SONGWRITING COMPETITION - SWC049 September 2021 - Winners announced

[A Future in Noise]

(In a studio, this typically all takes months if not years.) I think that may be why the types of music that are entered into the contest are mostly of a specific type.

Yes, indeed.

[A Future in Noise]

On first listen, I had some serious David Bowie vibes.

Thanks. Well, I definitely listened a lot to Bowie when I was a lot younger than today. I wasn't aware of possible similarities before you mentioned this, but now I guess I understand what you mean.

There are some things regarding mixing that makes me puzzled. This is probably not the right time and place to ask for good pieces of advise. If so, please just ignore this second paragraph. Anyway: I have some rather good audio stuff at home. A decent soundcard, a pair of acceptable headphones, for example, and loudspeakers as well. This means – of course – that if I listen to music by professional musicians, recorded and mixed in studios, it doesn't matter whether I use the loudspeakers (/studio monitors) or the headphones – the sound is balanced regardless what equipment I use. And then I mean, in the first place, panning and overall EQ. I also have a pair of wireless headphones that I can connect to my smartphone, and if I listen to music made by professionals that is accessible from Spotify, for example, the sound always is balanced in the same sense I have already mentioned. But this doesn't go for the music I make myself. This last song I recorded had a bass line that became much to strong when I started to listen in my headphones instead of the speakers. When I turned the e-bass down, so that it sounded normal in terms of volume in the headphones, then it was much to weak in the speakers. Also: When I recently, for the first time, listened to my song in the wireless phones (from the smartphone) – then suddenly the panning went very awkward. Everything moved a little to the right, especially the low frequencies. I guess I could try to read about this on the Internet, but honestly: I have read a lot to try to achieve better knowledge concerning sound and mixing, but I have never seen anybody discuss this topic anywhere.

[A Future in Noise]

And of course, @canese, @Johnny_Fingers, @EsteveCorbera, @TrojakEW, @GMoneh, @celiodie, @fjansenson: if I feel that I am able to deliver some kind of constructive critisism, then I will do that. But I'm not very good at it.

[Mister Fox]

There are some things regarding mixing that makes me puzzled. ... I guess I could try to read about this on the Internet, but honestly: I have read a lot to try to achieve better knowledge concerning sound and mixing, but I have never seen anybody discuss this topic anywhere.

The problem is, that everyone has a way different opinion on "what is the right thing to do". Like "pan this way", "compress that way, "use this EQ", "this is how you make your music loud and impactful". The Mix(ing) Challenge doesn't teach this exclusively through "learning by doing", the Songwriting Competition does so as well. Subtle, but since you kind of need to present "a finished product", this is part of the whole deal.


Instead of directing you to yet-another article, I can already tell you that you're on the right track. You just need to learn how to find a balance. Your balance! And I say that as somebody that used non-conventional studio equipment. As in: I used straight up consumer stereo setups for years.

You already listen to material on various environments: wireless headphones from your smartphone, workstation speakers (maybe even car, or flat-screen speakers), studio headphones. Comparing to references is absolutely important. Listen to how this material is balanced. Then compare your material through your various listening environments, make notes what sounds "different" on each playback device, then adjust accordingly (aka: find a middle ground). Another thing you should learn/understand is how mixes behave at different volumes. How they behave if your material is "squashed to bits" (over-compressed), etc.

This takes time, and doesn't work overnight. However, these days, it is easier to do, with less steps involved.


Example:

Find the right speaker placement (workstation), do some absolutely rudimentary acoustic treatment, then use something like IK Multimedia ARC, Sonarworks SoundID, KRK's hardware built in correction solutions, third party software (like Room EQ Wizard and a suitable EQ to compensate the frequency balance of your speakers), etc, then "correct" your speaker response. After that, listen, listen, listen and even more listen.

In my case, I've used IK Multimedia ARC for a long time, and also used the "post-correction frequency adjustment" to roll off a mid-band and HF on purpose (to make the sound even more dull). This way my ears were forced to "overcompensate" while mixing, resulting in a more modern/bright sound. These days, I'm using Sonarworks.


Two more things I like to do, especially at workstations where I'm not familiar with the room/speakers:

1) prepare an EQ to "simulate" other devices. Like... smartphones that cut away a lot of frequencies, but boost certain mid and high frequencies. Same goes for crappy headphones/earbits. This is the "budget" solution. However, you can also use something like "AudioThing Speakers" or "Audified MixChecker" where you can easily load presets of other devices and then hear what would happen with those in use.

