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[canada]

Hi.

I'm in the process of starting to mix my band's album and I'm having trouble mostly because I wrote and recorded all of it.
And because I suck at mixing.  Our budget doesn't allow another set of ears until mastering unfortunately... it's non-negotiable as we have a tour and SXSW in March coming right up.

We have a weird kind of sound and I'm having trouble getting perspective because my ears are shot.

Was recorded with Nuendo, I'm wondering if my money wasn't better spent on a different platform but meh.  We have an assortment of shit gear, like Audio Technicas, Radial DIs and a Motu interface.

Any criticism is helpful, thanks!

http://www.myspace.com/satellitelot

[Podgorny]

I think you're psyching yourself out.  Your band's sound is unusual, so you don't have a standard by which to judge, like you would with a more straght-forward rock or pop group.  So, from my standpoint, having never heard you before, the stuff sounds great.

I could offer my personal opinion on sounds, or even offer to mix a song for free, just to give some perspective, but I don't think you need that.  

Think of Flaming Lips.  I think the fact that their records are unique sonically, helps define their sound.  The stuff I heard on MySpace sounds like YOU.

So yeah, keep doing what you're doing.

[rankus]

Yep, I agree.  Sounds fine ... your beating yourself up over nothing.  Be proud you did a great job.

PS:  Don't bash on Nuendo... We have operatives everywhere... (And it works just fine as a DAW) (Proven by your recording!)(LOL)

[gatino]

good stuff! get an investor or several, work out some deal.

[j.hall]

it sounds like it wants to be something really cool but is hiding behind the curtain of "lo-fi".

lo-fi can be cool, but not very often and when it is cool, it's typically something very well done, just "trashy" sounding.

you need to "vibe it up" sonically.

sometimes the best mixes are the ones that don't make any sense.  or at least certain elements don't make much sense until you bring all the other things into the mix and put the puzzle together.

dave fridmann (flaming lips producer/mixer) is a master at this.
tchad blake as well.

the first step is to learn the room you are working in.  cause the mix might sound stellar in there, but horrible every where else.

my biggest comment on the current mixes (on myspace) would be the lead vocal is not happening.

the performance is great.  the EQ, compression and effects are off, IMO.  get that right and everything will fall into place.

remember, there are no rules for injecting vibe.  try panning all the drums hard left and smashing the crap out of them with compression.  see what that might force you to do with other elements.

[Tom C]

[speaking about 'Up against the far...']

I like this style a lot, but I think you should work on the vocals
a bit more.
What I would change:

• try to isolate the male vocals in the center a bit more, make  them louder and give them a bit more punch.
• I'd double the female vox and pan them hard left and right

In general you could use the stereo image better, your drums
come all exactly from the center, and doubling and panning
the guitar like the female vox is worth a try, too.

[pg666]

my biggest gripe would be that a lot of the effects/synths sounded like factory presets and sort of 1 dimensional. buss sounds together.. distort them.. compress them.. add ring modulator.. just something to give them a sense of musical purpose. early '80s Colin Newman is a good reference point for what i'm getting at..

i agree with others about the vocals.

[canada]

thanks for the comments, guys!  really appreciate it.  like I said, these are what-I-have-thus-far-mixes.  luckily, I don't have to pay tons of money to play around with them as much as I need to.  I'm excited to try all your suggestions... especially about the panning (which is something I used to overdue ALOT, so I'm gun-shy and have been "keeping it real" which isn't working!) and more in-depth effects (I haven't been using presets, but I also haven't been trying to recreate a Quincy Jones production either, maybe I need some Quincy in my life).

you guys re-inspired me!  

[Tom C]

canada wrote on Tue, 14 November 2006 01:53

especially about the panning (which is something I used to overdue ALOT, so I'm gun-shy and have been "keeping it real" which isn't working!)

You can't overdo panning, but you can pan the wrong instruments.
Have a look at Terry's 'Whatever works' forum, Terry is a big
friend of hard-left/center/hard-right paning.

This never worked for me (there was always some kind of hole in the
stereo image) until I listened to some of his recordings and
understood some of the basic ideas behind it.

[Edit because of spellllingg]

[j.hall]

i can't remember the last time i "soft" panned ANYTHING.

it's hard left or right or dead center.  that's it.

[Podgorny]

j.hall wrote on Tue, 14 November 2006 23:00

i can't remember the last time i "soft" panned ANYTHING. it's hard left or right or dead center.  that's it.

I still don't get this.
Of course, to be completely honest, I don't get a lot of the things Terry Manning preaches.

If I want to create an interesting stereo field, it seems perfectly normal to pan things all about.  Not to say there isn't an intelligent order to such things.  I just like hearing the toms move from left to right, without being at the far end of the stereo spectrum.

I guess it comes down to personal preference.

[j.hall]

i didn't start doing this by terry's suggestion.  i've been doing this for a while, just never paid much attention to the "habit".

if i need something to balance across the field i'll typically send it to a bit of verb or delay that only returns to the opposite side.

[wwittman]

ditto, I almost never put anything anywhere but left, right, or centre.

[craig boychuk]

I dunno man, hard panning the toms?

Harsh tokes.


-craig

[mattrussell]

i sent you a PM.