Elvis Valentine Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Howdy folks, This is one of the bands I'm in at the moment. [url="http://soundcloud.com/the-bangkok-masons"]http://soundcloud.com/the-bangkok-masons[/url] These songs were all recorded in my spare room/studio over the summer. I would love to get some feedback on all aspects of these tracks but im expecting some fairly in depth bass criticism lol. Musical genre wise - alt rock, pop, country, blues, dance, punk. Sort off . I dunno. They sound better on some stereo/audio gear than others. Home demos. Cheers y'all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinball Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 (edited) Keep going I say. I like the sound and would happily watch a band playing this stuff live. I hear echoes of REM in some tracks. I don't feel qualified to talk about bass technique in depth but it sounds nice and tight to me. Edited November 8, 2012 by Pinball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thanks a lot Pinball. REM cant be a bad thing :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Not listened to them all, but 'It's not the Bomb ..' is the best mix of the 6 I heard. Good band, nice and tight, quirky but accessible. Cold Destiny does sound like a bit like REM! It's all good man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Nice one. Thanks Silddx. I thought were being quite critical and then i remembered that we have a song called Its not the bomb... lol The singer has often been compared to REM or J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr in the past. I can kind of see both of those. Cheers again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 [quote name='Elvis Valentine' timestamp='1352402452' post='1862684'] Nice one. Thanks Silddx. I thought were being quite critical and then i remembered that we have a song called Its not the bomb... lol The singer has often been compared to REM or J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr in the past. I can kind of see both of those. Cheers again. [/quote] No worries mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I really liked 'in the dark' good driving bass and an even mix. When listening to a new band, I usually ask myself if I would buy it..... and yes I would most probably buy that track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thanks Blademan. I appreciate that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Sounds bloody great to me! And really good for a home recording. To be honest I found myself listening to the music more than the mix, which is always a good sign. I'm definitely getting some shades of REM as already mentioned. And dare I say early Kings of Leon too? (controversial comparison maybe as some people hate them, but I love their early stuf). Your playing is very tight; the tone of your bass sound ace and everything fits together nicely in the mix. I'm listening on headphones (got no monitors) and some of the tracks do sound a wee bit 'muddy' in places - maybe try boosting the upper frequencies a bit to add some sparkle, or cutting the mid-range around 200-500Hz. But I tend to offer this advice a lot and am starting to wonder if it's actually my 'phones that are to blame!? Anyway, dead good. I'd pay to see you live no probs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thanks for the feedback Skol. Kings of Leon were a great band and im interested to see what they do next as the last 2 albums were pretty freakin weak really imho. But definitely appreciate the early KOL reference. I agree with it being a bit muddy . i was thinking of giving them to a friend to master and maybe he could add a little sparkle to the hi end. Thanks again man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s1ater Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Elvis Valentine' timestamp='1352412077' post='1862852'] I agree with it being a bit muddy . i was thinking of giving them to a friend to master and maybe he could add a little sparkle to the hi end. Thanks again man. [/quote] I dont think giving them to your friend to master will solve the problem. Things like this need to be tackled at mix level. Edited November 9, 2012 by s1ater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 [quote name='s1ater' timestamp='1352458778' post='1863269'] I dont think giving them to your friend to master will solve the problem. Things like this need to be tackled at mix level. [/quote] Correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Aye, perhaps not. I could really do with getting a semi decent pair of reference monitors. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) I feel Iike a voice of dissent I'm afraid. I think these mixes need a lot of work personally. There are a lot of compression artifacts on the drums; the snare is very heavily compressed, the kick has no depth, its choked by the compression, nasty cymbal pumping going on etc etc. Lots of washy cymbals and in some places heavy reverb, nasty since it over clutters everything. Have you run this straight into a brickwall limiter in an effort to get volume? If so dont, its ruined the mix completely. In fact the cymbals sound really trashy and nasty. The mixes are muddy and confused, that is, there is little or no seperation in the mix, the instruments are fighting for the same space in the mix (both frequency wise and in the space you have created - use the pan control!!!) a lot, the bass is a low mid rumble, the low end of the guitar and the mick are swamping