22-05-2015, 04:35 PM
LOL, that last post of mine may have been a bit redundant... you commented back while I was still writing it and addressed my points and I thank you for that. At some point I'd like to pick your brain about how different speakers react to compression... it was my understanding that smaller speakers often "compress" audio on the way out as an unavoidable consequence of their size... perhaps I'm backward on that?
Re: your comments on loudness, points well taken. This mix didn't go to mastering at all, where I may (or may not... this is still a weak point) have caught that. Based on the current trend toward mastering for iTunes, -16 LUFs is generally my target loudness for the mix as a whole. This mix, if it hadn't been mostly an experiment, really needs some help in the arrangement department. Given that overdriving a signal as hard as these guitars are driven naturally reduces dynamics, a little targeted EQ and some mild compression across the loudest sections should be more than enough for the issue you've noted to resolve itself, but only if the arrangement supports it.
Re: solo guitar. It needs to be doubled to work as intended herein, agreed. Enter Haas?
Re: raw materials. I can't really comment on it from an objective perspective.... it's all I can do to make it through the song, which is in no way intended to discredit the hard work and talent of the musicians who supplied the multi. Between the vocals and cymbals, even the best mixes of metal this hardcore hurt my ears, so it's possible I'm ruining the mix simply by trying to force it to sound more like I'd want to hear it, regardless of whether or not that makes sense.
Re: your comments on loudness, points well taken. This mix didn't go to mastering at all, where I may (or may not... this is still a weak point) have caught that. Based on the current trend toward mastering for iTunes, -16 LUFs is generally my target loudness for the mix as a whole. This mix, if it hadn't been mostly an experiment, really needs some help in the arrangement department. Given that overdriving a signal as hard as these guitars are driven naturally reduces dynamics, a little targeted EQ and some mild compression across the loudest sections should be more than enough for the issue you've noted to resolve itself, but only if the arrangement supports it.
Re: solo guitar. It needs to be doubled to work as intended herein, agreed. Enter Haas?
Re: raw materials. I can't really comment on it from an objective perspective.... it's all I can do to make it through the song, which is in no way intended to discredit the hard work and talent of the musicians who supplied the multi. Between the vocals and cymbals, even the best mixes of metal this hardcore hurt my ears, so it's possible I'm ruining the mix simply by trying to force it to sound more like I'd want to hear it, regardless of whether or not that makes sense.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!