First Track Posted

[DCB]

This is the first track I post.
Totally not finished,
just eager to get feedback.

http://www.myspace.com/62675985

[SimplyStated]

eerie deep. I liked it. Some low end in the kick was distorting. Fat sound , though.

[Guillaume]

Yeah as stated above! Very nice and very deep! Some of the elements are probably too loud (or too bassy) and that's why you're getting distortion in parts. Good work!

G*

[WalterM]

dcb, i agree with simplystated and guillaume: your musical ideas are wonderful, and that's what counts the most.

the distortion sounds like it could be coming from not just the volume or bassyness of some of the parts, but probably also their peaks. try taking a look at the meters of your individual tracks in cubase or logic and see if any of them have occasional spikes that are around 4 to 6 db's above where most of that track lies (where the musical gist is). then throw a compressor on each of those tracks with peaks (not to squash the shit out of them, just to tame the peaks, so that they still have space and 'breath' and sound like they do now). this should all boost the perceived level of the other elements in your mix, like your drums and percussion, so your elements sound louder but still sound how you want them to in terms of how they sit relative to eachother in the overall mix.

another thing that's really helped me: if you have waves' PAZ Analyzer plug in, throw that thing on your stereo bus (after any other effects) and keep it open and visible all the time. in the metering section, set the low end to 20hz and for the monitor type chose RMS instead of peak; the RMS readout in the center meter is the one you want to keep an eye on and get the highest without your levels clipping.

hope this stuff helps some. it's a struggle for everyone, even the best engineers.

good luck! your music is sweet.

[WalterM]

hey, one more thing: the PAZ meter is also a great tool for studying other people's tracks that you admire or have a sound you're trying to shoot for.

take one of those tracks from a cd or whatever, drop it into your project, and solo it so you can see how it 'looks' on the PAZ meters. this can be a real eye opener and give you a more tangible goal for your own mix.

[DCB]

Hey thanks for the tips.

I work mainly on Reason 3.0 with a Juno-60 and a Radium 49 Controller.I really work hard at getting the right sound on reason. When I first started using it, I noticed that the sounds I was getting weren't warm enough.So, I really work at getting a nice smooth and warm sound.Especially on drums and percussions. I just bought protools but do not know how to use reason with protools.
Any tips on that. I heard that rewire is what I need.Would that do the job?

[WalterM]

hey dcb. not sure about reason and pro tools. i use reason with cubase, and that is 'rewired', but i use reason mainly for it's drum machines and rex player. virtually never mess around with the synths.

i do think you can only go so far with reason. i know people have cut entire records with it (milo i think) but it doesn't give you the same level of control as with third party plugins (like waves) and something like cubase or pro tools (if rewire is supported). i suppose you could use reason's compressors in it's mixer device, but i'm not sure how useful those are across a whole different array of elements.

but hey: it's what you got so give it a shot! just keep an eye on those individual sounds and their meters on your mixer, and you'll hone in tons on where you want to be. the paz analyzer and all that shit are just suggestions, and just passing along what's been working for me. but i'm a big advocate of not having tech envy or looking for that next big purchase to make your music. in your gut you'll know when you're ready for the leap. just listen closely to what you're doing and trying to do and you'll know.

another thing related to my earlier post about compression is eq. these are just basic things that you can do in reason or anything else. when you're making music is easy to fall in love with individual synth and drum sounds just on their own, so it's nice to hear them in their full glory, no eq to rob the highs, mids or lows. but when you're placing elements in a mix i find it's key to eq for the real heart of each sound, and lose the rest because it just takes up space in your mixes. you don't need bass in your hihats like you don't need a ton of highs in your bass (typically anyway). experiment with rolling off what's not needed for the character of each sound and see how it opens up everything else in your mix, and leaves space for all the things you want to hear.

always happy to hear what you're up so keep those musical posts coming. good luck and don't give up! engineering is fine art and it takes time and trial and error, and if your growing and learning simultaneously as an engineer and an artist you will learn tons: your music will effect your engineering and your engineering will affect your music and the way you hear things. it's awesome.

[DCB]

Thanks Dude.
Listened to your track on my space. Very cool.
Good luck to you to.

peace