10-12-2015, 09:29 AM (This post was last modified: 10-12-2015, 09:45 AM by azwayne.)
Here's my quick mix of this tune.
I admit that this one wasn't as easy as it first seemed. Because of the bleed and reflections that were also picked up, that made compression and FX tough to handle correctly. Over compress and you just nuke your drum tone and because there's already a good deal of "room", adding in sweeteners is a delicate thing and can't quite be done to the level that you might otherwise want.
Did you use transient tools with drums? Kick has maybe too much transients and hi-hat is ticking quite strongly. Or the kick mic is too loud and the kick feels separate from the kit. With this genre it would benefit if the drum kit sounded as a single instrument.
When right panned tom hits in solo, it feels as if there opens suddenly a new space that disappears immediately with it. Am I hearing the gate?
Kick-bass relationship is not optimal yet. Listen for example the guitar solo when guitar is not playing the same riff as the bass. There bass feels extremly distant while kick is very strong and near.
So this was about 4 hours of work. I didn't go through the transient process and couldn't really find a frequency band to notch out that tick (which I think is actually the ride).
The kick was too smooshy for me so I added like 5% of a fairly tight kick just to give it a little more emphasis.
I went and revisited this mix today but for whatever reason from the first listen it just sounds like nothing wants to come together. Gonna have to scratch my head over this for a while.
Okay, here's the day2 version. Hopefully this fixes some of the issues of the previous version. I also went back and tried to solidify a few other things. Not sure I succeeded.
I'm stil wondering about the kick. It feels sonically and loudnesswise a little separate from the groove.
In 50's rock'n'roll arrangements kick didn't have so significiant role as in rock nowadays. THe groove was based more on steady bass and snare backbeat. Now when the kick is put upfront, it kind of changes the intended rolling groove.
Actually, this is quite rare song in this forum. We have almost no 50's rock'n'roll songs here. Is this the only one? I would love to mix some billhaley, elvis, chukckberry, whatever style from 50's.
Okay, dumb question... are you talking about the volume or the character or both? Not sure I'm following you. It's also kinda interesting that you focus on that since I was far more uncertain about how the vocals were sitting. Not really satisfied there but not sure where to go. They just don't feel like they want to blend well. The single biggest headache for me in this mix was really the bleed from the drums into the piano. In order to get the piano up loud enough to be distinct, the drums got very echoey and I lost all control over the snare's dynamics and tone. Couldn't figure out how to handle that one really at all but to short change the keys.
So anyway, I do have a decent 200Hz dip in the kick and I'm wondering if that on top of the overall volume is what's catching your ear.
For example in intro, I feel that the kick is alone in the front and rest of the band naturally on the same stage. I guess that's sonic question. The snap of the kick in your mix is not typical to this genre. It kind of feels to be an added modern element in otherwise truely retro sound.
Maybe for the same reason it also feels to me that it's too loud, but I'm not so sure about that. Maybe the snap is too loud but otherwise kick is fine.
But these are just my subjective feelings, not objective advices. Some old genres have very puristic audiences. 50's authentic rock'n'roll and old time bluegrass are some of them. For example for some people snare added to bluegrass is blasphemy. So maybe I'm trying too much to think from the perspective of genre, and I'm just acting too puristically now.
To me the vox blends nicely. It doesn't bother me at all.
the kick sounds detached from both the room and the kit. if you listen to how all the instrumentation behaves in the room, the kick appears to be somewhat ambiguous because you've not included it. if you can fix this and get the kick to blend into the ambiance, the attack in the kick will wash out/blend better, rather than appearing dry and overly-focused? it will lose some of it's beater attack as a consequence. easing up on the compressor will no doubt help smooth it out more too. i think Olli is at odds with the "contrast" between the kick and everything else, fundamentally.
for example, the snare fills the room's acoustics, but the kick doesn't. another consideration in addition to the above, maybe your ear is loving the sample too much, causing you to dial in more of it than the mix can withstand, with the outcome that it's fighting with the mix?
be careful not to get the kick's sub 100Hz in the stereo of the mix, otherwise you'll be inviting trouble - i'd recommend experimenting to find the best low-cut point, Q and blend. don't forget to keep smiling....
Okay, I think I've got it fixed. I readjusted the compression and EQ settings and dropped the level a bit more so it's more felt than heard. To me, this tune doesn't want a lot of thud but adding in click isn't working either. I usually send the entire drum kit to the reverb unit, and then roll off ~250Hz on the return just to avoid adding mud, specifically to get reverb off the high frequency info on the kick because kicks reverberate too. I mean, it's a drum. That's what it DOES... This one, though, doesn't allow for a great deal of artificial reverb because there's so much already on the various tracks. Anyway, I think it's sitting well enough now.
Also adjusted the compression on the lead vocal (this is another one where you take off so much that you're afraid you're overdoing it and it still isn't quite enough) and added in some automation to back it off just a hair when the backing vocals come in.
When I listened to the rough mix, this sounded like it was going to be a relatively quick thing I could bang out in a few hours. Just goes to show that you can't always judge right off and don't overlook the small things.
