Hello!

On my reference system... You need to raise the vox about 2 dB more.

Reason I say this..

Folks will have their bass and treble turned up on consumer systems. Sure, your mix sounds "like you want everyone to hear it"..but *that*, is not good enough. You must compensate for the listeners. If everyones system was yours..and it was set "flat" (your two mix reference) then it could fly. Other than that..don't be scared to crank up the vox track just a shade more than you want..because that is what it takes to translate. Play it on many systems..make sure your bass does not overload them..with their bass all the way boosted.

I could easily master your material here..it just needs some minor tweaks. Mix is really nice..but that consumer thing...I know it hurts..but still, the rule of thumb is to have the vox laying on top of the track to compensate for all the bass and treble boost used by consumers. Now for audiophiles, their would be too much bottom..because audiophile speakers tend to boost 45 and below..quite a bit to compensate for flecture/munson. Sony walkman?? Then again..they will have their bass boost circuit on..and it will overload before I could "feel the vibe" of the vox. Pull out "Rush"..Moving pictures. Tom Sawyer. Compare the balance on your monitors with your mix. You will see where I am going with this.

Great work.. Just some pointers.

A ton of people will say "it sounds just fine"..but we mastering engineers look at it from a different perspective. More vox power will give "me" more latitude in achieving more vibe.

Enjoyed it!

Hope you don't think I am being too critical.

Very nice recording, and the mix is not bad either...But I have to agree with Bill--the vocals need to be brought up. They seem to be lacking in energy somewhat when compared to the rest of the song. Anyway, that's the major one...the rest of these are just minor tweaks...

I would bring down the snare just a touch--this will also help to give you more room for the vocal...

Excellent bass tone, even on the mp3...I bet the "real" version kicks ass. But it's slightly loud in the mix; a little more than usual for this type of music. You *could* deal with this in mastering, but I'd like to hear the bass "tucked in" just a bit. Then you have more space for the dynamics of the guitars.

Edit out the pop in the right channel at 3:26, and mute the stick click in the fade at 4:09.

Nice work on your part...

SC

You guys rock! -- Thanks for the advice!

Bill, you aren't being too critical. I was HOPING someone would tell me how to make it better, rather than just saying "sounds good to me."

Vocals up about 2db seems to be the poular opinion. -- So I'll definitely change that.

I was afraid that the bass was a little loud. I'll have to work on that too. I have a hard time judging, being that I'm the bass player -- I'm not in the band, I just played bass on this recording.

So SC, you don't like the stick clicking at the end?.. Then consider it gone! The pop at 4:09 has ALREADY been worked on (you should have heard it BEFORE). It was one of the many places where my sound card went out of sync. I managed to fix the majority of the sync errors by redrawing the waveform, but that one was tough. I have an ST Audio C-Port, with an AMD machine (kt133a chipset). It's not so wonderful, but I'm hoping that all my sync issues will improve once I get away from the VIA chipset.

And I'll have to borrow the drummer's copy of Moving Pictures or Retrospective. In case you haven't noticed, he REALLY likes Rush and Yes. Personally, I only have Hemispheres on vinyl.

Anywho, Thanks again for your responses. They have been EXTREMELY helpful!

Best Regards,

-Angus

I agree with the vocal up just a touch...You may have to ride it some to keep it under check in the chorus',Also maybe a bit of comp/lim on the toms may bring them them a tad more upfront..other than that sounds fine...print it..