Passing Ships

[paulcjohnson]

I actually think it's a great overall mix with some musically pleasing choices made with the panning and balances, it's just that my first impression was that it felt soft or mellow. I don't think it needs more air on top, that range sounds nice. I'd say a little more upper mids and a little less lower mids in general would bring it more in line with commercial mixes. I don't know if relying on mastering to do that is a good idea though, I think getting it right at the source is best.

Some of what i'm hearing might be because you didn't push it very hard into a mastering limiter (which isn't a bad thing). I usually mix into a mastering chain so I know what i'm going to end up with at the end.

[takka360]

Of course I don't mind... but I thought CLA's mix was intimidatingly good, but it was pretty dark like mine. His sounds like got hit really hard during mastering in the choruses, but he's known for compressing the snot out of his mixes so that may very well have been his decision.

Out of curiosity, what do you think is wrong about the production? I have some reservations, too... almost every instrument required a lot more compression than I'm comfortable with. On my version the drums are really getting pounded, like 10 to 20 dB of reduction in some places, just to keep them stable in the mix. What's your take on all of that?

Chris lords mix just has a great sound from his gear that's the main difference and a top ME i expect don't forget that.
Lets remind ourselves. Its hardly any better than yours mate in reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKisl7EMD5k

[pauli]

The way the drums are recorded etc they have no power and don't work with the rest of what is going on no matter what you do.
The producer needs shooting .

A little research turns up that the record was produced by Iestyn Polson, who I had never heard of but seems to be David Gray's primary producer.

I agree though.. the drums are pretty hard to mix. It takes lots and lots of compression to keep that snare drum under control. I spent maybe half of my time mixing this trying to get the snare working.