Please lend me your ears again

[bicarbone]

Howdy all,

I've been working on this track and would love to have a feedback about the mix and whatnot.

So if you have some spare time, here you go.

EDIT (so you don't waste too much time):

This is the new version after reading every one's advice:

http://www.martinrewki.ch/A_Brave_Cosmonaut.mp3

Previous version:

http://www.martinrewki.ch/CosmonauteMDAmaster.mp3


Cheers!

Martin.

[tezz]

Its sloooooow but pretty cool.
Starts out as Bowie and ends as the Beatles somehow?
The "shaker" sound is to loud/ to present on my shitty speakers. Dont like the out of tune synth thing that sounds like a ducks mating call either, sticks out to much.
Good stuff though, proper song!

oh, a bit to long for a pop tune.

[bicarbone]

Dont like the out of tune synth thing that sounds like a ducks mating call

Thanks for your time tezz, I'll see if I can tame that bloody duck.

Anyone else?

[supamonsta]

fine on my alesis m1 mk2, but too much mediums in my beyer 770 pro headphones and not enough bass.

my ears are crappy BTW

[nathannn]

i think its excellent its the best i have heard from some one on these forums.
its like electronic beatles
i would like a whole album..

[citizenchris099]

listening to it now on crap earbuds.....and it sounds balanced. a bit loud though...had to turn it down a bit to get it to comfortable levels

[nathannn]

i wanted to add, that i think the lyrics are great.
i prefer lyrics that tell a story way more than lyrics that are about some one dealing with personal issue's.
and i like your voice.

when i listen to a song that is mixed good i dont think about the mix or what frequency is doing what, i really dont care about that. its all about the music to me and you did a good job here.

[bicarbone]

Cheers guys! I'll see if I can sort out the levels. It's the first time someone tells me a track of mine is too loud though...

Got a nasty hangover today so I'll leave it for now.

@nathannn: thanks for your kind words, very encouraging and much appreciated

[Earwax69]

Nice material there! Remind me of Mellow. Do you know Mellow?

http://www.amazon.com/Another-Mellow-Sp ... B0000589U8

Anyway, the sound is fine for me. maybe a bit strong in the middle here too on my m-50 headphones. Not big deal though.

I really love the song.

[subunit23]

I think your song is ace and as said before, the mixdown issue are not big deal because it is very very enjoyable throughout. Well done!!!

Overall it sounds well balanced on my duet/genelec8030. Shakers are all right but I would add some reverb to give them more dimension.
But I'd say it's true for all the other elements : your mix could get even better with careful use of reverb and low-level delays. I think it would perfectly fit the mood and atmosphere of the song. Try to give it more dimension if you can.
The above-mentioned duck sound could be more quieter and less "electronic" (but that's more sound design than mixdown)
The only thing that stood out for me was the vacuum-cleaner kind of sound at the beginning when you say "in my spaceahip there's not much to laugh about..." Imo it did not blend well. Maybe quieter and less hoovering...
Voice is super nice btw, I really like it!
One last thing while I am listening to it, is that you could enhance the mood by adding subtle saturation/erosion to the synths to make them dirtier.

That is for now, maybe something useful in there.

Anyway, bravo!!!

[hacktheplanet]

I like it! Different and unexpected. The mix is decent too. Is the rest of your music like this? Keep it up. Definitely got a Beatles 2000 sound. It could definitely rock like Broadcast, Ladytron, Chemical Brothers, Zoot Woman, Postal Service, a song in a Wes Anderson movie... Stuff like that. Lo-Fi Electro Pop I guess.

However, do yourself a favor and lose the autotune for real! I think if your pitch was just a *little* off here and there, it would give it more character and make it feel more "honest".

[Cort3x]

Sorry, nothing to add mix-wise.

Just wanted to say that I think that the duck call thing is a bit... Ugly. The timing of the sound is fine rhythm-wise, I just wish it was something more in harmony with the rest of the tune.

Very nice tune! Inspiring. I like how your voice sounds, with the tiny autotune (or whatever you've processed it with) artifacts.

[fishmonkey]

hey great song! i even like the duck sound, although i'd turn it down a coupla dB or so...

i do find the shaker a bit harsh in the first section, a bit of reverb or something on it to spread it out and push it back a little in the mix would be nice...

[bicarbone]

Ok, so I've reworked the mix using your comments as a guideline. If you're still keen, you're welcome to have a listen to the new version:

http://www.martinrewki.ch/A_Brave_Cosmonaut.mp3

- lowered the level of the ducky sound and got rid of it in the second part for the sake of consensus.

- removed some medium freqs here and there.

- fixed the shaker issue with EQ and added a touch of reverb (but not too much as it quickly gets too undefined).

- lowered the "vacuum cleaner" sound a wee little bit.

- had a cup of coffee while listening to Mellow (pretty nice indeed).

- thought I'd post the new version as I have no clue anymore if it got better or worse.

- EDIT: uploaded a click-free version after fishmonkey's comment.

I autotuned the voice, that's true, and had it go through a Boss voice transformer VT-1 to alter the formant.
I usually never use autotune, but I thought that it would be nice to use it shamelessly on this track.
I wanted to give the voice a radio-NASA-ish tone, without using the classic telephone EQ setting.
Plus using autotune I could drastically alter some notes and had fun changing bits of the melody here and there.


Thanks again guys for your comments and suggestions, very much appreciated

[fishmonkey]

nice one! there seems to be some clicks in this mix though...