Sea of Leaves Mix

[dcp10200]

Hi guys, this is my revised master of this song that is at the bottom of the page. I'm just cleaning up the thread abit to make it easier to navigate. The guitar tracks have some usual Eq and Compression to help them fit into the mix and some rhythmic delay to add some texture to the arrangement. The kick and snare are replaced with samples from EzDrummer 2 ( Kick sample is the 22" Gretch Burgundy Sparkle Kick from the Americana pack, Snare is the Low Tuned Suprophonic from the Classic Pack). After being sampled the drums had some Eq and compression added to taste and some reverb was added. The bass has some eq to add in some bark to the bass and in the choruses I used a bit of parallel distortion to fatten it up when the dynamic of the song changed. Vocals Alternate between a Lo-Fi Vocal in the verses and a clean Hi-Fi vocal in the choruses to add a bit of variety to the song. The whole mix was run through an EMI TG12345 Console emulation via Waves NLS and then compressed using an SSL masterbus compressor emulation. I scooped out 200 Hz with a Pul-Tec eq emulation to open up the low end a little and then did some mastering to tie it all together. I have Included all 3 of my mixes for you to compare, Big thanks goes to fHumble fHingaz for the critiques that lead to the final mix and master (See Master 2.5). Feel free to leave you critiques and comments, enjoy!

[FytaKyte]

Hi DCP - this mix sounds very good in my headphones (Senn HD650). I like the snappy snare sound, and the levels and separation work well, as does the Lofi /Hifi contrast in the vocals.

I'd like to have a listen on my monitors when I get a chance to confirm it, but I suspect the low end of the mix may be just a little shy - I'll have another listen when I get a chance.

[FytaKyte]

Had another listen on my studio system - Still sounds great! The kick is really pumping through nice & evenly in my sub.

However, my feeling is that the bass guitar is missing somewhat from the low end... this is a tricky balance to get, but I think you would know what I mean if you reference similar modern material. For example: This track from Fountains Of Wayne has a similar style of bass/kick relationship to your track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmqswLKKYyU To me, while the bass is there, it seems like the kick is really winning the low end battle, and the low end is somehow just a little bit dissatisfying. To me, this track off the same band's next album has much more of a balance, and the song grooves more as a result https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp9i3zm_64A

I think the secret is to get the bass to both provide the "connective tissue" between the kick drum & the guitars, but also to extend subtlely and evenly below the kick drum fundamental. A good way to ensure it doesn't get too crowded at the low end is to sidechain compress the bass to be ducked in volume everytime the kick hits. I find this technique enables me to turn up the bass louder without it overpowering the song.

Apart from that, the only other thing I think could be improved is the lo-fi vocal - a little bit more ambience around it would help it integrate into the mix better. Perhaps a fairly short delay and/or some room-style short early reflections reverb would sit it more comfortably in the mix.

Overall though - very nice job!

[FytaKyte]

New mix sounds great - bass is both fuller in the low end & more upfront in the high end - nice.

I think the lo-fi vocals could still do with a little better "positioning" in the mix. A bit of delay might do it, & maybe dropping them in volume a tad would be good too.

[FytaKyte]

Ah, that definitely works better - the "somebody scream" pre-chorus part has much more impact now. Nice!

[Carlos Gustavo Rodriguez]

Nothing to say, muy Buena! Jajajajajjaja

[Obelix]

Great mix. You mentioned something about bass guitar. If you really want some lows from it consider transposing it by -12 semitones or an octave. I did this and that deep bass really shines. If you like to experiment more with bass sound you can try blending high one with low one and see if it helps. Otherwise, good job. Drums are powerful and beautiful sounding.

[dcp10200]

Great mix. You mentioned something about bass guitar. If you really want some lows from it consider transposing it by -12 semitones or an octave. I did this and that deep bass really shines. If you like to experiment more with bass sound you can try blending high one with low one and see if it helps. Otherwise, good job. Drums are powerful and beautiful sounding.

Thanks Obelix, The weight I was talking about was more so the bass having a more forward, and aggressive sound so that they blend better with the guitar. Transposing down the octave I find makes it muddy and and artificial in my opinion. Indie rock like this track doesn't really demand a really big and boomy low end. What I did with the bass is duplicate the original bass track and use a high pass filter to remove everything but the high end from the bass and distort that, the low end track has a low pass filter on it and carrys the majority of the bass tone. Think of it as a crude form of multiband processing. With this technique you can dial in as much grit as you want without obliterating the original low end of the bass guitar.

[Mandubien]

Hello,

Your mix is powerful, maybe too much for my taste. To me the two main issues are the low ends and hi ends. It's very aggressive to my ears (damn hi hat in chorus !). Some cut in overheads between 6-8k would be appreciated.

For low ends, even if the kick sounds bigger than Metallica's Black Album, well to me it harms it. Way too much in front imho.

Finally, last thing to check : the guitars sound drowned because of their reverb/delays. I would have prefer more in your face guitars.

I hope I'm not too rude (I know I still have a lot to learn as well !)

Cheers !

[dcp10200]

Hello,

Your mix is powerful, maybe too much for my taste. To me the two main issues are the low ends and hi ends. It's very aggressive to my ears (damn hi hat in chorus !). Some cut in overheads between 6-8k would be appreciated.

For low ends, even if the kick sounds bigger than Metallica's Black Album, well to me it harms it. Way too much in front imho.

Finally, last thing to check : the guitars sound drowned because of their reverb/delays. I would have prefer more in your face guitars.

I hope I'm not too rude (I know I still have a lot to learn as well !)

Cheers !

Listening back to this mix, I probably would have blended in the original kick drum track make it sound less clicky. Also the hats really are quite biting and using a multiband compressor would have been a good idea, but at the end of the day, I like the sound of the end mix and master.