You Know Better - Mix Entry

[Mike Senior]

Hi tonyholmes! A very ear-catching Intro section here -- I genuinely flinched slightly in my seat when that solo guitar first played! Some thoughts:

• Overall, you've got a bit of a 2kHz honk to the mix tonality, and the sound could also tolerate a bit more sub-80Hz, I reckon.
  
• Also, you've got yourself into a bit of an upper midrange arms-race, with the lead vocal, cymbals, rhythm guitar, piano, and hammond all competing in this spectral region. That makes moments like the Mid-section and the lead-up to the Outro rather abrasive.
  
• There's a low resonance in the congas part that's confusing the bass line, so I'd try to filter that out, at least when the bass happens to be playing.
  
• You've chosen a very bright tone for the rhythm guitar, which is fine in its own right, but the pick noise has also become distractingly present. I'd take out some of that transient with other processing if you're after that timbre.
  
• Both guitars seem very dry, so they don't really blend with the production, and at times are a distraction from the vocal, depending on the level. One of them (eg. in Verse 2) is also very thin-sounding and dynamically uncontrolled, so doesn't really come through the mix too well, despite its musical interest.
  
• In general, this mix needs more detailed automation work. I really noticed this with the lead vocal in Verse 3. In the first line (1:45), for instance, "the smile I" feels quite distant, whereas "see is telling" really jumps out front.
  

Hope some of that's useful for you -- thanks for contributing!