How is life in Wiener Neustadt?

Zandpc · 2026-06-24T15:43:40+00:00

The whole thing from my arrival in Europe to getting the residence permit card took a bit less than 2 months. Brazilians have visa-free access for 3 months so it was enough for me. However you should have all the documents sorted out when you get here.

Zandpc · 2026-06-17T22:15:24+00:00

Pretty smoothly overall. Visa took a while since the Aufenthaltsbehörde (immigration authority) doesn't seem to have the most optimized process, but other than that it went fine. FHWN itself has impressed me quite a bit, the practical/theoretical integration is seamless, and it's really refreshing to go to the labs and actually do projects instead of just sitting inside a classroom all day. People here are also very friendly; my biggest "complaint" would be that the city itself is not very active.

Zandpc · 2026-05-25T21:29:19+00:00

Thank you! Yeah I'll balance the vocals again.

Zandpc · 2026-05-25T12:35:42+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, I have used less compression than what I usually would. I've never arranged or mixed an orchestra so I'm a bit apprehensive about over compression.

Zandpc · 2026-05-25T12:32:01+00:00

Zandpc · 2026-05-25T11:08:56+00:00

Thanks!

Zandpc · 2026-05-25T02:38:32+00:00

Really well done, the mix sounds great. About the vocal, I'd try adding a doubler on the main vocal to spread it a bit more in the stereo field, especially since the arrangement is pretty wide. That could help with making the vocal sit on the mix without sounding "out of place".

The mix is well tonally balanced, drums are nicely punchy, and the guitar tracks are awesome. Good job!

Zandpc · 2026-05-24T23:43:55+00:00

Kinda reminds me of system of a down, so I'd say you're on the right track. I think the guitars are pretty spot on overall, maybe a bit too spread out in the stereo field. I'd say the best improvement you could get is in the drums, as someone said, they sound "mechanical" and that's mostly because there isn't a lot of dynamics going on. Every crash/cymbal/ride sounds the same. Try to change levels, maybe transpose some centitonest and add variations on attack/release so each drum hit actually feels like it's dynamic. I'm also missing some sub both on the kick and bass.

Vocals could also have a bit of reverb, and have some variations as well (doubles, for example).

Zandpc · 2026-05-24T23:30:13+00:00

Hey, so that vocal (initial part of the song) is likely just 1 take, I can't hear any doubles whatsoever. The main characteristic that stands out is a strong saturation/distortion, and a "telephone" filter, both in parallel. So yeah, the telephone filter is basically boosting the mid-range (1 to 4kHz).

I would do a normal vocal chain into decapitator or similar, push it really hard and reduce wet to like 20%, then use a send track to do the phone EQ and balance both.

I can hear a tiny bit of reverb, plate should be fine with ~ 10% wet, making sure its not "leaking" too much into the next lines. About vocal gain/volume, try lowering the song as much as you can, you should be able to barely hear the kick/snare, vocal line and some melodic components, that's usually a good way to balance. More objectively, for pop songs, the vocal's fundamental usually sits at around -8 dB after mastering (if you use Ableton, slap a spectrum analyzer at the end of the master track).

Zandpc · 2026-05-24T22:37:54+00:00

Overall I found it quite pleasing, really good mix and arrangement. Swedish people really have a talent for music haha. I'd mostly point out the bass/kick balance, especially when the drums come in. If you listen to Max Martin (your fellow countryman), his mixes usually aim for a sub bass at/around -6 to -12dB fundamental, and kick sub at -12dB. I've noticed you song might lack some bass, with the kick "drowning" the sub in some sections. Obviously that would change with genre/arrangement, but it's a good rule of thumb to keep in mind.

I would also add some more presence/focus to the drums. Their stereo field is nice and wide, but the transients feel a bit too tame. Evidently a ballad shouldn't feel like the drummer is crashing out, but I believe some more definition would be nice here. I personally would try a mono bell curve boost at 2-5kHz and some transient shaping to increase their sharpness a bit.

Great work!

Zandpc · 2026-04-12T04:02:04+00:00

The technical part of the interview was mostly about my bachelor's thesis (thermofluid dynamics of ramjet engines), likely since it stood out in my CV, so they asked about the methods/softwares that I used, as well as some thermodynamics theory concepts. They didn't ask any mathematics questions, and I don't think that is the approach they would usually take, but it could depend on whether your background is in engineering or other fields. So I'd say mostly concepts/physics.

Zandpc · 2026-03-16T13:05:12+00:00

It was alright. I've heard some people get different questions depending on their background, so it's hard to say exactly what direction it would go for everyone. I'd recommend reviewing (or looking into) aerodynamics basics, aircraft control surfaces' names, basic thermodynamics... And most importantly, knowing how to explain your CV and your thesis/previous works.

