Perpetual Escape - Stop And Rise [OctopusOnFire]

[OctopusOnFire]

Hi guys,

So I've kinda run of ideas with this mix. I feel I may have placed myself into an alley or maybe I'm not seeing something, but I'm not really feeling it. I mean, I like the song, I'm happy with the mix, but there's something that kinda bugs me and I can't put my finger on it, so I'm asking for feedback here instead of entangling myself into more trouble.

As usual, I went for a loud, punchy, commercial-like mix. I chose to give it a cleaner tone to the verse guitars to make it feel more "cowboy" (I go by these kind of terms, maybe they have meaning only for me )

I've had trouble with the voices here, trying to make then complement each other and still keep the character... I'm finding trouble giving them depth and dimension though, and keep them consistent throughout the mix.

So, whatever your ear catches, I'd love to hear about it.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Dangerous]

Hi Octo,

Sounds pretty good to me listening through headphones. It feels like you've honed in on the style you were after. For me this genre's not a strong point, so its hard for me to be too critical when it comes to stylistic choices, but it all seems to work well. I guess the only thing I'm missing in the mix in general is some weight from the kick drum and possibly the snare, but maybe this is something that is sacrificed when pushing for loudness. Nice work.

Dave

[OctopusOnFire]

Hi Octo,

Sounds pretty good to me listening through headphones. It feels like you've honed in on the style you were after. For me this genre's not a strong point, so its hard for me to be too critical when it comes to stylistic choices, but it all seems to work well. I guess the only thing I'm missing in the mix in general is some weight from the kick drum and possibly the snare, but maybe this is something that is sacrificed when pushing for loudness. Nice work.

Dave

Thanks Dave,
Yeah, going for loudness you definitely have to sacrifice some punch, especially with a wall of guitars and bass like in this song.

[LukasL]

Hey Simon,

I think you have a good starting point but I notice quite a few things I didn't really like. I hope you dont take all this critique personally, sorry mate.


Overall the mix sounds bit muddy to me with a big smile face eq boost. This leads to harsh cymbals and sibilance in the vocals. The mud comes from the bass (I think) which sounds a bit bloated and not well defined.
But it could also be some of the guitars not sure.


In general mid range is a bit lacking. Maybe put 2 Filters on the Master bus from 250Hz to 5000Hz and get your midrange sounding perfect and work from there.


I like the vocal tone in the intro, but when the female is singing it has to much low end (150-250HZ) for me. Try some automation.
The vocals could also use more or any reverb because they sound completly dry and stuck on top. You might also want to adress the harshnees.


Regardings the drums I think they could be a lot fatter. The attack is already there so good job with that. I would set up a Parallel Track with fast attack and release and compress the f*** out of those drums.

Additionally a reverb which is gated (so only snare hits come through or trigger it with samples) with a long tail and a dark sound might place the snare and toms better in the mix and would fit the epicness of the tune.

A stylistic choice would also be master bus compression. Getting the drums to pump a bit and get squashed in the mix slightly would fit this genere in my opinion.


And please reaamp the guitars at 1:32. Sounds like ALL THE GAIN, NO MIDS, METAAAAAAL! (to me )


So, after all those comments from me I hope you still dont hate me. Would love to hear and updated version.

Cheers,
Lukas

[OctopusOnFire]

Hey Simon,

I think you have a good starting point but I notice quite a few things I didn't really like. I hope you dont take all this critique personally, sorry mate.

On the contrary. It's just what I was looking for, actually. I was hitting a wall with this mix, needed some directions and listening back I agree with what you say here. I'll address these issues and come back with a better mix. Thanks!


[EDIT] Sadly, Waves updated my plugins and the old versions are not usable anymore. I'm thinking about starting the mix from scratch, go fast and focused on what needs to be done. Also will rework these reamps now that I have a clearer vision of the sound I wanna go for. Thanks again!