Battle of the Bands - UK

Orange Amps General Forum

Moderator: bclaire

TheOrangeJuicer
Orange Master
Posts: 2907
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:43 am
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Battle of the Bands - UK

Post by TheOrangeJuicer » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:32 am

Action-Hank wrote:...Do you think we would benefit by taking another look at the mastering? It does sound better on a cd, through a hi-fi, than streamed from soundcloud to be honest.

Again, sorry for the hijack - I'm in 'learning mode' at the moment, and there have been some really interesting threads cropping up! :)
Not a problem with changing the direction of the thread. It is a long and winding road afterall :) .

I definitely think that you'd get a ton better sound on the CD by having it mastered properly. Yes, it's expensive. You need a good studio / recording engineer in order to get the good takes done and a good mix engineer to both get a realsitic sounding and engaging compilation. These better studio guys can also actually keep costs down by knowing what to do and accomplishing it quickly. It's up to you to shut-up, work hard, and get done the takes they ask of you in a timely manner, which also saves you money as it's an hourly process. So good money up front to a good studio pays off if you go in with a purpose and come out on schedule with a great project.

Then a really good mastering engineer can make it a hit if it has that potential at all. otherwise, it's just wasted potential. It costs a lot of money to get a top mastering engineer to polish your project but it does come out way better. That's why many artists never really get a great mastering done until after they are signed. Some never do as think they know it all or they are simply too cheap. I've heard "It's the music that matters; sound quality is just fluff." comment more than once from artists who think they have it all figured out. They go back to their day jobs.
-Bill

Orange Amplification full line dealer
http://www.uptownaudio.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.biglickamplification.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Image

TheOrangeJuicer
Orange Master
Posts: 2907
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:43 am
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Battle of the Bands - UK

Post by TheOrangeJuicer » Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:40 pm

This just in:


"10,000 voters across the country elevated Article Thieves (Birmingham University), King Louis Collective (Cardiff University) and Idol Minds (University of Central Lancashire) above the other 7 nominated bands and gave them the opportunity to perform at the Student Beans Battle of the Bands competition.

North London’s iconic music venue, The Luminaire, played host to the Cambridge Audio sponsored event.

Each of the 3 bands blew the audience away with their catchy tunes, huge energy and extraordinary talent – making the judges’ decision extremely difficult.

“For a brand whose passion revolves around live music, Cambridge Audio is thrilled to have been associated with such a top class challenge. The standard of entries was really quite remarkable with little to choose between the top ten let alone the three finalists,” said Simon Hewitt, Director of Marketing at Cambridge Audio.

While the funky sound of the “powerful 16-legged groove machine” King Louis Collective and the “delicious, appetising, sumptuous, soothing and arousing” Article Thieves contributed to an incredible night of live music, it was Idol Minds who came up trumps.

The lads from Lancashire describe their style as “indie pop with exotic rhythms” and were absolutely delighted to win the inaugural competition.

Congratulations to Idol Minds (Bob, Sam, James & Ben) who have each won a Topaz SR10 powerful FM/AM stereo receiver, iD50 premium docking station and a pair of SL30 stand mount loudspeakers courtesy of Cambridge Audio."
-Bill

Orange Amplification full line dealer
http://www.uptownaudio.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.biglickamplification.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Image

Borderline Productions
Orange Master
Posts: 3025
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:47 am
Location: USA

Re: Battle of the Bands - UK

Post by Borderline Productions » Mon Dec 20, 2010 4:47 pm

One of the better ones won. The female vocalists voice annoyed me, maybe she is better live.

I missed the later discussion with Action-Hank. Their songs are great. Their sound is similar to Dream Theatre, another great band whose songs are over compressed.

I found the drums did not sound real, but very compressed. I understand that this genre goes for a more compressed drum sound, but they don't have the punch and dynamics that real drums do.

You want the bass compressed, otherwise it sounds crappy, and guitars with the amount of gain you like will be compressed naturally from the tubes in your amp. I like the mix in that you can hear all of the parts distinctly, but it need dynamics.

You guys sound really tight, so it should only take a couple takes on each song when recording. For a mastering engineer, find out who mastered the records you like the productions on (it may be music you hate but have the dynamics you want) and contact them. If you can't afford them, I'm sure they will have people they can refer you to. I agree that the right recording and mixing engineer will save you money because they know the ropes. Also have a sample of a recording of the sound you like so you can let them know where you want to get to.
Bob

Image


http://www.purevolume.com/oxymora" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 77 guests