Honestly..does this sound dated?

[djrmusic]

I keep getting rejects and the comment that bothers me is always "Song instrument sounds or samples sound dated or of a lower quality". I've invested in high quality samples libraries and the time it take to learn them. I'm using the cc controllers and different articulations so I'm really disappointed to get this type of feed back. If you have the time to listen and give some honest feedback, I'd really appreciate it. I'm always trying to get better and grow. Thanks. Here's the cue/song that was submitted. Reviewer #396 is a tough one!

https://www.taxi.com/members/qYq9DLuyTy ... h-one-step

[cosmicdolphin]

Dated ? No

Of Lower Quality ? Yes 100%

I suspect the issue here is you've got some good libraries which you've used pretty effectively to write your piece but then it's been completely undermined by a really poor mixing & production. When I listen to it on my studio monitors it sounds small, thin, quiet and kinda lo-fi. It's almost like listening to a 4th generation tape to tape copy of something.

What does it sound like if you bypass all your mix/master plugins? I imagine it might sound quite a lot better which is often the way in these types of scenarios.

One of the best ways to ensure your mixes remain on target is to grab a hold of the references and load them up into one of the popular A/B plugins like Metric AB , then you can level match them with your mix and hear how they compare. If you do this regularly as you build your track it should be obvious when your own is starting to sound thin or small etc.

Mark

[macomposer]

Yeah, I agree. This sounds like one of those scenarios where you're so into writing, producing, and mixing the track, that the tonal balance gets lost. A good piece of music, but it's just sonically out of balance.

A couple of ways I deal with that: Mark's aforementioned A/B of the references is #1. What I often do is add the track into a playlist of references and similar pieces and listen in an environment away from the studio. So, I listen to a lot of music when I'm out and about walking, and when my track comes up and it immediately doesn't just fit into the timeline of audio that I've been hearing, then I know that something's not right.

The other way to deal is to make sure that you give your ears time to re-adjust. These audio receptors on our heads are truly remarkable. but they need rest. If I work on a track for 12 hours, go to bed and get quality rest, wake up and re-listen, I usually can tell immediately if something is right or not. I don't mean that I immediately know how to fix what's off, but I'm getting better at that. The more you mix, the more you can hear.. To me, the bass here is too thin, and the mid range is too loud (or too high, however you want to say it...)

Just some thoughts - (Another) Mark