Yellow Jacket's Return

[TDP]

Greetings to all. Yes, I am pretty new here.
This tune is not strictly ambient, but has strong ambient leanings.
It starts out a little more 'electronica'-like and then moves more into ambience.

To me anyway, any tune that has at least a fair emphasis on ambience has moved at least somewhat
into ambient music territory. Whether it also has a beat or some melodic structure or not
is not so critical to me either way. Anyway to me its all 'electronic music', some with more emphasis
on rhythm and/or melodic structure to different degrees, and some with more emphasis on ambience.

If by strict definition it is not ambient, then how about about:
Electronica + lots of ambience = 'Ambionica'?
Just kidding. To me all the different electronic music genre names are only loose guidelines.
I do not look at music so rigidly.

Yellow Jacket's Return

https://soundcloud.com/user-122921524/yellow-jackets-return

If anyone has any tips on how it might be mixed or mastered better
or whatever else I would be interested to hear it.

All the best...

[aoVI]

Hey, welcome to AO--you have been pretty active in giving others feedback and it is appreciated!

I can't say that I have any mixing tips for this piece, it sounded pretty well done to me.

Whether something is 'ambient' or not can be debated until the drones come home. I'd say this piece is at the least arguably ambient in some form.

While we are an Ambient forum, we try not to get too hung up on defending ambient's borders, and focus more on the community of folks who enjoy listening to ambient and ambient-inspired works.

[TDP]

Hey, welcome to AO--you have been pretty active in giving others feedback and it is appreciated!
I can't say that I have any mixing tips for this piece, it sounded pretty well done to me.
Whether something is 'ambient' or not can be debated until the drones come home. I'd say this piece is at the least arguably ambient in some form.
While we are an Ambient forum, we try not to get too hung up on defending ambient's borders, and focus more on the community of folks who enjoy listening to ambient and ambient-inspired works.

Hi aoVI. Thanks for the feedback on that. It is much appreciated.

Regarding mixing, I am always looking for ways to improve on my mixing and mastering,
as my mixing skills are still pretty basic. Even though I have been practicing at trying to improve
my mixing skills when I have time for several years already, I still have lots to learn.
Also training the hearing to listen to music in a different way for mixing and mastering purposes can take a
lot of practice. I still have a long, long way to go. I am always striving for cleaner and nicer sounding
mixes as I think the difference between a really good mix and a poor mix can be quite a difference.
With some types of ambient music it is maybe not so critical, but still I think the better the mixing
skills, the better the end result can potentially be.

[gis_sweden]

I get a Berlin school feeling

Mastering... Open music you like in you sound editor and analyse. Starting with plot spectrum.
Make you spectrum look the same (eq)
Apply compressor
Then limiter
Done :thumbsup:

Thats how I used to do.

[TDP]

I get a Berlin school feeling
Mastering... Open music you like in you sound editor and analyse. Starting with plot spectrum.
Make you spectrum look the same (eq)
Apply compressor
Then limiter
Done :thumbsup:
Thats how I used to do.

Yes, if you have another tune that is very similar in style to your tune
which you think is mastered really well, you can try to match
the frequency spectrum waveform to your own tunes frequency spectrum
as well as try to match the same relative levels. That is a good approach for sure!
Thanks for the feedback.

[Faru]

hey tdp,
I also like the tune, as gis said, berlin school feeling! the melodies are great. but it sounds a bit unbalanced in volume. What I can say from my own experience, that buying some good headphones did a good job for me, like akg 702, they are not super expensive compared to good speakers and proper acoustic treatment. also doing some AB testing in your daw with other tracks might help to 1. get a feel of how they sound on your system and 2. see how the frequencies go. I usually do my mixdown along as i produce the track and not in the end, but it can also help let your arrangement run along and put up one fader after another. dont worry if it doesnt sound right in the beginning, it takes time to get your ears adjusted to hear the sublet changes. and it will get better and better after time, just keep on making music

[aoVI]

hey tdp,

akg 702

I like you already.

;)

[TDP]

hey tdp,
I also like the tune, as gis said, berlin school feeling! the melodies are great. but it sounds a bit unbalanced in volume. What I can say from my own experience, that buying some good headphones did a good job for me, like akg 702, they are not super expensive compared to good speakers and proper acoustic treatment. also doing some AB testing in your daw with other tracks might help to 1. get a feel of how they sound on your system and 2. see how the frequencies go. I usually do my mixdown along as i produce the track and not in the end, but it can also help let your arrangement run along and put up one fader after another. dont worry if it doesnt sound right in the beginning, it takes time to get your ears adjusted to hear the sublet changes. and it will get better and better after time, just keep on making music

Heys Faru. Thanks for the feedback! I have some studio monitors, but they are not really
high end ones. The unbalanced volume you are hearing is probably due to me lacking
in mixing and mastering experience. I'll keep working at trying to get better sounding
mixes for sure.