it. All very confused. The vocals lack any finess in terms of mix, they are all muddy and indistinct. I know they can be made to sound better! Also there are a lot of tuning problems espsecially when the bvs/double tracking comes in. They should be the highlight of the song, not just another bit of the problem... Didn't enjoy the mix at all which is a huge shame since I think there are some really good songs in there! This whole collection needs remixing, no amount of mastering can fix this. Anyone claiming they can master the problems away is deluding you, ignore them! Just my opinion..... (sorry if it comes across a bit harsh, but its really what I honestly think) Edited November 9, 2012 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Hey thats what i was after, honesty. Cheers. There is very little limiting going on. I am by no means a pro (obviously lol) this is just a bedroom recording, albeit one that i am pretty happy with. The thing i think is that i have no real idea about e.q. so the have not really been e.q.ed other than a few slightly modified presets. And as i say i need better speakers i think. I know that you cant pollish a turd. Thanks for taking the time to listen. Any of the songs you thought were better than others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 [quote name='Elvis Valentine' timestamp='1352476181' post='1863599'] Hey thats what i was after, honesty. Cheers. There is very little limiting going on. I am by no means a pro (obviously lol) this is just a bedroom recording, albeit one that i am pretty happy with. The thing i think is that i have no real idea about e.q. so the have not really been e.q.ed other than a few slightly modified presets. And as i say i need better speakers i think. I know that you cant pollish a turd. Thanks for taking the time to listen. Any of the songs you thought were better than others? [/quote] Elvis, if you want to hear 51m0n's work to get an idea of just how much he knows and how his advice above translates into a real world mix, click the long Kit Richardson picture in my signature below and have a listen. 51m0n mixed our EP, he is a real engineer and he seriously knows what he's talking about, he has ace ears too.. Best of luck mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 I do not doubt for a second he knows his stuff Silddx. I have a friend who used to do the sound at the bush hall the link you posted reminds me slightly of a live recording he did of Imogen Heap there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 That is to say, its good i liked it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 [quote name='Elvis Valentine' timestamp='1352481862' post='1863711'] I do not doubt for a second he knows his stuff Silddx. I have a friend who used to do the sound at the bush hall the link you posted reminds me slightly of a live recording he did of Imogen Heap there. [/quote] Cool! Does it really sound live though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 No not especially, but neither did his Imogen Heap thing particularly. Just good. I think it does sound live - ish.(which imho is a good thing) I get the sense of a big space. I really like it. I suppose the obvious comparison would be (and in the best possible way, as i love her) Kate Bush. Y'know quite epic. But also maybe kind of like FOE as well in a more modern quirky pop/rock female way. Either way its good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Maybe I should do a blog post on eq next? You aren't by any means the first person to say on here that they aren't sure about how to go about using the tools at their disposal when mixing, particularly eq, it sort of comes second after compression as a bit of a mystery (hey at least you can hear it working!). To be honest mixing requires you know how to use only a very limited set of tools very well, they are:- Compression EQ Reverb/delay Pan Faders Automation That is all you absolutely need to be able to do a decent mix. There is a huge amount more you can do, and on the Kit Richardson stuff I got to go all out on a couple of those tracks with some serious warp factor 9 techniques to get things sounding like they did (cheers Nigel by the way, the cheques in the post ) at Kits behest, adn with her in control I hasten to add, she was well up for the mix trying to make as much of her songs as possible, which I hope it did. I was going to do a coupl eof blogs on mics and stereo micing techniques next, but eq may be more useful - what do you think?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Valentine Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 They sound great 51mon and they sound like you had a lot of fun with the mixing. As i said pretty epic, elaborate at times and interesting. I would definitely appreciate a little EQ lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 [quote name='Elvis Valentine' timestamp='1352499875' post='1864034']I would definitely appreciate a little EQ lesson. [/quote] Yup, me too! Especially advice on how to 'tame' the low-mids and downwards, as that's where I tend to have the most bother with my mixes. Bring on the knowledge, 51m0n! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Right you are then chaps. Next chance I get I'll put together something on eq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 ^ Cheers Si, you're a gent! PS: just been listening to your mixes of Kit Richardson - they sound frickin' great! [i]Really[/i] nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.