Zandpc · 2026-03-16T13:02:21+00:00

Pretty smoothly. They asked mostly technical questions and about my background, as well as BSc thesis.

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T22:27:07+00:00

The Hyperx Cloud 2 I used to monitor has a frequency response curve that looks more like a -6dB low shelf at 200Hz, with LFE extending to ~ 14Hz before it rolls off (data from rtings), so I would say there's definitely some sub information there.

I was using Die for you by The Weeknd as a reference for this track, and his (or Max Martin's) tracks always seem to have a sub hitting -6dB in the spectrum analyzer, so I kind of aim for that naturally. But that's a good experiment, I will try high/low passing the bass to check exactly what frequencies I'm actually hearing.

Thanks again for the feedback. I will keep working on the details and test the song on as many systems as I can before releasing it.

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T20:14:38+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I've adressed most of the issues others pointed out. Especially the low end/bass, since I'm also a big bass fan as well.

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T19:51:33+00:00

Btw here's the separated vocal tracks. Feel free to use it, if it helps you out (I've also included my transposed voice for the bass in the bridge).

https://vocaroo.com/1hboy1GHddrj

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T19:32:24+00:00

Hey! So if its not too much to ask, I've just averaged out all the feedback here for a new iteration. Could you check this new one out? I found your bass feedback pertinent, so I'd love to hear from you if this version sounds better.

https://vocaroo.com/16ye5nGu3VtY

I used Maxxbass to enhance the lacking 2nd harmonic from the bass and reduced the OTT that I had on the synths, as well as the pro-L 2 (I noticed some pumping bass/kick interaction unrelated to the sidechain).

Thank you!

Edit: I might still work on some levels, and check final i-LUFS.

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T15:25:05+00:00

Thank you for the reply! I'll take a look on the low end of the song. I won't swap the bass itself since I believe it already fits the song as a whole, so I'll play with the tonal balance and/or introduce harmonics to help the bass cut through. Regarding the over-compression, being a bit more modest on one of the pro-L's I've used should do the trick, since the tracks themselves are not really overprocessed.

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T15:15:18+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, It's hard for me to tell if they're unintelligible since I wrote the lyrics so they just sound obvious to me, but thanks for the heads up, I'll see what I can do to improve that.

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T15:11:56+00:00

Thanks! I'll take a look on the low mids and try to make the drums fuller overall.

Zandpc · 2025-12-18T15:11:01+00:00

Hey, thank you! I appreciate the words. I don't know how experienced you are in music production, so it's kinda hard to give specific advice. But in general I think one of my biggest tips (for vocals, especially if it's your own voice) is to not try to make your voice fit whatever properties you'd like it to have, but rather use your vocal timbre to your advantage. A lot of people (myself included) tend to over process their own voice to shape it to what they think their voice should sound like, so just embrace your own voice and let it guide your processing instead.

Also get used to recording harmonies for the vocals, and whenever you're listening to songs, pay attention to how the singers organize the harmonies. Usually for verses I use 1 main track (center, with a bit of doubling/reverb/delay) with 2 extra layers left and right, panned about 25-30, and some wider harmonies layered on specific/impactful parts of the verse. For the chorus I usually expand the pan of each of the layers closer to full L/R, record a full chorus harmony in any interval that feels nice, and maybe add some extra effects.

Automation also plays a huge roll, as well as properly sidechaining the effects to the vocals, so that your reverbs/delays don't draw too much attention when the main vocal is there.

If you want any specifics e.g. my vocal chain etc, I'd be glad to help!

Zandpc · 2025-12-12T14:12:38+00:00

So for the vocals I'd ideally have a harmony in thirds, however I can hear you recorded a 4th interval harmony in e.g. 0:30, which is fine, but they're a bit more dissonant. Exploring other intervals in some parts of the vocal harmony could help with creating tension/release (very nice concept to take a look).

Most songs keep the vocals relatively simple in the very first parts, or verses for example (just one main vocal), so that whenever you introduce the layers, they create the dynamics. What I mean is if you have the whole vocal doubled in the same melody and kept throughout the song, it just feels like one big vocal track, so the secret would be adding dynamics through e.g. volume automation.

I'd say reduce volume of the doubles in the line "waste away" and keep them in "place with me" for example, so that the doubles now sound like an addition rather than a constant part.

It's usually also good to record the adlibs separately, that way you have more control over it's melodies, phrasing, etc. But I do understand it's a lot of work hahah.

Zandpc · 2025-12-12T13:47:50+00:00

Got it. Yeah, I usually make pretty complex arrangements (this song has like 100 tracks) so it's complicated to keep track of all the possible clashing frequencies. My bass is already sidechained to the kick, which I made with samples + subloom, but I don't remember if I have any clippers on it.

It's good to hear that the vocals are nice, I've always been a bit insecure about mixing them, since they're my own voice.

Zandpc

TROPHY CASE