05-11-2018, 12:59 PM (This post was last modified: 05-11-2018, 09:21 PM by DerikTheDoDo.)
Hi everyone!
So I had a lot of fun working on the mix and master of this song as the recordings provided were actually pretty good which if I'm honest is pretty rare on this forum haha. It's still pretty rough as in some parts I think it is a bit too compressed or that there is a bit too much low end for instance. Also as an edit I listened to the mix through my laptop speakers today and realised that there was a little too much high end in the overheads that I didn't eq out, although I don't really notice it through good speakers or headphones so just be aware when listening.
For the master I also used both my Warm Audio 76 & WA2A outboard compressors.
Like I said it's pretty rough but after a couple of hours working I just wanted to be done with it.
Feel free to check out my website and facebook page as well for all of the other stuff that I've worked on as well!
Cheers!
Hi Derik, this is cool. I really like the sound of your mix overall, particularly the vocal balance which, after listening to a quite a few other mixes of this track, seem to be really easy to get wrong. I actually like your mix's balance better than the library reference mix. Your attention to detail overall seems to be evident.
One thing I'm kind of in two minds about is the low end of the mix. At first, my immediate reaction was that the low end sounded a little "overblown" and a little bit "bloated" (which is my feeling about the reference mix too). However, after referencing a few similar charting tracks, particularly "Dangerous Night" by 30 Seconds to Mars (which is very similar in a lot of ways), it seems that pushing the low end to the limit is where it's at now...
If I'm being really super-picky, the low end in your mix could use some more tightening in the choruses. Maybe just controlling that interaction between the big subs of the kick and the massive low end of the bass during the chorus a bit more might do it.
Well, I found the upper mids and treble to be overly present, much like when an exaggerated smilie curve is dropped on a master buss while unconsciously eq'ing the frequency response of a pair of DJ headpones. I must say that I found it fatiguing despite only conversational level auditioning. There's certainly an unnecessary loss of dynamics which is producing some unpleasant artifacts. At least if I want it loud, I can turn it up my end anyway, and without prejudicing the quality. It also sounds like the brickwall limiter has been inappropriately employed.
My advice to anyone who mixes with heavily skewed upper mids and treble, is to get their hearing checked professionally. If they are suffering from early stages of impairment from over exposure to loudness and the loss of high end sensitivity for example, at least they can take advice on how to stop it getting worse (which it's likely to do if left unchecked). And if their hearing is fine, then they can rule that out, celebrate, and start to look at the other possible causes.
I'd also constructively mention, the kick sounds detached from the kit and also not part of the performance? It also sounds subjectively the loudest element of the mix, which makes it a distraction.
"Nearly half of all teenagers and young adults (12-35 years old) in middle- and high-income countries are exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices": https://tinyurl.com/6xeeahc5 Read my bio.
13-11-2018, 02:38 PM (This post was last modified: 13-11-2018, 02:39 PM by DerikTheDoDo.)
(12-11-2018, 11:57 AM)fHumble fHingaz Wrote: Hi Derik, this is cool. I really like the sound of your mix overall, particularly the vocal balance which, after listening to a quite a few other mixes of this track, seem to be really easy to get wrong. I actually like your mix's balance better than the library reference mix. Your attention to detail overall seems to be evident.
One thing I'm kind of in two minds about is the low end of the mix. At first, my immediate reaction was that the low end sounded a little "overblown" and a little bit "bloated" (which is my feeling about the reference mix too). However, after referencing a few similar charting tracks, particularly "Dangerous Night" by 30 Seconds to Mars (which is very similar in a lot of ways), it seems that pushing the low end to the limit is where it's at now...
If I'm being really super-picky, the low end in your mix could use some more tightening in the choruses. Maybe just controlling that interaction between the big subs of the kick and the massive low end of the bass during the chorus a bit more might do it.
Nice work!
Hi there! Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I totally agree with you, when I originally posted it I thought the same but didn't know how to phrase it properly but bloated is a pretty good way to describe it. I tried to clean up a bit of the low end but by the end of it I was just like I'm done for the night haha.
Thanks for the comment stho it's much appreciated!
