Who I am

[Pedaling Prince]

Thats a fine mix o my song, you hit the vibe and the sound is balanced and makes sense. Organ is too loud for my taste but I admit it works in your mix.

Yeah, I know. I LOVED that organ sound; had that old '70s vibe I love, with a hint of gospel music (which considering the thematic content of the song I suspect was what you were going for ). I just couldn't bear to bury it; I thought it sounded awesome, really carried that old gospel feel I felt the song was just begging for.

First the 2 guitar tracks were never meant to be played as were, but to be moved around, best pieces to make 1 strong guitar track. Your mix is the first where they made sense to me as they were.

Glad you liked it. I made that choice deliberately because I was going for an "old school" mix with a minimum of panning, automation and editing. Your song had so much of that lovely old '70s vibe that I wanted to treat it that way, as an old 70s mix, before we had all these fancy toys that can so easily "comp" good parts together.

Personally, I prefer to leave in "flaws." Music is never perfect because Human beings aren't, and I've always felt that a few imperfections here and there create that sense of life and warmth of Human touch.

When it comes to music, digital technology should, IMHO, only CAPTURE that live essence, not "edit" it. In other words, I believe the strength of digital sound is its ability to recreate a live performance with virtually 100% fidelity, not its ability to "fix" a performance after the fact.

There are exceptions to this rule, of course. Sometimes you HAVE to do that edit if the flaws are serious enough. That being said, the fact that I chose NOT to edit your guitar tracks is a testament to your performing skills; the fact that I didn't think your guitar tracks NEEDED comping you can definitely take as a compliment.

The bv and the piano could do with a higher locut for the bv and more topend to both, the piano also a little more volume.
The bas well, it is a cheap bas and you made it sound decent.

I wish I could implement your suggestions but I just searched my archives. I have limited storage space here and recently for any mix I was 100% satisfied with I discarded the mixing project completely to save space. "Comfort Lives in Belief" was one of the mixes I was 100% happy with so I no longer have the original project.

I'd have to start the mix over from scratch. Which I'd be willing to do, except right now I'm posting here in part because I'm trying to break out of working at a call center and get a position at a video production company or a recording studio; my postings here will ultimately act as a "portfolio" of sorts for me.

So once I get myself into the industry and start making my way towards my dream of starting my own film company perhaps I'll revisit this mix in my spare time and try your suggestions. Heck, that might be a good thing as it'll give me something to do that'll help me get familiar with the gear wherever I end up working.

Ive read your profile and I agree recorded music sounded much better before hard limiting became the standard.
My work around is only hittin the limiter a bit, 2-3dB at most. often less.

Considering your style I'm surprised you use a limiter at all. In my experience, compression and limiting have their legitimate uses on individual tracks in a mix but I've found that they are virtually NEVER needed in the final mastering (unless you're producing soundtracks for television which have strict guidelines for dynamic range and level).

IMHO, if a mix needs EQ or compression in mastering then the mix itself probably still needs more work.