Ditto - the only way around it for the home project studio is a solid pair of headphones, which is still a compromise, but it helps.

Agree. If there is a legit hidden secret that most home studio ops totally ignore, it's room treatment. Even Barefoot monitors are somewhat a waste of money in a room that if molesting the sound. One would be better off with a pair of KH120's in a great sounding room.

The song's got something. I only listened once but it has popped up in my mind a couple of times since, in a good way.

Maybe it's overstepping a line to come with ideas regarding the lyrics, but one thing that struck me if you want to vary the chorus would be to sing "Kentucky flood... 16 dead.. in the god damn mud".

I like "rain" since it's both expected and not, and so would "mud" be. So a possibility for variation, should you want it.

Not sure about the unwritten rules regarding feedback on songs, it does feel a bit strange to say things about the lyrics

IMO this is THE secret - the BIG ONE !

I will never forget my first experience tweaking a song I was working on in a top tier CR designed and tuned by a pro. It literally took me about 6 hours to arrive at a mix that was 100x better than anything I had achieved in my little DIY room in 10 years !!!


This is why it is so painful to see these endless threads about "what gear do I need to get there..." I believe a lot of these people are probably more gifted at mixing/production then they may even realize. If you have a good ear for music in an honest room you can probably make solid, engaging mixes with minimal gear and a DAW. But if you cant hear what you are really doing then you are constantly moving backwards stuck in quicksand and can never advance !

My advice to anyone here looking to make something above the "demo" level doing the mixing themselves is to hire a designer. Treatment is not enough ! It is far too complicated of a subject to tackle on your own and expect any really worthwhile results.

My secret is using the same gear, same monitors, same room, for 20+ years.

Wow, crazy! The lyrics are mostly conceived by my partner in crime, and the music is mostly mine. But I did an alternate version, and the phrase I substituted was "Kentucky Blood." Using "Mud" is better... our both. I'll pitch it and see what he thinks.

Probably move it forward this weekend, and I'll post any newer versions. Thanks for the props on the song.

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But doesn't that place you in the camp of a crochety closed minded old geezer who doesn't want to learn anything new ?

And who is screaming at those young buck creative folks to get off his lawn ?

You completely misunderstand. Pan away. Record stereo. Just flip to mono and listen. It will reveal any phase issues and level issues. Make adjustment. Flip back to stereo. Listen. Make adjustment. Go back to mono. Etc etc Mono reveals many things that stereo can cover-up.

I didn’t say record mono. I said mix mono. Mono the output to hear what happens to your stereo mix levels, punch etc make adjustments. Go back to stereo and listen. You’ll be surprised by how much you just fixed.

Just press the MAIN mono button in your DAW to monitor in mono. Mix this way or listen to this at some point to check levels, phase and translation into mono systems. Most clubs and bars are wired mono. A lot of bluetooth home speakers are mono.

Let’s say you have a stereo recorded track. You could mono the track to hear for any phase issues. Then make it stereo again. Perhaps use SSL Phase plugin. You could then mono the entire mix and listen.

I have many stereo synth and drum machine recordings to mix over the years, that for whatever reason had phase problems. When I checked mono, these tracks lost volume and presence. Phase problems happen for many reasons. Also, higher frequencies confuse the ears in stereo. I find it easier to work on high frequencies in mono. So I mono when working in this area. I’ll sometimes mono troublesome tracks if they have harsh high frequency. I use Izotope stereo imager plug for this.

These are a few things I do. My mixes are pretty loud and punchy. They sit well on Spotify and Apple. So, I’m doing something right.