Dino on the loose "Queen,s light" 2020 mix

[Cudjoe]

Hi don i thought i would delete my previous thread and start with a clean slate,thanks for your review i did get a little silly with my low mids on the bass and kick ,so with these adjustments done what do you think?All comments are welcomed.

[thedon]

This is a nice solid mix ,sounds much tighter, cleaner and punchier ,the rest is just personal taste like the depth of the effects on the synth at 1.03 sounds great ,maybe the change of space could be a touch more subtle or add some space to the other instruments for a smoother transition ?
Inspiring mix I'm looking forward to having another shot at this great tune soon.
Great Job .

[The_Metallurgist]

..thought i would delete my previous thread and start with a clean slate..

nowt wrong with doing that. personally i'd leave the post up and just update it, the reason being that other people can also learn from our mistakes. it also helps others develop their listening skills by reading the comments and listening to the problems which they might not otherwise notice so the community at large benefits too.

regarding the mix...
it's a busy arrangement on the percussion. i found it a problem, perhaps because of the high level of compression you've applied? everything is trying to fight for my attention, it seems, which makes it rather a struggle to hang in there for the duration. in other words, it gets fatiguing. i'd try backing off the compressors, seeking some ways to get some depth into the mix in key places, so that not all instruments want my attention but sit quietly in the mix to support it, rather than try and dominate it, if you see what i mean? if we drop a compressor on something, the first thing it does is bring the instrument forwards by making it louder and changing the timbre by affecting the attack envelope; it gets brighter and more exciting. but too exciting for an extended duration can be over whelming.

i'd also try and find some automation opportunities, above paragraph accepted that is, where you can change the levels overall and bring certain instruments into the spotlight; there's some cool melodies going on and great interplay between the instruments which i think you could work to your advantage. it's all at one level, which some might find boring...we like contrast. i've not put a meter on it, but i bet you've less than 3dB of loudness range here.

the general timbre was a good call, and it seemed well balanced in that respect during the first listen over non-reference boxes.

did you mix this on headphones?

[Cudjoe]

This is a nice solid mix ,sounds much tighter, cleaner and punchier ,the rest is just personal taste like the depth of the effects on the synth at 1.03 sounds great ,maybe the change of space could be a touch more subtle or add some space to the other instruments for a smoother transition ?
Inspiring mix I'm looking forward to having another shot at this great tune soon.
Great Job .

Hi don hope all is well and thanks for your comments,i understand what you are saying about the space thing,alot of the problem came from my mix buss comp and slamming my limiter in semi mastering and not giving the instruments room to breathe,done another mix

[Cudjoe]

..thought i would delete my previous thread and start with a clean slate..

nowt wrong with doing that. personally i'd leave the post up and just update it, the reason being that other people can also learn from our mistakes. it also helps others develop their listening skills by reading the comments and listening to the problems which they might not otherwise notice so the community at large benefits too.

regarding the mix...
it's a busy arrangement on the percussion. i found it a problem, perhaps because of the high level of compression you've applied? everything is trying to fight for my attention, it seems, which makes it rather a struggle to hang in there for the duration. in other words, it gets fatiguing. i'd try backing off the compressors, seeking some ways to get some depth into the mix in key places, so that not all instruments want my attention but sit quietly in the mix to support it, rather than try and dominate it, if you see what i mean? if we drop a compressor on something, the first thing it does is bring the instrument forwards by making it louder and changing the timbre by affecting the attack envelope; it gets brighter and more exciting. but too exciting for an extended duration can be over whelming.

i'd also try and find some automation opportunities, above paragraph accepted that is, where you can change the levels overall and bring certain instruments into the spotlight; there's some cool melodies going on and great interplay between the instruments which i think you could work to your advantage. it's all at one level, which some might find boring...we like contrast. i've not put a meter on it, but i bet you've less than 3dB of loudness range here.

the general timbre was a good call, and it seemed well balanced in that respect during the first listen over non-reference boxes.

did you mix this on headphones?

Hi, no only monitors, i only use them as a last reference but i totally agree with you and don,iam always try going for a in your face sound which does not always work so thanks for review,whilst mixing this track i had a fair bit of mixbuss compression and saturation going on,not only that but whilst doing the semi mastering i also slammed it too hard on the limiter so this next mix i have done has no mixbuss comp and less comp through out,what do you guys think?

[Konek]

Hello Cudjoe
I liked your last nonagressive edition. The sound is balanced and clear.
It seemed to me that the first solo is quieter than necessary.
Also maybe distorted bass is not very appropriated for this kind of music, but it's only your matter of taste.
Anyway it's a good mix

[The_Metallurgist]

oh yes, that's a million times better. i enjoyed the ride

if you wanted to tweak a little more, perhaps a multiband dynamic EQ might work well on the synth melody lines, i'm thinking of the one at 0:40'ish for example, with the upper-mids content? i've not worked this project so i can't offer any experience directly, but normally such a strategy works on an instrument with a wide spectral frequency response....then simply push it's channel fader up a notch, or pull the other faders down if headroom isn't available because it feels like the synths/keys would benefit from a touch more amplitude compared with the other material? then i'd have to buy it!!

this mix has a lot more musicality now than your first one, and sounds much better for it. great stuff!

laters,,,
BigDave

[dcp10200]

Personally I like the more compressed and up front sounding version, for me oddly enough it gave a cool hip hop vibe to it (sorry Big Dave ). The way the compression pushed up the room sound up around the drums was cool, that's mostly what I missed from the first mix. I would say try using that compressor on the drums in a parallel buss so that you retain the dynamics of the mix but still have that pushed drum sound. I'll have to take a crack at this track next!

[Cudjoe]

Hello Cudjoe
I liked your last nonagressive edition. The sound is balanced and clear.
It seemed to me that the first solo is quieter than necessary.
Also maybe distorted bass is not very appropriated for this kind of music, but it's only your matter of taste.
Anyway it's a good mix

Thanks konek glad you like it.

[Cudjoe]

oh yes, that's a million times better. i enjoyed the ride

if you wanted to tweak a little more, perhaps a multiband dynamic EQ might work well on the synth melody lines, i'm thinking of the one at 0:40'ish for example, with the upper-mids content? i've not worked this project so i can't offer any experience directly, but normally such a strategy works on an instrument with a wide spectral frequency response....then simply push it's channel fader up a notch, or pull the other faders down if headroom isn't available because it feels like the synths/keys would benefit from a touch more amplitude compared with the other material? then i'd have to buy it!!

this mix has a lot more musicality now than your first one, and sounds much better for it. great stuff!

laters,,,
BigDave

Cheers BigDave thanks again for your time and I will tackle the multi comp thing in the near future and also I think I start to do 2 versions of every track I mix, ie compressed and uncompressed .