Best way to fatten up and add punch to my tracks? Sounds too spiky

[Diegel]

Even with UAD-1 1176 compression on a lot of the tracks and ssl duende stereo bus compressor it still sounds too spiky. I want more punch and fatness and less spikiness. Yes I know the levels are off but put that aside for a moment. Wondering what some opinions are on the best way to do this.

[ptbarnum]

outboard compressor?

[amishsixstringe]

Sounds more like you could use some EQ and harmonic distortion. I don't know if an 1176 would be my first choice to reach for as a tool on this song....maybe on the vox in conjunction with an la2a....which I would use as a fattening distortion generator just about everywhere on this track. How's your room sound? I'm guessing it might be a little boxy making you over compensate on cutting the lower mids a bit, but I'm listening on a laptop, so I could be hearing things a little weird. Just my 2 cents.

Neil

[Kiwiburger]

A bit of Melodyne/Autotune in places ... I agree with the eq and distortion comments. Starting with the bass. There are plenty of tools to achieve this - plugin or analog hardware, what's your budget?

I would also tend to use some delays/reverb to get some more depth & space, which would tend to make it less in-yer-face.

[Noize919]

tape!

[u b k]

it has nowhere near the amount or style of compression and distortions that other music of this ilk usually has. levels are uncontrolled, balances are off, panning seems non-existent.

tape and analog compression on the gear side.

real instruments on the performance side.

layering and instrumentation on the arrangement side.

panning, balances, and squeeze on the mix side.

just slapping a distressor on the vocals would open your eyes to what we're all talking about.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[sedohr]

May I suggest tape plug-ins like DUY tape ? Or even better, a real reel.
Kalli

[Jack Ruston]

The SSL is not a 'rounding' compressor really. It will tend to accentuate bright attack in things.

J

[vernier]

Spiky is the gear, which isn't tubes and tape.
'

[Kiwiburger]

Bollocks

[Mr.HOLMES]

Spiky is the gear, which isn't tubes and tape.

Once again I am mixing by now in the 6 th year and the best advise I had by a very experienced engineer was:

It is less about the gear you use and more about your skills and mixing-experience!!! It is all about your creativity maybe the Equipment you use is 5-10% causing you mix.... your skills are more important.

You also can get a warm sounding and punchy mix out of a DAW.
Who is saying this is only possibele with real tubes and real tape is a GEAR-IDOLIZER and not believing in his own skills/ears anymore.

My advise for you::

The VOX sounds to me very poor recorded and the singer is not as good in the higher notes as in the lower. Try to advise him not to go in the higher register and record him new. A poor recorded lead vox makes the whole track poor.

Try working on your skills reading books and use gearslutz as information base.
Gearslutz helped me a lot and I am happy with the most advises I still get here THX!!!!

Did you had the SSL Mix Bus Compressor in the Mix Bus from the early beginning on?
Is it just smoothing out or working hard to the mix BUS.

Destroy your mix and mix it new have some mixes in the arrange window which you really adore. Compare your mix progress as often as you can to these files.....ask yourself how they have done this.

If you have not a technical base read this book the best I ever had in my hands while I was learning....and I am still learning this is funny in audio you can learn and learn and it is never getting boring.

[Diegel]

Originally Posted by Mr.HOLMES

The VOX sounds to me very poor recorded and the singer is not as good in the higher notes as in the lower. Try to advise him not to go in the higher register and record him new. A poor recorded lead vox makes the whole track poor.

What about the voice sounds poorly recorded? I actually thought he was too close to the mic which was about 3 inches away. I would have liked him about 6 inches away. But what do you hear is bad about the vocals. There is also a good amount of low cut , 1176, and pultec hi boost on the vocals so maybe thats what you don't like. Also the mic is a neumann tlm 103. He tried out my pearlmann tm-1 but he preffered the neumann. He said the neumann blends him with the track better whereas the pearlman makes him sound more separated.

[Diegel]

Originally Posted by u b k

it has nowhere near the amount or style of compression and distortions that other music of this ilk usually has. levels are uncontrolled, balances are off, panning seems non-existent.

tape and analog compression on the gear side.

real instruments on the performance side.

layering and instrumentation on the arrangement side.

panning, balances, and squeeze on the mix side.

just slapping a distressor on the vocals would open your eyes to what we're all talking about.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

what type of distortions? what type of compression? levels being uncontrolled I think has mostly to do with their performances and of course it is somewhat fixable with automation but I would rather them hear this back so they can hear how off they are dynamically with each other. Also what do you mean real insturments? They are playing real instruments. I have been thinking about getting a distressor. Should I get two or can I get by with one? I am on a limited budget. Thanks for the help and to everybody.

[Mr.HOLMES]

What about the voice sounds poorly recorded? I actually thought he was too close to the mic which was about 3 inches away. I would have liked him about 6 inches away. But what do you hear is bad about the vocals. There is also a good amount of low cut , 1176, and pultec hi boost on the vocals so maybe thats what you don't like. Also the mic is a neumann tlm 103. He tried out my pearlmann tm-1 but he preffered the neumann. He said the neumann blends him with the track better whereas the pearlman makes him sound more separated.

