Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound

[ORC]

Attached is a tune that I engineered back in 2007. This track was mixed by Chris Lord Alge, and mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

[JohnnyReverb]

what a presence of the voice. also im really diggin the refrain!

nice work

[ORC]

Vocal Chain was Korby kat system with c800 capsule, Chandler Ltd1, old 1176 blue stripe. I think CLA overcompressed that vocal.

[laboso]

Very intimate sounding voice, also nice separation and clarity.

I like the song

[laboso]

Originally Posted by ORC

Vocal Chain was Korby kat system with c800 capsule, Chandler Ltd1, old 1176 blue stripe. I think CLA overcompressed that vocal.

You right on that but I think it sounds good with her voice and this particular song...

[JohnnyReverb]

yay, i think a female vocal is just easier to compress. word to loboso, it sounds very good so.

[ORC]

I think Tom's mastering on this track is fantastic! Plenty loud, yet still dynamic. Wish i could have been there to watch him work.

[c00kiemonster]

The Vocalist reminds me of Jordin Sparks

[phild]

Originally Posted by ORC

I think Tom's mastering on this track is fantastic! Plenty loud, yet still dynamic. Wish i could have been there to watch him work.

I've worked with Tom a number of times - & watched every move.

Guess what? Still have no clue what he does.

He's takes chances and has a great natural feel for music - that's the hard part to learn.

One of the best ever, imo!

[GYMusic]

Love the song. The mix is way over the top for me. I had to listen to the beginning three times before I realized that her notes on beats 3 and 4 were not distorting on the right channel, but it was a cello or string sample that competed with her notes. Very distracting. IMHO, this mix does not do the song justice. I felt beat up at the end.

[ed littman]

Nice song & performance.
At first I was also distracted with the amount of compression on the vocal, but got used to it pretty quickly. I was hoping to hear more of a dynamic build in the chorus section but this was handled very well in spite of the loudness.
Good team- good work,
Ed

[ORC]

Originally Posted by c00kiemonster

The Vocalist reminds me of Jordin Sparks

The vocalist IS Jordin Sparks. I agree with many of the above comments. I think CLA's mix is way over the top for this tune. It certainly isn't what I had in mind when we were tracking, but hey I'm not the producer or the label. They chose CLA, and they had every right to. I do think Coyne did a fantastic job mastering.

[jackthebear]

Originally Posted by phild

He's takes chances and has a great natural feel for music - that's the hard part to learn.

I don't think you can learn feel........you develop that.....it's in all of us.....

[Mark D.]

Great engineering on your part. Quality mastering. It translates well, even on smaller speakers. Good mix, it has familair CLA aspects some are not fond of and others like. Heavy compression, it favors the midrange. While the vocal still sounds nice (it helps having an amazing singer) it stands out a bit much from the rest of it. Especially in smaller and / or mono playback systems. Minor quibbles. It is what you'd expect for contemporary pop today.

[jdg]

i love tom's work.

[duvalle]

this sounds awesome on my laptop speakers!
(and that's what counts for pop these days :-)

good song, good voice, good engineering, good mixing, good mastering, good everything.

[blusound]

Hi,
the production is great and the mastering is excellently well balanced and a great nuance but a little more overcompressed for me.
I don't know if it's an mp3 conversion problem but the song is constantly over 0 dBFS even setting the peak meter with 9 consecutive samples to report an over scale.
Best regards
Leo

[jeff_free69]

Originally Posted by ORC

The vocalist IS Jordin Sparks. I agree with many of the above comments. I think CLA's mix is way over the top for this tune. It certainly isn't what I had in mind when we were tracking, but hey I'm not the producer or the label. They chose CLA, and they had every right to. I do think Coyne did a fantastic job mastering.

Nice job! ( so is this who Taylor Swift has been ripping off

I take it that once you recorded the tracks they were shipped out to CLAnd. Did you get a chance to hear the mixes before mastering?

As pointed out, the vocal is a bit out front with that presence boost. But the more I listen the more I like it. You have to allow for artistic choices here. With lines like " When I feel you close to me - everythings where its supposed to be" it just brings some intimacy to a pretty big production .

BTW my folks tell me its been a "fun" winter out in Omaha ( guess its been everywhere).

Anyway, its nice to hear something out of there besides Manheim Steamroller and "Convoy"

10-4 Good Buddy!

[dotl]

Everybody likes it?! I don't like it...Toooo much of compression! Excellent song and performance but...sounds nervous, aggressive. I like the song so much that I would listen to it 20 times now (even tho I don't like the genre) but i can't cause the sound of it makes me so nervous.
It's a shame... Sorry ORC, but i think that your work is ruined! Hah...the big names..although probably it's wasn't the ME's fault.

[ORC]

I didn't get to hear the track after the hard drives left Omaha, that is until Jive sent me a couple of copies of the final product. Don't get me wrong CLA is excellent, and has been really hot for quite a while now. I'm certain though that he would not be my first choice to mix a tune of this style. When I found out he was going to be mixing, I was kind of excited, and kind of scratching my head at the same time.

[Sqye]

.

Sounds awesome, man.

Great song, arrangement, recording - and I love JS's voice.

Wonderful, congrats!

.

[kosmokrator]

well, this song is aimed at the mainstream radio.

For that, the mix is very very good.

[SCHROEDER]

Originally Posted by ORC

Vocal Chain was Korby kat system with c800 capsule, Chandler Ltd1, old 1176 blue stripe. I think CLA overcompressed that vocal.

beautiful! a/d converter? thanks!

peace

[I.R.Baboon]

Good grief, this is painfully distorted.

[sat159p1]

If there's million usesr here, it will be million of different comments. That's why mastering is very subjective topic. Of course it can be *badly* done but I've heard it only few times in professional market oin the last few years (let's say rock thing like new Metallica, Blink182 "TOYPAJ" which is jus PAINFUL for ears - way too much high spectrum, and Offsrping "Consiracy of One" - good sounding album but too much compression, just extreme pumping effect all the time).

Personally I dig this master, it's very good, clear, modern sounding. But you don't know is that a matter of mixing or mastering. maybe this sound is 95% mixing, 5% mastering? so, will you credit mastering enginneer for that "goods"? or the mixing guy?

[Rev. Eslam]

As someone who has met the God of all gods, I am not impressed by "big name" mixers, engineers or producers (except perhaps Alan Parsons ) so the fact that Mr. Alge mixed this track means very little to me.

All I know is that whoever is responsible for this production could learn alot from 1970's recordings by Cat Stevens, Chinn/Chapman, ELO and similar artists.

Mr. Albini certainly would be impressed either. That's for sure. tutt

[ORC]

Originally Posted by SCHROEDER

beautiful! a/d converter? thanks!

peace

Apogee A/D 16

[Rev. Eslam]

Obviously, I meant Steve Albini would NOT be impressed since he abhores songs where "the vocals are loud and the band is barely audible".

[Steab]

Where's the sub? Did you ask mr. alge?

In my opinion this overcompressed trademark cla style fits bands playing trendy radio-pop-punk great but not this particular song. I'd enjoy it more with more dynamics.

[Waltz Mastering]

Originally Posted by Rev. Eslam

I meant Steve Albini would NOT be impressed

Probably not his cup of tea, although I'm not sure what that has to do with the price of rice in China.