Check Out My Hip Hip Mix. My Mix Before & My Master Mix After & Judge!!

[nate509]

ok this was i wont get into how i mixed cause everybody has there own ways of mixing, but all mastering was done with izotope mainly and certain eq's adjusted with paragraphic eq10 of waves vst plugins for the final touch up cause izotope can be harsh at points but still sounds good but sloppy, its not to bad if you no what your doin. well heres my mix before and after and i would basically want to no if i down graded the song or if the master is pretty decent and keepable, im satistified myself but im open for opinion.
Thanks -Nate

[eddiechilton]

I think you should work on the mix before you try to master it. The song sounds good, but could use some adjustments before mastering.

Some things I'd do:
The snaps/claps on the backbeat are too distant and not crisp enough. I'd use a combination of EQ and turn it up a little. The pad sounds good, but gets in the way of the vocals a little bit. I'd put an EQ notch into it and maybe turn it down a little bit. The bass also gets in the way of the vocals a little, or that's it seems to me. Personally, I think the beat itself could benefit from a little more melody here and there, maybe a little synth run or something. I know that the focus of this song is on the vocals, but better music to sing along to never hurt anyone.

Things I like:
The vocals and background vocals are all very good takes and sound very professional. The song is catchy and I could definitely see it getting on the radio with the right mix and promotion.

I'm not an expert, so take anything I say with a grain of salt.

[rockerdude]

Hey...The ahhh haaa part in the first 20 sec is out of key to me, the note is a little flat.The masterd version is hissey(white noise).The vocals have a great tone and sound very rich and clear.The bass or bottom end sounds good.with a little tweeking this could be radio ready.Good job!

[nate509]

thanks for the feedback and being down to earth with me, yeah now that i realize sense its the next day. i mastered it yesterday and it sounds like it does need the things you guys mentioned the thing is i only no 75% of what im doin. the other 25% lackin what i need to sound professional. my quality does'nt come from a talented mind, ive read posts all around the internet to gain my wisdom and the stuff i have to work with far as equipment is only mid priced all from 200-1000$. ok now that we got a fill of what im about im sure you guys can understand how i made mistakes, "small but deadly" id say by the sound.

ill start with you eddie. yes the claps and snaps are distant and other stuff with the instrumental need tweeking but i honestly dont no how to do that. i no how to for vocals cause i have notepads full of guidelines on what brings out what. An i no theres plenty of tutorials out there that tell you how to give kick's bass and all that its definition but i only record over instrumentals i buy. all songs i do are just a high format wav file of the beat giving to me upoun purchase and i dont really no how i would tweak the beat making headroom for my vocals. maybe you guys could explain to me?
but anyways, back to the subject the pads/choirs yea i noticed that when eq'ing my vocals it gets in the way and at the time everything was mixed together and it seemed to be right at 16khz. when i go to cut the signal it cuts alot of presence in the vocals and makes the song sound dead lol.
oh yes the bass it was hard getting it to hit right cause before it was a harsh boom! lol izotope seemed to clear that up with a preset i made and a little eq on the low end. But yeah i agree, it does get in the way.
the beat could use more melody also but i am not a producer i dont have the luxury of adding anything in to do that, even no me and a friend of mine discussed that lol.
it also has it's good things to, it makes the song more powerful and meaningful sense not much going on.

eddiechilton
Things I like:
The vocals and background vocals are all very good takes and sound very professional.

well the main vocals are all in mono just eq'd desse'd cut 70hz and down and 18009 and up off and waves c4 giving them more punch. The ad libs for the background vocals were the same eq'd a little different with just a simple delay.
the problem with all that i ran into is when i mix them all to one file i then add a reverb to it as a whole new seperate track and turn it down to like -24 and boot the 7000 highs on the side panel and 4-8 db on mids and cut lows -15 to give my vocals a brightness to them. problem i ran into is when i did that the s's i could'nt seem to get to go away even know i notch'd them out and desse'd them. well i mean i could make them go away but then vocals would sounds like crap lol. but without that techneque i could'nt really give the vocals good high end eq presence so i just did the best i could and moved on.
thanks for the advice eddie.

rockerdude-hey, ahhh haaa part in the first 20 sec is out of key to me, the note is a little flat.
True, but it still sounds good :P, what i did was added a echo onto it and set a ms on it intill it sounded good im not sure how to match ms to the tempo of the beat. i just no you gotta do some math and you got the right number haha. have not really looked into it i just use my ears and what knowledge i have, ive only been recording and producing my own music for 2 and a half years. takes lots of time ive noticed intill you actually start believing your getting better and im still learning alot lol.

Ok now that we got everything answered i was wondering if anybody would be willing to help me mix this song properly. all i need is your email and i can send the instrumental in highest quality wav. and the acapella vocals in wav format. i no how i mastered it so i could still achieve that same sound, so all we would need to do is tone stuff up and cut some stuff out and we have a finished song. id give whoever helped me a shoutout on the album coming out sometime this summer. it's not like its a big deal though so dont be scarred of what i say are problems are simple and easy to fix. with a little more experience & knowledge on the mix wont take much time to fix.
so really im open to anybody for some help. if not give some advice on how i could fix some stuff. thanks all -Nate

[rockerdude]

Nate,The first thing is if you can hear it out of tune in the first 20 sec so can everyone else.First impressions......You never want to let a out of tune guitar ,bass ,vocal or whatever go Tape(Disc) sorry I'm old school.A project that starts well usually ends well.To have a steller mix and masterd cd ruined by somthing out of tune sucks.I have done sessions all night thinking everything sounds great then listening to it the next day I hear a guitar out of tune,Gotta fix it.I'm just trying to help.Sterling Sound Studios

[eddiechilton]

Nate, even if you bought the beat from somebody, you should tell the beatmaker what they need to change. If that's not part of your agreement already, I'd do that in the future. The beatmaker works for the singer and needs to be willing to change a beat they made to tailor it to how a person (their customer!) wants it. I make beats (haha, self advertising), and I work with the guy who buys them for over a week or two until I get the beat how HE wants it, not how I want it.

Since I've already advertised for myself, I can email you some sample beats if you're interested!

[MetalDave]

After you mastered it it sounds Like really bad tape noise hiss. It could use a litle more snap you know less thuddy and more poppy. Great song, keep it up!

[nate509]

ok guys thanks for all the input i tried to take every peice of advice and eq the instrumental and my voice to all blend and sound smooth and taking that hiss noise out the mix is a little dull but overall i think its ok. well im done messing with it cause im getting really fustrated. well here it is tell me if i upgraded or degraded.