Re: Hypnotic Lies - more strings + pop

[andreh]

Hey Songwriter-Another really cool tune! Very catchy and emotional, and nicely performed. Unfortunately, your mix needs a lot of work; there is an overabundance of upper-midrange and some lower-high frequencies, similar to your other mixes. Are you A-B'ing against commercial releases as you mix? Pull up some Coldplay and listen back to back with your tunes...if you're not hearing some big differences in the 3-8kHz range, then your speakers, your room, or your ears are holding you back.Your music is good enough to warrant you either investing in the equipment or ear training to move your mixes forward, or paying someone else to mix your tunes so they can get the attention they deserve.Andre

[arkjack]

I've only experimented with this a little in my own studio... I too really like the song... very cool tune...Are you playing the string parts together on one or two tracks with a similar synth setting? Try playing each part as an individual part single string.... violin 1, violin 2, cello, bass, viola... as each part would play it individual... then set up a space in both the pan field and the frequency range for each part to own.... Andre told me a little trick by doubling the part setting it to the opposite side with delay.... and if it sounds thin at that point... try a pad underneath to add artificial harmonics.... the separation of each part also allows you to control some dynamics... soloing out different parts in fill spaces... Just some thoughts, and paragraph 6 section I(B) (4) (e) (ii) applies... my mixes suck and I may not have a f***ing clue what I'm talking about... especially compared to Andre...ArkJack

[dgolding]

Got to agree with Andreh here. The whole song sounds, for want of a better word, toppy. I think the eq on the vocal has a lot to do with it. When I sing, I have to add loads of processing and eq just to try and make it sound anything like acceptable. You, on the other hand, have a very distinctive and musical voice. I'd like to hear it more natural, less eq etc.Love the song though! As I was listening to it, it struck me that perhaps a less dense string arrangement would suit it too. Something like an 'Elanor Rigby' treatment.Anyway, great job on the song

[mazz]

Very nice song. Your music has a lot of potential.I'm listening on my small computer speakers here at the day gig. They are crappy speakers but I've heard a lot of music on them so I know how to hear through their deficiencies.What I hear, as Andre mentioned, is an abundance of frequencies in the 3-8 Khz range. While a frequency spectrum picture is educational, it is only one tool in the toolbox. The most powerful tools in your arsenal live on either side of your head and, of course, your brain, which ultimately is the main signal processor.If you were to do some cutting on your piano, strings and guitar at those frequencies, I think your mix would sound warmer and the voice would cut through better on the verses. I thought the strings were distracting from the voice on the verse, again, not beacuse of overall level necessarily but because of the similarity in the level of the upper overtones between the voice and the strings. During the chorus the mix sounded OK to me but maybe a touch too bright overall.The caveat is, of course, my speakers, and I wouldn't make critical decisions on them but as a real world reality check, I wouldn't hesitate to use them. In fact, if you don't have them already, get a set of powered speakers, similar to the ones that ship with computers these days, and give a listen on those as well. Comparing your mixes to mixes of artists that are similar to you on these speakers will be more valuable, IMO, than looking at a frequency spectrum graph.Keep up the good work. Mazz

[andreh]

Mazz is right...a spectrum analyzer is of very limited use for this application for a number of reasons:1. A badly balanced song may average out to match a well-mixed song; imagine a vocal that's way too bright combining with a guitar part that's way too dull...only a set of ears could really tell there's something out of whack.2. A time-averaged chart can't account for short peaks in frequency energy that may be out of balance.3. Although this chart makes your song look close in frequency balance to the reference track, it's really quite far from it even on paper. Consider that in mastering, EQ cuts or boosts of less than one decibel are applied to correct perceived tonal balance, and notice that there are differences of several dB's in your chart in many places.I use spectrum analyzers to identify serious technical problems in audio signals (peaks above/below a speaker's playback range, DC offset, phase issues, stereo or 5.1 balance), but they're not as useful on full tracks as they are occasionally on individual tracks.AndrePS - Be sure you're checking your mixes on a good set of headphones in addition to through your speakers, since room issues won't come into play this way (though phase issues will be masked since the L/R channels aren't interacting with one another, and closed-ear proximity effects will skew your perception of bass at higher volume levels).