered over the snare during the louder - vamp sections might help show delineation in your arrangement too.

Overall, good song - makes me want to pull out my Abandoned Pools and Sunny Day Real Estate CD's, pretty good production and good on ya!

Thanks for the positive comments and for checking it out. I just gave it a listen with your observations in mind and can pretty much see all your points regarding the levels. I'll try the eq on the toms as well... they're pretty much unprocessed as are all the drums across the board. As far as the high-pass question, don't think I did but used a t-racks preset so it may have. I'll look, but if it's there it wasn't by design.

Honestly by the time I got to that point I really had listening fatigue I think. Lost all objectivity even though I really only worked on it 1-2 sessions a week due to work constraints. It's funny, for the drum levels and eq hearing someone else say it now it's pretty clear but by the time I finished I guess I'd just gotten used to it so didn't notice.

Again, thanks very much for the tips and taking the time to comment...

[chrisby]

I just played this on the main system here - LOUD. It may be that you just need to cut the EQ a little on the Jag, or maybe a simple volume cut would do the trick.

Hmmm, so, if it's not painfully obvious (and I suspect it is) I really don't know a lot about mixing/mastering. I've read a bunch, watched tutorial vids, and try to hear it all (which may be part of the problem, I have some hearing loss from a life of surfing in cold water) but it seems the more I change sometimes the worse things get.

For it being too loud, first it was really quiet, then I used IK T-Racks and a preset and it got super loud with all the dynamics squashed to nothing (wav file just basically filled the screen when viewed). The limiter at the end of the chain was at -.2db (which is where I left it) but the gain coming out of the other components in the chain were set pretty high. I dialed them back until the wav file looked normal and that's where it ended up. So...

Would your suggestion then be to dial back the limiter from -.2db or to work more with the gain from the other components (or just dial back the Jag)? It all feels like a house of cards!

And thanks for the input...

When I said "LOUD", I meant that I had the volume turned way up on my system, and was not referring to your mix or dynamic range.

I use T-Racks myself and have found the Linear Phase EQ to be very useful for performing tweaks to the overall frequency spectrum of a track. I don't use it for drastic changes (usually for no more than a 1dB cut at a particular frequency range. Having said that, If I wanted to change the sonic characteristics of a particular instrument, I would seek to do that in the mix (on the individual instrument channel) before mastering.

In T-Racks I use the Master #1 preset as the basis for my tracks (electronic stuff), and try to ensure that the peak level on my master bus when mixing/rendering is between -5dB and -9dB. That gives me enough headroom to ensure that I don't have to spend too long tweaking the mastering parameters later. I can usually complete the mastering of a track within 1 hour and often within 30 minutes.

I hope this info helps.

Heh, yeah, guess I just misread... I took it as "It's LOUD" where "it's" isn't there at all. Funny. That said I think I even used the same preset in t-racks though tweaked as mentioned. I thought it was preset to -.2db and honestly I kinda have no idea about mastering and kinda figured that "Master 1" preset on the Master track was in lieu of making a separate mastering pass. So yeah, I appreciate your info/tips very much. Reading and watching vids helps but getting peoples input on my actual effort make a lot bigger impression and brings home a more direct cause/effect lesson. So again thanks for the input!