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My mix after 2 years trying! Let me know what you think. Thanks
#1
Thanks for the listen!


.mp3    Bruksvoila-russian-9-29-18_4.mp3 --  (Download: 11.91 MB)


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#2
Hi Sonic,

It's all sounding nice and balanced, but it's very mono. I'm not hearing any guitars in the side channels at all. As a result It closes the mix down a lot. Have a listen to what others have done here with this song and the the panning of the guitar parts. I think if you can spread them out wide, it will open up and make a big difference to your mix. Have a go and post the remix.

Cheers Smile
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#3
haha...didnt expect you around here, DD! and yeah, my mix is a little center now that you mentioned it (confirmation biased syndrome Smile), maybe my choices of panning is a little too conservative. I did listen to a few in here but thought some of the panning were a little too wide for my taste. I will have to find a way to compensate and find a good place for things to stay. That, presently, I think shouldnt be a big problem, unless the whole mix blows up on me as they often do when I tinker with it. That happens to me more often than I care for, tbh. I mean, wow, all I wanted to do just to raise a little more top end for the hats to get it sizzles but ended up burning the midnight oil all night long instead with a shittiest mix in the morning afterSmile. But I have learned my sorrow. I'd give the pan button another good whipping to see if you like it better. Thanks, bro. You are very kind.

***Came back to the mix and did a couple things. I chose to pan the lead gtr to the left and gave it a little delay to push it back a little farther back than the choppy one. I also cleaned out a little more of the muddy region (300-500Hz). That made my choppy gtr (without my doing anything) shows a little meat and more upfront since I used the delay to push the lead gtr back. One stone two birds Smile. The cuts on the lead gtr also made it cleaner and cuts thru the mix with lower fader position. I also panned the lead piano to the right to counter the lead gtr on the left. That seems to balance out the spectrum quite nicely. The snare seemed weak and bony so I play with the EQ a bit to bring it even more forward. It's a little meatier tho I wish I can tighten it a little more. Played a little more on the compression of the kick to get it out of the way of the bass. I also played a little bit with M/S compression and EQ. Nothing dramatic, just a hi-pass on the Side and minute compression on the Mid. By now my listening skill is in question Smile. I like how my bottom end is sounding now. I think this mix is an improvement compare to the last, but that is only my opinion. I hope I cut it open wide enough to your liking. Thanks.


.mp3    Bruksvoila-russian-9-29-18_5.mp3 --  (Download: 11.91 MB)


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#4
I think this second mix is much better Sonic. Drums are sounding great and the bottom end is working well through my headphones. I still think you could afford to go out wider with the guitars with a song like this. This is a personal preference though for sure. I guess my approach for this song would be to pan the contrasting guitars wide and then leave the softer tone of the piano centre behind the vox. I usually like to pan the brighter sounding instruments the widest. This seems to help with "ear candy" and helps clear some space around the vox. This is purely subjective and by no means the rule. Either way Sonic, for me this mix is a big improvement on the first. M/S compression, not sure I've ever played around with that sort of processing before. Your over my head with that one.Tongue

As for burning the midnight oil and overcooking the mix, I think we have all done that. Don't forget to load a reference track into your project just to click it in and out as you go to keep things on track. Well Done!

Dave
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#5
I agree with panning the brighter sounding instruments wider than the rest. Tbh, I dont know why I always hesitate when panning; perhaps the paranoia of having it too wide in headphone might not translate well. That is the reason why my panning is always conservative. I wish I have a pair of monitors to listen but, sigh, alas, "we can't always get what we want"-Stones. I will keep working on it until I find a good place for the mix with my headphones. I know my headphones a little better now. And with your help I am sure I'll get better soon. Thanks. And thanks for reminding to listen to the reference tracks. I'll try to do that more often from now on. I can see the benefit of doing that. Sometimes, you know how it is, we get lost in the mix, and most often, to me, we forget our ways home Smile

***About M/S (Mid/Side) processing is quite simple. I have a free plug in called Voxenga (check spelling) MSED. The plug in allows the user to manipulate Mid (things that occupy both sides L and R. For example, vocal, kick, bass, etc)) and Side (panned instruments, reverb, etc) separately. That is the final step I do after the mix. Quite powerful tool to work with. I have just experiment with it for a couple months (aka still in the learning process). But it does help improve my mix (with little that I know), so I keep using it (practicing) and hope I will know it better in the future. Thanks for the listen. I really appreciate it. My mix wouldn't be better without your comments. Thanks. I love mixing, you know. So I always appreciate those who help me along the way. Thanks.
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#6
This is a tough session.. I gave it a go and I'm not happy with my first run.. I think I would need to go surgical with Q-EQ work.. the cymbals are brutal tied in to key drum tracks.. this would likely require replacing the drums with extensive drum samples/triggers.. very time consuming... I listened to your mix and wanted to comment for further encouragement... my opinion is you can mix, this song however is a bit tough to tame.
M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#7
Digitaldruglord...Thanks for the comment. Very kind of you to offer some encouragement. Yes, it is quite a session to mix; it took me 2 years to get it where I wanted. And even that, as you might have read previous posts here, I still had to tweak it to get it sounds ok based on the comment of a good dude DD. My problems, however, are not the cymbal or drums but the guitars. I don't seem to have a right place for them yet. And yeah, my fear is working with samples, just too damn time wasting. Perhaps that's one of the reason the 'pro' have either apprentice or assistant. Well, maybe some day when the good lord smiles on me, I'd get a couple of them to do the dirty work. Right now it's just 3 of us: me, myself, and I Smile. *put your mix up here bro. Let me take a listen. I might have a different opinion, you know.
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#8
(24-10-2018, 01:27 AM)SonicTramp Wrote: *put your mix up here bro. Let me take a listen. I might have a different opinion, you know.

I will do another touch of the session now, and post it here, but won't place it in the main thread just yet.
M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#9
(24-10-2018, 01:27 AM)SonicTramp Wrote: *put your mix up here bro. Let me take a listen. I might have a different opinion, you know.

I found a place I'm happy with this mix on the second attempt, so I posted it in the thread here: http://discussion.cambridge-mt.com/showt...?tid=24781

My strategy on mix/plugs change from song to song, I've attached my ProTool mix decisions so you can compare with your current strategy on this song. Note: I am coming out of PT into a summing hardware rig, but even all In-the-Box, there may be some interesting observations that can be seen in the screen cap: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5eplpstuwstlbr...x.png?dl=0
M1 Pro MBP: is my Hattori Hanzo.
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#10
Very ballsy and dirty mix with huge personality. The snare (samples?) did it, bro. It makes the whole mix dirty in a very exciting way. I enjoy listening to it immensely. Blew me away, in short. However, I'd enjoy it a lot more if I hear a little less of those hi-mid up to, maybe, 4K. Good lord, how our ears are so sensitive to that region! (from both gtrs, the top end of the snare, etc). It makes the mix too busy in that region to my taste, just a small bit off of it is enough bc it contributes to the dirtiness of the mix, the thing that makes your mix unique. In addition, the top end tastes better sprinkle than dumping it on, my opinion Smile. And if you let me go further, I'd say that the kick is not powerful enough. Right now it seems to me it's kicking me on the kneecaps. I'd preferred to be kicked in the face, I confess Wink (sadomasochistic much?). Your gtrs sound is pretty sick. I also like the reverb on the snare on some parts, but dislike it in some parts bc I think it gets in the way and takes away some of the power. Good job! (I listen to your mix using AKG K712 cans and Apogee Duet 2. I mix entirely ITB)
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