n3p5u5
  Artist
Topics: 31
Replies: 315
Registered: 11.Oct.04 |
Someone please tell me which one of these sounds better to you? I can't tell if I'm doing the right thing.
clip #1 & clip #2
9-second clips of the same phrase, one untouched and one where I tried to space out the instruments.
"I call architecture Frozen Music" - Goethe
"I hate music, it's got too many notes" - the Replacements
"Composers are always too quiet on their days off" - Mystic Ark
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1up
Artist
Topics: 129
Replies: 1022
Registered: 23.Jan.04 |
suspenlute wrote on 30 May. (12:54) :
Someone please tell me which one of these sounds better to you? I can't tell if I'm doing the right thing.
clip #1 & clip #2
9-second clips of the same phrase, one untouched and one where I tried to space out the instruments.
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Clip 1 is better. No doubt about it.
Second clip sounds thin and restrained.
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Nygen Dale
 Staff / Moderator
Topics: 68
Replies: 3617
Registered: 21.Jun.03 |
1up wrote on 30 May. (14:36) :
suspenlute wrote on 30 May. (12:54) :
Someone please tell me which one of these sounds better to you? I can't tell if I'm doing the right thing.
clip #1 & clip #2
9-second clips of the same phrase, one untouched and one where I tried to space out the instruments.
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Clip 1 is better. No doubt about it.
Second clip sounds thin and restrained.
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Me agrees 
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Atlantis
 Member
Topics: 84
Replies: 3227
Registered: 14.Jan.03 |
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Actually, I'm going to have to say that after.mp3 is more on the right track. before.mp3 does still sound better, but it has a lot of problems too. Mainly those low piano notes, which have harmonics stretching into the upper frequencies clashing with the backing strings to create a too blurry and muddy sound.
In after.mp3, you've cleary sucked out a lot of mids around ~200 Hz. This really separates the backing strings from the piano, also making the sound more distant, as well as making that glockenspiel-type sound more distinct.
Anyway, what I would probably do is cut some of the mids that the strings occupy (use a spectrum analyser to find out) on the piano to make the sound of it deeper, while also cutting some lower mids on the strings to make them sound a bit more airy and more realistic (could quite well mean a slight boost in the upper mids or ~15 kHz range as well, though generally don't boost more than you cut), though not as much as you've done in after.mp3.
Perhaps you could also give that glockenspiel-like sound some air frequencies around ~10-15 kHz? Or perhaps a boost a bit lower (around ~7-8 kHz), just to make it a bit sharper and more distinct.
In the end though, it all comes down to exactly what sort of sound you want to express, but some of the things I've mentioned would be a good idea to fix just to space the sounds apart a bit more.
Can you perhaps post the EQ settings you've used so far?
Atlantis [Atlantean Records - digital audio mastering]
mastering engineer/mixing engineer/multiband professor/eq professor |
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n3p5u5
Artist
Topics: 31
Replies: 315
Registered: 11.Oct.04 |
Hrm, I think I might be getting there. Thanks for the help everybody, especially Atlantis.
original clip
my first attempt
me doing what Atlantis suggested
And I have no idea what my original EQ settings were, they were just coarse tweaks on a 7-band equalizer. I went parametric on the third clip though, obviously. 
I think that does it for this particular tune.... new version uploaded
"I call architecture Frozen Music" - Goethe
"I hate music, it's got too many notes" - the Replacements
"Composers are always too quiet on their days off" - Mystic Ark
Download "Pixies Are Harmless" (MP3) |
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Xtatic
Member
Topics: 27
Replies: 778
Registered: 17.Aug.03 |
It still almost sounds the same. Eq a little more on the bass, it sounds like you've just runned it thru a filter vst.. The first, non-mixed is the best. Its much more 'big' sounding.
the other ones are slim and thin... |
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Atlantis
Member
Topics: 84
Replies: 3227
Registered: 14.Jan.03 |
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suspenlute wrote on 31 May. (15:27) :
Hrm, I think I might be getting there. Thanks for the help everybody, especially Atlantis.
original clip
my first attempt
me doing what Atlantis suggested
And I have no idea what my original EQ settings were, they were just coarse tweaks on a 7-band equalizer. I went parametric on the third clip though, obviously.
I think that does it for this particular tune.... new version uploaded
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Were you equalising the whole clip then? You should never do that, as that's for the mastering engineer to decide. You should be working with the individual elements (instruments) only.
Anyway, after_atlantis.mp3 still doesn't sound as good, and I notice you've boosted the bass considerably now (makes the piano sound even worse, to be honest), and the strings have had too high a mid frequency cut on them so they now sound thin. I was meaning to cut the lower mids to give them some space and air (more like ~200 Hz instead of ~500 Hz).
Oh well, I realise it must be hard if you're not really sure what you're doing, and equally hard for me to explain it.
What you want to listen for, though, is that when you combine all the instruments, do any frequency ranges overlap, and do any of the sounds not quite sound the way you want them to? Then you can go ahead and scoop out frequency ranges on some instruments to allow others to sit within this space rather than bunching them on top of it, and boost certain frequencies on instruments to let them cut through more.
Atlantis [Atlantean Records - digital audio mastering]
mastering engineer/mixing engineer/multiband professor/eq professor |
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xerxes
Member
Topics: 39
Replies: 551
Registered: 03.Sep.03 |
Phear the EQ professor!
Good job Atlantis. Now finish mastering my tracks hehe..
.x |
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n3p5u5
Artist
Topics: 31
Replies: 315
Registered: 11.Oct.04 |
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Were you equalising the whole clip then? |
Never! 
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Anyway, after_atlantis.mp3 still doesn't sound as good |
As good as what? If you mean as good as before.mp3, I might as well give up now and never use the EQ again if all I can manage to do with it is make my songs sound worse than they do out of the box.
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and I notice you've boosted the bass considerably now (makes the piano sound even worse, to be honest), and the strings have had too high a mid frequency cut on them so they now sound thin. I was meaning to cut the lower mids to give them some space and air (more like ~200 Hz instead of ~500 Hz). |
I didn't touch the bass.  But I actually like the string sound as it is.  I started this topic hoping I would learn something about eq-adjustment... and I did, but I've learned even more about people hearing frequencies in a completely different way. 
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Oh well, I realise it must be hard if you're not really sure what you're doing, and equally hard for me to explain it. |
Thanks for trying!! You're really awesome to share what you know in whatever way you can.
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What you want to listen for, though, is... |
Yeah that's what I've been trying this whole time  though I think I'm slowly improving.
"I call architecture Frozen Music" - Goethe
"I hate music, it's got too many notes" - the Replacements
"Composers are always too quiet on their days off" - Mystic Ark
Download "Pixies Are Harmless" (MP3) |
|
xa
Artist
Topics: 54
Replies: 2755
Registered: 08.Jun.04 |
suspenlute wrote on 31 May. (22:17) :
and I did, but I've learned even more about people hearing frequencies in a completely different way.
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Well... I wouldn't say completely, though if you boost one area many people will hear not a boost in that area, but a cut in another. Or if you cut in one area, they won't hear it as a cut there, but as a boost in another...
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It gave me grace in motion
Music speaks?
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