Criticize My Track

[Duncster94]

So I just finished a track that I have been working on, on and off for a few months. Still, no matter how hard I try, with all the tweaking, little tricks and fastidious adjustments I still can't make my track sound even moderately close to professional quality.

Once again, I recognize I have volume issues. Even though I've almost used up all of my headroom with the track peaking at 1 and 2 dB quite often, I sense that there is about a 10-15% decrease in volume when compared to professionally mixed tracks.

I'm also lacking clarity. This track isn't "tight" by any stretch of the imagination.

So, does anyone have any criticisms for this track? What did I do right? What did I utterly fail to do? Please, don't hold back. Rip me apart, I can handle it.

Here it is: https://soundcloud.com/smm-sideproject/carpark

EDIT: This was the reference track I used and the polished feel I was going for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0PInYG ... e&index=20

[ccDuckett]

Well, for one thing, it's difficult to critique something when you're not sure what is a creative choice (aka "I want it to sound like that") and what is considered short of the mark (what did you wish it sounded more like?). Yes, I have a general notion of what most people mean when they talk about something "not sounding 'professional' enough", but one producer's "sparkle and thump" is another's "lack of presence in the mids"..
Do you really want various internet strangers telling you conflicting flavors of "Needs more this. Less of that." ?
PS Yes, I own stock in a quotation marks factory.

[Duncster94]

I edited my original post to include the reference track that I used. You can certainly hear the difference in quality.

[ccDuckett]

Ah, much appreciated. First off, the mix of timbres seems well done for the style you're going for- but there does seem to be the typical mixing boo-boo of fader creep.. you've got some cool parts, and (this can be especially sneaky with more atmospheric parts, subtle pads etc.) as layers are brought in during the mixing process, you think "The detail that I worked so hard on in track x is getting buried, let me try bringing it up a bit (or maybe doing some EQ tweaks around it)." What ends up happening in a track/style like this, which needs plenty of room for those drums to help that melancholic sparseness and bigness, is too much fighting for room. The kick sounds a bit overcompressed, the shaker/brush hats a bit too forward. The main vocal also seems too forward in parts, as it comes in at the halfway mark when the listener's expectations for overall levels have been established. Anyway, this is all merely my opinion, I certainly don't have unquestionable expertise , but were it my project, the first thing I'd do is take any/everything off the master buss, select all tracks, and drag those faders down 12 dB- and just listen to what doesn't sound right with it at that point. Hope some of this helps..

[manducator]

Hey Duncster,

I'm a hobbyist, no pro at all so I don't pretend that my comment will change your song into something that sounds the same as your reference track.

The reference track has a breakbeat, making the composition fuller in sound. It has more going on than your song. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it doesn't make it easy to compare.

The pro song sounds wider, you can achieve that in your song by using layering (and panning each layer sligthly) or the use of chorus (check out tal chorus for instance): http://kunz.corrupt.ch/products/tal-chorus-lx) or mid/side processing. Stereospreading on certain instruments of the song can be a big help too. My favourite spreader is MstereoProcessor (http://www.meldaproduction.com/plugins/ ... oProcessor)

I downloaded your song and put span (analyzer on it). I think it can use lots more high end, more pronounced hihats and it lacks a bit low end (the bassline and especially the kick could use a bit of tweaking, I guess). The kick sounds too thin, in my opinion.

To add depth to your song, you can use delay and/or reverb. I use 3 reverbs while mixing: a very short ambience reverb (for drums, bassline), a longer reverb, like plate for snare, hihats, synths and a long reverb for pads. This can really give depth to the end result.

Try to make your mix as good as possible. Don't think too much about loudness.

There are some thing you can do after your mix sounds like you want it to:

1. Parallel compression
2. Saturation
3. Soft clipping
4. Limiting.

Cheers,
Dirk

[JonasK]

great work. sometimes it sounds like you used the wrong settings on the compressors.
the reverbs sounds dope!

[Duncster94]

but there does seem to be the typical mixing boo-boo of fader creep.. you've got some cool parts, and (this can be especially sneaky with more atmospheric parts, subtle pads etc.) as layers are brought in during the mixing process, you think "The detail that I worked so hard on in track x is getting buried, let me try bringing it up a bit (or maybe doing some EQ tweaks around it)."

Right, I see what you're saying. I've noticed that my track lacks a fair amount of dynamic variation. I did add some light parallel compression over the entire mixdown during mastering. How common is it to apply PC to the entire track?

I downloaded your song and put span (analyzer on it). I think it can use lots more high end, more pronounced hihats and it lacks a bit low end (the bassline and especially the kick could use a bit of tweaking, I guess). The kick sounds too thin, in my opinion.

