The Wrong Uns- Rothko

[teodorslavov]

Nice song, but very hard for mixing. No control on the drums. No lows on the bass... I really try..
I'm new here, and I'll preciated all your comments.
Best wishes.

[teodorslavov]

anybody?

[Artbass]

Give us some time, please. I'll listen to it on Monday as I'm not at home right now.

[Dags]

Hiya.

Firstly, welcome to to the forums! There's a lot of people just joining up recently (including myself!) so it is getting very busy here - which is a good thing. Such a wealth of knowledge and experience from all over the world meeting up in the one spot!

Couple of things to look at with your mix.
This one's easy - At the start there's the left over reverb tail of a vocal that triggered the effect just as you started printing the track. Have a look around for any stray audio lurking around the start of the song and clean it up.

Now, into the mix itself!
I'm finding it hard to clearly hear everything as there's a lot of 'boom' in this version, and from what I can gather it's because of the choice of reverb and the elements that are being sent to it. The kick drum, in particular, doesn't need to be sent to the reverb channel much to give it the impression of being in the same space as the rest of the kit, so back off the kick's send to the effects channel a fair way.
You can also put an equaliser across the effects channel and use a low frequency shelf to drop the level of everything below about 200Hz by 8-12dB which will also clean it up a lot.
You'll be able to hear the bass much better once all that low frequency reverb isn't masking it anymore as well.

Give that a try and see how it sounds - the song should then be much easier to listen to and you'll have a better time of hearing the rest of the elements to know whether they fit well into the mix.

Listening *through* the bottom end murk, the rest of the instruments and vocals seem to be well placed, but it will be much easier to confirm this once the boom has been removed.

Hope to hear another version from you soon!

Kind regards,
Dags

[teodorslavov]

Thanks for your reply. I'll post my new mix asap.
Best wishes,
Teodor Salvov

[teodorslavov]

Is this better... sorry for the qustions, but I have bad headphones and just want to know how it sounds on your speakers
Is it too harsh??

[Artbass]

Actually I think you made it worse.

The first mix suffered from a strange choise of kick sound. Almost as if it was placed in a cave or tunnel (maybe you only need to eq the reverb?). The rest, as far as I could hear it, sounded quite ok. I liked the snare especially.

The new version sounds rather hollow. It is hard to hear the bass and the lovely snare sound seems to be completly gone. There is also a strange room on the backing vocals.

I'd say you better return to the first mix and try to control the kick without doing too much to the rest for a start.

Cheers
Artbass

[QuintaQuad]

I think you neutered your original mix with the new one. I agree with Artbass about the bottom end on the new mix. It's pretty much nonexistent. The cymbals are way too bright for my taste.

Personally, I'd like to see a combination of the mixes. Try for the clarity of the second mix with more bottom and less sizzle on the high end.

Keep on mixing!

[Robert]

Just following on from what the guys are saying about the low-end 'mud'..... I've a hunch it's the way you're hearing the material which is presenting you with problems. The sound you have seems pretty consistent with less-than-ideal monitoring and until that bit is addressed, you'll really struggle to get the clarity you need. Most of us have been there. For those on a budget, it may be an idea to consider getting a good pair of headphones and something 'clean' to drive them until such times arrive to invest in proper monitors. If one can hear accurately, one can mix accurately - and the mixing process becomes a whole lot more enjoyable and less time is spent agonising in self-doubt on whether something sounds right or not. I hope this helps a bit :o)

EDIT --- Just noticed the bit about the 'bad' headphones.