Andrew Cole - Dead Roses

[Mixinthecloud]

Looks like there's a lot of back and forth here. But the biggest points that I picked up is that there is too much reverb on the vocal, which there is, and that you're adding that reverb directly to the channels as an insert.

A couple of quick notes. The music sounds very clean and true to the style that it's written in. I saw mention that the drums were too far in the background, I disagree. I think the drums are exactly where they need to be. I commented on another version that having the drums up front in this song sounds more like a rock mix than what it is. This is an acoustic song and I'm glad to hear that you have treated it that way.

As far as the vocal reverb, it is a bit thick. I think your biggest issue is not using your sends. If you were to create an FX bus and send the two vocal channels to it, you would have a tremendously more detailed level of control over the wet mix and the color of the reverb. This is true for most effects, especially spatial FX and compression. As well, with this technique, both vocals will now be occupying the same "space" giving them a more congruent sound.

As a rule of thumb, you shouldn't be able to hear the reverb in the mix. It should just add a subtle sense of space. You can hear it when the track is soloed, but not when the other tracks are added back in. An exception to this would be if you want the reverb to be an obvious or artistic feature, but I'm not sure this was your intention here.

Kirk,
Thanks so much for your feed back. I agree with you on some of your points and disagree on others. Yes, the reverb on the drums for me puts them in their proper place IMHO for this song. As far as a rule of thumb on vocal reverb, all I can say is there is not rule of thumb. I can give you countless examples of reverb and how it is used on male and female vocals, especially in ballads. And while using reverb in-line as opposed to an FX buss is really a matter of choice and/or the capabilities of the effects plugin used, this particular one has all the control needed to make minute adjustments as needed including EQ, decay times, mix saturation, early reflections and RT times, etc. The room and delay settings were identical on both voices. the only thing changing being the decay times and EQ for the most part. In my mix, they turned out just the way I wanted them and IMHO the voices are not lost in reverb at all and retain all the presence they need for the mix and the song. At the very end of the song I purposely wash the male voice in reverb to help it fade away in the fade out. There was a lot of automation used to accomplish that effect which was unique to the ending male vocal phrase. All of the decision I made I am happy with. Is it the perfect mix for this song? Certainly not as that paradigm is squarely in the ears of the beholder. I like it and I had fun doing it. For me, that is all that matters. I am very happy this has spurred a lot of discussion and I have learned from it and the mix has improved because of it.