analysis

jiltloop

hey guys, i haven't got into mastering at all or compression or anything just wondering if you could give me any pointers as to how i could sonically improve some tracks....

my website is www.myspace.com/jiltloop

the main song i would like you to give input on is plump plum, bear in mind that it is a rough song made in reason 2.5 with no mastering or eq or compression done whatsoever. also any input on the other tracks is welcome. by the way cillit bangin is a take the piss track
p.s any advice on structure is welcome also

seannash

first off the myspace player is going to make even the best sounding track sound worse than it actually is.can you post a streaming link or something.even upload it to z share at the highest bitrate you can

studiorat

Well you could turn the drums down I think. That open hat is getting in the way. I like the synth sounds...

When you say you haven't got into eq or compression etc. Do you mean at the mix stage or are you talking soecifically about mastering?

Mixing it's prolly best to try get the song happening just using the faders and the pan controls. Then you can worry about sculpting the sounds with eq and working with compression and all that shiznit. Actually compression should be kinda low on your list for mixing, most of those instruments have little dynamic range, you are using it to shape the envelopes of the sounds.

jiltloop

seannash wrote: »

first off the myspace player is going to make even the best sounding track sound worse than it actually is.can you post a streaming link or something.even upload it to z share at the highest bitrate you can

unfortunately i won't be able to post up a song until next week

jiltloop

studiorat wrote: »

Well you could turn the drums down I think. That open hat is getting in the way. I like the synth sounds...

When you say you haven't got into eq or compression etc. Do you mean at the mix stage or are you talking soecifically about mastering?

Mixing it's prolly best to try get the song happening just using the faders and the pan controls. Then you can worry about sculpting the sounds with eq and working with compression and all that shiznit. Actually compression should be kinda low on your list for mixing, most of those instruments have little dynamic range, you are using it to shape the envelopes of the sounds.

yeah at the mix stage, i might use a bit of eq if there is a problem frequency or if i feel a certain range of frequencies need a bit of beefing up but as for using eq to make each element of a song fit into its own space on the track, i'm at a loss.
thanks for your comments by the way

dav nagle

jiltloop wrote: »

yeah at the mix stage, i might use a bit of eq if there is a problem frequency or if i feel a certain range of frequencies need a bit of beefing up but as for using eq to make each element of a song fit into its own space on the track, i'm at a loss.
thanks for your comments by the way

Sign up here and upload a full quality MP3: 320 bit rate

http://www.fileden.com/index.php


Then copy the direct url of your upload to here

http://www.layoutmyspacecodes.com/myspace-mp3-player.php



Copy info to my space and 'happy days'

studiorat

dav nagle wrote: »

Sign up here and upload a full quality MP3: 320 bit rate

http://www.fileden.com/index.php


Then copy the direct url of your upload to here

http://www.layoutmyspacecodes.com/myspace-mp3-player.php


Copy info to my space and 'happy days'

Very clever...
+1

seannash

eh if you had a file that you uploaded to your myspace player,take the same file and upload it to z share

jiltloop

seannash wrote: »

eh if you had a file that you uploaded to your myspace player,take the same file and upload it to z share

yeah i don't have that file on this pc unfortunately, me and my music pc are living apart for a little while

studiorat

jiltloop wrote: »

yeah at the mix stage, i might use a bit of eq if there is a problem frequency or if i feel a certain range of frequencies need a bit of beefing up but as for using eq to make each element of a song fit into its own space on the track, i'm at a loss.
thanks for your comments by the way

Think of it kinda like a jigsaw, if two things are fighting for the same space you could try and scoop something out of one rather than boost the other. Don't forget to keep switching back to bypass all the time to make sure you aren't making it worse and do it in the mix rather than soloing something on it's own.

studiorat

jiltloop wrote: »

yeah i don't have that file on this pc unfortunately, me and my music pc are living apart for a little while

make it available for download from myspace?

jiltloop

studiorat wrote: »

make it available for download from myspace?

that was the plan but for some reason myspace isn't letting me download my songs at all. frustrating, thanks for the other tips though, that makes sense, i probably do too much boosting sometimes when scooping out would be a better solution.

jimi_t

Learn to use an EQ. If you can, get some form of spectrum analyiser and see whats competing against each other. @ 3:10 the high frequencies are clipping severely.

Side chain your main melody line to your bass drum using a decent compressor, it'll help the tune 'breathe' a bit.

Use a bit more variation on that main 'jittery' synth - an LPF automated by an LFO might be an idea, but play around.

Depending on what you're hoping to achieve I'd work on the song structure itself a bit - doesn't have to be verse, verse, chorus, verse fade (or A, A, B, A1, B1 fade) but at the moment it comes across as a bit disjointed. Work the sliders - if you can, throw the stems into ableton and feck about doing house-style group mutes.

The best bit of advice I'd give - and one which I'll almost certainly be mauled for - is NOT to use reason as a DAW. Rather, re-wire it into a proper DAW and use it as a modular studio/instrument.

jiltloop

jimi_t wrote: »

Learn to use an EQ. If you can, get some form of spectrum analyiser and see whats competing against each other. @ 3:10 the high frequencies are clipping severely.

Side chain your main melody line to your bass drum using a decent compressor, it'll help the tune 'breathe' a bit.

Use a bit more variation on that main 'jittery' synth - an LPF automated by an LFO might be an idea, but play around.

Depending on what you're hoping to achieve I'd work on the song structure itself a bit - doesn't have to be verse, verse, chorus, verse fade (or A, A, B, A1, B1 fade) but at the moment it comes across as a bit disjointed. Work the sliders - if you can, throw the stems into ableton and feck about doing house-style group mutes.

The best bit of advice I'd give - and one which I'll almost certainly be mauled for - is NOT to use reason as a DAW. Rather, re-wire it into a proper DAW and use it as a modular studio/instrument.

thanks this is definately good advice. yeah i will need to start using cubase or reaper in the near future. i'm in the process of moving right now and tryin to get a little bedroom studio set up. i invested in a few hardware synths this summer so thats gonna force me to change how i make songs and will mean i will have to use a decent DAW for recording audio.
and yeah i'm never confident with song structure, i find it hard to make it sound fluent and natural. possibly its because i get a little lazy and use copy and paste a bit too much when sequencing the track out. need to stray a little from the safety of loops.
cheers!