When you're not happy with the way a project turned out...

[artnoiser]

I don't know if this has ever happened to you guys (I doubt it hasn't). I recently finished a project that just really didn't turn out the way I had imagined it would. I'd agree that it is normal that you wish you would have done x or y, but this time I am really unhappy with how the record sounds. It is an independent release, low budget and all that. Even so, I am hesitant to think of what I'll tell people when they compare it to the way their CDs sound, which they got at the store. The vocalist, whom I recorded this for is happy with the sound of his voice, etc...but even though it's cool that he likes it, I know the voice didn't come out sounding as great as it could have. It makes me absolutely crazy to know that I have taken very long to finish this, so finishing it in too short of an amount of time isn't even a reason I could consider, if I wanted to blame it on something. Telling people that my inexperience has contributed to the cd not sounding like pro records doesn't do much for convincing future clients to work with me (even though I know that this is part of the reason). Just a peek into what I do: I've been recording and mixing projects for a couple of years now (DAW, mixing internally), pretty much learning things on my own since there aren't any great engineers around where I live, over whose shoulders I can look from time to time to learn something new. I probably killed it during "mastering" which I had to do myself. :mad: The tracks themselves sound really good, I have been very pleased with how the natural takes turned out - received compliments on how the drums and guitars sound, the vocalist is (still) happy about his voice... Am I being too hard on myself, or what is going on? art

[Anderton]

If the tracks sound really good and the tune doesn't, it's either the mix or the mastering. My bet is the mastering, which is really difficult to do if you're not familiar with the process. If there's no mastering engineer near you, these days that's not much of an issue as you can send a CD of raw mixes and have someone master them for you. Granted the lack of interaction is a drag, but that basically means that sometimes it takes a couple tries and a couple phone calls if there are problems.

[Chip McDonald]

I erase it. I'm pretty notorious about that, though... I probably erase at a 2,000:1 ratio of never use/use. I've erased stuff that I've regretted. I've also played stuff I've regretted. So I suppose you shouldn't listen to me...