So....they want it louder....when its already REALLY loud...wtf do I do....

[huejahfink]

I hope they are paying you properly for this!

[RARStudios]

Deleted

[Surbitone]

If that band wants to make money, they should be in finance. I've been in this position before, you'll feel much better when you f*ck em' off. Ungrateful little shites.

[DavieB]

Originally Posted by Surbitone

If that band wants to make money, they should be in finance. I've been in this position before, you'll feel much better when you f*ck em' off. Ungrateful little shites.

Hahaha

[SPORT]

Originally Posted by MikeyMike

This song will "Have" to be remixed.

+1000thumbsup

[heybub419]

Originally Posted by etcd32

Hey guys, checkin in for the night.

Lots of good info!

I am concerned though, personally, I felt the track was mixed fairly well, yeah, the kick is a bit slappy, and the bass is more blended with the guitars, but I wanted it to sound that way...I didn't want to be the main performer in these songs, they aren't mine (Well...now they partially are due to me producing and co-writing ) but still...

The compression on on the master is more of a glue, I also use a SLIGHT stereo enhancement tool that literally cleans ALL of my mixes up, once again, i stress SLIGHT. On top of that I use the psp xenon, SLIGHT eq and the Airwindows classic channel to bring some saturation. I felt my master was more to add taste. I don't like how weak some tracks sound, this sounds full (in my personal opinion)

Where did I go wrong in this? I have zero technical knowledge of this stuff, I taught myself from trail and error along with your guys knowledge!

-evan

I guess I'm just picky with compression. What stuck out to me was that the guitar would sound shaky as soon as the vocals dropped out. That's what I meant in my first two posts; if it wasn't for that guitar (and squishy kick lol), then it wouldn't be that bad.

But hey man, you really did alot for these guys (writing, producing, mastering)...they better be grateful!!

[Audio Enginerd]

Originally Posted by etcd32

Hey guys, checkin in for the night.

Lots of good info!

I am concerned though, personally, I felt the track was mixed fairly well, yeah, the kick is a bit slappy, and the bass is more blended with the guitars, but I wanted it to sound that way...I didn't want to be the main performer in these songs, they aren't mine (Well...now they partially are due to me producing and co-writing ) but still...

The compression on on the master is more of a glue, I also use a SLIGHT stereo enhancement tool that literally cleans ALL of my mixes up, once again, i stress SLIGHT. On top of that I use the psp xenon, SLIGHT eq and the Airwindows classic channel to bring some saturation. I felt my master was more to add taste. I don't like how weak some tracks sound, this sounds full (in my personal opinion)

Where did I go wrong in this? I have zero technical knowledge of this stuff, I taught myself from trail and error along with your guys knowledge!

-evan

We know you did this stuff for a reason, but you really need to take some of the great advice given here. Your room, monitors, the fact that you played most of the instrumentation, and/or your experience etc. could not be allowing you to hear clearly. Some of these guys are in great sounding rooms with great monitors and ears. The problems areas have already been stated. To me, the kick stands out first to me. It's too slappy and fake sounding. It draws too much attention and sits on top (not in a good way). The bass is too low there is a lacking in the overall lower mids and upper bass region. The Gtr has no bottom to it. That will keep it from kicking your butt when it comes in. You said you don't like how weak some tracks sound, but then you say that is sounds full in your opinion... To an unbiased, but experienced listener, it doesn't sound full. Full as in full spectrum (not Phil Spectre?). Fill those frequency gaps. Work on the tracks that you feel are weak. It will pound if it sounds round.

[RARStudios]

Deleted

[SSMastering]

Originally Posted by etcd32

Let me clarify, I felt the track sounded kinda bland, not weak. It may be the fact that I did record all the instruments too, so I have a biased mixing opinion. I meant it in a good way when I said I thought it sounded right but it was wrong. I finally found out that I like being wrong now because it leaves me opportunity to learn more.

It just takes engineering experience. No one is born a pro. I think you're on the right track.

How do I fix the kick and the guitars? up in the 100-300 range?

Kick could use more 70-75Hz for more of that low end punch, less 1k or so (or not.)
Guitars could use more bottom to give them some "guts" so they're not shrill sounding.

The problem is, the vocals I mix always sound like balls, so I cut everything at the 1000-2000 mark a slight dip, then up the vocals in that area....I swear I can't mix them in right and that is obviously the wrong way to mix vocals in.

Wouldn't exactly say it's the 'wrong' way. Just listen to a song by the Deftones.
Pay attention to how the guitars and vox are blended. That's how their records are mixed.
The vocals could just use some delay and/or reverb so they blend more.