Wow thanks for the effort! I'm always wary of adding too many high-end elements or boosting high end too much because that was a common problem that I had with my tracks in the past. I agree that the kicks need work. I was going for a sort of low-end-only kick (kind of like an 808 with much less decay) but then lost that vision mid way through.

I have a problem with basslines in general (which is kind of ironic because I play bass guitar). I find that I usually add basslines to give a low-end "cushioning" kind of effect, rather than an instrument in it's own right. Might be something to work on.

[Chillzinho]

The reverb really does sound great ! What have you used ? I agree that the compressor settings could be tweaked imo ! But great mix so far ! KIU

[Duncster94]

The reverb really does sound great ! What have you used ? I agree that the compressor settings could be tweaked imo ! But great mix so far ! KIU

Thanks!

I'm not sure what reverb you're referring to. On particular instruments or on the track as a whole?

Most of the mid-high range instruments are either from FL Harmor or FL Harmless and I tweaked the plugin specific reverb settings - I didn't add any reverb effects to them.

Maybe you're talking about the delay effects? Those were done mainly on the vocals by manually taking slices and automating the panning and volume. I didn't use any delay processors on any of my mixer tracks, any delay you hear was done "by hand".

Let me know if I got your question right!

[cron]

Again, my music is shit so take with a ladle of salt:

I really want the kick and (particularly) the snare in this to have a bit more lower-midrange weight. If you listen to, for instance, the 909 snare, there's a really lovely 'dunk' noise around 200-300 Hz that I feel would benefit this track. The snare in your track is all highs - sounds like it's been quite brutally highpassed and doesn't quite have the impact it should.

[Duncster94]

Again, my music is shit so take with a ladle of salt:

I really want the kick and (particularly) the snare in this to have a bit more lower-midrange weight. If you listen to, for instance, the 909 snare, there's a really lovely 'dunk' noise around 200-300 Hz that I feel would benefit this track. The snare in your track is all highs - sounds like it's been quite brutally highpassed and doesn't quite have the impact it should.

True, now that you mention it I see what you're saying. I wanted the snare to have more of a "clack" sound, if that makes sense but I guess I missed the low end.

[wagtunes]

Well, to begin with, your samples, synths, whatever, just don't sound as good, especially the snare. There's has a nice body to it. Yours, not so much.

The pads are wider on theirs and more defined. Yours are dull and more mono.

Those are the things that are glaringly different. Plus your track is too "in your face" while theirs is more spread out. Oh, too much reverb on your pad and not enough EQ.

I don't really like the way the drums are mixed on either track but that's just personal style preference. At least theirs sounds better probably because of the better samples or better way those samples were processed.

I'm sure equipment might have something to do with this as well. Getting a pro mix isn't easy to do especially if you're working with a $300 DAW and free plugs.

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being professional, I give yours a 6, which isn't terrible. Trust me, I've heard much worse.

I'm not sure what else I can tell you. By no means am I a pro, and I can't make a mix that's pro quality either, though I am getting better, but I can tell the difference between something that sounds pro and something that sounds amateurish.

And for the record, that reference track, IMO, is at the bottom end of the pro scale. I really didn't think it was that great.

[Duncster94]

Oh, too much reverb on your pad and not enough EQ.

True, I didn't EQ as much as I should have. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the pad but I built my track around it, I probably should have enhanced it to make it less flat and boring.

Thanks for the help!

[Robmobius]

Hmmm.... it's kinda' hard to critique your art. But the track sounds pretty decent overall.

One or two things came to mind though.

That some of the vox are too loud in places and could do with evening some out the peaks (actually the whole mix could - it seems louder in places). Some of bus compression or gently limiting would help you out there (but be careful with limiting/compression because too much can flatten the dynamics).

And the mix as a whole sounds a bit woolly. This is easy to fix actually, basically do an WQ sweep around the 500hrz (approx.) and take out a narrow(ish) band. It will really help with the overall mix. Again, tread lightly... Just a few dbs or so (use ears to taste).

Maybe some of the reverb/delay tails are a wee bit long, they kind of eat some of the initial synths. But that's a taste thing.

Overall it's good. As to a professional standard? Hmm... that's a tough one, because there's a lot of pro bad mixes out there. So professional is a nebulous term. If you fix those things (and on some of the other feedback) then maybe do some work on the master bus (proceed with caution a little goes a long way). Then you will be a lot closer...

However, I'd be very critical of my own tracks at the same time... TBH I'm not sure if mine would be considered professional standard either.

I think it's better to make the music you enjoy and have a good tune. The craft will come in time. Plus, you can always go back to you old tunes and re work them. As I've done over and over again.