KVR Audio

pannewb · Post by **pannewb** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:21 pm

I try very much to
make my tracks sound the best with
freeware cool FX

but missing something I
feel I am. For songs by me
sound completely bland

so reveal your tips
for me to read about your
freeware VST

loomchild · Post by **loomchild** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:26 pm

Is it an "Haiku"?

waiting man · Post by **waiting man** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:31 pm

yeah, almost a lyric. fascinating.

pannewb · Post by **pannewb** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:33 pm

No, its a failed language experiment.

all my tracks seem to be missign somthing FX wise, or filters or something.

How much of a wonder can a compressor do?
case in point

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:35 pm

Something free is not intrinsically more 'bland' than something which costs money. So my tip is 'learn more about your tools and work harder with them'

snooky · Post by **snooky** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:37 pm

whyterabbyt wrote:Something free is not intrinsically more 'bland' than something which costs money. So my tip is 'learn more about your tools and work harder with them'

so, in other words...RTFM?

donkey tugger · Post by **donkey tugger** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:41 pm

pannewb wrote:No, its a failed language experiment.

all my tracks seem to be missign somthing FX wise, or filters or something.

How much of a wonder can a compressor do?
case in point

Well, everything is covered in some huge reverb, bound to be a bit bland. Try getting rid of a lot of it, and bring some sounds forward in the mix. Drums sound excellent by the way, just too bloody far away!

sonicsmurf · Post by **sonicsmurf** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:53 pm

Hi panneweb, and thanks for the poem dude.

Bland, you say? Mmh, so I know only one experiment for you (if you're on Windows): Download the free MjMultibandCompressor (sorry Mac version is not ready yet). Insert the thing in your master bus. Crank up the following sliders: "Master Drive", "Stereo separation", and "Compressor mode". Now listen to your sound. It should appear anything than "bland".
(adjust the other settings of this superb mastering tool until stuff sounds like stuff should sound).
Should you be unhappy
with music sounding bland
recommended is as well
the Spectralive thingy
an exciting eciter
to excite... stuff.

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Sat May 07, 2005 6:43 pm

Try Stardust from Arguru, That one really cleans up the mix through gorgeous Compressing.

pannewb · Post by **pannewb** » Sat May 07, 2005 6:50 pm

snooky wrote:
whyterabbyt wrote:Something free is not intrinsically more 'bland' than something which costs money. So my tip is 'learn more about your tools and work harder with them'
so, in other words...RTFM?

I have nothing against freebies, and I know that they are not intrisically bland (all of the Classic Series, tons of the stuff by Xoxos), its just that I feel that I am not using the the right stuff.

Perhaps in my state
musical implication
i overlook good

sonicsurf:
Nice plug! You make yourself?

sangha · Post by **sangha** » Sat May 07, 2005 6:57 pm

I thought that sounded pretty good. I wouldn't get rid of that tapping at the beggining of the song, but I would lower its volume.

The busy part does sound a bit cluttered, but I think there's one sound in there that is doing much of the cluttering. There's a percussive hissing sound, sort of like a cymbal (which makes me think it might be the sound of a cymbal or hi-hat run through some effect) that seems to be taking up a lot of space in the mix, but not contributing much to the song or it's groove. I'm wondering if all that high-end is masking the high-end of the other instruments, making it sound cluttered and less clear.

sonicsmurf · Post by **sonicsmurf** » Sat May 07, 2005 7:47 pm

pannewb wrote: sonicsurf:
Nice plug! You make yourself?

No. I sure did not want to give that impression. This great mastering tool was made by Magnus.

Why I like it: My mixes sounded, you guessed it, bland. I tried VintageWarmer, then I tried Spectralive (and bought it), then I tried Endorphin, Stardust, TLs Maximizer and others, then I found T-Sledge and liked how it completely changed my mix, but I was still not able to create that exciting "live concert" sound I had in mind. Finally, I found this free plugin and found it amazing and perfect. (and it has no fancy GUI - which I actually prefer because it helps me to listen instead of playing around with it.)

Reverse Engineer · Post by **Reverse Engineer** » Sat May 07, 2005 7:53 pm

Being a poor little monkey, 99% of what i have is freeware. My top ones are

1. Slim Slow Slider Cat Delay
2. Kjaerhus Audio classic Limiter
3. TLS Pocket Limiter

alibish2 · Post by **alibish2** » Sat May 07, 2005 8:23 pm

I really like Ruby Tube from Silverspike. It adds some lovely grit when you need it.

http://www.silverspike.com/?Products:RubyTube

Cheers

AB

M'Snah · Post by **M'Snah** » Sat May 07, 2005 8:46 pm

Maybe plugins will help...

Listening to this song I noticed first that the tapping in the beginning dominates the melody/arp (as sangha pointed out), but also that in the rest of the song the melody/lead is (IMO) too sweet/soft, and is dominated by the percussion.
If this were my composition I would try for a stronger lead, either by choosing a different sound (e.g. based on sawtooth instead of triangle wave), or add some grit (maybe rubitube, I use Voxengo Lampthruster (not freeware)), but you could also try Kjaerhus Classic EQ to give it more high, maybe combined with a bit of Classic Compressor to make it stronger... After that make sure that the lead and the percussion are more balanced in the mix, (cut a bit of the cymbals 10+khz), and mixdown to 24 bit

Another valuable piece of non-freeware: Bob Katz - Mastering.

- Disclaimer: I don't know your level of experience, but I'm a beginning amateur -

Freeware FX you regularly use?