DUB DISCUSSION BOARD

http://soundcloud.com/beatwise-and-dubh ... jungle-dub

Please tell me what you think, and what we could improve. Specially what you think about my EQing/Mixing skills, because I'm pretty new to this.

I know our playing, specially mine on the guitar, isn't the best, but it was very late and we were all pretty wasted. Usually we are a tighter band, don't forget, all in all we are just young amateurs.

nice version stranded horse sounds good to me even if u were wasted

I like the Sound and the Mixing , so first of all Big Respect for that! one can
hear that the band is tight but it should all become more.....down to earth,
relaxed, cool, easy sounding. your guitar playin needs to "roots up" and hit
only the 2 and the 4 for this groove, and i think you will find the right
techniques for that in time! also i would sugest to support the skanks
with the melodica in some riddim parts(in the original there are skanks from
the brass). the drummer is tight with the one drop (listen more to the crucial
original bassdrum and snare variations) but a little hasty on the hihat.. all in
all you are runnin a little to fast. a good addition for I would be some
Nyahbinghi drum licks and some percussions. Reggae music come from the
heart so just try to feel it, try to listen as close as possible to each other
while playing to create some more inity"live feeling", some improvisations
and some interplay between all of you. Another tip, try to not recreate
reggae music whilest thinking in music theory terms.. Just my 2 cents...
I think if the band stays close for some years to come you will play some
great great music.

Yiannis

My bandmates complained that the mix is too bass heavy and lacks clarity and treble. I guess I need new headphones, because mine (Sony CD750) really lack in bass, so I always boost it too much and end up with a mushy mix on regular speakers; also the drums have a lot more presence on headphones. Still need to learn about this stuff.
It's very difficult for me to find the right balance between drums too present, and drums too mushy sounding, because on the raw recording, it sounds like your sitting directly at drum kit, so

I think on the original recording the guitar plays the same as I do, but it is mixed pretty far in the background. Usually I go for a more straight forward skank on other tunes.
as for additional instruments: we are constantly looking for more musicians to join our project, but it is difficult to find people with an interest in dub music around here.

favorite blackboard jungle vershun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgIv-T2QkRA

listen to the skanks:
...... 2chacka chacka, 4chacka chacka, 2chacka chacka, 4chacka chacka and sometimes a little
hit on the 3 or on the 1 as an extra, but only in a few special moments..
you play too much variations, thats what i mean. the skanks must come
straighter since the guitar is the only instrument playing them in your
version, and the skanks are an integral part of the reggae riddim.... thats
why i think the melodica skanks would work very supportive.. dont want
to step on ya toes, but its just my perception of how i would like it to be
done every artist is free to express himself as he pleases so gwaan
play your stylee in any fashion u like..
i think that in your version, or should i say in your Mix, there is more clarity
than in sum of the L$P Versions, so i think its cool from that
point ( but i also listened only on hifi headphones on a "net pc" )
the mix is a little too heavy on the bass side its true.. I would save up
some cash and get some halfway decent monitors instead of new
headphones, mixing on headphones is not good for the music... believe, i
have done this for many many years.. when you go get monitors its like a
revelation, you mix the music totaly different because you get a better
feeling for the sound as it develop inside of a room.. the room where you
mix the music is equally important like the monitor boxes.. meaning that if
u have good monitors but the room isnt any good (maybe too many
reflections leading to diffusion or phase cancelation, parallel walls
"amplifieing" the resonant frequencies of the room, ect),ur mix will most
likely be sounding like shit afterwards when listenin in different listening
environments..
on the headphones you have the sound directly @ your ear, so when you
mix it liike this it sounds ok on many headphones but it sounds
unbalanced and dull on speakers. most time someone would
give too much room & reverb to drumsignals when mixing on
headphones, and it sounds cool on headphones , more realistic but too
diffuse or "mushy" when you hear it on speakers. Also most HiFi
Headphones have not got a "flat frequency response" (which you REALLY
need for mixing), they have bass & treble amplification built in so, when
you hear the "raw" recordings, its not really raw cause your headphones
make it sound "better" than it really is..
Offcourse it also depends on the whole recording chain, from the musician
& his style & dynamic control, to the instrument, preamps, amps, EQs, to
the mic, cables, mixingdesk, outboard stuff, soundcard, AD/DA
converters, to the engineers ears & perception ect, but if you love the
music and you keep following the roots, enduring persistent, in time you
will find the right levels for everything and you will get a more intimate
feeling towards the music by just experimenting, getting to know the
available equipment and playing around, trying new things
(for me this is the really exciting part in mixing music).

anyways , sometimes i like to just bla bla bla

Peace Yiannis