making songs sound "good"

[satchvai]

is there any way to post MP3's on here...i looked at the EQ stuff and "fooled around" a bit with it and i think i was able to make it sound a bit better but I'd like to see what some of you guys think. Perhaps you're experienced ears would be able to point out some things that should be done sonically. It's a vocal song without the vocals added. what can i do? Also, i think i may order these http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/603706/ What do you think? They got better reviews than alot of the other ones. Also..are these the good "balanced" cables, or are there others you can recommend? http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/339035/


actually, i suppose these woulf be better since they have TRS inputs http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...603705/c_lv=1/

??

[chriswebb]

"Ability has nothing to do with it"

Maybe not, but talent does. You must develope the talent to record and mix-it's a little bit of science and a lot of art. Read everything, experiment, keep working, learn & listen and you will get there-someday.
Also, I've created great recording using cheap Radio Shack speakers-don't let anyone convince you that you must have great speakers or a great room to make a great recording-it simply is not true. Great speakers and a great room will help you make better mixes faster.
Truth is, if you don't have the money or resources for amazing speakers and room tweaking you must know your speakers and know your room in order to use them well. Before I purchased speakers that reproduced my recording accurately I had to play my mixes on every stereo system I could get my hands on and use each one to tell me one part of what's wrong with my mix. It was a long process but the end result sounded very good. And, there was no other option because I had no cash!
Learn all you can about Eq and how it affects your mixes-the most common mistake I see is mixing too much lows in the bass and too much treble in the cymbals. This is not always necessary and can cause the bad mixes that you're experiencing. Learn how to eq voices-how making them thin makes them cut through the mix-try rolling off the bass under 100k, try cutting 1.4k, boost 4k-or try the opposite and instead of boosting try cutting and vice versa. Each voice is a little different and maybe you'll tweak 4.2k or 3.8k or instead of 1.4k you'll tweak 1k or 1.8k.
These frequencies are magical-100k, 1.4k & 4 or 4.5k. If you know little about eq then start there. Solo a recorded channel and change one frequency at a time and get used to how cutting or boosing a frequency changes the character of a recorded sound.
With your guitar don't rely too much on the Pod. It's a great tool (I use one, too) but it won't fix everything. Record without effects-add them later-you'll get a cleaner mix that way. The Pod has a lot of low end in it so once you've recorded cut the lows (80 ro 100k) on your guitar as well as the mids (start at 800k)-you might find the guitars sit better in the mix now.
Do you know anyone who knows how to mix? Pick their brains, sit in on a session with them. That's such a fast way to learn.
Don't get frustrated and keep trying. This is an artform and takes time-but it's worth it.
Chris

[satchvai]

Well, i just ordered the Studiophile DX4's and two balanced TRS cables. I guess this will be very helpful?? I'm going broke here...almost 600 for the MBOX factory bundle and now 200 for speakers and cables. It seems odd to complain about that small amount but i am a graduate student with only a lousy stipend every semester! It sucks being poor!

[graveleye]

"Ability has nothing to do with it"

Maybe not, but talent does. You must develope the talent to record and mix-it's a little bit of science and a lot of art. Read everything, experiment, keep working, learn & listen and you will get there-someday.
Also, I've created great recording using cheap Radio Shack speakers-don't let anyone convince you that you must have great speakers or a great room to make a great recording-it simply is not true. Great speakers and a great room will help you make better mixes faster.

agreed Chris - for the most part. You do get what you pay for. The days of referencing mixes through auratones are over.. most of your cheapest consumer hi-fi systems are a million times more responsive that back in the 50s, 60s, 70's and even 80s, and you cannot have a half-*****ed mix sound good on that mono speaker in your old chevy anymore. There is a lot of merit in obtaining some good monitors to work with. Ask any pro out there in the field.

Knowing your speakers is also a large part of the battle. This seems obviously simple, but often it is not. A reference cd is a good trick. Play a storebought cd that you are very familiar with through your monitors. Get to know how it sounds. Work with your own music to make that sound. After a while, that should come naturally to you. Its all about practive.

I've been in many sharp debates about this over the years and it comes up time and time again. This is not meant to impune of belittle anyone whatsoever. Lots of people have been sold this notion that you can hook some junk up to your pc, plug in some wires and within a few minutes you are making music that sounds just like the commercial stuff and make lots of money and be famous and all. I hate to say it, but it isnt like that.
True enough, the industry has provided us some pro-sumer equipment that we can all afford for the most part, and this is a wonderful thing imho (although a LOT of pros disagree tooth and nail on this). But no matter what, music production is not plug and play. its far far from that. It takes and incredible amount of practice, learning, experimentation, failure and success. IOW, you have to work on it.
Things that the manufacturers dont tell you about getting a "good" sound... hmm. Lots. As in that even before hitting record, an engineer might spend hours and hours moving mics and gobos around to get it sounding "good"...and this is before anything even gets recorded... then there are hours and hours after that. It is not a hurried project.
Anyway, to the original poster - you are already equiped with your most valuable equipment and that is your ears. If it doesnt sound right, then try it again. Use your ears. Then give your ears some help, and buy some accurate monitors.

end of rant.

good luck dude... keep working at it. It takes a lot of time.

[spkguitar]

Well said, Kev, well said.

[graveleye]

I try Shawn, I try

[The Truffle King]

"Get your basics right, and then you can look into fixing your monitoring system and room correction etc."

To which I'd add: Get your levels right throughout your signal chain...that's critical. You own a decent amp? Spend 75 bucks and buy an SM57 and mic it...I'll bet the results are better than going direct. **Experiment, experiment**. Try different things, that's how you learn. If you keep at it, you'll hear improvement, without doubt. If it were me, I'd forget the monitors and spend a grand on one really good channel of preamp. I find a great preamp can make a cheaper mic sound pretty good, but a crappy pre won't do much for even a great mic. YMMV. Good luck and hang in there.

[madrock]

the first question you have to ask youself is "what (exactly) do you want things to sound like?".

without knowing this, i am flying blind but be that as it may, might i suggest that your recording everything direct could possibly be the source of your woes?

real drums, amps, cabinets, rooms and microphones can greatly influence results.

[madrock]

The days of referencing mixes through auratones are over

don't count your chickens yet, my friend.

trust me when i say that, in spite of my using both of these speakers regularly, 1031's, BM6A's and the like do not have a chance in hell of seeing the same life as NS10's and Auratones as reference points. (which, despite poular conversation, are still used daily as a reference on top of SSL meter bridges)

[graveleye]

My point was not that auratones are useless. My point is that consumer stereos are far better than the old days.
Auratones and the likes are for reference, but no one that I know mixes totally/solely on them.