San Diego, California, USA
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Looking for some feedback
StoreTags: release, netlabel, feedback
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Ok, so I have a mini-lp coming out on the Stadtgruen netlabel in a week or so (ambient, textured electronic music a la Hecker, Fennesz, et al). I've been prepping for it for a while - artwork's done, new website design's done; bios, pics, interview, bla bla bla. The only problem is that I've been working so heavily on the tracks lately that I can't see the forest for the trees; I get hung up on the most mundane things and I can't logically make decisions on the mixing/mastering/arrangement process anymore. Case in point, I just spent a few hours remixing the songs only to decide 20 mins ago that I had generally changed everything for the worse.
I know what you're thinking: "Why don't you get someone else to master it?" After all, this is exactly why there is such a thing as a recording/mastering engineer - an outsider with a fresh set of ears brings something new to the table. That's a good point, and, generally, I agree. But, and I know I'll encounter some opposing opinions here, I truly believe in mixing/mastering my own work. At least at this point. And for this genre. Call it what you will - pride, selfishness - but I think there's something to be said when everything done musically on a release starts and ends with you.
Philosophy aside, what glaring issues do you hear? Keep in mind that I only feasibly have one more mixing/mastering session left, and if the tracks fundamentally suck, they suck - there's nothing I can do about that now.
link
(7 tracks - 40 min runtime)
Seriously, I'm not fishing for compliments (or otherwise) here. And, no, this isn't one of those thinking-of-giving-it-up, em-sucks or life-sucks blogs. It's hard to get real feedback on ambient music these days - "you mean, like, movie music?"
Thanks for listening. | |
Comments
06/21/07
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bsr
can't listen from work but i often find when i try and rework a track to make it cleaner and brighter i lose whatever made it good in the first place. my 'first pass' is 90% of the time the one that's got that magic ingredient (for every track i keep i discard about 10)- and if i didn't get the production right there's no hope of tweaking it to get it better without losing other qualities.
the same can be true when you get someone else to master - the qualities you hear can get lost and it sounds clinical. jdg always does a good job though and he's rescued a couple of tracks that i felt 'had something' but were terribly recorded, and his mastering of other tracks is always sympathetic to the original (ie. he hears the qualities that made me use the track in the first place whereas other engineers i've found don't seem to get it).
of course if i had a proper recording process that multitracked and sequenced i could go back and tweak all i want - i don't know if it's the same for other ambient/droney artists but the way i record is pretty live based and it would be impossible to record the automation on it or use midi/sequencing
good look with it though. stadtgruen have some fantastic output.
06/21/07
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stringedthry
I agree a lot with what you said, especially about first passes and getting it right at the beginning. I don't necessarily write music "live," as I'm a software/midi kinda guy, but I find that my best tracks are the ones that seemed to click right from the get-go, not the ones I spent the most time on - those "wow, that came easy" kind of moments. I guess the frustrating part is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, in this case a track that might fundamentally be missing "it" but might be able to get there with some work.
I also agree about mastering engineers. Having another set of ears isn't nearly as important as who you get and how well they can pick up on your vision and direction.
06/21/07
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tmns
i like it a lot, track two is the standout track for me, love the way the bass sits in that one. not really hearing any issues mix wise, except that you could maybe boost the overall volume a touch, just a touch though!
06/21/07
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bbwax
i find that flash players always punch up and boost volume. for what it's worth.
i love Topology. really great track.
whatever you do to it i'm downloading it when it's released.
imo i would give it over to someone to at least check out. it can help. it rarely hurts. and if you don't like what they do, just use your original material or work with them until they get it right.
06/21/07
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adcBicycle
I'm loving this man... beautiful stuff!
I think your emotional mood effects how stuff is mixed too. If you're tired and get the idea that everything sucks, you're going to end up cutting out good things along with the bad.
It think what you need is a boost of confidence... ready?
This is amazing music ... seriously...
There, now go and mix again, fix the stuff you truly hate.
06/21/07
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bsr
playing now - i'd buy it. definitely. some sounds like my current favourite album: link
06/21/07
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adcBicycle
wow, listened to the whole thing. Great stuff.
It may be my crappy work computer setup, but I think there is something about the mixing... not sure what though, not enough mids ? not wide enough? Not exactly sure. jdg should be able to point it out to you.
06/21/07
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utofbu
ill buy this absolutly! listened from start to finish, good underscore whilst I gamed.
06/21/07
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stringedthry
wow, i'm genuinely humbled by the positive response. for those of you that would buy it, no need. it'll be a free download that i'll post here it once it's released.
06/21/07
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Roshi
I liked this...good production overall.
06/21/07
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enculpt
Very good. ~Thanks
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