My version: master

[AndreaT]

Dear all,

I just thought of sharing this with whomever feels like having a listen.

No buss compression...

(320kb mp3: tried to upload wav but was rejected because too big)

Andrea

[AndreaT]

Hi all, still AndreaT.

just thought of uploading the 'mastered' version as well.

It's probs a little too squashed and not as wide (stereo image wise) as other versions I heard on this site, just not to risk problems with mono compatibility.

What do you say?

[Mike Senior]

I like a lot of your balance decisions with the backing track, although the verse sections do have a habit of making the choruses sound a bit small -- careful in particular that the bass doesn't get pushed down in the mix when all the guitars come in.

The main criticisms I'd make are to do with the lead vocals. For a start, they're very sibilant, so I'd certainly get busy with at least on de-esser here. Your compression might also be exacerbating this common problem, so if you can stick an HF boost into its side-chain that might help reduce the problem too. I also wonder whether you've over-egged the top two octaves of the frequency spectrum on this vocal too. I agree that you need lots of detail and HF cut-through for this kind of style, but I think you've tried to do too much of this with vocal EQ boost, so the rest of the track sounds a bit dull by comparison. Some distortion might help you here, simply by packing the 2-8kHz region a bit more densely with harmonics so that the vocal can compete with the guitars at a lower mix level. In general, the vocal is also too loud in the mix for me, again making the backing sound small.

[AndreaT]

I like a lot of your balance decisions with the backing track, although the verse sections do have a habit of making the choruses sound a bit small -- careful in particular that the bass doesn't get pushed down in the mix when all the guitars come in.

The main criticisms I'd make are to do with the lead vocals. For a start, they're very sibilant, so I'd certainly get busy with at least on de-esser here. Your compression might also be exacerbating this common problem, so if you can stick an HF boost into its side-chain that might help reduce the problem too. I also wonder whether you've over-egged the top two octaves of the frequency spectrum on this vocal too. I agree that you need lots of detail and HF cut-through for this kind of style, but I think you've tried to do too much of this with vocal EQ boost, so the rest of the track sounds a bit dull by comparison. Some distortion might help you here, simply by packing the 2-8kHz region a bit more densely with harmonics so that the vocal can compete with the guitars at a lower mix level. In general, the vocal is also too loud in the mix for me, again making the backing sound small.

Hi Mike, thanks again for your remarks!

I like a lot of your balance decisions with the backing track, although the verse sections do have a habit of making the choruses sound a bit small -- careful in particular that the bass doesn't get pushed down in the mix when all the guitars come in. : I agree, I could have made the choruses gain 1 or 2 dbs or make the verses quieter. And maybe some automation or better eq setting would help making the bass come across better in the choruses indeed. I might try just automating its amplitude in the choruses too.

- The main criticisms I'd make are to do with the lead vocals. For a start, they're very sibilant, so I'd certainly get busy with at least on de-esser here. . : I actually had de-essers on both vocal tracks (wh ich I multed) but I should have pushed it a bit further.

- Your compression might also be exacerbating this common problem, so if you can stick an HF boost into its side-chain that might help reduce the problem too: how should I do this? You mean I should add a sidechain compressor as an insert effect on the vocal track, with its eq settings centered on the frequencies which make the 's' sound so sibilant, so that whenever the signal reaches those regions of the spectrum the 's' gets pushed down?

- Some distortion might help you here, simply by packing the 2-8kHz region a bit more densely with harmonics so that the vocal can compete with the guitars at a lower mix level.: I did use distortion as a sends effect, but didn't use any eq to select the 2-8 kHz region. Will try that.

- In general, the vocal is also too loud in the mix for me, again making the backing sound small. : Yes right, especially in the choruses now that I listen back. Thing is, I thought I should make it shine really clearly on top of the rest, being this a genre that requires it I guess. I must have overdone it.

I agree with the rest too. It was the first thing I thought of uploading on this site...

Thanks again and hopefully I'll read some more remarks from your side.

cheers

andrea

[Mike Senior]

- Your compression might also be exacerbating this common problem, so if you can stick an HF boost into its side-chain that might help reduce the problem too: how should I do this? You mean I should add a sidechain compressor as an insert effect on the vocal track, with its eq settings centered on the frequencies which make the 's' sound so sibilant, so that whenever the signal reaches those regions of the spectrum the 's' gets pushed down?

You could do it as a separate stage if you like, but I just thought it you already had a compressor going and it had side-chain access you could treat some of the sibilance problem 'at source', so to speak.

[AndreaT]

- Your compression might also be exacerbating this common problem, so if you can stick an HF boost into its side-chain that might help reduce the problem too: how should I do this? You mean I should add a sidechain compressor as an insert effect on the vocal track, with its eq settings centered on the frequencies which make the 's' sound so sibilant, so that whenever the signal reaches those regions of the spectrum the 's' gets pushed down?

You could do it as a separate stage if you like, but I just thought it you already had a compressor going and it had side-chain access you could treat some of the sibilance problem 'at source', so to speak.

Right, the compressor I used does not have side chain options, though it won't be hard to find another design which does. I never did it that way, but now it seems clear that I need to use side chain compression which is focused on reducing the sibilance (thus using a filter/eq in the side chain compressor settings which will tackle that). Hope I got it right THX though