These are ONLY suggestions. I have just mixed a lot of songs for rock and metal bands in the past.
I moved to mastering because I'm better at listening to the mix as a whole, instead of individual parts.

Finally, what the hell do people charge for doing all this stuff? I feel like I offer a lot more than just recording and producing. Or is co-writing 90% of an album considered producing? (No I didn't get paid for it like I should, I charge $85 per song, just upped it to $100...I want to build a resume before I start charging more due to me just starting recording others this month)

-Evan

You should charge the sh*t out of a band if you're having to do most of the writing AND performing, and that should be ON TOP OF the production costs that go into recording, mixing and mastering.

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by etcd32

Finally, what the hell do people charge for doing all this stuff? ... I charge $85 per song, just upped it to $100...

That would cover the first hour.

Alistair

[MarkRB]

Originally Posted by etcd32

How do I fix the kick and the guitars? up in the 100-300 range?

The problem is, the vocals I mix always sound like balls, so I cut everything at the 1000-2000 mark a slight dip, then up the vocals in that area....I swear I can't mix them in right and that is obviously the wrong way to mix vocals in.

The guitar sounds bad because I did something studio when I was bussing them, I was in a hurry and bussed the acoustic guitar to a phased track to the right of the mix, so it sounds shaky...

Once again, I cant spend more time on this, its more or less to help me in the future with any posts that add constructive criticism, I liked the posts so far and actually have learned quite a bit!

So thank you guys
-Evan

They are getting a huge bargain. Personally I think you are punching far, far above the $85 a track mark. Is that everything (recording/mixing and mastering)?
If so you could probably register as a charity.

All the sounds are pretty decent, the vocals sound good too, don't know why you are worried about them. The Lead Vocal is a dB or 2 too loud though, but it sounds good.

Getting a track to "Kick" (for want of a better word) is largely dependent on the bottom end.

There is a nice large hole in the kick drum's lo-mid that the bass would fit snuggly into, once you pull it down 2 or 3 dB that is(!).
But it's impossible to speculate how to fix a mix as everything is so interdependent.

Good luck man!

[Ari-M.]

Originally Posted by etcd32

Okay, so I produced, mixed, mastered an album...

Its loud...like...its to the point where if it goes up .2 dBs things start clipping (The bad kind). Its louder than any album on my computer. (I have over 6000 songs)

They want it LOUDER?!?!?

What do I tell them...Get new ears, your deaf?

-Evan

simple solution....turn up the master volume knob

[RedTuxedo]

I just had a second listen to the song. I'm not sure what I was hearing at first. I was not listening on my main system, that could be it.

The main thing I hear is the IMO the vocal is much louder than the music. It feels separated. Almost like a vocal put on top of a 2 track mix.

If you can mix it where the music wraps around the vocal better, I think you will get a bigger sounding master.

[echoRausch]

TT Dynamic Range Meter shows 7, RMS 9.5, Dynamic Range 7.4/7.1.

Enough room to get it way louder.

[echoRausch]

Checked it in my room now. Mix is ok (all a question of taste) except one thing:

The transients of the acoustic guitar are very hard and sound similar to clips.

This should be fixed and must be done at mixing stage (use SPL Transient Designer or something similar). It takes you just a few seconds to get a solution.

Then you will have absolutely no problems to raise the loudness as your customer wants it to be done.

[huejahfink]

^^ That's what I thought (about the guitar).
If anything I'd say it was the very high end of the guitar that's doing it. Maybe even a little shelf or roll-off would sort it out.

[echoRausch]

Stay away from trying to fix that with an EQ. The problem is a issued in dynamics, not in frequency response.

You have to soften the transients of the acoustic guitar. Nothing more, nothing less.

This should be done with the right tool. See above.

[RasCricket]

Yikes.

Man, heres your purple heart for even getting through the mix stage. Id be too distracted wondering if the singer was in fact a "thong" kind of guy or if he just straight up wears granny panties. Poor dude needs a testosterone shot.

Sounds like an effeminate version of Everclear. Yeah, its already loud.

[friforal]

Originally Posted by etcd32

Okay, so I produced, mixed, mastered an album...

Its loud...like...its to the point where if it goes up .2 dBs things start clipping (The bad kind). Its louder than any album on my computer. (I have over 6000 songs)

They want it LOUDER?!?!?

What do I tell them...Get new ears, your deaf?

-Evan

The whole thing is a joke so do what they want( and pay for!)