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Author Topic: Need professionnal ear  (Read 31413 times)

Reno

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Need professionnal ear
« on: October 07, 2010, 03:25:44 PM »

Hello Everyone

I'm a musician and I'm also a fan of mixing and recording. With my band,  we just released an album. The instrumental parts were recorded in a professional studio (10 days) in Belgium and the voices were recorded in a second studio (8 days). The mixing and mastering were done in the second studio in Brussels. The album contains ten tracks and they all almost sound the same. I have absolutely nothing to do with the production, everything was done by professionals, I just played my role in playing the drums. I am a regular at this forum (I'm a big fan of your projects IMP where I learn many things by comparing mixes) and although I am not speaking much, I know there are a lot of professional and experienced sound engineers here, and I would like their opinion.

So here's my request: Here is a link to a zip file containing the first three songs on the album.

http://www.4shared.com/file/0JxLHrSs/thestrawsforPSWforums.h tml

Can you please make your comments ... I let some of my impressions and questions for you to understand my approach.

1) We paid
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meverylame

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2010, 03:43:41 PM »

Well, off the bat I have to ask, did you guys have an outside producer working on the project?
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Reno

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2010, 03:48:10 PM »

Yes, we had a producer, the guy who mixed and mastered.

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grantis

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2010, 04:05:42 PM »

I've listened to the all 3 of the songs, and here's my gut reaction....

1.  That's a sticky question.  It depends on where the 17k went....if it only paid for studio time, then no, I don't think you over-paid.  If most of it went to a producer, then yes, it was too expensive.

2.  Yes, a bit cold sounding

3.  "Has been", I dunno.  "Has" this sound ever "been" the norm?

4.  I thought track 2 was a good song, with good hooks man.  All 3 of the songs were good in their own right, but the arrangements could have been tightened up, most especially track 1.  

My overall impression was: "this is a band who has invested time into their craft, and shows a bit of promise, but is still searching for who they are"

Don't be discouraged by my words, use them for motivation.
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Reno

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2010, 04:19:05 PM »

Thanks grantis!

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jonathan jetter

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2010, 04:21:26 PM »

i think it's a more complicated question.

overall i think the recordings sound solid.  the production does not blow my mind.  there are things i personally disagree with.  i've heard better sounding records but also heard many that sound worse than yours.

so.  no, i don't think $17k is too much to spend for what you're talking about (10 days tracking, 8 days vocal tracking, plus mixing and mastering time).  assuming you mix 2 songs/day, plus one day mastering, you're talking about 25 days total.  this works out to roughly $700/day.

having said that.....my real question is whether your band is at the point where you need to spend $17k on an album.  will this accomplish something for you that spending $5k on a 3 song demo would not accomplish?
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SingSing

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2010, 06:13:09 PM »

My short version.

The lead vocals sound strange.

A bit muffled.
A bit nasal.
Like it has a chorus, phaser or other modulation.

I would've mixed it differently.

The production, songs and sounds are fine, if that's what you're after.

The most obvious example of the lead vocal is in the 3rd song at 2:16. I guess you'll see what I mean.


All the best,
Stefan
SingSing
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Scott Featherstone

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2010, 06:44:41 PM »

I think the guitar sound is hurting it.
Don't get me wrong, I liked it, however I think the guitars are wrong.I feel it would have had so much more power if they had more body and weren't competing with the vocals.I also thought the vocals should be "bigger", but that could change depending on a different guitar sound behind it.
Hey man..just my 2 cents.I liked song 2 alot.
Maybe 2 more rythem guitars during the choruses to give it some "lift".The mix feels very static to me.Like the levels were set , and then not touched.
like I said man, just my opinion.I was diggin' it though.  Smile
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archtop

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2010, 10:20:39 AM »

Unfortunately asking this question is only gonna lead to grief for you.

So I'm gonna bite my tongue.





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Richard Williams

j.hall

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2010, 10:37:17 AM »

archtop wrote on Fri, 08 October 2010 09:20

Unfortunately asking this question is only gonna lead to grief for you.

So I'm gonna bite my tongue.



yup!

and, posting this means you are some level of unhappy.  Which, that alone, answers your question.
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Reno

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2010, 10:41:41 AM »

archtop wrote on Fri, 08 October 2010 09:20

Unfortunately asking this question is only gonna lead to grief for you.

So I'm gonna bite my tongue.



we just try to be objective... It's our music, so it's very hard to be objective...

we just try to draw lessons from this experience
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dconstruction

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2010, 12:03:38 PM »

If I had a client willing to spend $17,000 on a 10-song album project, I'd faint.  That's 10x what I usually charge.

But then, I don't have a Neve desk.

But then, I wonder if I need one.
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rankus

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2010, 04:26:19 PM »



I think it's a decent sounding recording.  And a good band!

For $17k you would have two to three months of my undivided attention, and we would have stacked the gtrs and vocals more... perhaps a little keyboards to fill things out... I guess what I'm saying is the foreground is pretty good but there is no attention to the background elements that set a "production" apart from a demo of the band... (Not that the mixes or performances sound like demos, they sound good) There should be attention to new elements being introduced at choruses for example.. If I had mixed it the gtrs may have been brighter.. (that's personal taste though)

Overall it sounds good, and as someone said above if the money went to studio time (rather than the producer) then all is good...


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Reno

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2010, 11:59:45 AM »

thanks
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Nick Sevilla

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Re: Need professionnal ear
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2010, 08:42:57 AM »

Reno wrote on Thu, 07 October 2010 12:25

Hello Everyone

I'm a musician and I'm also a fan of mixing and recording. With my band,  we just released an album. The instrumental parts were recorded in a professional studio (10 days) in Belgium and the voices were recorded in a second studio (8 days). The mixing and mastering were done in the second studio in Brussels. The album contains ten tracks and they all almost sound the same. I have absolutely nothing to do with the production, everything was done by professionals, I just played my role in playing the drums. I am a regular at this forum (I'm a big fan of your projects IMP where I learn many things by comparing mixes) and although I am not speaking much, I know there are a lot of professional and experienced sound engineers here, and I would like their opinion.

So here's my request: Here is a link to a zip file containing the first three songs on the album.

 http://www.4shared.com/file/0JxLHrSs/thestrawsforPSWforums.h tml

Can you please make your comments ... I let some of my impressions and questions for you to understand my approach.

1) We paid
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