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Devil's Words - MikeMike Mix
#1
Hi guys,

this is one of my very first experiments. I'm one of those poor guys who can't afford studio monitors, so I mixed this in headphones.
I'd really need some feedback on this, mostly about the drums volume (which feels a bit too loud to me, but comparing to some other mixes I found here seems pretty standard) and about the low and top end, which I really strugle to get right mixing in my headphones.
Other than that, I really struggled to get the snare right, so I'd also appreciate some help with that.

Many thanks,
Mike


.mp3    2018_02_13_Mixing Test_Mastered.mp3 --  (Download: 7.65 MB)


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#2
Hey Mike,

I too mix on Headphones (HD681B) but with an adjusted EQ curve. I can also recommend TB_Isone, which can emulate a studio speaker setup quite nicely (their is a time-unlimited demo). This works for me as I start out with Isone on an disable before the final render to check with headphones.

Regarding your mix, it has very nice dynamics. EQ on the instruments is good. Only problem is the overall tone.

While listening I did the following EQ moves:
-2db Low-shelf at 250HZ: Reduce levels of kick, bass and guitar low-end
-3db Narrow cut at 400Hz and 800Hz: Room sounds mainly on drums and some guitar and vocal honkyness
-2db Narrow cut at 4KHz: Sibilance on the vocal
+3db gentle high-shelf at 6kHZ: Adding a nice sparkly open high-end, especially for the vocals and cymbals

Added a dynamic EQ with 3 wide bands to act as a multiband compressor to even out the frequencies. (Its called TDR Nova-> freee and awesome)
Added a deesser to tame sibilance a bit.

I have a attached a file with "corrected" and bypassed one after the other. Starts out with my chain bypassed.

Also some other things:
BGV are very strong in the 600-800Hz Region. (the 'ooooo' sound)
Snare.... um bottom snare mic? A snare isnt a tom xD Try to get the rattle and high-end of the sanre bottom mic and try to elimnate some room resonances.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
LukasAngel


.mp3    Mixing Test.mp3 --  (Download: 2.29 MB)


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#3
Wow, thanks man! Really appreciate that!
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#4
Hi Mike,

Right off the bat I'd tell you to save money and get those monitors. The low end is overwhelming the mix, especially the bass, leaving the kick to a weak 'click' that's even more hi-freq than the snare, that sounds quite muffled in the mids. Lukas already mentioned the 'ooooh' problem, push them back (in volume and by carving some frequencies) and to the sides, even if just a little bit (I'd go all the way L/R). The rest of the elements are in place and sound pretty good to me, even the voice that, however, sounds a little thin when nothing else is playing.


You're definitely on the right track, just get those monitors so you're able to address the lower end.


In any case, while you can't get the monitors, I would rather have a mix very conservative in the low end, even hi-passing everything under 40Hz, than going through a mix while you battle problems you can't even hear, like the way the excessive low end is acting on any bus processing.
ITB Setup: Reaper, Airwindows, IK Multimedia TR5, XLN AD2 ATrigger and RC-20, Waves.
Monitoring: Dynaudio BM5 mkIII, Behritone, Sennheiser HD 650. Semi-treated room.

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