I'm not necessarily worried about the song itself, but If you have a little over 4 minutes to spare, could you let me know how it sounds on your audio setup as it is the mastering I'm concerned about.

Many thanks.

Also, I'd appreciate brutal honesty, be it good, bad or indifferent as it's the only way to improve.

 

Reminds me of mid-90s Creative Labs midi! Just before Al Gore invented the internet of course.

 

Ok - so it's like 5:00 a.m. and I don't wish to wake up the neighbours, so I've listened to the track through my Sony MDR-1R headphones.

First of all, I like the way that you've achieved separation between each of the instruments. Good, clean job. Well done. I didn't like the snare, though. It's reverb characteristics don't quite fit within the overall soundset. That's purely my opinion. It's a tough call because the snare pattern, by itself, is uncomplicated and it sorely tempts one into trying to add a bit of "juice" to it's character. Have you considered a touch of tap delay, maybe?

It's interesting how you've panned the hi-hat, snare, kick, toms and splash. The hi-hat is lovely and crisp. Just one problem, though - it's far right position in the stereo image would require the drummer to posses a ten-foot long right arm. I understand your logic behind panning the kit to mimic the physical layout of a drumkit. I used to do precisely the same thing way back when the folks at home wanted their money's worth from their stereo record players - and to hell with reality, just listen to that awesome width!

(Just realised something. In those days, we wore flares and big collared shirts. It kinda makes sense that the width of a stereo balance matched the fashions of the time. lol)

I digress. Sorry.

The immediate thing that hit me on the first playthrough of your track was the in-your-face funky bass synth. It needs to be pushed back into the mix. Currently, it's fader level overwhelms the mix and partially blocks the good, dry punchiness of the kick.

The splash cymbal could come forward a little. It's purpose is to make a brash statement. I suggest that you could make it coincidental with the other instruments rather than incidental.

I like the semi-retro feel of the keys. Loved it. Bring it forward in the mix for it's solo part, then drop it back while it plays backing parts. Just a tiny amount, mind you. Only enough to grab focus for a moment, rather than a massive sonic zoom in.

Back to that 20-foot wide drumkit...... It's kinda whacky - not wack. The pieces sound like they're not on speaking terms with each other and have retired to separate rooms in order to avoid arguments. I'd like to recommend that they be brought closer together in terms of sound spectrum with a bigger presence for the quick rolls around the toms.

Listening via cans means I can't judge the feel of the bass components in the mix. I can see that they're there coz I also ran a spectrascope whilst the track played. Not the same as feeling the punch in my guts, though. Having said that, I'd be tempted to add in a sub-bass track to accompany the bass synth, purely because it's currently fashionable. Yep, it's totally anachronistic and, in future years, you'll most likely think "wtf were we doing?". Just like me, when I think back on wearing flares, platforms, sideburns and wide-collared shirt. Aiyee!!!!

Technically, the frequency response on the left and right channels sound okay to me. Huge respects to you for not dropping a far king overdriven maximiser on the Master bus. I liked that best of all.

Now, I'm off for another listen. That's gotta say something, and that something is "I like it"!

 

Postscript: sod the neighbours! Just played the track through proper monitors and I take it all back about the bass swamping the kick. It doesn't. Mea culpa. Apologies, man.

 

No need to apologise, I thank you a LOT for giving me tons to think about AND plenty of laughs too. I enjoyed reading everything you said. It was both entertaining AND constructive. So once again thank you.

Update:-


The snare was perhaps the hardest thing to re-create. The original (from the late 80’s/early 90’s) was doused in reverb, and I think gated, with a huge decay was crying out for a hardware reverb as opposed to software. The tap delay idea IS something I will play about with though.

The hi-hat was a complete oversight on my part. I have to admit I had listened to the guts of the track for so long, I forgot to address the hi-hats.

Slight side chaining on the synth (very slight) – noted.

Re-seat the splash – noted

Make the keys more prominent during the solo – noted

Add more presence to the toms- noted



I will make those changes and re – up the new version. Thanks once again. I can always use great constructive criticism.

 

Last edited: Sep 20, 2015

Ok, thank you for taking the time to listen to it.

 

Not bad @ all! Good 80ies-90ies feeling.
The mix is balanced except for the reverb on the snare drum and on the splash cymbals.
I personally would choose another bass kick drum, a softer one...the one you used sounds
a bit too much aggressive, more apt for trance, techno music. In fact it tires (my) the ears soon.

 

music sounds great. The Bassdrum and the crash cymbal are to loud (a little bit).

 

The snare have to much reverb, and the track itself sounds like it's played with GE MIDI instruments...
Also, I didn't like it...

 

The Kickdrum is really not suited for this. It's a house kick drum. You might consider replacing it by using something more "organic" and genre-suiting.

 

And now for an opinion from one who was a dj playing this stuff in the big clubs where people liked to get down and boogie to the groove. If you're aiming to re-create the track with today's sound then it's close to spot-on. But if you're aiming to re-create it with an authentic sound, sorry to say it missed the target completely. It doesn't have any groove at all. It sounds clinical and electronic. The drums are perfect, to the extent that they don't contain any emotion that any warm-blooded human could feel and want to dance to. Mastering - tosh. Total cowshet waste of time. Get an understanding of what it's like to be on an 80s/90s dancefloor. How does that sound/feel. It's thumping bass and the synth sound is so new it's cool, but it's not the main sound. The drums are not just the drums - they are in there as part of the groove. How is that made? It's made with loads of sounds. Guitars, synths, drums and vocals all come together to make this magical 'groove'. You'll know a groove when you hear it because your body and soul will tell you.

 

The snare is too trebley and has a bit too much reverb. I really like the honky tonk piano sound. The kick is a little too long n lazery for the rest of the song. The synths that come in later on in the song sound a lil out of place and lastly that guitar synth is a bit shit to be honest, find a better guitar. good work with the composition tho

 

Ok first I do not know if it was Quincy Jones but I did hear this tune by The Brothers Johnson. I agree with the folks on the snare drum being to trebley and to much re verb. Also being a guitar player the guitar sounds way to midi like for me. Piano also sounds like a toy piano as others have said. You are headed in the right direction though.

 

A big collective thank you to everyone who took time out to listen and offer help. I have been taking everything everyone has said on board, and I'm re-doing it with a whole new mindset.

Thanks again everyone