I think he means it the same way as when they say you should use a reference track sometimes.
I had (and still have at times) a lot of trouble with loosing myself in the sound when listening for a long time to it. So same thing, if you are working on a song that is your own, you can get lost in to it. If you know what you need to hear, you can hear it better then some one who doesn’t know. So maybe “imbalance” isn’t obvious to you at that point.
Even for free, you should suggest a contest for this. I think enough people would give it a go, even for the prestige alone Its still practice for any one, how good he already is. Especially to overcome the “issues” discussed here.
Yes, I do have established artist songs that I compare things to. This master is as close to their sounds as I have come.
In the beginning, I didn’t have a mastering app, was too scared to get my hands dirty and let the automated Landr mastering do the work… it mostly blew chunks. I only got brave enough at the beginning of this year to tackle mastering “hands on”. I immediately fell into the “loudness war” and there was no dynamics whatsoever.
Months and months of practice brought me to this point. The most I learned came from sending the Stems to a different song to an engineer half way around the world. Eventually, he nailed it and I learned so much in doing so.
Is there not a site where an artist can post all the Stems of a track for the masses to tackle and submit their renditions? I know I can upload them to Google Drive and post the link but, is there another way?
I have no clue man I am always the last one to know of such things. Still haven’t taken the time to check out dropbox hahahaha. I know its pethatic. But as long as I don’t need it, I’m always held back to get into it
But back to the mix. I think its more a mix thing. For me what I felt was that the keys where a bit to upfront so the rest didn’t came to its own. I don’t think arrangement wise there HAS to change anything perse, but maybe with some automation bring stuff to the forfront and back, and give them all a bit more or less attention at times.
Lately I’ve been wondering (but no time to experiment yet) if automated EQ could do that as well. I saw a video on the Fabfilter website that inspired me to do that. So the idea is that you can automate a very wide cut on the essential frequenties for a particular instrument, so that it goes from ‘more’ to ‘less’ up front. Back and forward on the spot you want that instrument to shine or back off a bit.
Maybe this could make your question/answer effect between frazing a bit obvious to bystanders ?
I’m not sure how you get your tracks approved for uploading or anything, but it’s a great resource.
If nothing else, maybe you could do your own contest here with “bragging rights” being the “prize”. Or maybe, if you liked the winning mix enough, you could give the mixer credits on your official release?
The big benefit would be that you can pick everyone’s brains on the different approaches they took and the techniques they applied. Everyone here is so generous with their knowledge, I think you’d get a LOT more out of it putting your tracks up here, and maybe even come up with a mix you prefer.
Heck, I’d mix them just for the practice and fun of it!
PS. Here’s a plugin that seems like it handles the side-chaining for you. It’s still on sale for $30. I don’t own it so can’t give you any sort of feedback.
Sorry it took so long to respond, I kinda got busy with stuff, but listened for another 30 secs (thats a minute in total, so far)
Ok, I dont want you to pay anybody, certainly not me. Many of the guys here would probably help you for free, just for fun, if you asked nicely.
I dont remember the last time I programmed drums, so I wasnt volunteering, I was just suggesting… maybe somebody wants to jump in.
So, as a general observation… somewhere in the chaos, the earth should still be turning, time should still be passing and its not really a bad idea to at least have some sort of ticking of the clock.
This will make the chaos relevant, the passing of time cohesive and a work of art can thus be judged accordingly.
Even a time traveller needs a point of reference sometimes.
Your music holds much promise, just lacks a bit of ‘glue’.
Its still practice for any one, how good he already is. Especially to overcome the “issues” discussed here.
