Getting that professional sound

[thedivys]

We are really proud of our production on our music.We have been told by most if not all the people at taxi that our productionis very good or excellent. Yet we feel it can be better.It doesn't measure up exactly as good as the store-bought cds.I know, these engineers and producers make millions to make them sound that good.Any tips? high end, low end, getting crisp clear sound?

[brandondrury]

I've heard your work. I thought it sounded fine from a sound quality standpoint. I remember hearing just a few issues with vocal delivery. Not necessarily pitch, but intensity. My advice is to not worry about production all that much at all. You've got that down. Keep on writing, recording, and promoting and the rest will take care of itself.I think, in general, too many people focus on sound quality and forget about the music. The music is the sound quality assuming any real studio guy is recording it. Most real audio engineers do not use the "sound quality" word because it's just not something a person thinks about. I mean, when I mix a record, I don't say "I'm going for ultimate sound quality". I mix a record because I'm going for maximum effectiveness. By effective, I mean that we get across the emotional intention of the artist. I mean the artist had an original intention for what he/she wanted their music to do. In mixing, we strive to obtain that and that alone. You mentioned "crisp, clear sound" but most big boy records are done on Neve or other colored mic pres that don't jump out as being "crisp" and "clear". It's all an issue of perspective, I guess. One last thing, a lot of this modern mega hyped sound (which I'm not too fond of) is done in mastering. Records are very thin sounding overall compared to what they were 10 years ago. I think that has to do with the loudness wars.Brandon

[og]

Brandon, do you mean that if you can keep the noise down, not do anything stupid with fx, and it sounds good to your ears, it probably is?

[augustheat]

Quote:I've heard your work. I thought it sounded fine from a sound quality standpoint. I remember hearing just a few issues with vocal delivery. Not necessarily pitch, but intensity. My advice is to not worry about production all that much at all. You've got that down. Keep on writing, recording, and promoting and the rest will take care of itself.I think, in general, too many people focus on sound quality and forget about the music. The music is the sound quality assuming any real studio guy is recording it. Most real audio engineers do not use the "sound quality" word because it's just not something a person thinks about. I mean, when I mix a record, I don't say "I'm going for ultimate sound quality". I mix a record because I'm going for maximum effectiveness. By effective, I mean that we get across the emotional intention of the artist. I mean the artist had an original intention for what he/she wanted their music to do. In mixing, we strive to obtain that and that alone. You mentioned "crisp, clear sound" but most big boy records are done on Neve or other colored mic pres that don't jump out as being "crisp" and "clear". It's all an issue of perspective, I guess. One last thing, a lot of this modern mega hyped sound (which I'm not too fond of) is done in mastering. Records are very thin sounding overall compared to what they were 10 years ago. I think that has to do with the loudness wars.BrandonBrandon:That was so well put, that I'm just going to let your comments stand on their own...