CEF Mallorca GSII 2017-18 Sessions: 'Viviendo Del Reves'

[javierpg84]

CEF Mallorca GSII 2017-18 Sessions: 'Viviendo Del Reves'

[javierpg84]

If you listen to the whole song, you will find a surprise at the end. I got creative

[crownoise]

Hey javier nice mix

[javierpg84]

Hey javier nice mix

Thank you crownoise!!!

[thedon]

Nice solid mix Javier enjoyer listening ,
I have downloaded the files but been too busy to mix as recording and rehearsing for live gigs.
I like the wha wha effects on the guitar at the end nice work !
Cheers

[Monk]

Hi,

There's a really nasty treble during the intro that stings my ears. You need to be able to hear such events.

I found the amplitude gain out of the intro too dramatic. I get the idea, but you don't need to hit so hard. Perhaps bring up the intro section 2 or 3dB and see how it feels.

You made a good decision to drop the arpeg' synth, I found it irritating and too much of a contrast (a distraction, in other words) to the song's concept. Now you need to explain to the synth driver why you did it. How's your politics?

The howling guitar is just a little too much out of the action for me. I think it offers some substantial emotional contribution and thus warrants a little more forward placement for the listener to grasp against the other instruments. Synth 3 could also come up a touch for the same reason. (Think not only in pure amplitude terms, but treble-balance perhaps, and see which works) These instruments offer a lot of sonic interest and flavour to the song but only if given enough inclusion. Feel it with your soul.

Some of the notes of guitar 2 get lost. The player leans quite heavily on the upper register. I tamed that part so I could bring up the lower elements. It would help the listener to hear the instrument without struggling for it. Maybe that's the underlying theme of your mix, to keep things subtle? I'd agree with the vision, but I think you're a touch on the wrong side. A little more tweaking on the EQ at source, then revise the compressors and gain structure to rebalance. Sometimes the acoustic guitar gets trampled over...another EQ process. That said, I like the timbre you gave it, there's no harshness here, and you placed it up front. I agree, it helps drive the song and give it some push. Could it be just a fraction brighter to better help my perception of proximity (without it going too far the other way)?

It's all a little too hot for me on the master buss though. I'm also sensing some distortion from it. Let me control my own gain levels please, so if I want to feel those dynamics (which you've currently excessively reduced!), I can crank it up and not have my speakers panic unduly. As it is, the mix (mastered this way), would be uncompetitive streamed to AES guidelines. It's a BIG problem in this forum because it screws with people's perceptions.

OK, I'm leaving it at that. I liked this a lot for the decisions you took and the outcome. It tells me you have some feeling for the work you do. Fix the points and the principles, and I'd LOVE IT.

Thanks for posting.

[javierpg84]

Nice solid mix Javier enjoyer listening ,
I have downloaded the files but been too busy to mix as recording and rehearsing for live gigs.
I like the wha wha effects on the guitar at the end nice work !
Cheers

Thank you thedon. I hope the gigs go very well and you have a great time playing. It will be awesome if you could records the live gigs and we can mix your band's live album. Take care and see you around.

[javierpg84]

Hello Monk:

Thank you for listening to my mix and for your input.
I will like to provide you with answers to some of your points here

"There's a really nasty treble during the intro that stings my ears. You need to be able to hear such events". - Nasty term can be subjective. What you consider nasty I consider it pleasing and attractive. Maybe our monitoring environments differ and I have a dull monitors (I don't) or you have overly bright monitors.

"I found the amplitude gain out of the intro too dramatic." - Great!!! that is the idea. Did I got your attention? Good... mission accomplished.

"You made a good decision to drop the arpeg' synth" - No comments needed here. ARP can be awesome sometimes, not this one.

"The howling guitar is just a little too much out of the action for me...These instruments offer a lot of sonic interest and flavour to the song but only if given enough inclusion. Feel it with your soul." - I placed on the right channel, counter playing the arpeggios on left channel. In my opinion is secondary to the lyrics so it should be subtle but there. I feel the lyrics with my soul, a swell guitar not that much.

"Some of the notes of guitar 2 get lost. The player leans quite heavily on the upper register. I tamed that part so I could bring up the lower elements" I agree, more riding the fader will be needed. Mea culpa.

"Could it be just a fraction brighter (Acoustic Guitar) to better help my perception of proximity (without it going too far the other way)?" My idea was to make it come and go and not be the focus. I want the front real estate for my lead vocals in the verse and then bring the vocals in to a bigger room in the chorus.

"It's all a little too hot for me on the master buss though. I'm also sensing some distortion from it. Let me control my own gain levels please, so if I want to feel those dynamics (which you've currently excessively reduced!), I can crank it up and not have my speakers panic unduly. As it is, the mix (mastered this way), would be uncompetitive streamed to AES guidelines. It's a BIG problem in this forum because it screws with people's perceptions." - Okay, here we go. The loudness of this track is - 9 LUFS which is similar to many commercial CD releases after the loudness war. I used Daft Punk "RAM" CD as reference here. Its it a wide LU range?.. No. Its pop not classical or jazz. Is it loud? Yes it is but not as loud as any of the Top 40 hits you may listen right now in the radio. If I intended to stream online this mix, I would have take it down to -16LUFS. Until this forum gets level normalized, there is no need to follow AES standards, nobody follows them in the mixing circuit anyways and you also have the option to lower your volume too if you don't want to break a speaker cone. I am in favor of dynamic music but this level is intentional as training in how to get things loud but still punchy and clear. You don't want to loose your job with a quiet mix for the clients, and my peers here are my clients. You can read their comments, they like it and I love that.

Take care Monk. See you around.

[axxessdenied]

Solid mix overall. You seem to know where you need to go to improve the mix based on what you just typed out
I think -11LUFS is a pretty safe compromise between loud but not worrying about stray frequencies causing your limiter to crush the mix at random spots. But, I agree. getting a mix to be loud and still sounding good and pleasant is a challenge on it's own. Something that I am trying to figure out as well.
We all have different perspectives on what music should sound like. Which is great because musicians have a lot of options when picking someone to create the vision that they have in their head.
And, you're going to get left behind if you don't play the loudness war I think. Volume is a huge part of how people perceive if things sound good. And, with phones and laptops being the prominent source that people consume music on these days.... yeah... slam that shit.

[javierpg84]

Solid mix overall. You seem to know where you need to go to improve the mix based on what you just typed out
I think -11LUFS is a pretty safe compromise between loud but not worrying about stray frequencies causing your limiter to crush the mix at random spots. But, I agree. getting a mix to be loud and still sounding good and pleasant is a challenge on it's own. Something that I am trying to figure out as well.
We all have different perspectives on what music should sound like. Which is great because musicians have a lot of options when picking someone to create the vision that they have in their head.
And, you're going to get left behind if you don't play the loudness war I think. Volume is a huge part of how people perceive if things sound good. And, with phones and laptops being the prominent source that people consume music on these days.... yeah... slam that shit.

Lol loving you last part of the comment ... my new motto will be SLAM DA SH*TTT, thanks axxessdenied. Glad you like it.