19-06-2020, 09:18 AM
Hey Krabbe, I agree - this is a very cool song, and the vocal performance is excellent. Your mix has some cool things about it. I especially like that little transition effect (filter sweep?) into the first chorus... I may have to borrow that one for my own use sometime ?. I think I can hear your intention in this mix to really make the choruses "arrive", but I think there are some technical issues you need to deal with first.
The #1 thing I hear is congestion in the mids and low mids of mix elements. That 200 - 400 area really needs cleaning up on the individual elements before you can start bringing out the punch and sparkle. Once you clear that out in the drums, bass and guitars, you'll have much more room to give the vocal centre stage and to "breathe".
The second thing I can hear is very obvious compression working. It is happening on the whole mix, but also on the lead vocal. I have nothing against compression - I love it, in fact! However, while most listeners describe this phenomenon as "over-compression", I don't believe that is an accurate description. It's not simply a matter of the amount of gain reduction happening. Even 3dB of gain reduction can sound bad if the attack and release settings are not suited to the material they are compressing.
I think that might be the issue here, especially with the vocal. I can hear the initial attack on some words jumping out for a millisecond, and the the compressor really clamps down. Maybe experiment with slower attack and faster release settings to get a bit more of a natural feel to the compression.
On you drum and mix buss compression again, try experimenting with slower attack times. That can help the transients of the drums come through without being blunted so much, and give a more dynamic feel to the mix.
Lastly, having mixed the song myself (albeit a long time ago), I don't remember the drums giving much trouble. Granted, it may not be the greatest drum recording in the world, but I have heard much, much worse. In fact, I would venture to say, compared to many home recordings, this is not bad... and the energy of the drum performance is killer IMO. I'm sure, as a live sound engineer, you have had to deal with less than stellar sources on more than one occasion. ? You just make it work!
The #1 thing I hear is congestion in the mids and low mids of mix elements. That 200 - 400 area really needs cleaning up on the individual elements before you can start bringing out the punch and sparkle. Once you clear that out in the drums, bass and guitars, you'll have much more room to give the vocal centre stage and to "breathe".
The second thing I can hear is very obvious compression working. It is happening on the whole mix, but also on the lead vocal. I have nothing against compression - I love it, in fact! However, while most listeners describe this phenomenon as "over-compression", I don't believe that is an accurate description. It's not simply a matter of the amount of gain reduction happening. Even 3dB of gain reduction can sound bad if the attack and release settings are not suited to the material they are compressing.
I think that might be the issue here, especially with the vocal. I can hear the initial attack on some words jumping out for a millisecond, and the the compressor really clamps down. Maybe experiment with slower attack and faster release settings to get a bit more of a natural feel to the compression.
On you drum and mix buss compression again, try experimenting with slower attack times. That can help the transients of the drums come through without being blunted so much, and give a more dynamic feel to the mix.
Lastly, having mixed the song myself (albeit a long time ago), I don't remember the drums giving much trouble. Granted, it may not be the greatest drum recording in the world, but I have heard much, much worse. In fact, I would venture to say, compared to many home recordings, this is not bad... and the energy of the drum performance is killer IMO. I'm sure, as a live sound engineer, you have had to deal with less than stellar sources on more than one occasion. ? You just make it work!
All 10 FytaKyte Multi-Tracks available for you to mix with purchase of Album here: https://fytakyte.bandcamp.com/releases