A couple of my first mixes.

[Nigelforsythe]

Hey all! I'm still mighty new here but I figured that I might as well post a couple of tracks and get some critique as this is the only way I'm going to get better. If you'd rather me post mp3's I can do that but for now i'm just going to give a myspace link....

http://myspace.com/nigelforsytherecordings

Some things to know....

There are only 2 songs on my player that I would really like a little help on. Both by my friend who writes some pretty killer acoustic tracks.

These songs are also some of my very first mixes.

Song 1: MUTINY OF THE HEART.
This song is my favourite mix so far. There are a few problems with it such as the occasional buzzing from the Direct input of his guitar. (He plays a beautiful $2500 lakewood acoustic guitar and the pickup buzzes every once in a while). I know that the song can use a little more eq for certain parts. I also put a little (or a lot) too much limiting on it and made it not as musical as it should be.

Song 2: THE ARK
Good song...I've started mixing it again. It didn't pass the car test. A bit too boomy and the vocals didn't cut through enough.

I basically know where I want to take these songs but any other suggestions would be amazing. Keep in mind that I know these recordings will never sound "pro" so i'm not looking to improve them vastly. Just a few little changes that will make it easier to live with what we've got.

By the way. The artist is really happy with how it sounds. He goes to music school where they've got a real studio with much better gear than I have and says that no one there can make anything that sounds halfway decent.

Thanks everyone!

Hope to get some response!

Let me know if you'd rather have mp3's.

[Nigelforsythe]

Anyone? Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings...

It's the only way I'm going to learn

[Carlo]

Nigel...good songs, as far as I hear, though I'd love to hear them stand up and holler a little more!

Here is my $.02...Choose one, throw it up on the collaboration forum, ask for some drums and other sweets available, listen to how some players build on yer songs, make it stand up...not so much to better them, but to add to them...then listen, and , perhaps, gain!

[dikledoux]

Mutiny of the Heart - I like the guitar sound, relatively dark but still very up-front. But there's a resonance in the low mids that kinda won't go away on the guitar. Probably something that can be cleaned up easily with some eq if you can hear it in your current monitoring conditions. Also - the fade at the end is abrupt. I'd like the vocals a bit louder, but that's just me.

The Ark - I hear that low-mid ringing here too.

And on both songs, the compression doesn't let the playing breathe. With songs that are this sparse, you may want to let the dynamics come through a bit.

Nice work, though. Good songs, too - I'd like to see them fleshed out with more instrumentation, but the minimal approach is working.

dik

[Nigelforsythe]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I can't hear the low mid frequency you're talking about very well. It is a bit boomy but I can't seem to figure out where exactly it is... Oh well. I'll keep trying.

Once all the songs for this EP are done i'm going to mix them again. These were just quick mixes so I could hear them in the car and so the artist could hear them without having to be at my place.

By the way... I'm using an mbox 2, Rode Nt-1, and reason coming through Behringer Truth monitors that were leant to me. My setup is pretty limited for the time being.


Any other suggestions anyone?