KVR Audio

nickski · Post by **nickski** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:29 pm

First time posting up here guys.

by good to know what people think of this tune (a tech house / bass hybrid), especially when it comes to mixing / mastering. Trying to get my head around the arcane arts at the moment. vocal is by a good friend of mine who sent me the stripped down vocal files, rest is down to me.
cheers
Nickski

https://soundcloud.com/nickski/coldasmyheart-master-01

layzer · Post by **layzer** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:55 pm

welcome to the forum

didn't even need to bring out the spec analyzer on this one. it sounds great, big and clear. whatever you are doing, keep doing it

nickski · Post by **nickski** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 3:40 pm

thanks for the feedback Layzer, difficult to tell when you've heard the same track several hundered times!

nineofkings · Post by **nineofkings** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 5:37 am

Sounds good to me. The filter gymnastics after 2:15 are cool. A minor arrangement detail that plays into mixing: A lower, longer 909 snare might sit better and be punchier to complement the rest of the mix. As it is now, the snare sounds a little weak for the genre.

nickski · Post by **nickski** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:17 am

thanks for the comment kings,
Yeah, a friend of mine has made a similar comment about the snare, will have to look into that!
cheers

Trap Tommy · Post by **Trap Tommy** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 5:34 pm

Damn that bass is fat as hell my man! Sounds really good all the spaces are full and it also sounds like you did a good job mixing and mastering for sure, keep up the good work man respect!

nickski · Post by **nickski** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:48 pm

Cheers Tommy, thanks for that, appreciate it!

Entropy Audio · Post by **Entropy Audio** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:42 am

This was cool. Solid mix, I guess yeah the snare could maybe be a tiny bit heavier/fatter or w/e but the bass is good, the other elements are well balanced and the vocal sits really nicely in the mix imo. Good job

nickski · Post by **nickski** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:33 pm

Thanks for the feedback entropy, glad you liked it!

annode · Post by **annode** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 1:45 am

Listening carefully I come to want to not hear any synth, bass or keys over top the 1st 4 or 8 bars of each vocal part. A light 1/4 or 1/2 beat pluck key would be good enough to back the vocal till 4 or 8 bars in ...then hit the synths.

All else sounds fine indeed!
Good tune. Good composition. Vocal sounds ok too.
EDIT - Listened to 'Sobad'. I think if you thought to change-up your synth sounds and arrangements over top the vocal verses . Lay back a bit too. Let the vocal verse dominate.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:22 am

Very good song with a varied, interesting arrangement. I like the vocal. It holds up to multiple listens.

Both the kick and snare tend to disappear in the mix. Some of the instruments sound thin like they were EQ'ed too aggressively.

Nice work!

nickski · Post by **nickski** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:29 am

thanks for the comments guys, all really helpful. Annode, I know what you mean, half the skill is in leaving space rather than filling everything with melody, as far as the track 'SoBad' goes I really need to completely revisit it as to me now it sounds far too dense and woolly, desreves another crack once the new stuff I'm working on is done.
really must sort the snare out too, seems to be a consensus forming!
cheers
n

annode · Post by **annode** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:15 pm

I want to emphasize that I also included track Sobad along with Cold as my Heart to show that each could be improved from change-up during the vocal verses. This arrangement is common to most popular music.
Specifically, the bass/keys and rhythmic percussive sounds during your verse sound too dominate. The bass/keys are in the mid to high bass range and are two notes comprising a 5th chord. So it`s not just carrying the bass, it`s also the keys and in turn sounding too busy. Chopping off the upper note of that 5th would work...leaving just the bass part. The percussive sounds could be removed all together and brought in more progressively.
One example of a simple, standard arrangement.(I know it`s not your style, and you have seemed to accomplish this, but not fully as I mention above)
Notice how the instruments lay back during the verse.
Keys/guitar there just as melodic support. They keep the synth bass as is, but it doesn`t sound domineering so it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vgyg22yjqY

nickski · Post by **nickski** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 9:36 am

Thanks Annode
I'll give that a try once I finish one of the tunes I'm beavering away on at the moment. Appreciate the time you've taken to feedback mate!

Cold as my heart