This is e.g. great to find out if certain sounds are too loud on other devices (or vanishes with "mono-ing"), if a voice over is intelligible, if a bass is simply "dropped" (hint: MaxxBass technology, which is basically just band passed saturation of a signal, mixed alongside the original bass to that you have more harmonics, which then "show up" on smaller speakers), or if there is something else going on.

This works even better with...


2) running your signal through over-compression on purpose (ever so often). Use a multi-band compressor, and literally destroy the signal on purpose.

Back in the day, I've used Jeroen Breebaart's "Broadcast" compressor, which even had a preset similar to the infamous Optimod Broadcast compressor (from ORBAN). These days, There is XFer OTT (or the even more insane 5-band concept Soundspear KTT, or the more "more controlled" W.A. Production/Vinai XTT), just to name one example. There is also the still more than valid VladG Limiter No6 (or the more updated Tokyo Dawn Labs Limiter6 GE), something I like to use because I can really push thing thing if needed, while still have a "good sound".

Over-compressing your material also gives you an idea, what might be troublesome "downstream" (if somebody further messes with your material). But you can also adjust content that is too quiet/not emphasized enough. This is why people also mix "through a compressor", to compact their signal a bit. Sometimes it is the final secret fairy dust needed, definitely not a one-stop solution.

I usually know where things go at my work environment (again, this needs experience!). However, if I work at a different rig and can only forward stereo mix-downs for mastering, I tend to use this method to do adjustments that are otherwise impossible for me to do.



This might give you a fresh view on things.

But the most important part is: learn your environment, understand what the difference between your mix and "commercial" mixes are, then find your own groove.

[A Future in Noise]

Lots of tips there Maybe I will buy IK Multimedia ARC one day, and other similar stuff, but at the moment I will have to stick to freeware. I can understand the idea of compensate/compromise, but concerning the sum of the panned instruments (so to speak – I don't know how to express this in English) moving from center to the right just because I changed from one pair of headphones to another pair – I won't compromise there and do something in between. For know I will just pretend it never happened. (And as I said: there is nothing wrong with the headphones, cause this strange effect never occurs if I listen to commercial recordings.)

I'd rather not use compression at all. I only use sampled kick drums, for example, no real drums, so the fictitious drummer never hits the pedal to hard now and then. I have noticed, however, that in order to accomplish productions that meets the LUFS requirements, it's (almost?) necessary to use a compressor/limiter to some extent.

[Mister Fox]

You can get away without purchasing anything, if you know what you're doing. And you're learning.

Like... a 4-6 band EQ to create some crazy filters to simulate other devices, plus a tool like bx_control behind it to narrow the stereo field, or even "mono" it (there is also freeware stuf out there that does the same). Make-shift solution, but gets the message across (you only want to check things after all).

The "overuse multi-band compression" topic is also just for checking things. Not a mastering hint or anything. You want to find out how your material translates/sounds on other devices. This is what this is for.



Regarding compression:

I thought similar like you for a long time. These days, I use compression for three things

1) transient design (raising sustain, emphasizing attack, etc... think guitars)
2) keeping things in a bit more check (vocal fluctuation, bass, summing "glue", subtle sidechain "ducking")
3) only safety limiting (compressor with very high ratio, nigh instant attack - this is what a limiter basically is)

Think "feel it, don't hear it". Obvious pumping effects only if I need them. Since I dropped the loudness of my mixes (thanks to the K-System and now LUFS limits), the focus can be more on artistic usage than "compress the ever living sh#t out of stuff". Since you actually limit less, and rather focus more on dynamic range (transients are good to have, remember). It depends on what you want to do. Of course a drummer still decides on the overall dynamics, same for a guitarist. But this only gets you so far for certain genres (which is also apparent if you listen to your reference mixes).



EDIT:
On the topic of your "stereo signal being offset", especially on headphones. This can be due to a couple of things. First and foremost, our ears are not the same, so there will be a bias of the "directionality" you're perceiving. And then there is the infamous phase coherence. If your signal is really in center (panning wise), then it's your ears (headphones), or something else interfering (like room mics). You can fix this with a mid/side tool like bx_control, where you can "center" or "mono-fy" the stereo image with one dial. Or you use a M/S EQ; and do a HPF (high pass filter / low cut) up to a certain frequency on just the side channel. I recommend not going higher than 120Hz usually. If you want that "dead center" sound for all your bass intensive instruments (kick, bass, low-end snare).



Anyway... you (and our fellow readers) got some pointers for the future. Hope this helps

[A Future in Noise]

Anyway... you (and our fellow readers) got some pointers for the future. Hope this helps