25-07-2017, 12:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 25-07-2017, 12:42 AM by Pedaling Prince.)
Yeah, a lot of the issues you brought up I was already aware of, particularly the vocal balance and issues with the snare balance. Actually, the emphasis on the snare bottom was a deliberate choice on my part as I personally preferred the brighter sound of the bottom. Of course I sought your feedback because my goal here is to come as close to what you want to hear as I can so I'll punch up the top mic a little more on my next pass.
The bass I deliberately kept back in this mix to keep it clear of the toms and kick drum, at least for this pass; I suspected you might want that a little stronger and I've already been thinking about ideas how I might bring that out without stepping on the low frequency content of the drums.
The second snare? Yeah, my fault. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late to go back and fix it and still get this submitted by the "early bird" deadline yesterday. I'll fix that.
I'm glad you like the keys. Based on your feedback I'll keep them where they are for most of the mix but pull them back during that second part solo.
Interesting your notes on the guitars, though. My intent with this mix was to give each guitar its "moment in the sun" so to speak, but if there are particular guitar tracks that are meant to be in the background it would be helpful to know which guitar tracks you mean so I can bear that in mind. As for them being a bit too loud or too quiet at times I tend to agree, but again I didn't have time to polish that part of the mix as much as I would've liked to before I had to submit the mix...
Funny what you say about mixing the vocals after everything else is mixed because this is the way I approach all mixes, including this one. The fact is I'm aware the balance needs work; that's something I was already planning to improve upon in my next pass at this.
There is another reason why this mix has issues (and the reason I didn't want to talk about my technical approach to these tracks until I got your feedback).
I'm mixing on a stock 2009 iMac that's never had a hardware upgrade. Put simply, this machine is way underpowered to do a 113 track mix. The mix you're hearing was done by first premixing tracks into stereo stems then reimporting those stems into a new project and mixing them. That was why I couldn't, for example, fix the snare problem, at least in this first pass. The drums were a pre-mixed stem; I couldn't bring up that snare individually without remixing the stem which, given how long it takes this computer to bounce a mix, wasn't feasible if I was going to make the deadline...
I had the same issue with the vocals. There are only two vocal stems, the lead and the background, and they were thrown together rather hastily to make the deadline. I knew they weren't perfect but I was surprised they fell together as well as they did with the mix, which is why I decided to go ahead and submit my effort since I wanted to get some specific notes from you before I went any further anyway. Since changes are so difficult to make, because I have to mix this in stems, I wanted to get a better idea what you're looking for before I made any adjustments to the stems themselves.
I think what I'm going to do on my next pass is ditch the vocal stems entirely. I'll make the adjustments you've suggested on the band then, once I get the band part sounding as good as I can, I'll bounce the whole thing down to a stem. Then instead of creating a stem of the vocal tracks I'll bring them in as their original separate 17 tracks and mix them against the completed band stem; that way I'll have total control of every element of the vocal mix which will increase my vocal balance options dramatically.
Unfortunately, I don't work in audio professionally; I have a "day job." So it may take me a few days to revise the mix. I will try, however, to get it in at least two or three days before the 30th so you can, if you have time, give me any additional notes you wish.
Regardless how this turns out, however, I just want to say that I appreciate your willingness to share your tracks here. The fact is I'm sick and tired of mixes that have been crushed in "mastering" to be so loud that I can't even listen to an entire CD at a decent volume without temporary hearing loss. I love heavy rock of all kinds but unfortunately that's the kind of music that usually suffers most from the "loudness wars." I mix it myself not only to practice my mixing skills but also so I can have music with natural dynamics that doesn't blow my eardrums out through my eye sockets...
I also must say I love your band's guitar tone; your four microphone approach is unusual and, at times, difficult to work with, but I can't argue with the awesome results.
And yes I know I don't have to use all four mics, but I happen to like the sound I get when I do; it's nice and thick and dark with some real body to it. Gotta love it. 
