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Jamie Kent - All American Mutt - Take 3
#1
This was a treat. While the separation of the recording wasn't the best you could get a whole lot out of it. The drums were very well captured even without a hat mic. It was nice to do a song by a top 40 Billboard artist. Touches on the idea of the catalogues I'd love to play around with.

All American Mutt - Wet
10/5/2017

Anyway, here is my 'wet' take on Mutt.

All American Mutt - Clarified
10/6/2017

After listening on a few other platforms, the low mid haze was addressed and clarifications made throughout. I think this does the song justice now.

All American Mutt - Take 3
10/8/2017

With thanks to Kapu and others for their advice and input I have modified the bass during the chorus. I also slightly modified the lead vocal.

As always, input and comments are greatly appreciated.

Happy listening,
MITC.


.mp3    Jamie Kent - All American Mutt -Wet.mp3 --  (Download: 7.86 MB)


.mp3    All American Mutt - Clarified.mp3 --  (Download: 7.86 MB)


.mp3    All American Mutt - Take 3.mp3 --  (Download: 8.36 MB)


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#2
Nice! About the wet, I'd say maybe take the reverbs down, but that is personal preference. On some parts the cymbals feel a bit overpowering. Very good mix overall. Vocals are clear and the beat has that nice splatting thing. ^_^
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#3
It feels pretty good overall. There does feel like there's a somewhat constant tone (at least at the top) in the lower mids. I want to say is a sympathetic resonance in toms. It comes and goes but it seems like it's something that could be notched out.

The center of the stereo image gets a little cramped. Especially during the chorus sections. Things kind of get masked when there's a few instruments playing at once.

That's everything I noticed. Tonally and balance wise it feels right.
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#4
Sounds pretty good to me also. It maybe a little full in the low mids for me at times as per Roy's comment. There's possibly several track that are adding to this. Room Resonance maybe? From memory the Drum Chamber mic was full in this area and required some taming.

Well Done
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#5
Hey man. Only listened to Clarified version. Great mix, very easy on the ear. Nothing jumped out at me saying "fix me, fix me" which tells me when a mix is done......good job!

Do you set your final master level using K14 meter? Cos your mix is hitting my meter EXACTLY where I set my levels
Be fierce in your encouragement, kind in your criticism and try and remember that the art of a good critique is not to make someone else's mix sound like yours...but to help the mixer realize their own vision.

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#6
Hmm. For me the first version sounds better. The latest doesn't sound bad, but isn't the overall sound is a bit too 'eq controlled'? Just 'nit picking' because usually you put out very lively and natural sounding mixes. ^_^
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#7
(07-10-2017, 01:35 AM)HbGuitar Wrote: Hey man. Only listened to Clarified version. Great mix, very easy on the ear. Nothing jumped out at me saying "fix me, fix me" which tells me when a mix is done......good job!

Do you set your final master level using K14 meter? Cos your mix is hitting my meter EXACTLY where I set my levels

Yes. K14. I've been getting better at matching limiting to the song in order to maximize levels and keep clarity through the piece while enhancing the groove and the rhythm. In combo with all of the sub groups I maintain and their attendant dynamics, eq and effects and a well placed buss compressor, I've recently been getting pretty good levels which read well from loud to soft playback level. My DAW has a dedicated mastering section which I will use to sculpt the tonal balance. I mostly use a mid-side, phase coherent graphic equalizer and sometimes a parametric for broader emphasis followed by a final limiter to finalize gain. I try to maintain anywhere between an 11 and 18 db dynamic range (between absolute peaks and RMS levels). I think my peaks on this were -0.4. It was easy to get deep in this song because you could get some really good sounds and create really cool spaces from clues you decide to follow. That leads to a fun road of discovery. Knowing when to stop is, well, hard to get sometimes. Right? I did take one more crack at this last night and might load it up, but I'm not convinced it is better than the clarified mutter. Read on and thanks for the question and comments.
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#8
(07-10-2017, 09:56 AM)kapu Wrote: Hmm. For me the first version sounds better. The latest doesn't sound bad, but isn't the overall sound is a bit too 'eq controlled'? Just 'nit picking' because usually you put out very lively and natural sounding mixes. ^_^

Doesn't that describe modern American Country Pop? Thanks for the compliment. I think? LOL.

To my ears, I truly think my first version is a little thick around the middle and does not translate as well to other systems as the clarified mix. Both sound good on my desktop speakers but the second plays better in phones. Would you agree?
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#9
(07-10-2017, 06:05 PM)Mixinthecloud Wrote: Doesn't that describe [...]

Yes. I meant you usually deliver very lively and natural mixes, but for me the first one was my favourite. The only major difference I can hear is the first one had some reverb in bass, and for me it kind of filled the 'mud space', although it might have been too much, but the latter feels it now has gap there thus making the sound feel a bit 'incomplete' / over eqd / missing something. By nitpicking I meant it's not a real issue, but something that caught my ear. Both are good sounding mixes. ^_^
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#10
For me, the clarified version of your mix has the opposite problem of Kapu's mix, it's nice and open during the verses but the choruses don't seem to push. It's too "pretty" for a track about "an all american mutt", it needs some dirt to kick up during the choruses for some punch and contrast. I also noticed that the toms seem to be rather hollow sounding, it seems like a panning thing (I just left my toms up the middle). It's strange, the mix is technically sound and correct but it doesn't seem "right" and seems like it's missing some grit, my best analogy is a country boy who was forced to wear a business suit and work in a office. It's a minor thing but overall it can make a good mix great.

Cheers and hope this helps,
Doug
Mixing is way more art and soul than science. We don’t really know what we’re doing. We do it because we love music! It’s the love of music first. Eddie Kramer

Gear list: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Mbox Mini w/Pro Tools Express, Reaper, Various plugins, AKG K240 MKii, Audio Technica ATH M50x, Yorkville YSM 6
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