04-05-2018, 10:37 AM
Hi Kirk, thanks for dropping by and sharing your ob's. Thanks for not pointing out the distortion in at least one spot, you saved me blushes 
Listened to version 4 (wow, you have stamina!) – mix1a. Here's a few thoughts.
The arrangement has a lot of brightness which converts to harshness as instruments come and go. The triangle is especially agitating my ear canal, along with a filter sweep for example. The mix is busy and this makes it fatiguing to listen to, the abundance of upper mids and treble adds to this issue. The lossy format will magnify resonances making > 1kHz a trial. This zone was also a problem in the preview mix and I too struggled to rein it in. Did the triangle, with it's edgy character that can quickly become annoying if overly present, need to be about for over half the song's duration? We could ask this question of other elements if we are impartial.
At the other end of the spectrum, the bass booms occasionally on some notes.
Switching to mono brings out the phase gremlins and finer balance issues. What we want to avoid is the example in the preview mix, where the strings turn hollow and unnatural and lose their glory. Club systems are abundantly mono
Still in mono, at 3:40 the song gets vocally cluttered and chaotic, as it does in stereo for that matter, but mono focuses it.
There is a relative omission of tension and release. I think the density of the arrangement offers some opportunities, especially between verse and chorus. Changing levels and therefore energy between parts and sections might also help here? I found the strings were quite responsive in changing the feel and vibe of the song, for example. You could also get radical and start modding their attack envelopes in strategic areas
If I was to take a punt, I'd say this was mixed on open backed headphones.
Out of interest, did you equalise the mono reverb on the lead vocal?
Listened to version 4 (wow, you have stamina!) – mix1a. Here's a few thoughts.
The arrangement has a lot of brightness which converts to harshness as instruments come and go. The triangle is especially agitating my ear canal, along with a filter sweep for example. The mix is busy and this makes it fatiguing to listen to, the abundance of upper mids and treble adds to this issue. The lossy format will magnify resonances making > 1kHz a trial. This zone was also a problem in the preview mix and I too struggled to rein it in. Did the triangle, with it's edgy character that can quickly become annoying if overly present, need to be about for over half the song's duration? We could ask this question of other elements if we are impartial.
At the other end of the spectrum, the bass booms occasionally on some notes.
Switching to mono brings out the phase gremlins and finer balance issues. What we want to avoid is the example in the preview mix, where the strings turn hollow and unnatural and lose their glory. Club systems are abundantly mono
Still in mono, at 3:40 the song gets vocally cluttered and chaotic, as it does in stereo for that matter, but mono focuses it.
There is a relative omission of tension and release. I think the density of the arrangement offers some opportunities, especially between verse and chorus. Changing levels and therefore energy between parts and sections might also help here? I found the strings were quite responsive in changing the feel and vibe of the song, for example. You could also get radical and start modding their attack envelopes in strategic areas
If I was to take a punt, I'd say this was mixed on open backed headphones.
Out of interest, did you equalise the mono reverb on the lead vocal?
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