22-11-2016, 10:25 PM
Just listened to version two: well, you're preaching to the choir on that banjo, because I think it's a great part in this song, and also works very well in the intro as well, so I'm certainly not going to question that arrangement call. Overall, this is another almost punk-flavoured interpretation, which is an approach I rather like, as it emphasises the inherent aggression of the lead vocal performance. I wonder whether you might have overplayed the 2kHz region, though, as there's a slightly telephoney edge to the tone. This doesn't help with the backing vocals, which really hit this range hard and feel a bit piercing as a result.
A touch less 150-200Hz overall as well, perhaps? It's mostly the bass that feels slightly too porky there, so maybe it could simply be a dip on that channel required. Overall I love the attitude here, and it all holds together within that concept -- the heavily compressed drums, the electrics-heavy balance, the hairy vocal tone. The vocal treatment is particularly nice in that it really brings out his performance character, so nice job there, although I wonder whether you could have 'hardened' the sound a little more to compete better with such hard-edged guitars. In terms of effects, I like what you've done -- there's great blend and that delay spin in the Mid-section is nicely placed.
As with some of the other mixes, I think maybe the acoustic guitar transients are undermining your 'band turned up to 11' illusion here -- maybe just dial in a touch of transient reduction there. (I seem to remember you're a Reaper user, in which case, try Reaper's JS Transient Controller, which works well for this.)
One thing that niggles slightly is (I'm guessing) the action of your buss compression, which feels like it's unduly ducking the backing in response to the lead vocal. Check out the end of Verse 3, for instance, and how the track seems to suddenly bump up in level when the vocal finishes (around 1:48). And then you really seem to lose impact at the start of Verse 4 when the vocal ducks the backing level again. I have nothing against the healthy vocal level in the mix, but I think it might be worth controlling it a little more on the channel, rather than relying as much on the buss compression for that purpose. Admittedly, this kind of thing can be complicated to deal with in practice -- in fact, this is one of the reasons people sometimes use multi-buss mix processing, so that they can keep the main buss compressor pumping away on the backing-track without it excessively catching the lead vocal.
I do like this version a lot, though -- bags of attitude, but still well controlled where it matters. Thanks for posting, Herb!
A touch less 150-200Hz overall as well, perhaps? It's mostly the bass that feels slightly too porky there, so maybe it could simply be a dip on that channel required. Overall I love the attitude here, and it all holds together within that concept -- the heavily compressed drums, the electrics-heavy balance, the hairy vocal tone. The vocal treatment is particularly nice in that it really brings out his performance character, so nice job there, although I wonder whether you could have 'hardened' the sound a little more to compete better with such hard-edged guitars. In terms of effects, I like what you've done -- there's great blend and that delay spin in the Mid-section is nicely placed.
As with some of the other mixes, I think maybe the acoustic guitar transients are undermining your 'band turned up to 11' illusion here -- maybe just dial in a touch of transient reduction there. (I seem to remember you're a Reaper user, in which case, try Reaper's JS Transient Controller, which works well for this.)
One thing that niggles slightly is (I'm guessing) the action of your buss compression, which feels like it's unduly ducking the backing in response to the lead vocal. Check out the end of Verse 3, for instance, and how the track seems to suddenly bump up in level when the vocal finishes (around 1:48). And then you really seem to lose impact at the start of Verse 4 when the vocal ducks the backing level again. I have nothing against the healthy vocal level in the mix, but I think it might be worth controlling it a little more on the channel, rather than relying as much on the buss compression for that purpose. Admittedly, this kind of thing can be complicated to deal with in practice -- in fact, this is one of the reasons people sometimes use multi-buss mix processing, so that they can keep the main buss compressor pumping away on the backing-track without it excessively catching the lead vocal.
I do like this version a lot, though -- bags of attitude, but still well controlled where it matters. Thanks for posting, Herb!