Waiting for the Unblink

Steinberg Lounge
#1

Hi,
I have a new song.
Waiting for the Unblink

Comments are welcome.

I find that there are “scraping” sounds while playing back through the websites. They were there on Bandcamp so I thought I would give Soundcloud a try. I think they are less prevalent on Soundcloud but still there nonetheless. I was hoping that since Soundcloud allows upload of .mp3 that, when played back, it actually transferred the full .mp3 for a better sound but it appears as though it still uses some streaming format that creates these distortions. Of course, the Bandcamp version is a .wav (16 bit). The Soundcloud version is a .mp3 (160 Kbps).
I marked a good example of it on the Soundcloud post with a comment right at 2:08.
Is there something in my mix that causes this? Is there something I can do to prevent it? Of course, I don’t want to mix my song just so it sounds good while streaming and give up sound quality of the original mix but if there is something that can be done that doesn’t hurt the original mix and makes the streaming sound better that would be great.

J.L.
EDIT: Listening more closely to my original mix, the “noise” is there, it is just very faint. It seems exacerbated by the streaming. I am going to examine the source of that faint noise in the original mix. I suspect the cymbal. A bad sample or maybe it just needs some EQ.

#2

I’m not hearing any scraping noise at 2:08.

I really like the composition, one of your best so far. Good work here.
The flats in the piano runs are unexpected and just the ticket for variety.

For mix suggestions…while I like the kick drum, the snare doesn’t appeal at all (to me).
It’s also back in the mix, allowing a lot of other elements to sound closer and therefore
louder. Especially the bass, which I think could do with some EQing in the nethers, it’s sounding
quite boomy and loud here. Conversely, that guitar could up a bit. But withe the kit somewhat
unbalanced, it’s hard to say for certain what levels should be for some parts.

The piano is a big component, but my ears were fatigued by it. You could maybe wind back
its hi end and also compress it a bit more, just to even it out. Some notes seem more
dominant/louder than others (even allowing for expression).

The poem is really nice, but it’s too far behind the music in terms of reverb and volume.
It would sound better (I think) if you could help it breathe more, as the piano drowns it out
and with some harsh elements in frequency kind of works against it.

But again, I really like the piece.

#3

I agree with Jet about the snare. Piano is too loud, down a few db for that I think. Vocal up a few db, I can’t make any of it out.
Good composition :sunglasses:
Cheers
Phil

#4

Nice, I really quite like that. The 3/4 -4/4 pattern threw me off, took me a while to figure that one out :smiley:

#5

diggin the atmospheric backdrop of the track, and that fluttering sound. maybe the voice part can come up a bit. I like the space of the music and the ebb and flow in the tempo.
coolness

#6

Thanks for the comments everyone! I have already made a few adjustments (haven’t exported and posted yet) and will make a couple others in the next day or two.
SIncerely,
J.L.

#7

Yes, nice composition and arrangement… aside from above comments I thought the kick was sounding very ‘cardboard box’. Look forward to the tweaked mix. :sunglasses:

BTW - what’s the language being spoken?

#8

Hello,
I have made some adjustments. I compressed and lowered the piano, and cut a little on the low end to soften the “hammering” sound at the beginning of the notes. It was really educational when I listened with fresh ears how I could feel the fatigue caused by the piano. I cut the low end of the bass a little and lowered it slightly. I raised the voice and brought it forward a little more. I originally, envisioned the girl at the back with the piano as though she was talking to him while playing but realized, it just didn’t work (thanks for the constructive criticism here).

I think the big thing I did was to lower slightly and EQ the low end of the “drone beat” and “bubbles” sounds because they were interfering with the bass, which was the “scraping” I was refering to. Maybe what I was hearing was phase interference? Anyway, I found that cutting more low out of the Reverb FX channel helped alot. I had the high pass at about 100 Hz but moved it up to 400 Hz and it seemed to clean up the sound alot.

I really appreciate the helpful comments by all of you. It obviously takes time, patience, and experience, but I do think it is paying off. If nothing else, I am really enjoying it, which (for me, as a hobbyist) is really the most important thing.

By the way, the language is Japanese. Though I don’t speak more than about 50 words of it, I did live there for five years.

Well, anyway, here it is…
Waiting for the Unblink

I also thought I would mention that the drums are Jamstix but everything else is HALion Sonic SE and stock Cubase 6 plug-ins.
Sincerely,
J.L.

#9

Beautiful, the piano sounds like it’s right behind my right shoulder (headphones). Really amazing, great job!

#10

That’s a massive improvement in many ways. :wink:
Piano much more listenable and the poem in the right place.

My only comment now is that maybe you have
wound back too much of the bottom end (kick and bass).
The snare is a better sample, but seems louder than your kick.