10-10-2019, 12:31 PM
Hi Tommy, first of all - I quite like the decisions you made in your mix. I have no problem with them at all, and there is certainly no need to apologise. Your decisions are respectful to the concept of the track and honour the intention of the song - so well done with that!
I've mentioned this before regarding the tracks I have posted for mixing here, but I'll mention it again: These songs are generally conceived originally in my mind to be played and sound "complete" with a three piece lineup - guitar, bass and drums (& vocals, of course). So the backbone is there, and theoretically, they could be stripped back to that and still remain intact.
However, artististically at the point when I recorded these tracks, I was more interested in developing a fuller, more elaborate style of production, and a more engaging and intricate soundscape - one that rewards repeated listens by revealing more layers of detail and interest. Of course, this results in a fairly hefty track count, which can be quite a challenge to mix - I get that - I mixed the album!
Some seem to interpret this as a lack of decisiveness and direction in the production. I find this puzzling, because I can assure everyone that no such state of mind has ever plagued me - even for a second. I don't say that because I'm arrogant about my production skills - To the contrary, I continue to learn and grow with each song I produce - It is just the plain truth about my decision-making process for these tracks.
The fact is, each track, instrumental part and each vocal layer are there for a very specific purpose, with the goal of achieving the sonic vision/outcome that I had in my mind's ear.
Of course, the difficulty with someone else mixing the track is that they are coming at it from an outside perspective, without my(very specific and personal) focus. Following that line of thought, one thing I've read many times about tracks mixed on this site (when decrying the lack of apparent direction in the multitrack files) is "we don't have input from the artist'. To which I would respond "yes you do - it's called the Preview Mix!"
The preview mix is in almost all cases the one the artist approved. The fact is, mixing is really all about listening first and foremost. If anyone wants to learn how to mix professionally, (and that is, I gather, the goal of many who frequent here) then learning how to listen and carefully analyse the preview mix so as to determine the intent of the artist/producer, is an absolutely vital skill that needs to happen before a fader is touched, or a plugin instantiated.
One of the reasons I also made available premixed stems taken from the preview mix premaster along with the multitracks was because I thought it may help dissect the preview mix in a more insightful way. I was hoping it may give more clues as to the roles intended for each of the parts of the song. I'm not sure if anyone is taking advantage of this sort of "forensic mix deconstruction" (as I see it), but I know I would love to have that sort of assistance when mixing a complex track that I hadn't been party to producing... Anyhoo... rant over!
To your mix...
I like the tighter, dryer presentation of the soundstage - it works well, and gives the song a slightly rawer edge.
The overall frequency spread is good too. Clear in the top and mids, tight and punchy in the low end.
The prechoruses hit nice and hard, and you retained the more flowing essence of the chorus in a more minimal way, which made a lot of space for the backing vocals.
The one thing that I think could improve is the compression on the bass. The attack of the bass notes seem to jump out very noticeably, and in a slightly uneven way. In fact, at times I wonder if it might be exacerbated by some "pumping" in the mix buss compression. Without knowing exactly what is going on, it's a bit hard to put my finger on it what is giving me the impression of things "pumping" and jumping out in a slightly distracting way.
Overall though, I quite enjoyed your take on it - nice work!
I've mentioned this before regarding the tracks I have posted for mixing here, but I'll mention it again: These songs are generally conceived originally in my mind to be played and sound "complete" with a three piece lineup - guitar, bass and drums (& vocals, of course). So the backbone is there, and theoretically, they could be stripped back to that and still remain intact.
However, artististically at the point when I recorded these tracks, I was more interested in developing a fuller, more elaborate style of production, and a more engaging and intricate soundscape - one that rewards repeated listens by revealing more layers of detail and interest. Of course, this results in a fairly hefty track count, which can be quite a challenge to mix - I get that - I mixed the album!
Some seem to interpret this as a lack of decisiveness and direction in the production. I find this puzzling, because I can assure everyone that no such state of mind has ever plagued me - even for a second. I don't say that because I'm arrogant about my production skills - To the contrary, I continue to learn and grow with each song I produce - It is just the plain truth about my decision-making process for these tracks.
The fact is, each track, instrumental part and each vocal layer are there for a very specific purpose, with the goal of achieving the sonic vision/outcome that I had in my mind's ear.
Of course, the difficulty with someone else mixing the track is that they are coming at it from an outside perspective, without my(very specific and personal) focus. Following that line of thought, one thing I've read many times about tracks mixed on this site (when decrying the lack of apparent direction in the multitrack files) is "we don't have input from the artist'. To which I would respond "yes you do - it's called the Preview Mix!"
The preview mix is in almost all cases the one the artist approved. The fact is, mixing is really all about listening first and foremost. If anyone wants to learn how to mix professionally, (and that is, I gather, the goal of many who frequent here) then learning how to listen and carefully analyse the preview mix so as to determine the intent of the artist/producer, is an absolutely vital skill that needs to happen before a fader is touched, or a plugin instantiated.
One of the reasons I also made available premixed stems taken from the preview mix premaster along with the multitracks was because I thought it may help dissect the preview mix in a more insightful way. I was hoping it may give more clues as to the roles intended for each of the parts of the song. I'm not sure if anyone is taking advantage of this sort of "forensic mix deconstruction" (as I see it), but I know I would love to have that sort of assistance when mixing a complex track that I hadn't been party to producing... Anyhoo... rant over!
To your mix...
I like the tighter, dryer presentation of the soundstage - it works well, and gives the song a slightly rawer edge.
The overall frequency spread is good too. Clear in the top and mids, tight and punchy in the low end.
The prechoruses hit nice and hard, and you retained the more flowing essence of the chorus in a more minimal way, which made a lot of space for the backing vocals.
The one thing that I think could improve is the compression on the bass. The attack of the bass notes seem to jump out very noticeably, and in a slightly uneven way. In fact, at times I wonder if it might be exacerbated by some "pumping" in the mix buss compression. Without knowing exactly what is going on, it's a bit hard to put my finger on it what is giving me the impression of things "pumping" and jumping out in a slightly distracting way.
Overall though, I quite enjoyed your take on it - nice work!
All 10 FytaKyte Multi-Tracks available for you to mix with purchase of Album here: https://fytakyte.bandcamp.com/releases