Yes a good example it is not about a Neumann it is about skills and experience.
You can have the best Equipment if you do not know how to get the best out of it it is worthless to you.

The VOX sounds in my listening environment awful.
Why are you so aggressive I just tried to HELP!!

If you do not like HELP go on and make your day yourself.

[Diegel]

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

I agree with the eq and distortion comments. Starting with the bass. There are plenty of tools to achieve this - plugin or analog hardware, what's your budget?

Like what? My budget is limited but if it is worth it I will go the extra mile.

[Diegel]

Originally Posted by Mr.HOLMES

Yes a good example it is not about a Neumann it is about skills and experience.
You can have the best Equipment if you do not know how to get the best out of it it is worthless to you.

The VOX sounds in my listening environment awful.
Why are you so aggressive I just tried to HELP!!

If you do not like HELP go on and make your day yourself.

Just the opposite I very much appreciate your help and everybody's help. I am not sure what you mean about me being so aggressive. This is I think where things get misconstrued with written words over the internet. But anyway now that you mentioned it I would very much appreciate it if you make a suggestion that would improve my skills rather than just blaming them.

[DAWgEAR]

My vote is to look into your room acoustics/monitoring situation.

Maybe I'm off base, but I'm willing to bet you already have enough gear and tools to get your mixes sounding a lot closer to the way you want. But you are chasing your tail until you can trust your hearing and decisions.

Something to consider.

[Mr.HOLMES]

Originally Posted by Diegel

Just the opposite I very much appreciate your help and everybody's help. I am not sure what you mean about me being so aggressive. This is I think where things get misconstrued with written words over the internet. But anyway now that you mentioned it I would very much appreciate it if you make a suggestion that would improve my skills rather than just blaming them.

So maybe a problem with Forums...
Send me your E-Mail address and I will give you a PDF that will help improving VOX recordings.

You should also Treat your room behind the Speakers with "Dope Traps" look in the Forum there is a Plan how to build them. This will improve your mixing the MOST!!!

Andreas

[davedarling]

hey Diegel -

I think your recording sounds fine. Keep doing what you're doing, and your mixes will get better.
I would suggest , and these are personal preferences only - turn down the snare a few db, ride the vocal levels for consistency, and find some bottom on the bass.
As always, a good reference cd of similar material to copy is a great tool.

good luck - Dave Darling

[SIMS Audio]

Diegel,

I'll throw in my 2 cents. I think you've got the vocal way too high in the mix is one of the reasons its stands out so much. Also the vocal seems pretty dry while everything else has a good dose of room/verb. Maybe try to blend the two approaches a little better. Also the bass level seems to go in and out at times. Maybe try a little more compression or some automation.

Also, I noticed you said that you let the singer make the mic decision. In my experience its best to work together with the band to make collective decisions. Obviously they hired you for a reason (hopefully your skill and experience) and it seems a little funny that they would not use your experience with the mic and how it would be mixed in the decision making process of which mic to use. I would think that a TM1 would blow out a tlm103 just about everytime on vocals. I'm sure you probably agree.

You've got a good start and with a little more polishing you can have something you're proud of. Good luck!

cheers!

[gearmaniac]

liked the song. also tell the band they need some sort of synth. also i took the liberty of messing around with your track listen to it now.......

ok... well here is your mistake: inadequate levels, eQ and compression.

Do you know how to use automation???
Your vocals don't sound bad!!!!! THe drums actually sound really good. What I did to the track you could do to each separate track inside the DAW. You just gotta try to make things bigger, mainly with eQ. Compression is more like glue.... CONTROL!!! over sudden jumps and very low spots. Your bass does need lower harmonics, get waves plugin Rbass for that. Your Guitars need to be a little bigger in the 1.5-2 Khz range. and need compression. The ssl plugin on the main buss is very nice as well.

p.S make shure to erase the lip smacks in the beginning, very noticeable when he licks his lips !!!!

one more thing to those who want to comment when they listen trough there laptop speakers. Don't!!!!! Listen to it through some headphones at least before commenting!!!!

hope u liked it!!!

[Blast9]

Hmmm - gearmaniac - Now the bass sounds a bit weird with the room sound and distortion - the harmonics make it sound a bit bloated, otherwise an improvement with the comp and room on the vox

-

Anyway - I agree with all comments - drop them lead vox and use a bit of verb.

The acoustic gtr could use a de-esser if you wanna keep it so crisp - otherwise don't hi pass it so much, and cut the treble eq thumbsup my 2 pennies

[gearmaniac]

sorry i forgot to put a high pass filter on the reverb. and forgot to put a low pass on the r bass. SORRY!!!!!!

[Blast9]

thumbsup

[Diegel]

Wow check this out guys. I just got V-tape and tried it out for the first time. Its on just about every track except for the vocals. The only thing I am worried about is it may sound a little bit lo-fi right now but I am really liking how it evened everything out and smoothed it out so it sounds a lot fatter now and not so spiky. It just sounds like I lost some clarity along the way. Comments are much appreciated. Thank you.

[Diegel]

bimp