Originally Posted By: PaulH


I just listened to that song on my iPhone & iPad. Wow not so good, vocals seem a bit shaky and somewhat raw. It's hard to mix for all the varieties of speakers people will listen on and maintain a good overall sound. Anyone else include listening through a mobile device when mixing?


Nice song....

Don't beat yourself up. As I listened I didn't hear those things on the first pass. I listen on cheap speakers as most people will be doing.

Shakey vocals are easy to fix by concentrating on the task at hand when singing. With multitrack and punch in/out, that is an easy fix. Also.... check out Melodyne Editor (or essentials) for "fixing" those vocals. I use ME on all my vocal tracks and those of the singers on my music. Even a really excellent vocal take can use some fixing. ME lets you literally take the shake out of the vocals...and a whole lot more.

Mixing for all the speakers..... nope.... don't even try. Just get a good mix that is solid and let the chips fall where they may for the others. Use some decent studio reference monitors, learn the way they sound by playing some commercially recorded music similar to your music on them, and mix accordingly. Get ARC. Automatic Room Correction software by IK Multimedia. http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/arc/ it will do wonders for your mixing once you set it up and get it calibrated to your room. It compensates for the deficiencies in the room and lets you hear a more accurate rendering of the music. I know some folks who use it religiously and they produce some of the best home studio mixes I've heard.

I listen all the time to mobile players. I mix and export to my MP3 player and listen to the music as I go through my day at work..... I can pick out the nits that I missed in the studio. Things start to bug me and I listen closer, go back to the studio and listen there and make fixes. Generally I don't have EQ issues, but mistakes and timing issues, yup, or just a word or phrase that should be different..... or song structure sounds wrong.... that stuff only comes by listening. Cans and buds let you hear things that you might miss on the speakers.... so yeah, be sure to listen in several different ways.... but trust the monitors.

I like the song.... good job.

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