Thanks to the Ableton team, Tone Deft & leedsquietman...

[H20nly]

http://soundcloud.com/liquidlab

constructive criticism would be most appreciated.

I don't know what genre it is... its not really dance music and its down tempo for sure.

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edit: track has been re-uploaded.
I changed the thread title to give credit where credit is deserved...

Tone Deft was a huge help with the original mix. Dude has skillz.

Since the original post I removed my feeble attempts at mastering and handed it to one more adept in the ways of sonic tastiness...

leedsquietman applied his special brand of magic and mastered it for us over the weekend.

We can't thank you guys enough...


Love it or hate it, it is what it is... with a fork in it! Done.



edit: forgot to thank the venue and organizers.

[by-pass]

I appriciate your comments.....


thx from another guy without probs....

[H20nly]

thanks... I think.

[tlennon]

Whazzup H2! EXCELLENT track man. Genre = pop hop Very poetic. Does the backing vox have to be panned 100% ? It seemed a tiny bit too unbalanced.... more right than left especially with the fill voxs coming out on the left side. Also, what compressor did you use because even though it wasn't pumping, it wasn't exactly transparent IMO. I just love the tune and I am going back to listen again. Enjoyed it emensely.... Thanks!

[H20nly]

thanks tlennon!

I did notice last night, when I was taking something out that wasn't working, that the singing vox were panned a little oddly, but at this point it was supposed to have been done... I'll have a look and maybe tighten it up or at least even it up.

All the tracks that have compressors on them were done with Live. I run Live with no plugs. However, I did take it into Soundforge and add some compression to the rendered track and then a limiter. I think I may have made a mistake there. I used the iZotope mastering effects that come with Soundforge 9. The compressor really brought an extra shine to the guitar but I think I may have muddied the low end in the process. Thats exactly why I posted here. I am too close to the track and was hoping that some folks would lend their ear and their advice... Thanks for that man!! Means a lot.

I may try again with the mastering effects. TBH this is the first track I have tried to master in any way shape or form and my skill set with Soundforge on a scale of 1-10 is negative 3

[H20nly]

@ tlennon... Thanks again for your critical ear. I made a slight change to the panning to bring it a little closer together as your post alluded to. I heard some light background noise (headphone bleed) over one of the vocal tracks and removed that, strange that we never caught it before... Finally, as I posted above in the edit to the original post, leedsquietman did what I can't...

So if you have another 3 minutes and 15 seconds to spare... I'd be most grateful for a re-evaluation.

[LLR]

H2Only that sounded great! I love the spoken rap and the acoustic guitar. It sounds like silversun pickups slowed down brought in a rapper.

[Rave]

I like. Made me think of mr Hendrix at times.

Vocals were out in places and the arrangement needs s little work but good song all the same.

[tlennon]

@ tlennon... Thanks again for your critical ear. I made a slight change to the panning to bring it a little closer together as your post alluded to. .... So if you have another 3 minutes and 15 seconds to spare... I'd be most grateful for a re-evaluation.

Of course! Excellently done. The back voxs are right in the pocket now (Humbly IMO). I bow down to all of those involved. There is no question of Tone Def's and Leedsquietman expertise and of course your clever telent. Thanks to all of you.

[H20nly]

LLR - thanks!

I had a listen to your tracks on Soundcloud. I had to go back and listen to Sit Right Here again when they were all done. Thats a great track. Sunshine and Razor blades struck me too. I like your arrangements... simple elements and "fun" lyrics. Reminds me of Cake somewhat... Actually Little Light is playing again right now... Sounds better the second time I think we share a common thread in regards to styles... different, so you almost have to hear it again because the first pass is your mind getting acclimated. Thats a bitter sweet place to be, but when I think of my favorite bands of all time... not too many of those albums got me on the first pass. So, more sweet than bitter.

We're following you on soundcloud now...

Cheers!

[H20nly]

I like. Made me think of mr Hendrix at times.

Vocals were out in places and the arrangement needs s little work but good song all the same.

Thanks for listening Rave!

Care to elaborate? I think I can see the vox piece... but just to be sure... "rapper", singer, both? harsh or subtle?

On the flipside where/what didn't jive with you in regards to arrangement?

Regardless, thanks for giving us a chance and lending an ear.

*tips hat*

[Tone Deft]

leeds - hope you read this... hearing your touches on the track was a gift, thank you, thank you, thank you. you scratched that itch I had for this track, I couldn't get it quite right but we really wanted to finish this one to move onto more.


agreed on the sound H2O and LLR have, very laid back, sitting around shooting the shit. 'Sit Right Here' is a classic track for this forum.

am listening to 'Lou' now.



keep up the choonage, hopefully this forum will get on its feet (with me on the other side of the participation!!!)

[H20nly]

Of course! Excellently done. The back voxs are right in the pocket now (Humbly IMO). I bow down to all of those involved. There is no question of Tone Def's and Leedsquietman expertise and of course your clever telent. Thanks to all of you.

THANKS

I was checking out your site... got pulled away by that job thing I have to do ... but I couldn't find any of your music... care to wind me up and point me in the right direction?

Nice thing to do with the tax money every year BTW...

[leedsquietman]

You're welcome. Was a pleasure to work on a really funky cool track which was already really well mixed.

[H20nly]

^ leeds you're the man!!

We struggled with the sonic quality of it all... I asked Tone Deft what he thought... he grinded on it and made things way better. The vocals were the evil beast. After deleting some layers of the singer's voice and getting him settled we recorded again, but in the meantime I'd got a new mixer - TC Electronic vs. the old Alesis MM8... I snagged a sE Reflexion filter (huge improvement in this space) based on some research and good advice on the forum... yours included. I saw a couple of posts you wrote about Soundforge including the one saying it was on sale... which I used to bump the price down at GC and... buy it. I even got fresh headphones... you've been involved in this project a lot longer than you realize. We (LiquidLab and Mr. Deft) finally met up in S.F. at Tone Deft studios so that everyone could sess out the other and the feel and goal of the thing... then, I posted the track, thinking it was close to, as far as I could take it knowing what I know (and had learned. Thanks Tone)... you stepped in, and within 8 hours nailed it! Sent back cooked. Nothing like a fresh set of ears and a wealth of skillz.



The true test is in the car... oh man. Thats where the truth of what you did becomes truly manifest.

I've learned a lot from the two of you.
Thank you both.
Thank you Ableton.
Thanks to all the peeps on the web at forum.ableton.com dropping knowledge who - "Get involved. Join in the conversation."
I've learned a lot here.
I know a lot of folks piss around, kick the bobo, have battles of wit, talk shit, make funnies, and make nasties, but its all part of it. Very similar to life with people in person. The main difference is that we're online. Sure that takes the face to face out, but how the hell can I ask Rave what he means in France... and we have never even been fully introduced? *this IS how* Who knows... he might even answer.
Point is, its a cool thing.
Life is good.