I'm Alright - my first rock mix

[Duke1418]

Please have a listen to my mix of I'm Alright. All comments welcome! It's my first foray into rock.

[Sweliam]

Hi Duke!
Nice mix! Good to hear that you're venturing into new territory. It's always great to expand your views. That said, here are some friendly pointers

Some good things:
- I really like how present that cowbell/percussion is. It really compliments the track!
- The vocal is processed very well. Natural and clean.
- The guitar and piano sound very good!
- You haven't killed the dynamics in mastering, which is refreshing.
- I like the balance between mvox/bvox.

Some things to improve:
- I think the drums are pretty low and weak. Especially the snare.
- I personally don't think that 1/4th delay in the chorus compliments the track. Maybe lower it?
- The guitar in the beginning has a really noticeable verb. Maybe ride it lower and then raise it when the other instruments come in?
- I think the HF's are a bit recessed. Not necessarily bad, just pointing out.
- I don't like the panning on the acoustic other than in the beginning. I feel it tips the mix a bit to the left.

Other than that I'd recommend looking into different types of compression and utilize it. The compression here isn't bad, but there are improvements to be made. So, what genre are you originally from?

/Simon B

[Duke1418]

Hi Duke!
Nice mix! Good to hear that you're venturing into new territory. It's always great to expand your views. That said, here are some friendly pointers

Some good things:
- I really like how present that cowbell/percussion is. It really compliments the track!
- The vocal is processed very well. Natural and clean.
- The guitar and piano sound very good!
- You haven't killed the dynamics in mastering, which is refreshing.
- I like the balance between mvox/bvox.

Some things to improve:
- I think the drums are pretty low and weak. Especially the snare.
- I personally don't think that 1/4th delay in the chorus compliments the track. Maybe lower it?
- The guitar in the beginning has a really noticeable verb. Maybe ride it lower and then raise it when the other instruments come in?
- I think the HF's are a bit recessed. Not necessarily bad, just pointing out.
- I don't like the panning on the acoustic other than in the beginning. I feel it tips the mix a bit to the left.

Other than that I'd recommend looking into different types of compression and utilize it. The compression here isn't bad, but there are improvements to be made. So, what genre are you originally from?

/Simon B

Simon,
Thank you so much for the feedback! You provided exactly the type of information that I was hoping to get. In terms of your comments (don't worry I don't disagree with yours and I won't defend me) I thought the drums were quiet too, but I wasn't sure. I didn't want them to overpower things, so I erred on the quiet side. The delay was an experiment - I'll work more with it. I didn't think about the guitar in the beginning - I'll fix that, too. HF is high frequency? - I want to be sure I understand what you are suggesting. And for the acoustic, I had mixed thoughts about that, too. I'll see what I can come up with.

Finally, I don't know if the compression is bad - it's more like I have a hard time with compression. I've been mixing for about 6 months and I'm very early in the process of hearing things. I heard/read that compression is one of the last things one learns to hear, so I will work on that too.

Mostly I mix fingerstyle acoustic guitar, since that's what I play. I kept working on my recordings and decided that I needed a much better general knowledge and practice, so I came here.

Again, thanks for all the great suggestions. I know how my afternoon will be spent. :-)

[Sweliam]

Wow, you're doing absolutely fantastic for someone that's only been mixing for six months! I wish I had archived my first mixes properly so I could show them to you. Let me tell you, it took me at least a year before I had mixes sounding as good as this.

I would definitely have toned down the lingo if I knew that you were this fresh into mixing; yes, HF means high frequencies ( ="top end", "treble" etc.) Other than these abbreviations, I also write track names instead of the actual names of things. A track name is the same, but usually with a few vowels taken out to fit scribble strips back in the day; Vox equals vocals, mvox is main vocal, bvox is backing vocal and so forth. Hope I didn't confuse you all too much, I know I didn't understand half of what people said around me when I entered audio engineering.

Ah, you're a musician! That actually explains some of your rapid improvements. Musicians tend to have an ear for this naturally, and have somewhat of an innate perception of how things should sound. I started out with mixing and then became a musician after observing this phenomena. Glad to have you here!

The mix:
The level of the drums is one of those things you get with listening (mostly to others mixes). Some genres have certain sounds that tend to characterize them, and present drums is one of the thing that characterizes a typical rock mix. Overall, fader balance is pretty hard and takes a good while to fully get into. I've been mixing for many years now, and I still struggle with fader balance in some mixes!

Good to hear that you're not afraid to try out new things, as made clear with that delay. It's great to be bold. Some of the most genre-defining and well respected mixes were very bold. That said, throw delays (delays that highlight a certain word or phrase) are more common in pop. Doesn't mean delay isn't applicable in rock though! It's actually great for creating depth and width without clouding the soundstage like reverb tends to do. If you want to experiment with a throw delay, then go ahead! Just because something isn't the norm doesn't mean it can't work for the mix. Another popular way to implement delay is by creating a delay that echoes 1/8th notes all the time, but is mixed very low.

Compression is indeed one of the hardest things to get a solid grip on. I can't really give you any good tips other than to experiment with it. I know it took me four years of mixing before I at least had a partial grip on how it sounds. Some things you can read into are transients (and how they affect the sound) and what those pesky attack- and release knobs do. Until then, if you feel very unsure, I'd recommend utilizing presets. They're great not only for advancing mixes but also to hear what different settings do

Glad to hear I could help, and eager to hear what you come up with!
/Simon B

[Duke1418]

Well, I finally finished the remix, and implemented the comments and suggestions that I received. I hope it's better, and you like it.

[Professor Smooth]

Well, I finally finished the remix, and implemented the comments and suggestions that I received. I hope it's better, and you like it.

Nice clear sound. One thing that springs to mind for me is that there's something of a blur between the vocal sibilances and the shaker - I might think about shaping one of the two sounds differently and altering their place in the mix to not be so close together.