Why Don't You Stay first post

[papageorgio120]

Hi all,

First submission on this website. Posting 2 mixes one with no effects, one with reverb. Space in the mix is something I have been struggling with since picking up the hobby.

[Roy]

I only had a chance to listen to the version with 'verb. Overall it feels ok. It's a little "boxy" but that doesn't bother too much. There's a couple of things that jump out at me.
-The guitar on the right that is in the intro and choruses is a little loud. I usually find that parts that "drone on" can be in the back more. The same goes for the organ. In the 2nd verse it's a static tone that takes up too much attention. I think the processed, provided hammond part has more going on sonically and breaks up the sound more.

-The chorus gets extra tubby around the lower mids. If that makes sense. I think you can filter out a bit of the lows of male lead double tracks in the chorus. Because it's all the same singer his tones build up and reinforce each other. I'd also raise the female bgvs and pan them out more to make the chorus get a little bigger and bloom a bit more.

Overall it's working. The drums sound nice and the kick and bass relationship works. The balances are good except for what I mentioned above.
All the reverbs seem fine. I sense space without anything feeling artificial. The only place it feels a little weird is on the Rhodes but I only notice the verb on it in the bridge. Reverb on an instrument like that can be tricky. It's such a thick sound that it's hard to get reverb heard.

This is a good tune to practice reverb and 'space' on. I've tended to overdo it I'm my mixes of this one. But it's fun

I get what you're saying about reverbs and space. It's still one of the hardest things for me to get close to right and I've been at this (of and on) for a long time. One thing that helped is realizing that a lot of what I thought was reverb in songs was actually delays. A short delay can add space without getting in the way as much as reverb might.

[papageorgio120]

I only had a chance to listen to the version with 'verb. Overall it feels ok. It's a little "boxy" but that doesn't bother too much. There's a couple of things that jump out at me.
-The guitar on the right that is in the intro and choruses is a little loud. I usually find that parts that "drone on" can be in the back more. The same goes for the organ. In the 2nd verse it's a static tone that takes up too much attention. I think the processed, provided hammond part has more going on sonically and breaks up the sound more.

-The chorus gets extra tubby around the lower mids. If that makes sense. I think you can filter out a bit of the lows of male lead double tracks in the chorus. Because it's all the same singer his tones build up and reinforce each other. I'd also raise the female bgvs and pan them out more to make the chorus get a little bigger and bloom a bit more.

Overall it's working. The drums sound nice and the kick and bass relationship works. The balances are good except for what I mentioned above.
All the reverbs seem fine. I sense space without anything feeling artificial. The only place it feels a little weird is on the Rhodes but I only notice the verb on it in the bridge. Reverb on an instrument like that can be tricky. It's such a thick sound that it's hard to get reverb heard.

This is a good tune to practice reverb and 'space' on. I've tended to overdo it I'm my mixes of this one. But it's fun

I get what you're saying about reverbs and space. It's still one of the hardest things for me to get close to right and I've been at this (of and on) for a long time. One thing that helped is realizing that a lot of what I thought was reverb in songs was actually delays. A short delay can add space without getting in the way as much as reverb might.

Wow, thanks for looking at this in great depth! Helps a lot. The balance points are definitely useful. I was afraid the vocals sounded a little flat and low. Happy the low-end is working with the instruments. Thanks a bunch for the feedback.