21-01-2019, 11:45 PM
Hello again, Hairy Mark! This is quite an ambient vision you've got going on here, and you also seem to be taking a cue from the Ben L'oncle Soul reference insofar as you've chosen a very smooth-sounding vocal timbre, and a generally warm overall mix tonality. That said, I think you've probably gone a bit too heavy on the 150Hz region in general. I found myself cutting 4-6dB here while listening, for instance, although it's not something that a master-EQ curve can really tackle effectively here because the prominent vocal track's low frequencies are rather uncontrolled in this region. You'll need to find a way of containing those (perhaps a multiband compressor) so that the low end of the mix remains more stable. Once that's more in balance, you'll probably also find you want to add a little more sub-80Hz energy to the bass guitar as well, as this seems a little underpowered by comparison with the kick drum's low end. (A touch more midrange on the bass guitar would also help its small-speaker translation, as that's not tremendous as things stand, and it's quite important for mainstream translation, given the musical importance of the part in this particular production.) The mix also feels a little dull at the high end, but, again, a master-buss EQ isn't the answer, because the hi-hat is so much brighter than everything else. I'd suggest smoothing out that hi-hat, and then boosting the upper octaves of the whole mix then.
The kick and snare both seem very low in the balance compared with the bass and lead vocals, which is robbing your mix of some rhythmic momentum and making the nice drum fills less of an ear-catching feature. The kick drum is quite resonant at the low end, though, so you may have to tame that character before turning it up, otherwise it'll likely cloud the bass line unacceptably. I also suspect you're overcompressing your drums buss, because the kick drum often seems to 'fold' in on itself, rather than providing a proper impact. Another clue for me is that the level of the side-stick in the balance varies dramatically depending on whether it hits just before the kick (ie. before the buss compressor's started reducing the gain in response to the kick drum) or with the kick (ie. where it's being turned down by the buss compressor as that's responding to the kick hit) -- this is something I really noticed in Verse 2, for instance. I don't think this is a production that really calls for heavy compression as a 'sound' in its own right. If you want more sustain, perhaps switch to parallel compression so you don't stamp on the peaks as much. Or if you just need level control then perhaps turn to more moderate limiting or something like Sound Radix's Drum Leveler -- or indeed just fader automation! There's something odd going on with the cymbals in the Mid-section too. Is it some kind of modulation effect of frequency-selective dynamics? Whatever it is, it has a slightly weird phasey quality to it that feels a bit incongruous. There's also something funny going on with the second Hammond part, which appears to be playing consistently 2 beats late (most obviously at the end of the Mid-section). If this is intentional, then I'd advise against it, simply because the Hammond's harmonies then clash with the rest of the production for the first two beats of every bar, and I don't think that kind of harmonic smearing really serves a singer-songwriter project like this.
I like the sense of atmosphere you generate with those guitar sounds -- it's a new flavour I've not encountered so far, but I do like it a lot. Overall, though, I think you've probably been a bit too indiscriminate with your reverb use, which slightly undermines the potential of those guitars. I'd spend some time carving away at your different reverbs with EQ, so that you clarify the mix more, at which point the character of those guitars should become more concentrated by virtue of greater contrast. The mix's stereo width is also pretty decent, although the second Hammond part really takes a dive in mono, which does undermine the balance of the later choruses on single-speaker playback systems. I think you can afford a certain amount of mono-incompatibility on a chordal part like this in the name of impressive stereo width, but the Hammond also plays a textural role in differentiating the chorus section from the verse, so I think it's a shame to lose it as much as this in mono.
I mentioned the lead vocal's low-end variability, but I also reckon you could give it a bit more high end too, because it's coming across a little muffled compared with the hi-hat and the guitar/piano off-beats. That way, I think you might also be able to balance the vocal generally a fraction lower in the balance (as in the Ben L'oncle Soul track, for instance) so that the rhythm section can deliver a better sense of power. The mob backing vocals in the Outro, on the other hand, could perhaps be a bit louder, because the 'singalong' aspect of that section seems to lack some enthusiasm at the moment.
Hope all of that makes sense and is some help for you -- thanks for contributing your mix!
The kick and snare both seem very low in the balance compared with the bass and lead vocals, which is robbing your mix of some rhythmic momentum and making the nice drum fills less of an ear-catching feature. The kick drum is quite resonant at the low end, though, so you may have to tame that character before turning it up, otherwise it'll likely cloud the bass line unacceptably. I also suspect you're overcompressing your drums buss, because the kick drum often seems to 'fold' in on itself, rather than providing a proper impact. Another clue for me is that the level of the side-stick in the balance varies dramatically depending on whether it hits just before the kick (ie. before the buss compressor's started reducing the gain in response to the kick drum) or with the kick (ie. where it's being turned down by the buss compressor as that's responding to the kick hit) -- this is something I really noticed in Verse 2, for instance. I don't think this is a production that really calls for heavy compression as a 'sound' in its own right. If you want more sustain, perhaps switch to parallel compression so you don't stamp on the peaks as much. Or if you just need level control then perhaps turn to more moderate limiting or something like Sound Radix's Drum Leveler -- or indeed just fader automation! There's something odd going on with the cymbals in the Mid-section too. Is it some kind of modulation effect of frequency-selective dynamics? Whatever it is, it has a slightly weird phasey quality to it that feels a bit incongruous. There's also something funny going on with the second Hammond part, which appears to be playing consistently 2 beats late (most obviously at the end of the Mid-section). If this is intentional, then I'd advise against it, simply because the Hammond's harmonies then clash with the rest of the production for the first two beats of every bar, and I don't think that kind of harmonic smearing really serves a singer-songwriter project like this.
I like the sense of atmosphere you generate with those guitar sounds -- it's a new flavour I've not encountered so far, but I do like it a lot. Overall, though, I think you've probably been a bit too indiscriminate with your reverb use, which slightly undermines the potential of those guitars. I'd spend some time carving away at your different reverbs with EQ, so that you clarify the mix more, at which point the character of those guitars should become more concentrated by virtue of greater contrast. The mix's stereo width is also pretty decent, although the second Hammond part really takes a dive in mono, which does undermine the balance of the later choruses on single-speaker playback systems. I think you can afford a certain amount of mono-incompatibility on a chordal part like this in the name of impressive stereo width, but the Hammond also plays a textural role in differentiating the chorus section from the verse, so I think it's a shame to lose it as much as this in mono.
I mentioned the lead vocal's low-end variability, but I also reckon you could give it a bit more high end too, because it's coming across a little muffled compared with the hi-hat and the guitar/piano off-beats. That way, I think you might also be able to balance the vocal generally a fraction lower in the balance (as in the Ben L'oncle Soul track, for instance) so that the rhythm section can deliver a better sense of power. The mob backing vocals in the Outro, on the other hand, could perhaps be a bit louder, because the 'singalong' aspect of that section seems to lack some enthusiasm at the moment.
Hope all of that makes sense and is some help for you -- thanks for contributing your mix!