25-05-2018, 01:40 PM
I don't think it's the amplitude that's the problem exactly, but the fundamental's strong digital resonance smack in the ear's critical listening zone. I've been to hell and back with this instrument. It's harmonics are especially troublesome up in the 10kHz mark and well beyond. I ended up taking a tangential direction, and totally changed it's timbre so it sits better in the mix and doesn't have me wanting to hit the stop button. An audience will be none the wiser.
I had to critically evaluate every element's harmonics and role in the song in order to sort out everything above 1kHz. What makes it difficult, is the density of the arrangement and the fact that instruments come and go all over the place and at different times. All this stuff adds up in amplitude and of course, those amplitudes will tend to mask the triangle, which is also adding amplitude to the already congested space. Listen to the conflict at 30seconds between it and the synth vocoder. What is the triangle bringing to the music that justifies the sum of all these horrible harmonics combining? It makes me want to run and hide.
I'd also, question the musical relevance of having the triangle running as long as it does in the arrangement. Being mindful that the brain quickly loses interest in a sound and goes off on a jolly is one reason to keep it short. The shorter the better I'd say. Then, when you want it to run, give it space, either pull it forwards in the mix, or cut out other competing elements. And if this doesn't work, mute the darn thing !!
What's also not helping is the lack of dynamic and this in turn removes depth and increases masking and congestion. This is an unnecessarily hot mater, and it's distorting and bringing some harshness along with it. For one thing, you've not given the lossy codec room to do it's job effectively and this has consequences upon a listener, in a word, it's fatiguing.
Part of my journey to hell was being able to suffer the horrendous harmonics present in the stock, and working it without it throwing my perspective after 30 seconds for the rest of the day.
By the way, I posted up an image from an FFT on another's page; was it Kirk's? Most mixes I've listened to have this same problem.
I had to critically evaluate every element's harmonics and role in the song in order to sort out everything above 1kHz. What makes it difficult, is the density of the arrangement and the fact that instruments come and go all over the place and at different times. All this stuff adds up in amplitude and of course, those amplitudes will tend to mask the triangle, which is also adding amplitude to the already congested space. Listen to the conflict at 30seconds between it and the synth vocoder. What is the triangle bringing to the music that justifies the sum of all these horrible harmonics combining? It makes me want to run and hide.
I'd also, question the musical relevance of having the triangle running as long as it does in the arrangement. Being mindful that the brain quickly loses interest in a sound and goes off on a jolly is one reason to keep it short. The shorter the better I'd say. Then, when you want it to run, give it space, either pull it forwards in the mix, or cut out other competing elements. And if this doesn't work, mute the darn thing !!
What's also not helping is the lack of dynamic and this in turn removes depth and increases masking and congestion. This is an unnecessarily hot mater, and it's distorting and bringing some harshness along with it. For one thing, you've not given the lossy codec room to do it's job effectively and this has consequences upon a listener, in a word, it's fatiguing.
Part of my journey to hell was being able to suffer the horrendous harmonics present in the stock, and working it without it throwing my perspective after 30 seconds for the rest of the day.
By the way, I posted up an image from an FFT on another's page; was it Kirk's? Most mixes I've listened to have this same problem.
"Nearly half of all teenagers and young adults (12-35 years old) in middle- and high-income countries are exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices": https://tinyurl.com/6xeeahc5 Read my bio.