Plants vs zombies / Nelly - Dilemma / undertale mashup I made for fun. wanted to share with u

[timid ore]

i'd like to hear your thoughts before uploading it to yt.

[weary ledge]

it's very nice! are you using compression? some parts feel slightly 'confusing' (but it could just be me)

actually that may have just been me unused to listening to audio lol

[timid ore]

Im very new to compression so it probably has something to do with it also

[timid ore]

Do u use external plugins for compression or do u just use the stock lmms ones? I've heard that they are compressors vary a lot. personally i've always just put the threshold a bit below the max volume of the track and ramped up a bit the ratio

[weary ledge]

I use OTT, and for a softer track I’d turn it down.
Though I recommend using LOMM instead (latest nightly), I’m going to learn it really soon - as far as I can see it’s better for softer stuff

If you’re unaware, those are multiband compressors, which means they compress different ranges of frequencies seperately

Generally, my way of doing it is that if you want a faster and more “pulsy” song (if that makes any sense) compress it more. If you want something slower, make the compression slower and have less of an effect

[timid ore]

gotcha, I'll try those in the future. Didn't know what multiband ones were, the more u know

I polished it more and did my best at compression

I also manually adjusted the volume in some sections

[timid ore]

yo @plain slate I know u're good at mixing. Mind giving me some feedback on this? sorry to bother u btw

[plain slate]

whether i'm good or not is up for debate, but i am always happy to help 😄

listening now btw

[timid ore]

haha, defintitely better than me that's for sure

[plain slate]

love the concept of the song. flipping Nelly and stuff from that era is pure nostalgia to me

what have you put compression on so far?

vocals are sounding very flat to me. if they are compressed, increase the attack time so we get some better sense of the syllables. if there's OTT try turning up time, turn down "Dwnd %"

[timid ore]

I used the LADSPA compressor or smth like that

[timid ore]

wdym with flat. It may be the sidechain

[plain slate]

sorry lemme clarify. not flat in pitch, flat in dynamics. Nelly's part especially. there's no emphasis on the words. compared to Kelly's part, we can "feel" the emphasis "eeVEn WHen I'm WIth"

i think Nelly's too quiet in the mix too, that could be adding to my perception of it

[timid ore]

Okay gotcha

lemme see what I can do

[plain slate]

besides the vocal stuff, i think the tonal balance could use some work. it feels a little dark, not enough high end detail, and low mid warmth feels lacking

when i check i notice the sides are fairly loud compared to the middle. a mid/side EQ like Ozone can help a lot there. since i said low mids and highs are lacking, i would try boosting those in the mid channel and then go from there

did some of the above and OTT (bad habit 😄 ) to balance it better. i think this sounds louder, but in fact is quieter than your file

[timid ore]

surely sounds a LOT brighter

[plain slate]

yeah it definitely does

maybe too much

[timid ore]

x2

hhahah

[plain slate]

somewhere in between though i think is a sweet spot

focus on the low mids * and Nelly's voice though, i think that is def an improvement

[timid ore]

I've struggled with the vocals tho, because whenever I gave too much mid and/or low frequencies to them, the underlying chords and bass notes kept creeping in and conflicting with the rest of the track

[plain slate]

you mean like bits of the original song the sample came from? or parts of your instrumental?

[timid ore]

yeah, the original song

I just took the original audio file and EQed out the low frequencies

[plain slate]

mm yeah that makes it tricky. i would remove it the best you can, then boost it after that in the your effects chain.

[timid ore]

that's why they may feel a bit lacking in the lower spectrum

[plain slate]

and since you probably already did that im not sure what else could help

maaaybe be a gate

[timid ore]

I will try to compensate with other sounds to see how it sounds

[plain slate]

that could work

i put a lot of focus on Nelly's voice because that's what i want to hear most but that doesnt mean it must be up front in the mix. it kind of reminds me of phonk vocals where it's almost more of a rhythmic texture than a lead vocal

so maybe try leaning into that like you mentioned ☝️

piano is doing a good job of being up front

[timid ore]

Yes, that's how look at it

[timid ore]

My ears are so damn fatigued but I THINK this sounds much better. Tell me what you think

[timid ore]

more polish still (probably finished version)

for instance, around 1:08 nelly's voice was poorly eq'd. This happened because (mistakenly) I had equalised each vocal section separately, and so it was tricky to get them to sound good together

[plain slate]

it's sounding so much better. compare to the first one you posted 👍

one thing sticks out for me now, i think it's the pads/strings? sounds like maybe too much reverb, around 2:26-2:28 you can hear a sort of swell that sounds like it's also getting distorted. not sure what FX you have on it, but might be good to turn it down a little

particularly i hear it in the left ear

good job bringing the high end to life btw. it's nice and sparkly now

[timid ore]

Oh, those are some strings from the sample of the original song

[plain slate]

hmm that might make them difficult to deal with then

it's not a huge deal

[timid ore]

ye I think Im gonna leave it as it is

btw thank you for the feedback, really helpful stuff

[plain slate]

you're welcome. glad to help 🙂

[timid ore]

I posted it on youtube if you wanna check it out with the visuals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpVfFPJxVMw

(glad to be finished with this)