Anyway, I'll get that revised mix out ASAP.
Thanks again!
Oh, BTW, you didn't mention the little extra I added to the intro. If you like it I'll keep it in; if not I can easily pull it. Let me know!
The bass I deliberately kept back in this mix to keep it clear of the toms and kick drum, at least for this pass; I suspected you might want that a little stronger and I've already been thinking about ideas how I might bring that out without stepping on the low frequency content of the drums.
The second snare? Yeah, my fault. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late to go back and fix it and still get this submitted by the "early bird" deadline yesterday. I'll fix that.
I'm glad you like the keys. Based on your feedback I'll keep them where they are for most of the mix but pull them back during that second part solo.
Interesting your notes on the guitars, though. My intent with this mix was to give each guitar its "moment in the sun" so to speak, but if there are particular guitar tracks that are meant to be in the background it would be helpful to know which guitar tracks you mean so I can bear that in mind. As for them being a bit too loud or too quiet at times I tend to agree, but again I didn't have time to polish that part of the mix as much as I would've liked to before I had to submit the mix...
Funny what you say about mixing the vocals after everything else is mixed because this is the way I approach all mixes, including this one. The fact is I'm aware the balance needs work; that's something I was already planning to improve upon in my next pass at this.
There is another reason why this mix has issues (and the reason I didn't want to talk about my technical approach to these tracks until I got your feedback).
I'm mixing on a stock 2009 iMac that's never had a hardware upgrade. Put simply, this machine is way underpowered to do a 113 track mix. The mix you're hearing was done by first premixing tracks into stereo stems then reimporting those stems into a new project and mixing them. That was why I couldn't, for example, fix the snare problem, at least in this first pass. The drums were a pre-mixed stem; I couldn't bring up that snare individually without remixing the stem which, given how long it takes this computer to bounce a mix, wasn't feasible if I was going to make the deadline...
I had the same issue with the vocals. There are only two vocal stems, the lead and the background, and they were thrown together rather hastily to make the deadline. I knew they weren't perfect but I was surprised they fell together as well as they did with the mix, which is why I decided to go ahead and submit my effort since I wanted to get some specific notes from you before I went any further anyway. Since changes are so difficult to make, because I have to mix this in stems, I wanted to get a better idea what you're looking for before I made any adjustments to the stems themselves.
I think what I'm going to do on my next pass is ditch the vocal stems entirely. I'll make the adjustments you've suggested on the band then, once I get the band part sounding as good as I can, I'll bounce the whole thing down to a stem. Then instead of creating a stem of the vocal tracks I'll bring them in as their original separate 17 tracks and mix them against the completed band stem; that way I'll have total control of every element of the vocal mix which will increase my vocal balance options dramatically.
Unfortunately, I don't work in audio professionally; I have a "day job." So it may take me a few days to revise the mix. I will try, however, to get it in at least two or three days before the 30th so you can, if you have time, give me any additional notes you wish.
Regardless how this turns out, however, I just want to say that I appreciate your willingness to share your tracks here. The fact is I'm sick and tired of mixes that have been crushed in "mastering" to be so loud that I can't even listen to an entire CD at a decent volume without temporary hearing loss. I love heavy rock of all kinds but unfortunately that's the kind of music that usually suffers most from the "loudness wars." I mix it myself not only to practice my mixing skills but also so I can have music with natural dynamics that doesn't blow my eardrums out through my eye sockets...
I also must say I love your band's guitar tone; your four microphone approach is unusual and, at times, difficult to work with, but I can't argue with the awesome results.
And yes I know I don't have to use all four mics, but I happen to like the sound I get when I do; it's nice and thick and dark with some real body to it. Gotta love it. Anyway, I'll get that revised mix out ASAP.
Thanks again!
Oh, BTW, you didn't mention the little extra I added to the intro. If you like it I'll keep it in; if not I can easily pull it. Let me know!