New Song, input appreciated

[thevolumecontrol]

Hello friends. I've got a new song i just uploaded to soundcloud. i would appreciate any input, especially about mixing, eq, etc. the headphones i'm using don't give the greatest representation as to what it sounds like on better equipment. Still need vocals and bass, as with most of my recordings.

Anyway, have a listen, and let me know what you think. Thanks

Adam

https://soundcloud.com/the-volume-contr ... tend-mix-2

[freightgod]

Tell me about the drums please, live or midi? Cymbals seem a little too up front to me but I'm no drummer so don't take that too seriously. I like the guitar lots.

[thevolumecontrol]

The drums are programmed using hydrogen with live samples. Do you think all cymbals need to come down a bit? Thanks!

[freightgod]

Just the crashes I think, but I hope someone else chimes in. Actually I think they're a little busy, kind of clouding everything, like at the :55 area. But who really knows without vocals?

[thevolumecontrol]

I'll take that into consideration when I can open it up to mix the drums again. Thanks a lot.

[outteh]

Drums are very nice sounding! I believe the cymbal work will blend in better once some middle tone is added to the song with vocals or perhaps organ/piano. Overall sound is a bit muted, kind of a blend of all the frequencies not letting any one particular instrument stand out. Just a thought! Good work overal!

[thevolumecontrol]

Tom, do you know where I could find some good mixing tutorials? I hear what you're describing, just not sure how to dial certain frequencies in or out. I'm very much a novice with mixing. Thank you for your input.

[outteh]

Try this post, various links in here.

http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtop ... g+Tutorial

A little EQ and panning does a lot to get various instruments to stand out in the mix.

[AHornsby]

Anyway, have a listen, and let me know what you think. Thanks

Adamhttps://soundcloud.com/the-volume-contr ... tend-mix-2

Enjoyed the guitar licks. The drums seemed live until the tempo was off @ the 32nd notes.... If you're at the EQ box, adding some "air" at about 14kHz will liven up that crash and the mix as a whole.

[thevolumecontrol]

Excellent. thanks! i'll fix that up and take your suggestions on eq.

pretty cool that i almost fooled you into thinking they were live drums.

[freightgod]

Excellent. thanks! i'll fix that up and take your suggestions on eq.

pretty cool that i almost fooled you into thinking they were live drums.

I really thought so too. Did you use a keyboard controller or patterns?

[thevolumecontrol]

Excellent. thanks! i'll fix that up and take your suggestions on eq.

pretty cool that i almost fooled you into thinking they were live drums.

I really thought so too. Did you use a keyboard controller or patterns?

i used hydrogen.

Hydrogen is a sampler/arranger. i build my own loops and layout the song structure. basically you load kits made by others, or your own, and you arrange it on a grid. the cool thing about it is the humanization controls, that allow you to simulate slight variances in hit velocity and timing. you can export to wav. audio or midi.

I've been using beatcraft for a couple years, and found it inferior to hydrogen once i downloaded it and found a kit and some other samples i really liked.

best of all, its free.

[Mark Bliss]

I also found the drum track a little too "busy" for the arrangement. Its very hard to get "tight" sounding timing with all that odd meter stuff going on. It also calls too much attention to the drums, and that might even become more of a problem if you add content. I'd recommend simplify, EQ as previously noted and try a hint of verb or delay on that guitar. Just a kiss of it.