why do your recordings sound like ass
Monday, September 10 2012 @ 08:27 AM CDT

This may be a post somebody else wrote before, but I did search for it in MJ forums without success, so I will post it anyway.
There's a nice forum thread about home recording that was helpful to me, and I thought it may be also helpful for somebody else.

Why do your recordings sound like ass

It's rather long, and eventually is trolled away, but worth reading. Lots of good advice.

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Monday, September 10 2012 @ 02:33 PM CDT

i need a little time to read this, although the beginnings of the thread look like interesting reading. in my case (why my recordings sound like ass):

1. I don't have the skills yet to make my recordings sound less ass-like.
2. crappy monitors (which I rarely use as I have to do everything in the middle of the night on headphones).
3. crappy presonus interface meant for home recording.
4. even crappier mics
5. super sloppy recording techniques (can't be bothered with second takes most of the time).
6. no mastering usually. if I do use it, it's software. that's no way to master. a pro should do that with nice gear, not by basically continuing to mix with "mastering" software.

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Monday, September 10 2012 @ 03:25 PM CDT

Quote by: michael2 i need a little time to read this, although the beginnings of the thread look like interesting reading. in my case (why my recordings sound like ass)

Ha! let me disagree with you Michael (about how your mixes sound), but keep reading... took me days to digest just part of what's in there.

There's a mention to mastering somewhere in the thread (not in the first pages as I remember) and the advice was surprising, at least to me.

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Monday, September 10 2012 @ 03:56 PM CDT

I stopped reading as soon as I hit "Waves suck".

At the end of the day, we're comparing our mixes to those done by Abbey Road engineers and such like.

It's like saying "I keep getting in fights with Jet Li. Why the **** do I keep on losing?!"

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Monday, September 10 2012 @ 10:54 PM CDT

from post #19 on that thread


"Repeat until 2am, go to bed, and wake up to find that the "improved" recording sounds like a vortex of shit."

haaaaaaaahaha....been there, done that

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Monday, September 10 2012 @ 11:16 PM CDT

Quote by: XMaramena I stopped reading as soon as I hit "Waves suck". At the end of the day, we're comparing our mixes to those done by Abbey Road engineers and such like. It's like saying "I keep getting in fights with Jet Li. Why the **** do I keep on losing?!"

Mmmh... well, I'm almost sure my recordings sound better than Jet Li's.

Anyway, given that you are offering mix/mastering services for free I'm quite sure you already know all that stuff: I guess that thread is for someone else, more like me.

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Tuesday, September 11 2012 @ 01:16 PM CDT

Quote by: particledots from post #19 on that thread "Repeat until 2am, go to bed, and wake up to find that the "improved" recording sounds like a vortex of shit." haaaaaaaahaha....been there, done that

haha. "WTF? that's not even in the right key. what time signature is this anyways?"

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Wednesday, September 12 2012 @ 07:33 AM CDT

Quote by: billykirsch This may be a post somebody else wrote before, but I did search for it in MJ forums without success, so I will post it anyway. There's a nice forum thread about home recording that was helpful to me, and I thought it may be also helpful for somebody else. Why do your recordings sound like ass It's rather long, and eventually is trolled away, but worth reading. Lots of good advice.

That's my DAW site (Reaper) and my "home" site when i want honest, non-sunshiney mixing crits. so weird seeing that here! That threads been there forever.

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Wednesday, September 12 2012 @ 07:37 AM CDT

Quote by: XMaramena I stopped reading as soon as I hit "Waves suck". At the end of the day, we're comparing our mixes to those done by Abbey Road engineers and such like. It's like saying "I keep getting in fights with Jet Li. Why the **** do I keep on losing?!"

lol. Waves don't suck, they just don't sound any better than plugs at a fraction of the price (TO ME).

Re:why do your recordings sound like ass
Friday, September 14 2012 @ 11:04 AM CDT

My recordings sound like ass because I recorded ass...

Seriously, there is so much for me to learn about recording/mixing/mastering that if I get caught up trying to make my tunes sound as good as the target professional material I would never be able to release anything...dang.