thelvnguage 'Kings And Queens' MikeGoPro Quick Mix

[MikeGoPro]

Here's a quick mix for you guys. This song is kind of catchy, with the tempo changes and all.

I know it needs some TLC, and some general fine tuning, but I think it has some potential.

I didn't tune or align anything, I just went for the basics, no editing except for automation of course.

What do you think?

Cheers!



Okay I just added a 10-15 minute revision addressing some but not all the issues, the Lead Vox is more subdued, but still a little sibilant, the bass guitar is also massaged a bit, the guitars seem a little strident but they have distortion embedded on the top end, so not much to do there without making them dull, but I'm tired now so I listen with fresh ears tomorrow.

thanks for listening.

Here's the 3rd revision.

And here's the 4th revision, I addressed the collision the mix was having with the limiter , and really tried to obey the VU meter because it seems to tell the truth most of the times, especially when my ears are fatigued.

Later!


Based on some observations from both kapu, and thedon, I uploaded updates to the 1st version, and an update to the 4th revision.


Okay I've decided to go experimental, I cleaned up the session because it had some phase issues with my routing, Then I organized my signal flow to mimic an analog pipeline, and also swapped out the Tape emulation algorithm. The delays on the Lead Vox still need to be fine tuned, and the overall project needs to be massaged, but hey that's what experiments are for right?

[Leumou]

Bass guitar is overpowering, vox is also overwhelming.

[MikeGoPro]

Bass guitar is overpowering, vox is also overwhelming.

I think you're right on target, I didn't spend much time on the vox or the bass to be honest, I'll bring the vox down, it does seem to poke out, and I'll probably multiband the bass, or something like that.

Thanks for your perspective.

Later.

[Monk]

Hello,

The rhythm guitar's harshness is one of the challenges to address somehow. It is too bright relative to the too dull Rhodes which throws the balance out of kilter quite significantly. The problem with the Rhodes is the abundance of 200-300Hz mud in the track which hums all through the song. But addressing this tends to lose the instrument some essential warmth. But given the rhythm guitar lacks warmth anyway, would it matter if they were aligned better in our visions by reducing the mud of the Rhodes, and taming some harshness in the guitar?

Now regarding your mix specifically, I find the bass balance is fine for my tastes. A little more focus on automation would help to balance it during the verse-chorus energy transitions, for example. If you do any tweaking, be careful not to lose the attack because it will end up mumbling like so many other mixes I've heard.

Nothing wrong with a voice up mix. He needs to be front-of-stage and I think you achieved that.

There's some fatigue emanating from the harsher elements in the mid range which our ears are sensitive to. It's one of the biggest missions in this song for us to address and do so without losing the essential timbres.

Well done so far.

[kapu]

Listened version 4. Sounds good! Guitars, or the highs in overall, tend sound a bit harsh at louder listening level. But at easier levels the sound is good. Nice work! ^_^

[thedon]

Hi Mike,
Having a listen to your mixes ,I think your instincts were on the right with mix 1 as sounds more full and solid compared to version 4 which has happened to me many times after many mix downs end up going back an earlier mix !
In version 1 the bottom end could be a little full depending on the monitors and environment ,Just the guitars needs a little taming in the to end around the 3-5k area and some vocal de-essing around the 7-10k area.
There are just some subtle resonances that could be tamed in all versions .

Cheers

[MikeGoPro]

Listened version 4. Sounds good! Guitars, or the highs in overall, tend sound a bit harsh at louder listening level. But at easier levels the sound is good. Nice work! ^_^

Thanks for commenting. I also noticed that the mix had a harshness to it, in fact they all do. That's what happens when you experiment with different/new tools, its easy to get carried away.

And with that observation I updated the 4th Revision, trying to tame the beast.

But I think I rolled off to much high end and added to much low end.

Edit: Never mind it was the wrong file, uploading now.

Later!

[MikeGoPro]

Hi Mike,
Having a listen to your mixes ,I think your instincts were on the right with mix 1 as sounds more full and solid compared to version 4 which has happened to me many times after many mix downs end up going back an earlier mix !
In version 1 the bottom end could be a little full depending on the monitors and environment ,Just the guitars needs a little taming in the to end around the 3-5k area and some vocal de-essing around the 7-10k area.
There are just some subtle resonances that could be tamed in all versions .

Cheers

You know what I listened to both and I did removed too much of what was working with the first one without addressing the issues, mainly being the harshness. I thinned it out, but it didn't have the same texture anymore. So I made an update based on your suggestions to the first mix, and I also posted an update of the 4th revision.

They obviously have different processors going on because I'm trying new things, some hit, most miss. .

Edit: Whoops I mixed up the files, uploading now

Cheers!

[MikeGoPro]

Hey guys I just uploaded an experimental edition of Version 1, mainly mimicking an analog signal path from channel/compressor/Bus/Tape, etc.

I think I like this version best, maybe because it's new.

But Its just an experiment, for now.

Cheers!

[thedon]

Hey guys I just uploaded an experimental edition of Version 1, mainly mimicking an analog signal path from channel/compressor/Bus/Tape, etc.

I think I like this version best, maybe because it's new.

But Its just an experiment, for now.

Cheers!

I agree I like the experimental version nice work ,One minor thing that catches my attention is the esses in some words sounds a little over de-essed like the singer has a lisp like at 1.14 the words strips away which I have to solve in my remix also !

Cheers !